Industries
Ecology & monitoring
What changes this industry: bio-solutions with evidence, technologies, suppliers and open money.
Overview of the industry
These articles cover dangerous chemicals used in the environment (A: wetlands, water bodies, pollution clean-up, roads, public health) and in towns and homes (B: gardens, public spaces, household cleaning, wood). Each is paired with proven biological or bioeconomy alternatives.
Biocides, public-health insecticides and environmental microbial products need national authorization (in Russia: Rospotrebnadzor state registration for public-health disinfectants and insecticides; the Ministry of Agriculture catalogue for agricultural pesticides; environmental permits for remediation). Check the current status before use.
A. Environment#
| ID | Problem → alternative | Replaces | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| E01 | Mosquitoes and blackflies → Bti / L. sphaericus larvicides, source reduction, plant-based repellents | Temephos and other OP larvicides, pyrethroid/OP fogging | Replace / Partial |
| E02 | Aedes-borne dengue → Wolbachia mosquitoes (−77 % dengue in the Yogyakarta trial), incompatible insect technique | Urban fogging, temephos | Replace / supplement |
| E03 | Oil spills and contaminated soils → bioremediation, microbial preparations, phytoremediation | Dispersants, burning, landfilling | Replace / Partial |
| E04 | Road de-icing → anti-icing practice, acetates, beet by-product brines | Chloride salts and chloride “reagents” | Partial |
| E05 | Village and farm wastewater → constructed wetlands | Chlorination, chemical precipitation, untreated discharge | Replace / Partial |
| E06 | Algal blooms → nutrient reduction, biomanipulation, submerged plants | Copper sulfate, algicides | Replace / Partial |
| E07 | Invasive floating weeds → host-specific weevils and beetles | Aquatic herbicides (2,4-D, glyphosate, diquat) | Replace / Partial |
| E12 | Cassava mealybug → classical biocontrol with Anagyrus lopezi (control in 95 % of fields) | Insecticides; uncontrolled losses | Replace |
| E13 | Invasive prickly pear → Cactoblastis cactorum moth (~90 % of stands destroyed on ~24 M ha) | Arsenic poisoning, mechanical clearing | Replace |
| E14 | Mediterranean fruit fly → sterile insect technique (>90 % less aerial spraying in Valencia) | Aerial organophosphate bait sprays | Replace in programme areas |
B. Towns, gardens and households#
| ID | Problem → alternative | Replaces | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| E08 | Slugs, vine weevil, chafer grubs → beneficial nematodes | Metaldehyde, methiocarb, garden soil insecticides | Replace |
| E09 | Weeds on paths and in parks → design, mulch, meadow mowing, hot water, pelargonic/acetic acid | Glyphosate and other herbicides in public spaces and gardens | Replace |
| E10 | Household cleaning → plain soap, enzyme detergents, probiotic cleaners, bio-surfactants | Triclosan, excess QACs, routine bleach | Replace / Partial |
| E11 | Outdoor wood → furfurylated, acetylated and thermally modified wood, larch, design | CCA (arsenic), creosote, pentachlorophenol | Replace / Partial |
Related articles elsewhere#
- Probiotic cleaning in hatcheries and barns: V12
Suppliers — real products and services (from the vendor index)#
Collection-level join (2026-09-28): active vendors matched by topic tags (
water-bioremediation112,enzymes58 companies in the index); open each card for evidence, contacts and status.
