There is an urgency to identify novel technological answers to the decreasing availability of important resources together with increasing accumulation of pollution. Among the many ways materials science can contribute to these issues, the enhanced use of renewable resources, the optimal production of alternative energies and the improved monitoring/cleaning of contaminated environments can be identified as area where the sol–gel technology has, and will have, a major role to play. In this short review, we more specifically illustrate recent developments in biohybrid chemistry applied to bioplastics, biofuel cells, biosensors and bioremediation.