Industrial (White) Biotechnology

Present situation internationally
Industrial Biotechnology, which is an emerging technology, is entering its "growth" stage. It is increasingly impacting the Industrial sector, enabling both the conversion of renewable resources, such as sugars or vegetable oils, and the more efficient conversion of conventional raw materials using biotechnological processes including biocatalysis, into a wide variety of chemical substances many of which cannot be made directly by synthetic routes. These include fine and bulk chemicals, pharmaceuticals, bio-colorants, solvents, bio-plastics, vitamins, food additives, bio-pesticides and liquid biofuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel (abstracted from the EuropeanTechnology Platform for a Sustainable Development of CEFIC and Europa-Bio which has been adapted by European Union in its the research strategy in the 7 th frame of European Research Platform). It has been realized that biotechnology can help European Industry to come back in its world-leading position in the competition with USA and Japan. Biotechnology is proving its worth as a technology that can contribute to sustainable industrial development delivering eco-efficiency through:

• Reduced usage of water and traditional chemicals.
• Reduce use of energy, and thus lower levels of fossil fuel CO 2 emissions. Substitution of a number of chemical processes could make a significant contribution towards meeting the targets set by the Kyoto treaty.
• Increased use of renewable resources, whether as chemical feedstock or fuels.
• Production of new materials. Cell cultures are unique in their capacity to make new pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
• Processing of biomass for bulk chemical applications.

Industrial biotechnology needs to be nurtured to overcome a number of barriers before its full potential can be realised. Challenges include the integration of disciplines such as biochemistry, microbiology, molecular genetics and process technology to develop useful products and processes based on microbial, animal and plant cells and enzymes as biocatalysts. Other additional problems includes are the following: the raw materials or feedstock like vegetable oils and glucose needed for bioprocesses are expensive and the enzymes used to convert the material require a high investment in research. An increased level of research and investment in developing cheap feedstock and powerful enzymes is crucial. Europe faces fierce competition from USA and Japan, which have long term plans and large R@D commitments in place in this area.