Biotechnology may be one of the
answers to help slow the serious
and urgent issue of climate change,
BiotechNZ executive director Dr
Zahra Champion says.
The accelerating pace of climate
change along with global population
and depletion of agricultural
resources threatens food security
globally.
Biotech cannot solve climate
change by itself but productivity
gains through biotech are
increasingly important. Feeding a
world population of about 10 billion
by 2050 will require raising food
production by 70%. That number
jumps to 100% in developing
countries, where farmers are more
adversely affected by climate
change.
Using gene editing technology could
lead to a new type of plant as a
source of bioplastics and biofuels.
This could help reduce society’s
environmental footprint by replacing
nonbiodegradable and petroleumbased
plastics, Dr Champion says.
“Biotech can develop plants that
store more carbon dioxide in their
roots. If this is done on a massive
scale across the world with major
agricultural crops—such as corn,
soybeans, wheat, and cotton— it
could help slow down climate
change.
“Through biotech, crops can yield
more per acre. Biotech plants
naturally resist insect pests and
diseases and farmers will use less
energy. Genetically engineered
plants and animals can naturally
fight diseases and adapt to
environmental stress.
“The global climate change
movement is accelerating, though
belatedly, and not to be left out,
biotech in New Zealand has started
to tackle this serious issue. The
latest plant breeding techniques can
help achieve sustainable agricultural
production and food security.
“Agricultural biotech has a geneediting
tool such as CRISPR could
lead to a new type of sugarcane as
a source of bioplastics and biofuels,
create naturally resistant plants
that require less pesticides, less
fertiliser, and practice soil carbon
sequestration.
“Scion, a New Zealand Crown
Research Institute, is focusing on
using side and waste streams from
the forest, agriculture and other
sectors as feedstocks to make
bio-products that can compete with
petroleum-based counterparts not
only on sustainability criteria but
also on enhanced performance and
novelty.
“Callaghan has just announced
their new C-Prize will be for
climate change tech innovation
and New Zealanders don’t lack for
innovation. We just lack scale, so
this C-Prize is one key part of the
funding ecosystem, but not the total
solution.”
A number of Kiwi biotech
companies are fast developing
world leading solutions to help
combat climate change, Dr
Champion says.
Mint Innovation is a biotech startup
that is using chemistry and
microbiology to recover valuable
metals from electronic waste.
Avertana produces a range of
valuable mineral and chemical raw
materials by extracting them from
industrial waste, using innovative
chemistry but with a much lower
environmental footprint.
“Lanzatech is turning our global
carbon crisis into a feedstock
opportunity, taking emissions
and convert them to fuels and
chemicals, cleaning our air and
giving carbon a second chance.
“Of course, the planting of billions
of trees across the world is the
biggest and cheapest way to
tackle the climate crisis, according
to scientists, who have made the
first calculation of how many more
trees could be planted without
encroaching on crop or urban
areas.“
New Zealand schools, with support
from universities, businesses and
other organisations will take part
in the School Strike 4 Climate NZ
action across the country tomorrow
to highlight climate change
concerns.
NZ IOT ALLIANCE
BACKS SPARK’S
FIRST 5G ROLL OUT
The NZ IoT Alliance is
supporting Spark for being the
first to roll out a 5G wireless
solution in New Zealand.
IoT Alliance chair Kriv Naicker
says this is an obvious first
choice case as it will provide
many homes and businesses
with a viable substitute to a land
line internet connection.
“There is still demand for basic
speed improvements from our
internet connections. However,
the real game changer is that
5G will bring new connectivity
opportunities beyond just
helping more people download
videos faster.
“4G delivered mass market
consumer access to videos and
applications anytime, anywhere.
5G will build on this and be
more about enterprise and
government transforming how
we live and work.
“This means 5G will be about
IoT, AI, connected things,
machines, buildings and cities,
rather than just connecting
people with smartphones. 5G
will also be about the power of
analytics, driven insights and
automation.
“We urge the government
to accelerate the spectrum
work that will free up the
favoured spectrum for 5G as
this will provide business with
confidence to start developing
the solutions that will really bring
better productivity, sustainability
and inclusion for all New
Zealand.
“Alexandra businesses and
homes will be the first town to
get Spark’s 5G and the rollout
will expand to more towns next
year. We understand speeds for
5G wireless broadband are five
to 10 times faster than for 4G
wireless broadband.”
BIOTECHNOLOGY MAY BE ONE
ANSWER TO AGRICULTURE
DEPLETION
18 OCTOBER 2019