-
-
Specialized in Sustainability - 30/09/2021
The research project RUN (Rural Urban Nutrient Partnership) explores how waste might be used more efficiently as a resource. In this project, Veronika Fendel investigates how recyclable materials from biowaste and domestic wastewater can be fed back into the material cycle in the best possible way.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/circular-economy-future
-
Dossier - 17/11/2021
Sustainability is in vogue. And it’s not a question of wanting to be sustainable, but having to be: as the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows, protecting the climate and the environment calls for swift action. Biorefineries that use renewable raw materials and recycle industrial raw materials are playing an important role in the bioeconomy concepts of many countries - including the state of Baden-Württemberg.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/dossiers/biorefinery-new-paths-build-our-tomorrow
-
-
Climate-friendly circular economy - 11/11/2021
A Fraunhofer team has successfully produced a dye using CO2 adsorbed from the air. The aim is to move towards a climate- and resource-friendly circular economy. Chemicals, as well as fuels, can be produced cost-effectively using this process. How does the technical process work, and what opportunities does it open up?
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/co2-air-raw-material-chemicals
-
Press release - 12/01/2022
Chitin is the main component of insect carapaces and ensures that they are both stable and flexible. The Chitinfluid research project, funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, focuses on the use of chitin in construction and aims to process chitin and its derivatives into sustainable materials. In a hybrid symposium under the auspices of Prof. Sabine Laschat from the University of Stuttgart, the project team discussed the current state of research…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/insect-carapace-sustainable-building-material
-
-
Protection against game damage - 13/01/2022
Young forest plants need protecting against damage and as a result it’s often hard to miss the colourful plastic tree guard sleeves when out walking in forests. These tree guard sleeves are neither pleasing to the eye nor sustainable. Bernd Schairer UG from Albstadt has developed sapling protectors made of wood that contain no plastics, metals or chemicals, do not require removal and disposal, and are produced in a socially responsible way.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/sapling-protectors-made-domestic-wood-simple-effective
-
-
-
Alternative foodstuff ? - 09/03/2022
If there were a competition for the ‘crop of the future’, hemp would certainly be at the top. But not because of the intoxicating effect of some hemp varieties. Cannabis has the potential to help supply protein in the quantities required by a growing world population – in a sustainable way. The TASTINO project brings together researchers from academia and industry to work on ways to make the regional superfood available as a vegan alternative.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/hemp-regional-superfood-and-valuable-source-protein
-
Further utilisation of plant residues - 25/11/2021
Biogas plants produce energy-rich gas by fermenting biomass. This process generates both liquid and solid fibrous and particulate fermentation residues. Researchers at the German Institutes of Textile and Fibre Research (DITF) have now managed to create a resistant and water-repellent fibre composite material from solid hop residues that can be used as a veneer to coat wood panels.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/novel-fibre-composite-made-hop-fermentation-residues
-
-
-
-
Press release - 02/03/2022
The Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector is funding the KoalAplan project, which extends the functional scope of a wastewater treatment plant. The project, based in the Stuttgart district of Büsnau, aims at recovering raw materials from wastewater and is therefore making a positive contribution to climate neutrality, as the products obtained replace fossil raw materials and energy-intensive processes.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/biorefinery-project-koalaplan-extracting-raw-materials-wastewater
-
Press release - 06/04/2022
The University of Stuttgart is contributing to innovations for climate protection as part of the EU project "Smart Circular Bridge". An old material is being rediscovered: flax has been with us for thousands of years in the form of clothing, sacks, and robust ship's ropes. Now the plant fibres are experiencing a renaissance and could become the building material of the future.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/high-tech-bruecke-mit-flachs-gebaut
-
-
Press release - 20/05/2022
The construction industry consumes large amounts of energy resources and produces tons of waste. At the Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 university competition, students and researchers from KIT are eager to demonstrate that the building sector is already compatible with a functioning circular economy. The task of the interdisciplinary “RoofKIT” team is to convert previously unused roofs of buildings into usable spaces.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/roofkit-how-build-recycling-oriented-and-sustainable-way
