Bio-innovation helps break the curve of resource consumption

Novozymes

History has shown economical growth always has an environmental impact: The more we produce and spend, the more we exploit our planet. A new approach is called for, if we are to continue to prosper. Around the globe, forward-looking companies have discovered the unique potential of bio-innovation. From effective cold-water detergents to tomorrow’s sustainable biofuels, solutions driven by bio-innovation help minimise our environmental footprint. These companies challenge traditional thinking with feasible solutions that can reduce the steepening curve of resource consumption. It’s about making more with less.

The future of bio-innovation

The industrial revolution brought mankind a long way, but at an environmental cost. Now a biological paradigm is unfolding that will take us to the next level of development: bio-innovation. This is not a revolution, neither is it evolution. Rather it’s a return to the basic building blocks of nature – a fresh start based on better knowledge and understanding of principles. It’s our chance to rethink tomorrow.

Small textile manufacturers in China, detergent multinationals, and bioethanol producers around the world all have one thing in common: They’ve already adopted bio-innovation to improve their production and products while minimising their environmental footprint. In 2007, together with other forward-looking companies in more than 30 industries, Novozymes’ products helped save the world around 20 million tons of CO2 emissions. By delivering financially irresistible bio-innovation products that give producers a competitive edge, we have a positive effect on both the economy and the environment.

Facts on Novozymes’ bio-innovation Today, the world is on an unsteady course because we rarely know the exact consequences of our choices and actions. Even if we want to act responsibly, we are not sure how to do so. Novozymes uses Life Cycle Analyses to clarify the consequences of using its products. Here’s how Novozymes enzymes reduce CO2 emissions in a few of the industries that we work in:

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The difference is clear

Take the textile industry: Some textile mills around the world are now rethinking the traditional way of producing clothes following increasing demand from fashion houses for sustainable fabrics. Enzymes play a dual role in catering to – and driving – new eco-conscious trends, as well as improving the basic processing steps in the making of textiles. For consumers, it’s often impossible to feel the difference in the end product, but garments produced using biological solutions help save energy, water, and other raw materials.

Everything inter-connects with bio-innovation. For example, these new sustainable fashion items can be washed in an environmentally friendly way. Novozymes supply enzymes to detergent brands that can reduce washing temperatures to just 20 °C – and still deliver clean clothes. This reduction saves energy and limits CO2 emissions. By reducing the wash temperatures by half, a typical consumer in the developed world will cut their electricity consumption by more than 60%. The challenge of tomorrow is to lower the temperature even further and to remove oil-based chemicals in detergents.

And if we do remove oil-based products from the market, what’s the future for bioethanol? Transforming corn to fuel ethanol is only the first step; sugars needed to ferment to ethanol can also be provided by other enzymes that can break down more readily-available energy resources. These include waste products such as corn cobs and stalks, wood pulp, wood chips, sugarcane leaves, and rice straw.

By taking a fresh look at what is now considered agricultural waste, it could be possible for future farmers to make good use of their by-products instead of throwing them away. Once the technology becomes commercial, it could create a whole industry that converts biomass into fuel alcohol and other products traditionally based on oil.

The potential of partnership

These are just a few of the ways in which Novozymes is already helping industries become environmentally viable. Delivering biological solutions to strengthen business today means Novozymes prepares them for the inevitable requirements of the future. It makes complete business sense.

These three examples merely hint at the full potential of bio-innovation. To realise the opportunities of the future we need partnerships of all kinds. Novozymes can’t make it happen alone and will always need innovators who share the same vision; that of creating a win-win situation for both the environment and business. In a nutshell, this is the promise of bio-innovation – decoupling the use of natural resources from economic growth.

W: www.novozymes.com