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1 - The Historical Origins of the Bioeconomy

from Part I

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2023

Piergiuseppe Morone ,
Dalia D'Amato ,
Nicolas Befort  and
Gülşah Yilan
Piergiuseppe Morone
Affiliation:
Unitelma Sapienza
Dalia D'Amato
Affiliation:
Finnish Environment Institute (Suomen Ympäristökeskus - SYKE)
Nicolas Befort
Affiliation:
NEOMA BS
Gülşah Yilan
Affiliation:
Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome
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Summary

To understand the roots of the bioeconomy, it is necessary to look back at two historical episodes with similar characteristics. On the one hand, during the 1920s and 1930s in the United States, some actors joined forces to develop a chemurgy aimed at creating industrial products on the basis of agricultural substrates. On the other hand, during the years 1976 to 1980, the crisis in petroleum-based chemistry led to the idea of a revival based on the chemistry of sugars. In this chapter, we will do so by analysing the way actors have defined how the use of renewable resources in substitution of oil should be organised.

Keywords

bioeconomybiorefinerybio-industrychemurgycollective innovation strategies
Type
Chapter
Information
The Circular Bioeconomy
Theories and Tools for Economists and Sustainability Scientists
 , pp. 3 - 14
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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