-
-
-
-
Renaturalised peatlands as carbon dioxide stores - 14/06/2022
All intact peatlands on our planet store twice the amount of CO2 as all forests. Peatlands are indispensable for preventing and mitigating the effects of climate change. The only problem is that 95 percent of Germany's peatlands have been drained, and thus release around 7 percent of Germany’s total CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Rewetting is therefore imperative for the climate, the environment and biodiversity – and economically…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/peatlands-climate-protection-factor-binding-co2-instead-releasing-it
-
-
-
-
-
Press release - 06/10/2022
Basic chemicals, which are needed as raw materials for a wide range of products such as medicines and detergents, can currently only be produced with an enormously high input of energy and raw materials. In many cases, fossil fuels and raw materials are still used. The extraction of chemical substances alone requires high temperatures, expensive catalysts made of precious metals and, in some cases, environmentally harmful starting materials.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/neue-elektrolyseverfahren-fuer-eine-nachhaltige-chemische-produktion
-
Press release - 29/09/2022
Fossil raw materials are limited and not available and extractable everywhere in the world – as we are becoming acutely aware of right now by the example of fossil fuels and rising energy prices. Renewable raw material sources will therefore play an increasingly important role in the future: as energy sources, but ideally also as suppliers of building blocks for more environmentally compatible chemicals and materials.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/algen-als-mikroskopische-bioraffinerien
-
Press release - 02/11/2022
Whether in drinking water, food or even in the air: plastic is a global problem - and the full extent of this pollution may go beyond of what we know yet. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), together with partners from the Netherlands and Australia, have reviewed conventional assumptions for the transport of plastic in rivers.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/blind-spots-monitoring-plastic-waste
-
-
-
Project FuTuReS - 12/12/2022
Algae are aquatic organisms that flourish in a huge variety of species. But that's not all: they are also small green mini-factories that can produce all kinds of valuable materials. All they need is water, light, CO2 and a few nutrients that can be recycled from biogas or sewage treatment plants. Researchers have now determined the optimal framework conditions and practicability of process methods for agricultural algae cultivation.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/microalgae-high-quality-products-domestic-agriculture
-
-
-
Press release - 16/02/2023
On February 16, 2023, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Science, Research and the Arts, Petra Olschowski, visited the University of Freiburg. The focus of her visit was on sustainability and the transfer of knowledge. The minister learned all about how the day-to-day running of the university is becoming sustainable, and the wide-ranging climate protection and environmental safety measures. She also visited the livMatS pavilion.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/minister-science-visits-university-freiburg
-
-
-
-
-
Residual materials with potential - 16/03/2023
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.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/peepower-energy-urine
-
-
-
-
Press release - 25/04/2023
Roboticists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have developed a jellyfish-inspired underwater robot with which they hope one day to collect waste from the bottom of the ocean. The almost noise-free prototype can trap objects underneath its body without physical contact, thereby enabling safe interactions in delicate environments such as coral reefs. Jellyfish-Bot could become a tool for environmental remediation.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/jellyfish-robots-could-one-day-clean-worlds-oceans
-
-
Press release - 26/04/2023
Ready-made meals are ideal for quickly satisfying hunger. However, the quick snacks produce a lot of environmentally harmful plastic waste. To tackle this problem, the student team EDGGY from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart rolled up its sleeves and developed edible packaging made from eggshells and other plant-based raw materials. And even better: they simply dissolve in the hot water and can be eaten as an additional protein boost.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/Simply-EGG-genious-Students-invent-edible-packaging-from-eggshells
-
Press release - 21/04/2023
In collaboration with the project partners CG TEC, Cordenka, ElringKlinger, Fiber Engineering and Technikum Laubholz, the DITF are developing a new fiber composite material (CELLUN) with reinforcing fibers made of cellulose. The matrix of the material is a thermoplastic cellulose derivative. CELLUN made from renewable biopolymers enables the replacement of glass or carbon fibers in the production of industrial molded parts.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/cellun-fiber-composite-made-biopolymers
