Bioeconomy

Alternative engines and fuels for cars of the future still lack technical maturity and are not yet competitive. In the short to medium term, the only way to replace fossil fuel will be other fossil fuels – compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Biodiesel and ethanol are and will remain for the foreseeable future the only renewable resource alternatives to fossil fuel. As is the case for any other technology, the development…

A tasty dish for chickens: Researchers from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart were able to feed the animals the first 50 kilos of protein extract that were obtained from pasture. Yet the plants found in fields and meadows offer much more than a new source of protein for pigs and poultry: They could also constitute an alternative to soy for human nutrition. They also form a basis for organic-based plastics and paper, energy, and…

The EU funded research project HyFlexFuel recently succeeded to produce biocrudes via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) from a variety of biomasses, including sewage sludge, food waste, manure, wheat straw, corn stover, pine sawdust, miscanthus and microalgae in a pilot-scale continuous HTL plant at Aarhus University (Denmark).

Overview

What is a bioeconomy?

The bioeconomy, or biobased economy, is a new model for industry and the economy. It involves using renewable biological resources sustainably to produce food, energy and industrial goods. It also exploits the untapped potential stored within millions of tons of biological waste and residual materials.

The wastewater treatment plant is turned into a vegetable farm, bio-based substances recovered from waste are being utilized to prevent oxidative spoilage in food packaging or provide environmentally-friendly and safe water-repellent coatings on functional textiles. In the EVOBIO project coordinated by Fraunhofer IGB, 19 Fraunhofer Institutes are working on solutions for a sustainable economy.

Press release - 14/01/2009

Hunters of lost treasures

On 1st December 2008 Prof. Dr. Karl Schmid the first person to hold the F.W. Schnell Foundations endowed professorship for crop biodiversity and breeding informatics started the ball rolling on a unique European-wide project. Schmid and his colleagues are searching gigantic databases in which genetic analyses and plant descriptions are stored for hidden treasures.

Dossier - 03/05/2010

Biorefinery concepts are close to implementation

Coal crude oil whats next? The preparations for switching from crude oil to other resources for the production of fuels and petrochemical products are underway. Crude oil and also gas reserves are in irrevocable decline. Pessimists believe that peak oil production has already been reached and optimists believe that this peak will be reached in 2020. Crude oil is not only our most important source of energy production but it is also an important…

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.

ROKO Farming - 03/08/2021

Thinking upwards: vertical farming to be further developed into continuous production

ROKO Farming’s novel technology is designed to produce fruit and vegetables worldwide all year round, while also freeing up areas for rewilding. This semi-automatic production method created by the Ulm-based business has huge future potential, as their success in innovation competitions demonstrates.

Reduction of greenhouse gases in wine production - 31/08/2021

The REDWine project and climate change

In the EU project REDWine, the CO2 produced during wine fermentation is captured and used to produce algae biomass. Novis GmbH from Tübingen supplies the complete system for CO2 utilisation. The aim of the project is to reduce the share of global warming caused by wine production in a way that is economical for producers.

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.

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…

Dossier - 28/04/2020

Sustainable bioenergy

Biomass from forestry and agriculture along with residues from industry and households can contribute to our energy and raw material shift. Sustainable, regenerative biomass-based energy can become part of the energy mix of the future within the framework of a bioeconomy.