Residual materials with potential - 16/03/2023 PeePower – energy from urine The objective of the PeePower BUGA 2023 collaborative research project is to produce green hydrogen and platform chemicals from wastewater. This fits in nicely with BUGA 2023’s (German National Garden Show) four major themes, namely, climate, energy, environment and food security.
Think Tank FYI: Agriculture 5.0 - 16/02/2023 Agriculture 5.0: fighting the climate crisis with agrophotovoltaics and biochar Climate protection, agriculture and biodiversity are closely intertwined. Agriculture 5.0 provides positive guidance, as the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences has demonstrated: agrophotovoltaics (or agrivoltaics), which is currently in vogue in Germany, can be used to generate solar power on high-yield fields. Biomass strips and biochar remove CO2 from the atmosphere. All this improves soil quality and promotes biodiversity.
Review - 09/02/2023 5th Gene Technology Report – a critical observation of a cutting-edge technology The societal importance of genetic technologies was demonstrated during the coronavirus pandemic, when it was possible to rapidly develop suitable vaccines thanks to genetic engineering methods. As a result, the Fifth Gene Technology Report published in autumn 2021 reads like a validation of many years of work, as well as making it clear that the will to continue the detailed long-term monitoring is very much present.
Synergistic effects with microalgae and purple bacteria - 03/02/2023 Working towards a hydrogen economy with a wastewater biorefinery: the SmartBioH2-BW project A biorefinery that uses industrial wastewater and residual material streams is being built in Rheinfelden (Baden). It will have two interlinking bioreactors and will synthesize biohydrogen as well as organic basic materials such as carotenoids and proteins. SmartBioH2-BW is a pilot project run by the Urban and Industrial Biorefineries initiative and funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and Energy Sector.
Vaccination for plants - 23/01/2023 Dialogue instead of a chemical maze – new strategy for sustainable crop protection Climate change creates stress. This provides an opportunity for pests to exploit plant weaknesses and reproduce. For the infested plant, this can be catastrophic and often fatal. But instead of continuing to protect harvest yields with toxic substances as before, the transnational DialogProTec project is now taking a completely new approach: researchers want to intervene in the communication between plants and pests to keep them healthy.
Valorization of biological materials - 12/01/2023 ValBio-Urban brings bioeconomy research to users Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the capture and utilization of CO2 are important steps towards achieving a climate-neutral and sustainable economy. Accordingly, as part of the ValBio-Urban research project, an interdisciplinary team from the University of Stuttgart is developing bioeconomic approaches to solutions that will be implemented with companies from Baden-Württemberg.
Raw materials from wastewater - 21/12/2022 Wastewater treatment plants as biorefineries: the RoKKa project RoKKa, a joint project coordinated by the Fraunhofer IGB, is testing methods for recovering raw materials such as phosphorus and nitrogen compounds to produce fertiliser from municipal and industrial wastewater in a climate-neutral way. These new methods are being investigated under real conditions at wastewater treatment plants in the Ulm area with a view to developing them into sustainable biorefineries.
Start-up 'Innovation Matters' - 19/12/2022 Saffron cultivation in Germany - sustainable with support from robots Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world, because picking it involves a complex manual process. This treasure therefore comes to us mostly from countries such as Iran with poor working conditions and low wages. A start-up company called Innovation Matters from Baden-Württemberg is now developing a robot-assisted, automated process that will make saffron cultivation attractive in Germany as well as ecological and fair.