Primer on Bioproducts - BIOCAP Canada

Chapter 6Understanding the IssuesGovernments, industry, university and other researchers arestudying whether industrial bioproducts can help Canadasustainably build on its resource strengths and its existingindustries while lowering greenhouse gas emissions andreducing our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels.At this point, many questions remain about the environmental,social, economic and ethical implications of bioproducts. Thesequestions are difficult to answer because of the diversity andlarge number of bioproducts involved. Evaluating their impactsis also complicated by the complexity of the science ofbioproducts, the absence of performance evaluations and lifecycleassessments for many existing bioproducts, and theamount of conflicting information available concerning severalbioproduct technologies, such as genetic engineering.PRIMER ON BIOPRODUCTS47