Bioeconomy

From field to socket - 03/02/2021

Energy park & Donau-Silphie: a symbiosis that benefits nature

Biogas plants that produce non-fossil fuels are very much in vogue at the moment. In the Swabian hamlet of Hahnennest, four family farms have joined forces to form an energy park and operate a local biogas plant, covering everything from substrate production to the sale of energy.

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 - 18/06/2012

Bioenergy villages biogas sets the tone

In 2011 Baden-Württemberg was home to around 37 bioenergy villages and several others are under construction or in the planning phase. Bioenergy villages produce all of their electricity and energy for heating locally from renewable resources such as maize and wood electricity is mainly generated from biogas.

Perspectives of methane as energy source - 18/06/2020

New technologies for using biogas as a balancing energy

The microorganisms in biogas plants do a great job biologically converting CO₂ and hydrogen, which are primary fermentation products, into methane. Biomethane has a great future as an energy source. Scientists at the University of Hohenheim are investigating new ways to produce and use biomethane.

Dossier - 14/05/2012

Biogas a promising source of renewable energy?

In addition to sunlight water and wind biogas is a regenerative source of energy that contributes to saving fossil resources. Germany is home to around 7100 biogas plants including 796 as of 2011 in Baden-Württemberg. In 2010 these facilities produced 11 per cent of the electricity generated from renewables in Germany. Energy-rich methane is the major constituent of biogas and is produced when organic compounds are broken down by bacteria in the…

Article - 13/02/2018

Pleasant aromas from biogas

Butyric acid is an important source of fruity aromas. It accumulates as an intermediary product during biogas production, from where it can be siphoned off and used for producing flavours. A new collaborative project aims to explore the technological and bioeconomic potential of extracting butyric acid from biogas plants.

The Hallertau is Germany's largest hop-growing region. During harvesting, hop bine chaff is left over, which is converted into environmentally friendly bio natural gas on site in a biogas plant. But that is not the end of the utilization chain for this fiber plant. Researchers at the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) have used the plant-containing biogas digestate to produce a composite material that can be…

Biogas experts at the University of Hohenheim believe that up to 50 per cent more energy can be achieved per hectare of cultivated energy crops. The researchers are hoping that Germanys first biogas research plant will provide them with new insights.

Project BW2Pro - 29/08/2022

Biowaste to Products: biorefinery transforms biowaste into new products

In 2020, Germany’s population collected over 5 million tonnes of biowaste. Most of this was composted, and some was fermented into biogas. Scientists in Baden-Württemberg think there's room for more. Within the project ‘Biowaste to Products’ (BW2Pro) they want to transform biowaste into new products in a biorefinery. The idea is to produce biodegradable plant pots, mulch material, fertilisers, enzymes and biobased plastics in addition to…

Article - 14/05/2012

Can green cuttings be turned into biogas?

Grass flowers and small bushes are constant features along roadsides they are mowed at regular intervals and either dumped left where they are or less frequently composted. Cuttings like these could contribute to solving the global energy problem and even generate money. However communities that are aiming to turn green waste from roadsides riversides or sports grounds into biogas and hence a renewable source of energy are confronted with…

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 - 08/05/2019

Environmentally friendly alternative to fossil natural gas: methane from biomass

In cooperation with the research unit of the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water (DVGW), KIT researchers have built a pilot plant in which biogas produced by fermenting residual organic materials can be upgraded to synthetic methane (synthetic SNG). Biobased methane is not only a sustainable energy source for the heating and transport sectors, but also opens up new opportunities for temporary storage of renewable…

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 - 27/03/2019

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.