| Company | Region · Country | What the index shows | Card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contech Produtos Biodegradáveis | LatAm · Brazil | biodegradable/biological products | card |
| BIONOV BIOPRODUTOS | LatAm · Brazil | bioproducts | card |
| BIO PHYTO SA | Africa/ME · Benin | botanical/biological crop & environment products | card |
| Varuna Biotechnology | Africa/ME · UAE | bioremediation / water biology | card |
| Microbika | Africa/ME · South Africa | microbial products | card |
Reviewed but SKIPPED (no proven bio-alternative)#
| Substance / use | Hazard | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pet flea/tick spot-ons (fipronil, imidacloprid) | Found in rivers downstream of towns; toxic to aquatic insects | No proven biological substitute; use treatment only when needed (vet advice), combs and hygiene |
| Household cockroach and ant sprays | Indoor exposure to pyrethroids/OPs | Gel baits and sanitation are lower-risk but chemical; fungal biocontrol is still research |
| Copper/biocidal antifouling paints on boats (TBT is banned) | Copper toxicity in marinas | Alternatives (hull cleaning, foul-release silicone coatings) are not biological |
| PFAS in firefighting foams and consumer products | Persistent “forever chemicals” | Fluorine-free foams exist (synthetic), but this is not a bioeconomy substitution; remediation of PFAS by microbes is still research |
| Pyrethroid-treated textiles and mosquito nets | Resistance, washing into water | For malaria regions, nets save lives: no substitution recommended; see E01/E02 for complementary biological vector control |
What it replaces 14
Screened candidates 5
| E12 | cassava mealybug classical biocontrol with Anagyrus lopezi instead of insecticides in Africa write — Anagyrus lopezi brought cassava mealybug under control in 95% of fields (CGIAR). | D3 |
| E13 | prickly pear control in Australia with Cactoblastis cactorum instead of chemical and mechanical clearing write — Cactoblastis destroyed ~90% of prickly pear stands on >24 M ha (Australia). | D3 |
| E14 | cottony cushion scale control with the vedalia beetle instead of hydrogen cyanide fumigation in citrus drop — Only market-research, company or pilot figures verified — no article without evidence. | D1 |
| E15 | blackfly larviciding with Bti in the Onchocerciasis Control Programme instead of temephos fold into E01 — round 2, 2026-10-06 | D3 |
| E16 | Mediterranean fruit fly control by the sterile insect technique instead of insecticide bait sprays write — Medfly SIT: aerial insecticide use down >90% in Valencia; eradication from ~1 M ha in Chiapas (IAEA). | D3 |
Technologies 16
| Bioacoustics & passive ecological monitoring Passive sensing of biodiversity — autonomous bioacoustic recorders, AI species identification (BirdNET), and environmental DNA metabarcoding — turning sound and … | Monitoring & conservation |
| Biodiversity credits Biodiversity credits and habitat banks finance ecosystem restoration and conservation, leveraging eDNA and acoustic AI to scientifically verify ecological … | Finance & investment |
| Biodiversity genomics Sequencing and archiving the genomes of all eukaryotic life to support ecosystem restoration and bioprospecting. | Ecosystem restoration |
| Biodiversity monitoring (service for bioenergy) Certification bodies and environmental consultancies that audit and monitor biodiversity, land-use-change and deforestation risk on behalf of bioenergy … | Standards & certification |
| Blue carbon Carbon captured by marine ecosystems — mangroves, seagrass, salt marshes and cultivated seaweed/kelp — and the emerging industry of ocean farming, Sargassum … | Blue carbon & restoration |
| Blue-carbon habitat restoration Contracted ecological engineering that rebuilds seagrass meadows, salt marshes, oyster reefs and barrier dunes as a paid restoration service — distinct from … | Blue carbon & restoration |
| Coral reef restoration High-tech interventions including land-based farming and 3D printing to accelerate the growth and resilience of coral reefs. | Blue carbon & restoration |
| De-extinction & conservation biotech Applying multiplex genome editing, cryogenic biobanking, assisted reproduction and AI genomics to revive extinct species and genetically rescue endangered ones … | Monitoring & conservation |
| Ecological engineering & gene drives Deliberately engineering whole wild populations — from CRISPR gene drives that force 100% inheritance of a trait through a mosquito population in 6-20 … | Genome engineering |
| Ecological hydrogels for deserts & arid soils Bio-based and biodegradable superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) engineered to combat desertification and improve agricultural resilience by drastically increasing … | Climate adaptation |
| Ecosystem restoration The science and business of rebuilding degraded land — post-wildfire reforestation with drone seed-pods and biomass-burial carbon, arid-land Cocoon planting, … | Ecosystem restoration |
| Forest & agroecosystem biomonitoring (smart) Smart biomonitoring of forests and agroecosystems fuses environmental DNA, satellite and LiDAR remote sensing, IoT sensor networks and AI to track biodiversity, … | Ecosystem restoration |
| Green infrastructure and urban forestry Structural soil cells, professional urban-forest management services and moss-based biofiltration installations that let street trees and green infrastructure … | Ecosystem restoration |
| Invasive-species biomonitoring via eDNA Detection of invasive and protected species from water, soil and air samples via environmental DNA (eDNA) using droplet-digital PCR and NGS metabarcoding, … | Monitoring & conservation |
| TNFD disclosures & nature-related accounting TNFD disclosures and nature-related accounting transition traditional finance toward double materiality, utilizing GIS mapping and AI to quantify corporate … | Standards & certification |
| Urban microbiome management Mapping and deliberately shaping the microbial communities that colonize subways, offices and hospitals — global metagenomic swabbing consortia that sequence a … | Monitoring & conservation |
Opportunities 0
No open tender or grant matched right now.