Bioeconomy

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 - 08/06/2017

Forests as providers of ecosystem services – the facets and consequences of logging

One billion people worldwide rely on forests as living spaces. Illegal and legal deforestation endangers people’s livelihoods as well as social and economic structures. It also has a detrimental effect on the global climate. Prof. Dr. Daniela Kleinschmit, Professor for Forest and Environmental Policy at the University of Freiburg, discusses the causes and consequences of deforestation. She is co-editor of an international report on illegal…

Press release - 27/02/2017

BIOPRO – lead partner in consortium aimed at cross clustering in the Danube region

The Interreg Danube Translational Programme’s ”DanuBioValNet” project aims to establish new biobased value chains. Under the leadership of BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH, 17 partners from the Danube region met on 1st January 2017 to pave the ground for transnational collaboration in the biobased industry. Regional cluster organisations are expected to drive the change from a fossil fuel-based industry to a biobased industry forward and will be…

Article - 18/01/2017

How Germany’s renewable energy supply targets can be achieved

In 2015, almost a third of Germany's electricity came from wind, sun and biomass. We need to continue reducing CO2 emissions to become even less dependent on fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum, and thus make electricity generation even more climate friendly. Baden-Württemberg has set an ambitious target for the shift in direction from nuclear and fossil fuels to renewable energy sources: reducing current energy consumption by 50% and…

Article - 12/01/2017

Biological waste: biomass with huge potential

The efficient recycling of biowaste makes an enormous contribution to the bioeconomy and climate protection. Researchers in the Department of Waste Management and Emissions headed up by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Kranert at the Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management (ISWA) at the University of Stuttgart, are exploring the optimisation potential of biowaste recovery.

Article - 12/09/2016

Valuable new biopolymers from crustacean shells

In the EU alone, more than 250,000 tons of seashell waste are discarded every year. The exoskeleton of crustaceans consists of proteins, calcium carbonate and chitin, a long-chain sugar molecule which could be used to produce valuable building blocks for the polymer industry. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) in Stuttgart have developed a biotechnological process aimed at a sustainable…

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…

Press release - 04/08/2016

Innovative, informative, communicative – BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg’s Special Interest Groups

The Special Interest Groups (SIGs) were created as part of BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg’s Akteursplattform Bioökonomie and are aimed at promoting Baden-Württemberg as a bioeconomy location. Two SIG meetings were held in May and June 2016.

Article - 30/05/2016

An artificial leaf for splitting water

Chemical model systems can be used to study the processes of plant photosynthesis with the goal of tapping sunlight as a source for covering the energy needs of the future. Researchers from Ulm have now developed an artificial leaf based on a manganese-vanadium oxide catalyst which can effectively carry out the critical photocatalytic reaction of splitting water molecules into hydrogen ions and molecular oxygen.

Retrospect - 18/05/2016

Hannover Messe 2016: Hands-on bioeconomy

As in previous years, BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH participated in this year’s Hannover Messe, the world’s biggest industrial fair. With the USA as partner country and the lead theme ”Integrated Industry – Discover Solutions”, the 2016 trade fair attracted more than 190,000 visitors from around the world. From 25th to 29th April, visitors to hall 2 were able to discover biobased products and experience an economy that runs without fossil…

Article - 09/05/2016

Biobattery made from unused and windfall apples

The disadvantage of wind and solar energy is that they cannot be produced continuously nor can they be stored, at least not yet. High-performance batteries that can store intermittent renewable energy sources might change this in the future. Sodium-ion batteries would be both a cheap and environmentally friendly possibility. Prof. Dr. Stefano Passerini and his team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a battery that…

Article - 07/03/2016

Bio-racing car as a prototype for the car of the future

How “bio” can a car be? Quite a lot, as the Bioconcept car developed by Reutlingen-based Four Motors demonstrates. Former DTM driver Tom von Löwis and his team are currently working on a fourth-generation biofuel-powered Bioconcept car. The body parts and interior are made from fully or partially biobased materials and composites with plant-fibre reinforced duromers. The optimised combustion engines are powered with biofuels. Anyone who thinks…

Article - 29/02/2016

Biopower made from wastewater

Researchers worldwide are working to develop new technologies for producing clean energy. A team of researchers led by Sven Kerzenmacher at the University of Freiburg's Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) is interested in combining wastewater and bacteria, an approach that is both unusual and promising.

Article - 08/02/2016

Sustainable bioeconomy for a decarbonised world

At the Global Bioeconomy Summit held in Berlin in November 2015, international agendas were adopted that aim to integrate the bioeconomy as part of the development of a sustainable global economy and the fight against man-made global warming. The Summit also called for halting the further deterioration of planetary environmental processes to ensure a sustainable future.

The ”EXI Startup Voucher” programme is jointly offered by Steinbeis-Beratungszentrum Existenzgründung and BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg and addresses company founders in the high-tech sector. BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg provides advice to company founders in the fields of life sciences, the healthcare industry and the bioeconomy.

Article - 21/12/2015

What to do with manure?

Pigs, cattle and poultry produce around 1,800 million tons of manure in Europe every year. Farmers provide crops with nutrients by spreading manure on their fields. But what can be done with manure when there are not enough fields to use it on? Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) and the University of Hohenheim have joined forces with 13 partners from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and…

Energy transition - 28/09/2015

Biogas from unicellular green algae

Microalgae are among the most promising sources of sustainable, carbon-neutral biofuels for the future. They are already being used as feedstock for producing biogas, biodiesel, bioethanol and kerosene, but the associated production methods consume a great deal of energy and are rather costly. Dr. Nikolaos Boukis from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is working on the development of a sophisticated, thermochemical process with an…

Overview

Materials and chemicals

Biomass can be used to produce chemicals, fibres, pigments and plastics. These products are either identical to their petroleum-based counterparts or have completely new properties. Biorefineries will play a key role in the transition to a bioeconomy. There is great expectation placed on the potential ability to convert the countless carbon compounds in biomass into chemicals and material components.

Overview

Environmental analytics

Nature provides the material basis for a bioeconomy. Preventive and production-integrated environmental protection will therefore become even more important in a bioeconomy. Powerful analytical systems that can be used in industrial processes or in the field will provide information about soil, air and water quality. Environmental analytics and monitoring are crucial for the bioeconomy.

Overview

Biobased resources

A major goal of the bioeconomy is to use larger quantities of biobased raw materials to produce energy, transport fuels and feedstock for industrial processes. This requires detailed analyses, simulations, concepts and processes. Major focus needs to be placed on issues relating to crop production, biomass potentials, land surface requirements, conversion technologies, biobased value creation networks and food security. Agriculture, forestry,…

Overview

Bioenergy

Examples of fuels produced from biomass are biomethane, renewable natural gas (RNG), biogenic hydrogen, biokerosene, biomethanol, bioethanol and higher alcohols. However, in future, care must be taken to avoid the well-documented conflict between crops used for food and those used for fuel production. The bioeconomy strategy therefore calls for only using the biomass that cannot be used for producing food. Microalgae, biowaste and residual…

Overview

Politics, ethics and economy

Agricultural land on Earth is limited. However, the increased need for food and feed coupled with the increasing use of biomass feedstocks leads to areas of conflict such as intensive farming, biodiversity loss, land grabbing and indirect land use change. Governments are faced with the major challenge of having to deal with and shape the bioeconomy while taking equally into account the ecological, economic and ethical concerns and integrating…