Bioeconomy

Article - 10/04/2010

We need to tap alternative energy sources

Prof. Dr. Christoph Wittmann from the TU Braunschweig is a partner in the BiopolymersBiomaterials cluster. He is developing mathematical models of metabolic processes to optimise microorganisms for use in biotechnology. In an interview with Christoph Bächtle Wittmann talks about systems biology drawing-board organisms biobased plastics and biotechnologys capacity to complement existing large-scale methods.

Layers of plastic much thinner than a strand of hair are of enormous interest to scientists and engineers. A team of researchers led by Prof. Stefan Mecking from Constance University has now developed a new method to produce wafer-thin layers.

Article - 12/09/2011

What happens inside molecular light receptors?

A team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Tilman Lamparter from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT is investigating how the absorption of light alters the three-dimensional structure of phytochrome molecules and how this effects the behaviour of plantcells. The researchers use bacteria with phytochromes that have largely unknown functions.

Article - 14/05/2012

What bacteria can teach us about efficient methane production

Professor Bernhard Schink from the University of Konstanz has been focused on different aspects of the interaction of fermenting bacteria and methanogenic archaea for more than 25 years. Archaea have the unique ability to produce methane at the threshold of viability. The biologists research group is seeking to obtain insights into how prokaryotes such as those found in Lake Constance sediments are able to survive under anaerobic conditions.…

Article - 13/04/2015

Ioanna Hariskos: Biogenic calcification as a role model for industry

Emiliania huxleyi, a calciferous microalga of global importance, is one of the major calcite producers in the world’s oceans. It forms calcium carbonate discs that are barely discernible under a light microscope. This biogenic calcite differs from fossil calcite primarily by its filigree three-dimensional structure. Ioanna Hariskos and other scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) produce highly complex biogenic calcite…

Article - 17/08/2009

The source of biomass young people experience this agricultural energy source

A biomass action day was recently organised at the Unterer Lindenhof experimental station in order to show schoolchildren a number of features of different agricultural products that fuel that is made from rape seed is capable of taking them from Egypt to South Africa that the use of wood for heating houses is very ecological and that various plant oils can taste very differently. This action day was made possible thanks to the Hohenheim…

Article - 23/08/2016

Bioenergy from meadow orchards

A project called ”Energiebündel & Flowerpower" run by the “Netzwerk Streuobst Mössingen" has established a complex local recycling network for biomass from meadow orchards. The network involves the city of Mössingen, the neighbouring municipality of Nehren, the KFB institution for the physically disabled and their self-help work group called “Streuobst und Naturschutz”, a biogas operator from Nehren, a start-up company called Vital…

Article - 01/06/2015

Cyanobacteria: real all-rounders – biofuel producers and climate savers

Prof. Dr. Annegret Wilde and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hess from the Institute of Biology III at the University of Freiburg have been using the versatile cyanobacteria for quite some time. The two researchers are part of the project "Cyanosys - Systems biology of cyanobacterial biofuel production", which aims to use cyanobacteria for the large-scale production of biofuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide.

Article - 17/07/2017

Efficient production of fuel from biogenic residues

Natural gas is a more climate friendly fuel than raw materials such as coal and petroleum. Nevertheless it is also a fossil fuel that generates anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In a collaborative project at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, scientists and engineers are concentrating on finding out how biogenic residues and waste materials such as wood, sewage sludge and biomass mixtures can be turned into alternative gaseous fuels.

Article - 20/03/2018

ISOCALM: Thermal insulation boards made of elephant grass

Constructing buildings with renewable resources is becoming more and more trendy. The Schorndorf-based company ISOCALM GmbH specialises in the manufacture of thermal insulation boards made of elephant grass. The elephant grass is grown and processed in Africa and global distribution of the boards is organised through the company's headquarters in Germany.

Article - 05/04/2017

Wood as raw material for platform chemicals

Petroleum is required for producing fuels as well as many everyday items. However, as petroleum resources are dwindling, researchers are carrying out intensive research into possible alternatives. Wood might be one such alternative. It is a renewable resource that can potentially be used as a raw material for many products manufactured by the chemical industry.