-
Press release - 16/05/2023
This year's Venice Architecture Biennale sees itself as a "Laboratory of the Future". Bio-composites are not just dreams of the future in architecture. The German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research (DITF) have developed a sustainable material for support profiles and connecting nodes, which will be on display at Palazzo Mora during the Biennale from May 20 to November 26.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/bioverbundwerkstoff-auf-der-architektur-biennale-venedig
-
-
Innovative materials - 14/06/2023
Conserving wood by producing furniture and other objects from wood-based materials with the help of microorganisms? That is exactly what a team of researchers from the University of Freiburg and the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM) in Saarbrücken is working on in the DELIVER project. The aim is to create a database of materials with a broad range of controllable properties for various applications that can be produced from wood waste.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/reinventing-wood-programmable-bacteria
-
-
-
-
Preventing waste from instant meals - 05/10/2023
Many instant meals such as ramen soups have both a protective outer packaging and individual ingredients in small plastic sachets. To prevent this environmentally harmful waste, five students at the University of Hohenheim have developed a sustainable film based on eggshells and plant proteins that dissolves in hot water and is edible.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/edggy-edible-packaging-film-made-eggshell-waste
-
Microorganisms degrade biobased turf infill - 17/10/2023
There are thousands of artificial turf pitches in Germany. They are extremely practical, but often not at all environmentally friendly. When it rains or the pitch is used, plastic particles from the rubber granules can be released into the envronment, where they remain. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart along with the company TECNARO are now developing an artificial turf with an infill that biodegrades as soon as it leaves the pitch.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/eco-friendly-artificial-turf-sports-pitch-s-good-people-and-environment
-
Food of the future: new production methods - 06/09/2023
A rapidly growing world population and simultaneously rapidly shrinking arable land – these are just some of the major challenges facing the food industry. But how can solutions be found? Answers are being sought by the bioeconomy innovation space NewFoodSystems. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), it is a network where science and industry can come together to develop sustainable food systems of the future.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/newfoodsystems-innovation-space-tomorrows-food
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Press release - 29/09/2023
The European Parliament’s amendments to the proposal for a Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be defined as a socio-ecological turnaround compared to the European Commission’s existing draft. The parliamentary draft proposes a series of environmental and climate-related provisions which, in the Oeko-Institut’s view, are feasible and technically achievable. The Oeko-Institut has reviewed these proposals in a Policy Paper.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/ecological-alignment-artificial-intelligence
-
-
-
-
-
-
Press release - 13/01/2022
Making important raw materials for fine chemicals out of carbon dioxide really works. As part of the Max Planck collaborative project eBioCO2n, a team of researchers from Fraunhofer IGB have successfully performed a first ever fixation of CO2 via a multi-enzyme enzyme reaction driven by electricity yielding a prospective intermediate for the chemical industry. The process for electro-biocatalytic CO2 fixation was recently published and is…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/turning-harmful-co2-useful-chemicals
-
-
-
Press release - 02/03/2022
The Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector is funding the new research project RoKKa which is used to prove the viability of recovering raw materials from wastewater. This adds a crucial function to the scope of a conventional sewage treatment plant. Together with the operators of the sewage treatment plants in Erbach and Neu-Ulm, the project partners demonstrate the positive contribution towards climate protection…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/die-klaeranlage-der-zukunft-heisst-bioraffinerie
-
pre-start-up company Wheyfinery - 13/04/2022
There is not much you can do with acid whey, which is why several million litres of it are disposed of every year. This is both costly and not sustainable. However, researchers at Tübingen University have shown: acid whey can be used to produce precursors for biofuels, fine chemicals and antimicrobial livestock feed additives. They have set up the pre-start-up company Wheyfinery in an endeavour to make their scalable biorefinery concept…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/acid-whey-valuable-raw-material-platform-chemicals-and-more
Website address: https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/search