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.

Population growth and the increasing standard of living make our society face big ecological challenges: Climate change, littering of the seas, dwindling agricultural areas, resource scarcity. Bioeconomy aims at replacing fossil by regenerative resources and at using advanced and sustainable technologies based on biological knowledge and principles.

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.

Press release - 29/11/2022

Five European pilot regions are joining forces for the bioeconomy

BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg participates in the Horizon Europe ROBIN project to improve the participation of regional bioeconomy strategies and related policies across Europe.

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.

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.

The European Commission agreed on the successor of BBI JU – the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) in a legislative proposal adopted today. The new partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) is expected to build on the success of BBI JU while stepping up its contribution to the EU’s climate targets, in line with the European Green Deal. The European Parliament and Council will now study the…

Protection against game damage - 13/01/2022

Sapling protectors made of domestic wood - simple but effective

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.

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.

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.

urban BioEconomyLab - 07/12/2023

The city as a living laboratory for a bioeconomic, sustainable economic area

Baden-Württemberg is leading the way in the transition to a climate-neutral and sustainable economy. One of the projects undertaken is the Fraunhofer IGB’s "urban BioEconomyLab" project which aims to develop a transformation model and living laboratory to find bioeconomic solutions for the sustainable design of cities and municipal industry. What is new is that the IGB takes a systemic approach, focusing on biobased and circular value…

Final chord of the EU-project Smart SMEs - 31/05/2021

Building a sustainable network for natural fibre-based SMEs in the Alpine Space

The European project Smart SMEs came successfully to its end in May 2021 with the final conference, which attracted participants from different parts of Europe.

The Tech4Biowaste database will be showcased online by its developers on 30 March 2023

Dossier - 09/04/2018

Digitisation in agriculture - from precision farming to farming 4.0

Automated steering systems, data-driven targeted application of fertilisers and pesticides, field robots and drones, soil analysis sensors, autonomous driving - digitisation is advancing in agriculture as elsewhere. The question asked by farmers and by society in general is whether the increasing adoption of digital technologies in agriculture is a curse or a blessing.

The glass facade of a high-rise building can get so hot that you can fry eggs on it – a major factor in the overheating of our cities. At the same time, flood events such as torrential monsoon rains cause billions of dollars of damage annually. On October 4, 2022, a solution to both problems was presented at the University of Stuttgart.

ProteinDistillery GmbH - 20/04/2022

Using microorganisms to create a source of sustainable protein

Yeast has been part of the human diet for thousands of years. ProteinDistillery GmbH now wants to revolutionise the environmentally friendly protein suppliers market by introducing brewer's yeast and secure the protein supply of the future.

The "livMatS Pavilion" in the Botanical Garden of the University of Freiburg is a model for a bioinspired sustainable construction. In a joint project, researchers from the Universities of Freiburg and Stuttgart together with master’s students from the University of Stuttgart have designed a lightweight pavilion.