Concern about the state of our environment has slowly worked its way up the political agenda over the last decade or so. This new awareness exists on many levels: there are global issues such as climate change, local problems such as traffic congestion, as well as health worries caused by toxic waste and air pollution.

Biological processes, such as photosynthesis, helped to shape our environment in the early days of evolution, as we shall see in Chapter 12. The aim of environmental biotechnology is to use the transforming power of biochemistry – driven, of course, by DNA – to help to create an environment that we would be proud to leave to our grandchildren.

There are two main ways in which biotechnology can soften the impact of human activity on our planet. It can help in the provision of energy and material resources, and in the destruction of pollution.

Trapping energy from the Sun

As the world's population grows, so do people's aspirations. Hence many people in developing countries want the cars, fridges and other objects that we take for granted in the Western world. At the same time, they also want to develop their industries to generate income and a higher standard of living. Inevitably this will result in increased energy consumption – from more electricity to drive domestic and industrial appliances to more fuel for heating and transport.

Today the commercial energy market is dominated by coal, oil and gas – the fossil fuels.