Bioresource – Concepts and Types Explanation

Key Concepts

• Classification of natural resources

• Bioresources

• Types of natural resources

• Categories of bio-resources

• Classification of natural resources

Introduction:

Types of natural resources 

There are two kinds of natural resources: Geological and Biological resources. 

Water resources, mineral resources, and energy resources are the three types of geological resources. 

Flora and fauna are examples of biological resources. 

Geological resources 

Geological resources are valuable materials that may be collected from the earth and are of geological origin. 

Geological resources are classified as: 

1. Non-renewable energy resources (petroleum oil, coal, uranium) 

2. Non-metallic (Fe, Cu, Al, Ni, Zn, Ag) and metallic mineral resources (sand, gravel, limestone, sulfur, gem, gypsum, fertilizers, etc.) 

3. Water resources include both surface water and ground water. 

Biotic natural resources 

Are these air, water, or vegetation biotic natural resources? 

Vegetation is a biotic natural resource. Biotic natural resource is also referred as bio-resources. 

Bio-resource is made up of two words: bio, which means “biology,” and resource, which means “resource.” As a result, we have “biological resources.” Bioresources are critical for life science research and the biotechnology industry. 

Laboratory animals, plants, cells, genes, and microbes are examples of bioresources utilized in biological study. Biological resources refer to the living landscape, which includes plants, animals, and other natural elements, and are vital to society for the services they give as well as the difficulties they can cause. 

Plants in general, or all the plants found in a certain location, are referred to as vegetation. Vegetation is therefore a bio-resource. 

Explanation:

Bioresources are non-fossil biogenic materials or processes that are renewable and biodegradable in a natural and sustainable manner. 

These resources meet man’s basic needs for food, feed, bioactive molecules, fuel, energy, shelter, fiber, bioremediation, and biomedicals, among others. 

They have a significant impact on current and future socioeconomic developments. 

The quality, quantity, change, productivity, and condition of bioresources in a given area can all be described using a bioresource inventory.  These inventories could be used for assessments at the regional or national level. 

Organic matter or living creatures, commonly known as the biosphere or ecosphere, provide biotic natural resources. Humans and other living organisms’ survival and reproduction are directly or indirectly affected by these resources. They also have an impact on organism interactions such as predation, illness, parasitism, and waste management. 

Animals, vegetation, and fossil fuels are examples of biotic natural resources (such as oil, coal, and natural gas). Because fossil fuels are generated by the breakdown of living species that lived millions of years ago, they are considered biotic natural resources. 

Humans benefit most from the usage of bio resources. Its sources, however, are limited. If we desire to use herbal medicine, we must first grow it; else, their existence will be lost. The increased acceptance of medicinal plants is due to a number of factors, one of which is that it establishes people’s faith in herbal medicine. Many non-governmental organizations have begun to cultivate therapeutic plants and botanical gardens. 

1. Primary bioresources: Primary bio-resources are created with a specific goal in mind. 

It could generate in the forest, agriculture, or aquaculture industries, allowing for the creation of food, major items, and eventually electricity. Grain, fish, potato, wood, algae, and bamboo are some examples of primary bioresources. The majority of virgin primary bioresources are grown plants or animals. Plants are the most important primary bioresources in terms of quantity; cultivated algae, microbes, and fungus are of lesser importance. 

Virgin primary bioresources are of two types: Processed and non-processed. 

1. Follow-up processing activities produce processed primary bioresources.  

Parts of the virgin primary bioresource are separated in order to obtain the most value-added components required to make the utilization chain’s final “core product,” such as food, paper, or bioplastic goods.  

Mechanical processing processes are often used in primary processing to isolate the most value-adding elements.  The removal of main disrupting portions, such as twigs and branches from a tree to obtain stem wood, or the separation of straw from a crop to obtain grains, are examples.  

Example: Spruce tree-à stem wood-à pulp for paper. 

Other, more complex industrial processing steps follow with the goal of producing the expected core product. 

2. Non-processed primary bioresources: It includes non-processed plants or slaughtered animals.  

2. Secondary bio-resources are produced as by-products or residues during primary processing (in further industrial processing), and they can also be produced during the upkeep of huge green areas. 

