Biomimicry, an interesting tool to add to the innovation tool kit!

Posted on May 09 2012 | Author: Tom Dowler

Given the dearth of bio-based companies we work with, and the goal of many to utilize more sustainable feedstocks, create more efficient methods for farming, processing, and manufacturing, and develop products often from organic sources, it brings up the question, what about biomimicry?

Biomimicry is defined as emulating nature to solve human problems sustainably.

After all, encountering 3.8 billion years of “product development” (life) and countless improvements to the compositions and processes within each “product”, Mother Nature may have figured out a few answers that even our best and brightest cannot efficiently determine without a guide.

How do we reduce our energy consumption? How do we reduce our material usage?...in short, can emulating nature help to reduce costs and make products and processes more efficient?

Some great examples of Biomimicry in use are:

• Toronto-based WhalePower, who has developed their Tubercle Technology utilizing the fluid dynamic and biomechanic design of a humpback whales flipper to produce a quieter and more efficient wind turbine.
• Columbia Forest Products, who has taken into account the natural adhesive abilities of the blue mussel to create a soy-based formaldehyde free technology used for construction of hardwood plywood products.

For more information on Biomimicry, there is a growing list of expertise in this area including:

• The Biomimicry Guild and Biomimicry Institute
• The Biomimicry Collaboration, led by Jamie Miller at the University of Guelph

Biomimicry, an interesting tool to add to the innovation tool kit!

Tom Dowler
Senior Business Analyst

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