Integrated Environmental Biotechnology - Environmental Biotechnology: Theory and Application - page 261

natural abilities, may permit novel technological approaches to emerge, which
have major potential relevance to the environmental sphere, they can be of
somewhat limited commercial application. At present, there seems to be much
more scope, at least in practical terms, for the bundling of existing technologies
into treatment trains, or the re-entry of post-processed biological material into
the chain of commercial utility.
Closing Remarks
Biotechnological integration often permits a number of key environmental con-
cerns to benefit and as we begin the second decade of the third millennium, there
is little doubting that we face some serious environmental concerns indeed. As
the dust begins to settle from COP-15 and the controversies of Climate-Gate,
it seems that issues far more important than whether a view is 'orthodox' or
'heretic' are emerging that usefully begin to move the debate beyond puerile
accusations of denial or belief. The future does not lie in discussions as to how
anthropogenic climate change truly is, or is not; it lies in a paradigm shift in our
stewardship of the planet and a better realisation of the need to conserve, sustain
and marshal our resources with intelligence and probably greater humility.
'The world must come together to confront climate change. There is little sci-
entific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, famine and mass
displacement that will fuel more conflict for decades. For this reason, it is not
merely scientists and activists who call for swift and forceful action - it is military
leaders in my country and others who understand that our common security hangs
in the balance'. So said President Obama in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech,
encapsulating the real crux of the huge challenge that faces us all as water, food
and energy resources come under increasing pressure across the globe.
When fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Norman Ernest Borlaug, showed the
world how to improve agricultural yield back in 1970, the population that needed
to be fed stood at only 3.7 billion; today it is creeping inexorably towards 7 billion
and will be fast approaching 9.5 billion by the middle of the century. Currently,
nearly 50% of the world's food supply is grown in 20% of the world's cultivated
land, that is irrigated. It is thirsty work, with irrigation in some parts of the world
accounting for 80% or more of the total water used. Small wonder then, that in
2009, the International Water Management Institute warned of potential future
food shortages in Asia, in the absence of significant reform of the continent's
agricultural water usage. One thing is clear; Asia is certainly not alone.
Environmental biotechnology unquestionably has the potential to make a last-
ing contribution to meeting future demands for food, fuel and water; the technolo-
gies are already here and others are waiting in the wings. In the final analysis, life
is enormously robust and resilient, not perhaps at an individual level, but certainly
on a gross scale. Living things, and most especially microbes, have colonised
a truly extensive range of habitats across the planet, and some of these are, as
has been discussed, extremely challenging places and surprising new examples
are being found all the time. Recently, for example, three new species of the