Bio-based Materials and Biotechnologies for Eco-efficient Construction

F. Pacheco-Torgal, Volodymyr Ivanov, Daniel C.W. Tsang, Fernando Pacheco-Torgal

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780128194812
• eBook ISBN: 9780128223819
• Topic: Tecnología e ingeniería
• Subtopic: Ciencias de los materiales

Bio-based Materials and Biotechnologies for Eco-efficient Construction fills a gap in the published literature, discussing bio-based materials and biotechnologies that are crucial for a more sustainable construction industry. With comprehensive coverage and contributions from leading experts in the field, the book includes sections on Bio-based materials and biotechnologies for infrastructure applications, Bio-based materials and biotechnologies for building energy efficiency, and other applications, such as using biotechnology to reduce indoor air pollution, for water treatment, and in soil decontamination. The book will be an essential reference resource for academic researchers, civil engineers, contractors working in construction works, postgraduate students and other professionals. - Focuses on sustainability and green concepts in construction - Discusses recent trends on bio-based materials and biotechnologies for eco-efficient construction - Covers many important aspects, including infrastructure applications, energy efficiency for building construction, and air, water and soil related problems

1

Introduction to biobased materials and biotechnologies for eco-efficient construction

F. Pacheco-Torgal, C-TAC Research Centre, University of Minho, Campus de Azurem, Guimarães, Portugal

Abstract

This chapter introduces some sustainability challenges, as well as the importance of resource efficiency and the European bioeconomy strategy. The importance of biobased materials and biotech admixtures for eco-efficient construction is summarized. The importance of changing the curriculum of civil engineering to address sustainability challenges and also enhance the collaboration between civil engineers and biotech experts is briefly discussed. Comments concerning the biobased and biotech-related publication intensity of several well-known civil engineering departments are also made. An outline of the book is also given.

Keywords

Sustainable development; resource efficiency; bioeconomy; biopolymers; biotechnologies

