Feedstocks for thrivable bioeconomies

When managed responsibly, renewable feedstocks offer a promising path to mitigate climate change while improving quality of life worldwide. Feedstocks such as biomass, water and carbon dioxide are commonly used in biorefineries for producing energy and chemicals and delivering services. Biomass is the most widely used. However, its mismanagement across its value chain—from farming to transformation to waste management—has sparked controversies, including the ‘Food for Fuels’ and ‘Land Use Change’ debates, making some agrobiorefinery products like bioenergy contentious. Sustainable biomass is often seen as a key solution, but it faces a fundamental challenge: common biomasses rely on sunlight, and since half the planet is always in darkness, this limits their future. Since sustainability often implies maintaining current systems, regeneration would seem a better approach for restoring and renewing systems. However, if the goal is to achieve rational economic or ecological surplus, sustainability and regeneration are insufficient to meet these expectations. Therefore, the world needs models that enable systems to thrive, not just survive. The thrivable integration of agrobiorefineries, ecosystems and societies could help. One promising example is the use of arid plants that convert carbon into biomass at night, unlike most crops. This Fifth Generation Feedstocks are gaining attention for energy transition, food security and water conservation (5Gen Feedstocks). To succeed, such innovations must be embedded in thrivable integrated systems from the early stages of process design. This approach has already delivered a cleaner and energy-efficient agrobiorefinery in underserved rural areas, producing ethanol fuel using just one-third the energy per unit compared to classic biorefinery. Thrivable agrobiorefineries, communities and ecosystems could survive and flourish. They could form a foundation of a thrivable bioeconomy focusing on ecological regeneration and long-term prosperity, by producing renewable bioproducts and bioenergy, while supporting carbon neutrality, climate risk mitigation and SDG.