UPM-Biofore-Magazine-1-2016-EN

P opulation growth together with rising incomes are speeding up consumption and demand for food, feed, fuel and other materials globally. United Nations predicts that food productionmust be doubled to meet demand from the world’s growing population, which is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. “Within the coming decades we will be facing enormous and unprecedented challenges that will result in environmental, social, political and economic changes across the world,” predicts John Bell, Director of the Bioeconomy Directorate in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Bell points out that land availability and soil conservation together with the effects of climate change will limit agricultural production. Meanwhile, other biomass resources like marine and forestry biomass, but in particular waste, are still underexploited. “We needmore research and technology development to harness this biomass potential in a sustainable manner. Innovation is what will turn today’s bio-waste into tomorrow’s products. This will make the bioeconomy the green engine of a wider circular economy where all stocks have value at every stage of their life cycle." >>

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