Supporting a Circular Economy
What is a Circular Economy?
A circular economy is a system that aims to eliminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. It is a way of designing, producing, and consuming goods and services that minimize environmental impact while maximizing social and economic benefits.
A circular economy is different from a linear economy, where resources are taken, made into products, and then discarded. A linear economy uses up finite raw materials and produces vast quantities of waste. Extracting and processing raw materials impacts the environment and increases energy consumption and CO2 emissions (Learn More 1).
A circular economy follows four key principles:
Design out waste: This means creating products and services that are designed to last, to be easily repaired or refurbished, to use less or no harmful materials, and to generate less or no waste during their lifecycle.
Keep products and materials in use: This means extending the lifespan of products and materials by reusing, repairing, remanufacturing, or recycling them. This also means creating new business models that promote sharing, leasing, or renting of products and services instead of owning them.
Regenerate natural systems: This means restoring and enhancing the health and resilience of natural ecosystems by using renewable resources, avoiding harmful chemicals, and supporting biodiversity.
Rethink the system: This means changing the way we think about production and consumption, shifting from a culture of disposability to a culture of responsibility, and creating incentives and policies that support circularity.
The Importance of Energy in Circular Economies
Turning waste streams into sustainable energy is an important part of making circular economies a reality. By converting waste products into energy we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, which are finite and increase the rate of climate change.
Woodland BIO’s woody biomass-to-sustainable gasoline process is an example of how waste-to-energy solutions can create a circular economy. Woodland BIO uses low-grade woody biomass, such as small-diameter branches and dirty wood chips, which are residual streams from the Pennsylvania forest products industries. Most of these materials would otherwise have limited market value and would hinder the growth of a sustainable forest ecosystem as well as high-value timber (Learn More 2).
Woodland BIO converts the woody biomass into gasoline that is chemically identical to fossil fuel gasoline, using proven refining technology. The gasoline can be blended with refinery gasoline, sold directly to the wholesale market, or mixed with crude oil for simplified logistics at the wellhead. The gasoline meets the existing RBOB gasoline specification and works with existing vehicles and infrastructure (Learn More 3).
Woodland BIO’s process also produces biochar, a pure carbon material that has many environmentally beneficial uses, such as sequestering carbon in the ground or construction materials, improving soil quality and crop yield, and filtering water and air (Learn more 4).
By using Woodland BIO’s waste-to-energy solutions, we can achieve multiple benefits for the environment, people, and business:
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change
• Saving costs on raw materials, waste management, and energy
• Creating new jobs and skills in circular sectors
• Improving resource security and resilience
• Enhancing social equity and well-being
Woodland BIO’s vision is to create local circular supply chains for carbon-neutral drop-in liquid fuels, filling a key role in the circular economy equation with waste-to-energy solutions that are environmentally friendly, economically viable, and socially beneficial.
The Knock-on Benefits
A circular economy can create multiple benefits for the environment, people, and businesses. According to a report by Accenture, a circular economy could unlock $4.5 trillion of value by 2030 (Learn More 5).
They help reduce social and economic inequality by creating more value from local resources, generating new revenue streams, creating new jobs and skills, improving resource security and resilience, and enhancing social equity and well-being in areas that are traditionally underdeveloped or lack access to well-paying jobs.
Bringing new economic opportunities to these kinds of areas has exponential knock-on benefits for the community, starting with the simple injection of disposable income, which allows employees to spend more at local businesses, services, and restaurants. This kicks off a positive cycle where well-paying jobs create more jobs within the community, supporting a strong main street.
This fresh flow of money comes primarily from two sources:
Monetizing waste products.
Localizing revenue: With the example of Woodland BIO, rather than sending money to a few oil extracting and refining states when you fill-up the gas tank, the money would stay within the local economy, creating jobs and opportunities.
The benefits then ripple out from the economic sphere into the social sphere as traditionally under-served communities gain the tax revenue needed to start improving schools, hospitals, and public services, rather than shutting them down.
The ripples also extend into the environmental sphere as we become better at locally recycling materials, reducing our dependence on extracting new materials and transporting them vast distances between the steps of refining, manufacturing, distribution and sales.
This has the additional advantage of making communities more resilient and self-reliant in the case of global disruptions in supply chains, enhancing the ability to produce what we need on a regional basis, and creating a system that is less prone to shocks.
