Digging in to bio-based innovation

O'Malley, Lynda (author.). MaRS Discovery District, (issuing body.). Canadian Electronic Library (Firm), (distributor.).

Summary: Bioenergy is big business. McKinsey expects the market for energy from biomass and biofuels to grow from $203 billion in 2008 to $544 billion in 2020 and account for a rapidly increasing share of the total energy market. Markets are also developing around co-products and bioproducts from biofuel production, including a variety of bio-based materials. Bioproducts are chemicals, proteins or polymers derived from the bioprocessing of renewable resources. When produced in large volumes, they form the building blocks for renewable fuels, biodegradable plastics, food additives and therapeutic compounds. Canada's bio-based activities are worth $87.8 billion of the country's gross domestic product (GDP); health and pharmaceuticals, bioindustrials and agriculture account for $55 billion, $20 billion and $11 billion of this value, respectively. Together, bioenergy and bioindustrial companies account for 24.7% of Canada's bioeconomy companies. These are the companies that develop biofuels as well as the technologies to develop biofuels, bioproducts and other related compounds. The industry is growing: there are 11% more Canadian bioeconomy companies today than there were five years ago. Approximately a third of the companies in Canada's overall bioeconomy are based in Ontario.

Record details

Physical Description: remote
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1 electronic text (42 pages) : illustrations, maps.
Publisher: Toronto, Ontario : MaRS Discovery District, 2013.
Distributor: Ottawa, Ontario : Canadian Electronic Library, 2014.

Content descriptions

General Note:	"November 2013." Issued as part of the desLibris documents collection.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 38-42).
Formatted Contents Note:	1. Introduction -- 2. Feedstock potential -- 2.1 Wood and forest resources -- 2.2 Agricultural resources -- 2.3 Food waste and food processing resources -- 3. Bioproduct market opportunities -- 3.1 Biofuels market -- 3.2 Bio-based chemical and materials market -- 3.3 Biopower -- 3.4 Waste-to-energy market -- 4. Advantages at a glance -- 5. Market drivers -- 6. Access to finance -- 7. Investment trends -- 8. Challenges are opportunities -- 8.1 Sustainability -- 8.2 Technical and business -- 9. Who's who in bioproducts: sector players -- 10. The way forward -- Appendix A. The key players in Ontario -- Companies active in Ontario -- Endnotes.
System Details Note:	Mode of access: World Wide Web.