In 1998. the OECD published Biotechnology lor Clean Industrial Products and Processes. That volume set out many of the challenges for developing techniques to measure environmental friendliness and highlighted the potential contribution of various management tools. However, two major questions remained unanswered:
• Can biotechnology provide a cheaper option than conventional processes?
• Can economic gains and environmental friendliness go hand in hand?
The OECD Task Force on Biotechnology for Sustainable Industrial Development has continued this work, believing that:
• Biotechnology should be on every industrial agenda.
• Significant environmental benefits can be realised.
• industrial sustainability is a key parameter when deciding on process development.
• There is an urgent need to reconcile economic, environmental and societal requirements in a sustainable development framework.
The present study seeks to answer these questions on the basis of the experience of a number of companies that analysed the potential of biotechnology and decided to adopt or reject a biotechnology process. It is based on a collection of 21 case studies, which are presented in a broadly similar format so that readers can easily compare one application with another. All the available cases have been taken into account, though not all reflect successful application of a new technology. Two major types of biotechnology applications are covered, the use of renewable resources ("biomass'i and the use of biosystems ibiocatalysts, enzymes) in industrial processes.
A very wide range of industrial sectors is represented: pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, bulk chemicals, food and feed, textiles, pulp and paper, minerals and energy. The range of countries is also wide: Austria. Canada. Germany, lapan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa.
The principal audience of the volume is expected to be senior executives and members of company boards and government policy makers. One aim of the volume is to heighten the business community's awareness of biotechnology and the contribution it can make to the "triple bottom line", by demonstrating what others have achieved and providing a process assessment tool to focus their decision-making process. For policy makers, it seeks to provide a basis for expanding the role of biotechnology and supporting the development of national R&D and technology transfer programmes targeted at sustainable development. The assessment tool provided, the Green index, has a shortlist of key questions to be answered in any comparison and could be used by government authorities as part of R&D assessment.