Bioeconomy

Biogas and wood as components of the energy transition - 10/02/2020

New perspectives for bioenergy

Decentralised, controllable and stable - renewable energy is an important component in the transition to a bioeconomy without fossil fuels. BIOPRO spoke to PD Dr. Andreas Lemmer from the State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy at the University of Hohenheim and Prof. Dr. Stefan Pelz, scientific director of the Institute for Applied Research and professorat the University of Applied Forest Sciences Rottenburg.

Researchers find the enzymatic link in the formation of methane from fatty acids by cooperating microorganisms. Microbial production of methane from organic material is an essential process in the global carbon cycle and an important source of renewable energy. This natural process is based on a cooperative interaction between different types of microorganisms: the fermenting bacteria and the methane-producing archaea.

Article - 29/10/2018

The International Biogas and Bioenergy Competence Centre (IBBK) and its role in Baden-Württemberg’s bioeconomy

The number of biogas plants in Germany has increased almost tenfold since the start of the new millennium1. IBBK Fachgruppe Biogas GmbH, founded in 2000, has helped shape this development through training, consulting services and projects. Since 2015, the company has also been working on behalf of the Baden-Württemberg government to advise operators of existing and planned biogas facilities.

Article - 03/05/2010

Bioliq and the attraction of decentralised processes

There is a steady stream of people both Germans and foreigners going in and out of Eckhard Dinjus laboratory at the Institute of Technical Chemistry at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT. The 66-year-old chemist developed the bioliq method that is set to become an export hit due to its decentralised-centralised approach. Many years before the pilot plant started operating people from near and far including China had expressed their…

Article - 14/01/2013

Novel bioreactor and sponges that thin out light

Microalgae are veritable treasure troves. The cosmetics food and chemical industries already use algal metabolic products for various applications. In future the green unicellular organisms might also be grown on a large scale in photobioreactors installed on fallow land where they will be used as regenerative sources of energy. Mark Fresewinkel from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT is involved in a cooperative project aimed at…

Article - 27/05/2019

Providing Growledge - resources and products for the bioeconomy

Miscanthus and hemp are biomass plants that can be used as raw materials for a wide range of products and can be grown on land areas that are currently underutilised. A European consortium led by the University of Hohenheim in Baden-Württemberg has started a five-year project to demonstrate the economic potential of these plants.

There are some exciting developments in the expansion of bioenergy said the Baden-Württemberg Minister for Nutrition and Rural Areas Peter Hauk speaking at the conference Progress in Bioethanol Production Energy- Material- and Emission Balances.

Project FuTuReS - 12/12/2022

Microalgae - high-quality products for domestic agriculture?

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.

Systematically prepared and easily accessible research data can provide an essential basis for decision-making for a wide range of stakeholders from politics, science and industry. The resource database developed by the DBFZ, which contains a wealth of information on various biomass potentials and their current use, has been extensively expanded and is now also available in two languages (DE/EN) with a variety of new functionalities.

Bioplastics - 03/05/2018

LIGNOSIT - using lignin in value-added products

The environmental footprint of petroleum-based plastic products does not look good. Alternatives for plastic production involving renewable raw materials are now being sought. Wood is experiencing a renaissance. Prof. Dr. Marie-Pierre Laborie, who holds the Chair of Forest Biomaterials at the University of Freiburg, and her team are researching the potential use of lignin, the natural glue in wood.

The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has signed the grant agreements with 18 new projects, selected for funding under the 2020 Call for proposals. 199 beneficiaries from 26 countries across the EU and beyond will receive BBI JU’s financial support worth €104.5 million. This is the seventh and last BBI JU call which will bring the total investment of the initiative to €821.6 million and the BBI JU’s portfolio to 142 projects.

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 - 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.

The report Future Bioenergy and Sustainable Land Use is the first integrated study of bioenergy to explore the issue in the context of global environmental and development policy. It shows that the global sustainable potential for producing energy from biomass is significant.

Article - 27/03/2019

Residues from biogas plants as feed for algae

Algae are frugal organisms. They require only light, water, minerals and carbon dioxide to be able to produce biomass. These properties will now be exploited economically in a two-year research project. Dr. Stefan Sebök from the University of Hamburg plans to study the holistic utilisation of degradation products of a biogas plant in Wallerstädten by linking them to land-based algae cultivation.

An outline of ideas or a proposal must be sent up until 14th May 2008.