Viable the once unfeasible with bio and nanoeconomy.

There are areas on the planet that apparently have little benefit, they do not have minerals, fossil fuels, nor do their soils have the right characteristics to be cultivated. The lack of energy does not allow the establishment of industries and the generation of jobs. They are usually considered unviable areas by economists and abandoned to their fate. Young people emigrate in search of a better future and the existing towns languish. The picture described above is repeated across the entire surface of the planet. Now the bioeconomy and nanoeconomy based on the exponentially growing developments in biotechnology and nanotechnology seem to indicate that the once unfeasible is beginning to become viable. 

The following figure summarizes a series of possible, sustainable solutions, ranging from waste utilization and abundant energy generation to the production of advanced nanomaterials.    

Abundant energy production is based on the installation of solar panels, windmills, the generation of biogas from waste in biodigesters and thermoelectric power plants powered by biomass obtained from crops, microorganisms and microalgae, whether genetically modified or not, from which bioethanol, bio-oil and biodiesel can also be obtained.

Carbon dioxide from thermoelectric power plants and biogas generation can be used to obtain graphene, and to feed microalgae cultures capable of producing everything from medicines to omega-3 fatty acids. After extraction of the active principles, the rest of the microalgae can be used to obtain carbon nanotubes, a high value-added nanomaterial, by pyrolysis. In addition, new nanocatalysts also allow carbon dioxide to be converted into methane, increasing local energy production.

Energy self-sufficiency allows the installation of bioreactors to produce from “in vitro” meat to biopolymers and opens the door to multiple ventures, the installation of SMEs and businesses related to production and the general economic growth of the place. The economy of new technologies tends to horizontalize production in order to avoid the concentration of economic resources in a few. 

As an example, we will explain how from organic waste we can move on to the production of nanocomposite materials for 3D production in order to make products with high added value tending to make the area sustainable and with state-of-the-art technology. Biogas production generates methane and carbon dioxide. Both gases can be used to obtain nano-objects. 

Graphene and carbon nanotubes can be obtained from methane using the CVD (chemical vapor deposition) process. In parallel, organic waste can be used to produce polylactide (PLA), a biodegradable and recyclable polymer. Generally, fermentable waste is autoclaved at 121ºC for 20 minutes and then, by regulating the physicochemical conditions, a saccharification process is carried out with the enzyme glucosamylase and then Lactobacillus rhamnousus is added to convert the glucose produced into lactic acid. Finally, the lactic acid is used to synthesize PLA. Within nanostructured materials, nanocomposites of polymers with nano-objects present a high degree of current and future applications. In some nanocomposites, 1% graphene in the polymeric structure increases its strength by 100%. The possibility of being able to use PLA-graphene and PLA-carbon nanotube polymers obtained from waste in 3D printers allows the continuous or rotary production of a large number of products that can be used in the textile, food and automotive industries, among others.

A good example of the importance of the bioeconomy + nanoeconomy in the multidirectional society and its ability to make the once unfeasible viable.

Complementary reading:

Nanoeconomy and/or Bioeconomy

Nanoeconomy and/or Bioeconomy

Bioeconomy and nanoeconomy  emerged as a response to the problems raised by Physical Economics formulated by Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen (Vanderbilt University), through two publications: Analytical Economics (1966) and The Entropy Law and Economic Process (1971) in which the current economic and environmental problems are centered on the divorce between economic theories and the laws of nature.

Faced with the exponential and complex advance of these problems, close to his death, Nicolas Georgescu-Roegen has pointed out as the only possible solution to be able to respond to the growing demands of the nine primary human needs (health, energy, food, environmental care, clothing, housing, communication, transportation and defense), the emergence of integrated science-technologies capable of generating in time and form the necessary resources for all in order to restore the lost patterns and move towards a new equilibrium.

The answers have emerged from two integrated science-technologies capable of transforming nature: biotechnology and nanotechnology. Biotechnology, which uses living beings or parts of living beings, with its 65 million known genes and genetic engineering, and nanotechnology, with its capacity to innovate by building with atoms and molecules, provide the basis for new economies: The bioeconomy and the nanoeconomy, both included today under the denomination of economies of new technologies, tending to leave in the background the economy of globalization centered on the first technological convergence (information and communication technologies-ICTs) and incapable of responding to the economic and environmental needs of the 8 billion inhabitants of the planet.

The bioeconomy can provide answers to four primary human needs: health, food, energy and environmental care. Nanoeconomy, on the other hand, based on a technology with the capacity to innovate by building with atoms and molecules (of which the planet and human beings are made), is the only one with the real possibility of providing answers to all (the nine) primary human needs.

Let us take an example related to energy production. The generation of biomass consumes carbon dioxide. Then, when biomass is used as fuel, it generates carbon dioxide, which is reused by plants to generate biomass again, in an apparently neutral virtuous cycle of one of the main gases responsible for the greenhouse effect. However, the energy used in this cycle is only partially recovered, leaving a negative balance in the expenditure of usually non-renewable and polluting energies. On the other hand, the agricultural sector in general consumes the largest amount of fresh water on the planet (69%) which is contaminated with pesticides and fertilizers due to the extremely low and slow absorption of both products by plant roots. 95% of fertilizers and 99.9% of pesticides degrade before achieving their intended effects (Lowry et al. ACS Nano 2019, 13, 5, 5291-5305). In the case of nitrogen fertilizers dissolved in water they mostly end up as nitrogen oxides gases in the atmosphere, also contributing to the increase of the greenhouse effect.

Nanotechnology, on the other hand, with the appearance of nanopesticides and nanofertilizers for foliar application, makes it possible to reverse the slow absorption by plant roots, taking advantage of more than 90% of agrochemicals, reducing production costs and freshwater pollution. It also contributes to energy generation by improving the efficiency of solar panels through the use of some of its nanomaterials such as quantum dots. These allow, by regulating their diameter, to capture the infrared radiation (IR) that leaves the earth's surface at night and, when reflected in the clouds, produces global warming. In other words, they make it possible to create panels similar to solar panels but which generate photovoltaic energy at night using IR radiation. Other nanomaterials are making it possible to advance in the generation of energy in panels that work with ambient humidity and nanocatalysts capable of converting environmental carbon dioxide into methane (gas from stoves) among others and obtaining hydrogen fuel from water. New nanomaterials also improve the efficiency and durability of windmills. 

In short, the bio and nanoeconomy, with its technological bases, biotechnology that uses living beings or parts of living beings, with its 65 million known genes and genetic engineering, and nanotechnology with its capacity to innovate by building with atoms and molecules to provide answers to socioeconomic problems, are emerging as unique responses to the complexity of the needs of the earth with 8 billion inhabitants.

For a planet without direction, adrift in economic and environmental terms, an economy based on new technologies appears, capable of transforming nature to make life on earth possible.