Abstract | The bioeconomy is a concept that has been developed over time, with the aim of achieving sustainable progress through the use of renewable biological resources for the production of food, energy, and industrial goods (European Commission, 2012). The bioeconomy makes use of the untapped potential of millions of tons of biological waste and residual materials (Babujia et al., 2021). By transitioning from fossil to renewable sources, the bioeconomy is expected to enhance sustainability and contribute to climate and environmental protection (European Commission, 2020).
The bioeconomy encompasses the production of renewable biological resources and their conversion into food, bio products, and bioenergy. This includes a wide range of economic activities, such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, food production, paper, as well as parts of the chemical, biotechnology, and energy industries (European Commission, 2012). In essence, the bioeconomy covers all activities related to biomass production.
However, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and aquaculture require certain limited resources, such as land, sea space, soil, water, a clean ecosystem, minerals, and energy for the production process (European Commission, 2018). Overexploitation of these resources has led to a reduction in their availability over time. Therefore, the European Union is now focusing on producing more with fewer resources and developing a smart sustainable system for growing plants, animals, fisheries, and aquaculture (European Commission, 2018).
The European Union is a world leader in several fields of bioscience and has set ambitious goals for the development of the bioeconomy. The Republic of Croatia has significant potential for the development of the bioeconomy, with its abundant natural resources (Mihaljević et al., 2021). |