Secondary bio-resources have the following characteristics:  

1. They are derived from real virgin materials. 

2. They have a low level of contaminants. 

3. They are produced in huge quantities. 

As maintenance residues, they are harvested in significant amounts on large green areas such as parks, lawns, sports fields, and dikes as genuine fractions in ample purity and freshness under controlled conditions. Example: Fruit remnants like orange peel, contain intriguing extractives. Biogas is produced from mixed fruit waste.  

They contain valuable extractives and organic matter that can be used for a variety of purposes. The mixed fruit residue in the photo is used to produce biogas. 

1. As processing results: They are made up of components from the primary bio resource. Mechanical, chemical, biological, and physical techniques can all be employed to separate things. 

2. They are gathered as real fractions in significant amounts under regulated settings on big green areas such as lawns, sports fields, parks, and dikes as maintenance residues in abundant purity and freshness. 

Tertiary bioresources: Tertiary bio-resources are leftovers from virgin materials that have been separated during the manufacturing process. 

However, these are residues that occur in small amounts at the generating site and/or are not real, as opposed to secondary bio-resources.  Uncontrolled alterations such as deterioration during storage could also have occurred. 

Tertiary bio-resources have the following characteristics:  

1. They have a lower value than secondary bio-resources. 

2. In the upkeep of green spaces such as gardens, other green spaces, and specific vegetation-covered installations. 

3. Plant residues are not genuine and/or are frequently partially degraded before arriving at a utilization facility. 

Quaternary bioresources: 

After a product has been utilized, quaternary bio-resources form. 

They can be divided into three groups based on the length of time it takes for them to generate once they begin to be used: short, medium, and long-term.  

• They are produced in all cases of food and feed intake in the form of human faeces and urine, as well as animal excrement, in the short period after the start of product usage. On a timescale of hours, such bio-resources are formed with a brief delay following food or feed ingestion.  
• The quaternary bio-resources appear in days to months following the start of use with a mid-term delay. Packaging materials, for example, are only used for the duration of transportation, while newsprints are only used for one-time reads. 
• The long-term after-use group’s time horizon might range from years to centuries. For example: Wooden construction components might remain for decades to centuries before becoming waste wood. The materials used in furniture construction often have a lifespan of many years to decades. 

Bioproducts are any products such as fuels, chemicals, raw materials made from biological resources. 

Categories of bio-product:  

Bioenergy, e.g., Ethanol, biodiesel, solid biomass, biogas and syngas 

Biochemicals, e.g., Resins, paints, lubricants, solvents, antibodies and vaccines. Biocosmetics like soaps, lotions, and creams. 

Biomaterials: It includes bioplastics from plant oil and sugars, bio rubber and bio foams, bio composites, biofibers, etc. 

Bioenergy: Bioenergy is one of many different options that can help us satisfy our energy needs.  

Biomass is a sort of renewable energy derived from recently living biological materials that can be utilized to produce transportation fuels, heat, electricity, and products. 

Biomass is a renewable resource that can be transformed into liquid fuels for transportation known as biofuels.  Cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable hydrocarbon “drop-in” fuels are examples of biofuels. Biofuels may be utilized in airplanes as well as most road vehicles. 

The carbon intensity of our vehicles and airplanes is reduced by using renewable transportation fuels that are functionally equal to petroleum fuels. 

Biochemicals: Biochemicals are industrial, biopharmaceutical, and cosmetics products. 

1. Industrial: A variety of industrial compounds that were previously made from petroleum can now be made from plant sources. Corn, soybean, and canola vegetable oils can also be utilized as feedstocks for the production of chemicals including solvents, lubricants waxes, and adhesives. 

Plant starches like maize starch can be biologically or chemically processed to yield organic molecules like acetic acid, succinic acid, glycerol, and methanol, which are all key feedstocks for the production of high-value bio-based products and biochemicals. 

2. Biopharmaceuticals: Biopharmaceuticals are medicinally useful plant-derived substances such as vaccines, antibiotics, and medicines. Plants can be genetically modified to produce a variety of therapeutic and industrial enzymes. Plant-based manufacturing of therapeutically active chemicals could lower production costs and make them more accessible to the general public. 

