Abstract
The notion of the bioeconomy has gained importance in both research and policy debates over the last decade, and is frequently argued to be a key part of the solution to multiple grand challenges. Despite this, there seems to be little consensus concerning what bioeconomy actually implies. Consequently, this paper seeks to enhance our understanding of what the notion of bioeconomy means by exploring the origins, uptake, and contents of the term “bioeconomy” in the academic literature. Firstly, we perform a bibliometric analysis that highlights that the bioeconomy research community is still rather fragmented and distributed across many different fields of science, even if natural and engineering sciences take up the most central role. Secondly, we carry out a literature review that identifies three visions of the bioeconomy. The bio-technology vision emphasises the importance of bio-technology research and application and commercialisation of bio-technology in different sectors of the economy. The bio-resource vision focuses on processing and upgrading of biological raw materials, as well as on the establishment of new value chains. Finally, the bio-ecology vision highlights sustainability and ecological processes that optimise the use of energy and nutrients, promote biodiversity, and avoid monocultures and soil degradation.
Highlights
The notion of grand challenges has over the last decade emerged as a central issue in policymaking and—increasingly—academia
Moving from fossil-based to bio-based products and energy is important from a climate change perspective, but it is suggested that a transition to a bioeconomy will address issues related to food security, health, industrial restructuring, and energy security [5,6,7]
Describing the bioeconomy, it has been argued that “its meaning still seems in a flux” [6] (p. 386) and that the bioeconomy can be characterised as a “master narrative” [10] (p. 95), which is open for very different interpretations
Summary
The notion of grand challenges has over the last decade emerged as a central issue in policymaking and—increasingly—academia. A key common denominator for these grand challenges is that they can be characterised as persistent problems, which are highly complex, open-ended, and characterised by uncertainty in terms of how they can be addressed and solved—a partial solution may result in further problems at a later point in time due to feedback effects [2,3,4] Still, despite these uncertainties, the concept of a bioeconomy has been introduced as an important part of the solution to several of these challenges. The paper seeks to explore the origins, uptake, and contents of the term “bioeconomy” in the academic literature This includes a bibliometric analysis of peer-reviewed articles on the topic (Section 3), which identifies central organisations, countries, and scientific fields.
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