Press release - 20/10/2008

Blue algae - malicious killers?

Toxicologist Prof. Daniel Dietrich and his group of researchers at the University of Constance are working on clarifying the circumstances under which blue algae produce toxins and whether they are toxic for humans and animals.

Cells are like factories only smaller Tiny machines assemble large proteins from very small molecules. But where do the machines come from? Researchers at the University of Würzburg have now found an answer to this question.

Article - 09/05/2018

Precision farming - climbing aboard the digital high-tech tractor

Sustainably cultivating arable land, ensuring good harvests, milking cows, paperwork - farmers are barely coping with their heavy daily workload. High-tech agricultural machinery and automated solutions help save time and resources. By contributing to shaping progress, agricultural businesses of all sizes can gain economic and ecological benefits.

Article - 11/02/2019

Natural biopolymers - the sustainable almost-all-rounders

Wood pulp as well as hemp and flax are renewable raw materials that can be processed into fibres of a new performance class using innovative technologies. They are environmentally friendly and help to solve waste problems. Products and processes for these fibres of the future are being developed at the DITF Denkendorf. They are suitable for textile and technical applications.

Press release - 14/10/2008

ARBOCAR project to develop natural materials for cars

Seven BiopolymersBiomaterials Cluster partners from industry and research are joining forces to develop a new natural material based on lignin a natural material found predominantly in wood.

Press release - 11/07/2010

Biologists at the University of Stuttgart identify three new tardigrade species

Tardigrades also known as water bears have the remarkable ability to survive in extreme conditions - complete desiccation or freezing without sustaining any damage at all! Around 1000 tardigrade species were previously known. Dr. Ralph Schill from the Institute of Biology at the University of Stuttgart and colleagues from the University of Würzburg have now discovered three new species.

Press release - 28/04/2010

Antibiotics Co Insilico and partners to improve biotech production

A veritable network specialist has become active in yet another network the GenBioCom joint project financed by BMBF Federal Ministry of Education and Research is profiting from Insilico Biotechnologys know-how on bacterial metabolism and genome-based metabolic simulations. The ultimate goal is to improve and expand the commercial use of Actinomyces bacteria as producers of bioproducts and active agents.

Press release - 31/05/2010

Geomicrobiologists from Tübingen discover how electricity flows in soil

Geomicrobiologists from the Centre for Applied Geoscience at the University of Tübingen in cooperation with researchers from the University of Wisconsin USA the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing BAM and the Humboldt University in Berlin are the first in the world to show that microorganisms are able to use solid-phase organic soil particles so-called humic substances to replace oxygen when grown in the absence of oxygen. The…

The EU hopes to tap innovative markets with a Lead Markets Initiative in which bio-based products have been identified as an important market. The Lead Markets Initiative is part of the EUs broad-based innovation strategy.

On 21st November 2007 the German Minister of Agriculture Horst Seehofer and the German Minister of the Environment Sigmar Gabriel presented a strategy on Germanys climate and energy policy in the biofuel sector the Biofuels Roadmap.

Press release - 30/04/2010

MYKOTOWN to focus in future on renewable energies and sustainably produced fuels

In the future the Swiss company MYKOTOWN GREENTECH AG will focus on sustainably produced fuels and regenerative energies. The company is thus continuing its journey towards the production of biological and ecological plants using mycorrhizal fungi as well as tapping new fields of business.

A study also involving researchers from Constance shows that marine seaweed releases huge quantities of iodine when exposed to stress. This process contributes to cloud formation and thus has an effect on the climate.

Dr. Frank Brändle and Dr. Marco Thines managing directors of PathoScan GbR in Hohenheim have developed a PCR-based test system which allows the detection of fungi and bacteria in seed at very early stages. The test system will be patented in the near future.

The fact that petrol is becoming more and more expensive has a knock-on effect on the chemical industry. At Biotechnica 2008 Fraunhofer researchers showed how chemical products can be produced from rape whey and crab shells.

After difficult negotiations we have achieved a positive outcome said Ursula Heinen Parliamentary State Secretary for the German Federal Ministry of Food Agriculture and Consumer Protection.