In Canada, for example, there are commercial efforts to make insulin from safflower for diabetes therapy. If effective, this might lower the cost of insulin significantly, particularly for those in developing nations. 

3. Cosmetics: Plant-based materials can be used to make a variety of products including body creams, soaps, vegetable oil-based lotions, and herbal extracts. Deodorants, shampoos, skin care products, make-up, sunscreens, beauty and personal hygiene products can all be made with vegetable oils, starches, proteins, and their derivatives as the key raw ingredients. 

In Canada, the yearly market for cosmetics and personal care products is over $5.4 billion and there is growing demand for natural-source products, notably as substitutes for those currently derived from petroleum-based sources. 

Biomaterials: It mainly consists of biofibers, bio composites, and bioplastics. 

Biofibers are renewable, biodegradable fibers made from wood, agricultural crop leftovers, and specially developed crops including hemp, flax, and kenaf. Biofibers can be combined with petroleum-based chemical (polymers) and resins to create bio composite materials that are stronger and more durable, with uses in the automobile (e.g., door panels), aerospace, and other industries. 

Bioplastics are made from starch crops (such as corn, potatoes, and wheat) and vegetable oils (such as canola or soybeans) rather than petroleum. Corn starch, for example, can be biochemically turned to lactic acid, which can then be chemically changed to polylactic acid and used to make bioplastics. 

Bioplastics are biodegradable and are used in a variety of industries, including packaging, cutlery, gardening, and pharmaceuticals. Plastic prices are strongly linked to the price of crude oil which is the fueling interest in bioplastic production.  

Benefits of bioproducts: 

Socioeconomic benefits: 

• Diversification of farms due to additional uses of agricultural feedstocks. 
• Development of new industries and goods. 

• Increased economic opportunities for rural communities. 
• Dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels is reduced. 

Environmental Benefits:  

• When compared to petroleum-based alternatives, the development of several bioproducts resulted in lower greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Higher environmental safety, decreased toxicity, and increased biodegradability. 

• Generation of renewable feedstocks on a long-term basis. 

Health benefits: 

• Potential for the development of low-cost pharmaceuticals and vaccinations. 
• New medicine development which is not available from traditional sources. 

Summary

• Anything that has utility and adds value to your life is called a resource.

• Flora and fauna, mineral deposits, water bodies (sea, river, ocean streams, and lakes), weather and climate, wind, rocks, are examples of natural resources that are broadly spread and unevenly distributed.

• Human-made resources are created when humans employ natural resources to create something new that is useful and valuable in our lives.

• Based on their origin, there are two categories of resources: biotic and abiotic.

• Potential and actual resources are natural resources based on the developmental stage.

• Natural resources based on the availability are exhaustible resources and inexhaustible resources.

• There are two types of natural resources: Geological and biological resources.

• Water resources, mineral resources, and energy resources are the three types of geological resources.

• Flora and fauna are examples of biological resources.

• Geological resources are valuable materials that may be collected from the Earth and are of geological origin.

• Bioresources are non-fossil biogenic materials or processes that are renewable and biodegradable in a natural and sustainable manner.

• Animals, vegetation, and fossil fuels are examples of biotic natural resources (such as oil, coal, and natural gas).

• The majority of virgin primary bioresources are grown plants or animals. Plants are the most important primary bioresources in terms of quantity; cultivated algae, microbes, and fungus are of lesser importance.

• Secondary bio-resources are produced as by-products or residues during primary processing (in further industrial processing), and they can also be produced during the upkeep of huge green areas.

• Tertiary bio-resources are leftovers from virgin materials that have been separated during the manufacturing process.

• Quaternary bioresources can be divided into three groups based on the length of time it takes for them to generate once they begin to be used: short, medium, and long-term.

• Bioproducts are any products such as fuels, chemicals, raw materials made from biological resources.

• Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy obtained from recently living organic elements called biomass.

• Biochemicals are industrial, biopharmaceutical, and cosmetics products.

• Biomaterials mainly consists of bio fibers, bio composites, and bioplastics.