Abstract
The notion that the idea of nature isnot quite the unbiased rule to designsustainable futures is obvious. But,nevertheless, questions about nature, how itfunctions and what it might aim at, is leadingthe controversial debates about bothsustainability and biotechnology. These tworesearch areas hardly have the same theorybackground. Whereas in the first concept, theidea of eternal cyclical processes is basic,the latter focuses on optimization. However,both concepts can work together, but only undera narrow range of public acceptance in Europe.The plausibility of arguments for usingbiotechnology within sustainable technologiesvaries according to the assumed part natureitself plays for reaching optimized states. Theculture related vision of nature's functionshas impact on agricultural biotechnology,dealing not only with food crops but also withnon-food plants like renewable resources thatare used for energy or fiber production. Theseplants are grown to reach sustainabledevelopment. However, there is a fundamentaldifference between regarding biofuels as``renewable'' and ``regenerative,'' due to thetension between the concepts of ``the natural''and ``the sustainable.'' Arguments ofoptimization, efficiency, and efficacy arecritically discussed in order to take thepresent need for sustainable technologies forserious.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
AFAS - Abteilung für angewandte Systemanalyse, D. Wintzer, B. Fürniß , S. Klein-Vielhauer, L. Leible, E. Nieke, C. Rösch, and H. Tangen, Technikfolgenabschätzung zum Thema Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster-Hiltrup, 1993).
Balick, M. J. and P. A. Cox, Plants, People, Culture (Freeman, New York, 1996).
Beale, C. V. and S. P. Long, “Can Perennial C-4-Grasses Attain High Efficiencies of Radiant Energy Conversion in Cool Climates?” Plant, Cell and Environment 18 (1995), 641–650.
Beckerman, W., “Sustainability - is it a Useful Concept?” Environmental Values 3 (1994), 191–210.
Beckerman, W., “How Would You Like Your Sustainability, Sir? Weak or Strong? A Reply to My Critics,” Environmental Values 4 (1995), 169–179.
Böhme, G., Natürlich Natur. Ñber Natur im Zeitalter ihrer technischen Reproduzierbarkeit (Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main, 1992).
Bolton, J. R. and D. O. Hall, “The Maximum Efficiency of Photosynthesis,” Photochemistry and Photobiology 53(4) (1991), 545–548.
BUND and Misereor (ed.), Zukunftsfähiges Deutschland (Birkhäuser, Basel, 1996).
Cassirer, E., Essay on Man: An Introduction to a Philosophy of Human Culture (Yale University Press New Haven and London, CT, 1962).
Costanza, R., J. C. Cumberland, H. E. Daly, R. Goodland, and R. Norgaard, An Introduction to Ecological Economics (St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1997).
Costanza, R. and M. Mageau, “What is Ecosystem Health?” Aquatic Ecology 33 (1999), 105–115.
Daly, H. E. and J. B. Cobb, For the Common Good. Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future (Beacon Press, Boston, 1994).
Darier, É. (ed.), Discourses of the Environment (Blackwell, Oxford, 1999).
Davies, P. and P. Weston, BP Amoco, Oil Resources: A Balanced Assessment. Paper presented at The Energy Forum: Running on Empty? Prospects for World Oil Supplies. Rice University, Houston, TX, May 19, 2000.
EU - Directorate-General XII Science, Research and Development, Application of Biologically Derived Products as Fuels or Additives in Combustion Engines (EU. EUR 15647 EN, Brussels, 1995).
FAO Press Release, “FAO and Bioenergy,” Released 20/4/2000 (Rome, 2000). http: fao.org
Flaig, H. and H. Mohr (ed.), Energie aus Biomasse - eine Chance für die Landwirtschaft (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1993).
Flöhl, R., “Nachwachsende Rohstoffe für die Chemie,” in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Frankfurt/M, September 17, 1997).
Hartmann, H. and A. Strehler, Die Stellung der Biomasse (Landwirtschaftsverlag, Münster-Hiltrup, 1995).