1.1 Sustainability challenges, resource efficiency, and the bioeconomy

A world of limited resources aggravated by unsustainable living patterns and a growing population inevitably force us to seek sustainable new ways of production and consumption. The signs of that unsustainability are numerous, for instance from 1970 to 2010, annual global extraction of materials grow from 22 billion to 70 billion tonnes (Ekins and Hughes, 2017). Also biodiversity is being pushed toward degradation and possible collapse (Davis et al., 2018; Harrison et al., 2018). Furthermore, energy consumption has been steadily rising in the last decades and will keep on rising no matter what would be the situation (King et al., 2015). This is due not only to the increase in world population but also to the fact that electricity consumption per capita in low- and middle-income countries will increase as a consequence of future higher income and related higher comfort standards. And this is aggravated by the fact that only 21% of world electricity generation was from renewable energy in 2011 with a projection for nearly 25% in 2040 (IEA, 2017). Maybe that can have something to do with the fact that fossil fuels are receiving subsidies of around $260 billion per annum, nearly twice the subsidy to renewables (IEA, 2017). And despite the fact that installed capacity of renewable energy is growing and it set a new record of 161 GW in 2015, the fact is that ExxonMobil predicts that all renewables will supply a minor share of global power generation by 2040 (Bai et al., 2018). As a consequence some authors (Stoknes and Rockström, 2018) are very pessimistic and believe that such low ambitious approach is not compatible with the ecologic limits of the Planet. Randers et al. (2018) on the other hand state that the world will not reach all sustainable development goals by 2030, nor even by 2050. More recently Hickel (2019), using data provided by O’Neill et al. (2018), stated that for rich nations to fit within the boundaries of the safe and just space needed for the world’s nations to achieve key minimum thresholds in social welfare while remaining within planetary boundaries will require that rich nations need to abandon growth as a policy objective. Also Holford (2018) reminds us that technology not only has control on humans but also that which is driven by the neoliberal socioeconomic quest for profit maximization and economic growth. No wonder then that some may think that only a severe shutdown of the main carbon polluters could have meaning results (Bendell, 2018; Read, 2018) still they seem to forget that such action would have a major impact on the increase of poverty. Be there as it may and while no wonder solutions are found then that incremental improvements are the only short-term solution for the problem. In order to keep economy running, several institutions such as UNEP, World Bank, or the European Commission thus claim for green economy and green growth, which are expected to do more with less while improved human well-being and social equity. This was the rationale that led to the concept of eco-efficiency that was first coined in the book “Changing Course” (Schmidheiny and Business Council for Sustainable Development, 1992) in the context of 1992 Earth Summit process that is a more realistic approach than the well-known concept of sustainable development defined in the Bruntland Report (1987) as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” On this critical context the European Union (EU) has long ago assumed a leading role toward a more sustainable future. The Europe 2020 Strategy and its flagship initiative on “a resource efficient Europe” (COM, 2011b) set the EU on the path to this transformation. The flagship called for a roadmap “to define medium and long term objectives and means needed for achieving them.” The Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe (COM, 2011a) proposes a new pathway to action on resource efficiency involving all the key stakeholders. Domenech and Bahn-Walkowiak (2019) argue that the resource efficiency and circular economy policy is complex and fragmented and they even say that the decoupling of resource use from economic growth although being a part of the vision drawn by the EU resource efficiency roadmap has not been addressed directly by specific policy instruments. The recent years have witnessed an increasing demand for natural, bio-, or biotech-based products for use in industrial applications because of environmental issues, waste disposal problems, and the depletion of nonrenewable resources. In 2002 the EU launched the strategy on biotechnology (EU, 2002). And in 2012 The European Commission created the world’s first bioeconomy strategy and action plan (Bioeconomy Strategy, 2012). Bioeconomy is defined as “an economy where the basic building blocks for materials, chemicals, and energy are derived from renewable biological resources.” More information can be found in Patermann and Aguilar (2018), Ramcilovic-Suominen and Pülzl (2018), and Schanes et al. (2019). The bioeconomy covers all sectors and systems that rely on biological resources (animals, plants, microorganisms, and derived biomass, including organic waste), their functions and principles. For instance the Europeans throw away more than 88 million tons of food every year. A new Estonian project wants every gram of it to be used to manufacture bioplastics and eco-friendly cosmetics (Zubascu, 2019). And with a turnover value of €2.3 trillion and accounting for 8.2% of the EU’s workforce, the bioeconomy is a central element to the functioning and success of the EU economy. According to the new strategy, the bioeconomy will provide support for the modernization and strengthening of the EU industrial base through the creation of new value chains and greener, more cost-effective industrial processes. And according to industry projections, the demand for industrial biotechnologies is expected to almost double within the next decade. Demand for biobased products is growing worldwide and EU demand is estimated to grow to 50 billion of market value by 2030 (Bell et al., 2018). It is also expected that the biobased industries could help create one million new jobs by 2030 (Bioeconomy Strategy, 2018). Responsibles of the European Commission (EC) (2018) recently stressed that the EU must accelerate the pace in switching industry production to renewable climate-neutral biobased resources having disclose of a €100 million circular bioeconomy thematic investment platform for risk sharing with developers of biobased solutions.

1.2 Biobased materials and biotechnologies for eco-efficient construction

So although the future of humanity remains shadowed by serious environmental challenges like those mentioned in the beginning of the previous section, one thing is sure that the construction industry will continue to grow due to an increase in the world population that by 2100 will hit the staggering number of 11 billion. A recent report—Global Construction 2030—forecasts that the volume of construction output will grow by 85% to $15.5 trillion worldwide by 2030, being that China, United States, and India will be responsible for 57% of all global growth and the construction market in India will grow almost twice as fast as China to 2030 (GC, 2015). In this context the use of biobased construction materials plays a crucial role in order to reduce the environmental footprint of the construction industry. Biobased materials such as timber have been used in the construction industry for a long time especially as structural materials. Unfortunately, in the last century they show to be unable to compete with the higher performance of steel or reinforced concrete in ever higher skyscrapers. However, in the last couple of years the imperative of sustainable development has started to change that. And the science community ...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of contributors
• 1. Introduction to biobased materials and biotechnologies for eco-efficient construction
• Part I: Bio-Based Materials and Biotechnologies for Infrastructure Applications
• Part II: Bio-Based Materials and Biotechnologies For Building Energy Efficiency
• Part III: Bio-Based Materials and Biotechnologies for Other Applications
• Index