As we move from a fossil fuels-based economy to one based on renewable energy, finding appropriate places to put renewable energy infrastructure will be controversial.
Proteins are natural, renewable, and biodegradable polymers which have attracted considerable attention in recent years in terms of advances in genetic engineering, eco-friendly materials, and novel composite materials based on renewable sources.
Why not change to a sustainable business plan, one based on renewable energy?
The driving force behind the exploitation of renewable energy sources is the necessity to shift from a fossil-fuel dependent economy to one based on renewable resources.
Therefore, research about building materials based on renewable resources like vegetable fibres is needed.
Furthermore, some case studies referring to the exploitation of composite materials based on renewable sources specifically for food packaging applications are described in detail.
This chapter reviews the current state of the art and the future perspectives concerning the design of polymer nanocomposite materials based on renewable sources, which show high barrier properties toward different diffusing species and hence are expected to be suitable for packaging applications: this peculiar use can be strictly correlated to their structure, morphology, and compatibility.
It is the main foreseeable sustainable source of organic fuels, chemicals and bio-materials, and significant efforts are made to make the 21st century one that is based on renewable substrates.
