Biotic material orbiological derived material is any material that originates fromliving organisms. Most such materials containcarbon and are capable ofdecay.
The earliest form oflife on Earth arose at least 3.5 billion years ago.[1][2][3] Earlier physical evidences of life includegraphite, abiogenic substance, in 3.7 billion-year-oldmetasedimentary rocks discovered in southwesternGreenland,[4] as well as, "remains of biotic life" found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks inWestern Australia.[5][6] Earth'sbiodiversity has expanded continually except when interrupted bymass extinctions.[7] Although scholars estimate that over 99 percent of allspecies of life (over five billion)[8] that ever lived on Earth areextinct,[9][10] there are still an estimated 10–14 million extant species,[11][12] of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described.[13]
The use of biotic materials and processed biotic materials (bio-based material) asalternative natural materials over synthetics is widespread with those who are environmentally conscious because such materials are usually biodegradable, renewable, and the processing is commonly understood and has minimal environmental impact. However, not all biotic materials are used in an environmentally friendly way, such as those that require high levels of processing, are harvested unsustainably, or are used to producecarbon emissions.
When the source of the recently living material has little importance to the product produced, such as in the production ofbiofuels, biotic material is simply calledbiomass. Many fuel sources may have biological sources and may be divided roughly intofossil fuels andbiofuel.
^Schopf, J.W., Kudryavtsev, A.B., Czaja, A.D., and Tripathi, A.B. (2007). "Evidence of some Archean life: Stromatolites and microfossils."Precambrian Research.158:141–155.
^Schopf, J.W. (2006). "Fossil evidence of Archaean life."Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci.29;361(1470) 869–885.