Karafyllis, N. C., Nachwachsende Rohstoffe - Technikbewertung zwischen den Leitbildern Wachstum und Nachhaltigkeit (Leske+Budrich, Opladen 2000).
Karafyllis, N. C. (2001), Biologisch, natürlich, nachhaltig - philosophische Aspekte des Naturzugangs im 21. Jahrhundert (A. Francke, Tübingen, 2001).
Karafyllis, N. C., “Effizienz und Effektivität.Möglichkeiten und Grenzen desMensch-und Naturseins unter dem Zugang einer ökonomischen Rationalität,” in N. C. Karafyllis and J. C. Schmidt (eds.), Zugänge zur Rationalität der Zukunft (Metzler, Stuttgart, Weimar, 2002), pp. 169–201.
Krebs, A., Ethics of Nature - a Map (DeGruyter, New York, 1999).
Leisegang, H., “Physis,” in Pauly-Wissowas Realenzyklopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaften, 39 Vol. (Stuttgart, 1941), p. 1133.
Malyakal, E. J. and G. Keller, “Metabolic Pathway Engineering in Cotton: Biosynthesis of Polyhydroxybutyrate in Fiber Cells,” PNAS, 93 (1997), 12768–12773.
Meadows, D. H., D. L. Meadows, J. Randers, and W. W. Behrens III, Limits to Growth (Potomac Associates, New York, 1972).
Meadows, D. H., D. L. Meadows, and J. Randers, Beyond the Limits (Chelsea Green Publishing Co., VT, 1992).
Menrad, M., B. Hüsing, K. Menrad, Th. Reiss, S. Beer-Borst, and Ch. A. Zenger, Functional Food, Technology Assessment TA 37/2000 (Schweizerischer Wissenschaftsrat, Bern, 2000).
Millikan, R., Language, Thought and other biological Categories (Cambridge, MA/London, 1994).
Moffat, A. S., “Engineering Plants to Cope with Metals,” Science 285 (July 16 1999), 369–370.
Norgaard, R., Development Betrayed. The End of Progress and a Coevolutionary Revisioning of the Future (London/New York, 1994).
ÖAdW - Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Projektleitung: S. Alber), Technikbewertung erneuerbarer Rohstoffe I (Wien, 1992).
Pearce, D. W. and R. K. Turner, Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment (Harvester Wheatsheaf, New York, 1990).
Plotkin, H., Darwin Machines and the Nature of Knowledge (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1994).
Population Division (Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat), The World at Six Billion, Working Paper ESA/P/WP 154 New York, 1999).
Rapoport, A., General Systems Theory (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1986).
Rawls, J., A Theory of Justice (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999).
Schimel, D. S., “Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Carbon Cycle,” Global Change Biology 1 (1995), 77–91.
Schwemmer, O. (ed.), Ñber Natur. Philosophische Beiträge zum Naturverständnis (Klostermann, Frankfurt/M., 1987).
Searle, J. R., The Rediscovery of the Mind (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992).
Searle, J. R., The Construction of Social Reality (The Free Press, New York, 1995).
Trepl, L., Geschichte der Ökologie (Beltz/Athenäum, Weinheim, 1994).
Tsuchida, K. and M. Numata, “Relation between Successional Situation and Production of Miscanthus sinensis Communities at Kirigamine Heights,” Central Japan. Vegetatio 39(1) (1979), 15–23.
Van den Boogard, R., D. Alewijnse, E. J. Veneklass, and H. Lambers, “Growth and Water Use Efficiency of 10 Triticum aestivum Cultivars at Different Water Availability in Relation to Allocation of Biomass,” Plant, Cell and Environment 20 (1997), 200–210.
WCED - World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987).
Young Peyton, H., Equity (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1995).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Karafyllis, N.C. Renewable Resources and the Idea of Nature – What Has Biotechnology Got to Do With It?. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 16, 3–28 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021747521534
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021747521534