ABSTRACT
In the previous section we introduced the concept of the biobased economy and explained how it can be considered as a step in a wider process; that is, the evolution of the (post-)industrial society into a society that is more sustainable. We have identified how sustainability is measured and how progress in achieving sustainable development is evaluated. By doing so, we have identified conditions for a sustainable development of a biobased economy and instruments to evaluate its performance. The definition of biobased economy that we introduced in Section I, ‘replacement of fossil fuels in the production of electricity, heat, transportation fuels, chemical products and other compounds by biomass’, is rather general. So have been the descriptions of technologies that facilitate the building of a biobased economy and the potentials, requirements, promises and limitations. We have not yet explained why these technologies are so important. What makes them (or some of them) so heavily debated? Why are they so attractive to some and repulsive to others? What do people expect their contribution to global economies might be? Why are we so anxious to devote an entire book to the analysis of this phenomenon? In this section we answer these questions, and many more.
