Bioeconomy

Festo’s high-tech bioreactor - 10/11/2022

Valuable materials of all kinds - produced automatically in living cells

In future, algae could be used to produce practically everything that still requires petroleum, including plastics, fuels, medicines and food. Algae are also climate savers par excellence, because they bind ten times more CO2 than terrestrial plants. Festo, a company based in Esslingen, Germany, has developed a high-tech bioreactor that can be used to automatically cultivate the small green biofactories - and that do so a hundred times more…

Chitin is the main component of insect carapaces and ensures that they are both stable and flexible. The Chitinfluid research project, funded by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, focuses on the use of chitin in construction and aims to process chitin and its derivatives into sustainable materials. In a hybrid symposium under the auspices of Prof. Sabine Laschat from the University of Stuttgart, the project team discussed the current state of research…

Bioeconomy in construction and architecture - 25/10/2017

Development of innovative, ecological construction materials and methods at the University of Stuttgart

The Baden-Württemberg construction sector is currently experiencing a similar boom to the one that occurred in 1996. Between January 2016 and January 2017, low interest rates and uninterrupted demand for housing has led to an increase in orders of almost 10%1. A shift from conventional building materials to biobased building materials and products would likely also support the transition to a bioeconomy in this economic sector. The Institute for…

Bionics - 24/11/2016

Plants as models for self-repairing materials

It’s a great idea: everyday products that can repair themselves. Although it’s still a pipedream, the foundations are already being laid in a series of investigations being carried out by Dr. Olga Speck from the University of Freiburg. Dr. Speck is a botanist who is studying wound-healing reactions in plants to try and find mechanisms that can be used as models for developing materials with “self-healing powers”.

Article - 11/10/2016

Nanofur for cleaning up accidental oil spills in water

Accidental oil spills such as those following oil disasters need to be cleaned up as quickly as possible. Researchers from the KIT in Karlsruhe have now developed an environmentally friendly process that can eliminate oil spills effectively. Nanofur is a material that imitates the fine hairs of aquatic ferns and is capable of absorbing large amounts of oil within a relatively short time.

Bionics - 14/12/2015

Architecture meets biology – biological functional principles for the construction sector

What has emerged in nature in the course of evolution can now be used to break new ground in architecture thanks to computer-based simulations and manufacturing techniques. As part of a transregional collaborative research centre, German researchers have started to use this bionics approach to explore new designs and functional innovations.

Article - 12/01/2015

Bionic chemistry: developing tailor-made functional units for bacterial cells

Dr. Stefan Schiller from the Center for Biological Systems Analysis (ZBSA) at the University of Freiburg combines synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry concepts in order to equip bacterial cells with organelle-like compartments. He has countless biotechnological applications in mind. In 2014, Schiller received the research prize “Next Generation of Biotechnological Methods – Biotechnology 2020+”. The prize is awarded every two years and…

Article - 01/12/2014

wusoa GmbH: What shall we do with manure? Liquid manure for decentralized small-scale biogas plants.

Biogas has become an alternative and sustainable energy resource. In 2013, the 7,850 biogas plants in Germany – including 858 in Baden-Württemberg – produced enough biogas to cover around seven percent of Germany’s total electricity needs. Martin Falger, managing director of wusoa GmbH in Stuttgart, explained in an interview with Sanja Fessl (BIOPRO) why he believes that small-scale biogas plants have a promising future. They expand the biogas…

Article - 11/11/2013

Little support for beetle legs thanks to cuticular folds

Dr. Bettina Prüm Dr. Holger Bohn and Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck from the Botanic Garden of the University of Freiburg have discovered the mechanisms that prevent beetles from sticking to specifically structured leaf surfaces. In cooperation with the Freiburg Centre for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies FIT the researchers are now planning to apply natures smart strategy to the design of structures that help prevent insect pests from…

Article - 25/03/2013

A warm house thanks to polar bear principle

In January 2013, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of the Environment Franz Untersteller officially opened a building of a special kind: the polar bear pavilion at the ITV Denkendorf. It is the first building to implement a pioneering technology that efficiently absorbs and stores heat. Inspired by polar bear skin, the building is the result of human ingenuity and high-tech materials.

Article - 17/12/2012

Stefan Schiller – understanding and copying complex molecule systems

Dr. Stefan Schiller from the Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry at the University of Freiburg became interested in the diversity of molecular possibilities in nature as a student and is now a specialist in bionic chemistry and synthetic nanobiotechnology. Amongst other things his work involves the construction of complex protein machines that transfer signals protein networks for use in medicine and drug shuttles that enable the targeted…

Article - 30/07/2012

How a fungus can help in the production of fountain pens

Technical problems? Well, why not have a look at the solutions offered by nature? Prof. Dr. Peter M. Kunz from the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences did just this and was able to help the company LAMY produce special fountain pens and save time and money.

Article - 16/05/2012

Ecologists can drive forward biogas research too

The biologist Prof. Dr. Marian Kazda from Ulm has worked on biogas research for many years. However, he occupies a particular niche in that he approaches the topic from the point of view of a problem-oriented ecologist. The 55-year-old is head of the Institute of Systematic Botany and Ecology at the University of Ulm and his specific field of research is plant ecology. It was his work on wetlands that first got him interested in biogas research.

Article - 12/03/2012

Marker pens to prevent bird deaths from collisions with windows

It is estimated that millions of birds die each year as the result of collisions with windows and other reflecting and transparent glass panes. Dr. Roland Kolbe, a researcher from the Baden-Württemberg city of Eningen unter Achalm has addressed this problem with the development of two products to prevent such collisions. The products are based on the differences in the physiology of vision between birds and human beings. Both products alert birds…

Article - 06/02/2012

Ten outstanding ideas in biotechnology and medical technology

The results of the feasibility studies funded under the Idea Competition in Biotechnology and Medical Technology were presented in the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart between 16th and 18th January 2012. Ten of the 42 project ideas were recommended for further funding.

Press release - 03/11/2011

High-tech spider for hazardous missions

Spiders are very agile, and some can even jump. They owe this capability to their hydraulically operated limbs. Researchers have now designed a mobile robot modeled on the same principle that moves spider legs. Created using a 3-D printing process, this lightweight can explore terrain that is beyond human reach.

Dossier - 02/05/2011

Molecular bionics – inspirations from the microworld for the macroworld

Knowledge about the molecular organisation of structural and functional biological properties has led to the establishment of a new field of research molecular bionics. Everything that can be learnt from the macromolecular observation of interesting natural phenomena is complemented in this field by observations on the smallest i.e. molecular level. Processes and materials that have been optimised in the course of evolution are thus able to…

Article - 02/05/2011

Learning from corals’ virtuoso handling of light

There are research projects where the development of a hypothesis is as exciting as the final results. A project at the Ulm-based institute ILM that is being funded under the Molecular Bionics programme is one of such projects. This immediately becomes clear when Raimund Hibst ILM director and project coordinator refers to it as a risky and ambitious project. If everything goes according to plan the ILM will be able to improve photovoltaic plants…

Article - 02/05/2011

Intelligent adhesives inspired by nature

Boston ivy ivy and other woody vines have unusually strong adhesive forces. The question researchers are asking is can they transfer the surface adhesion principle of ivy to technical applications? The Plant Biomechanics Group led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck in Freiburg is working on one project that focuses on using nature as a model for intelligent adhesive bonds.

Article - 28/06/2010

ATG:biosynthetics GmbH – Modular molecular systems of the future

ATGbiosynthetics GmbH based in Merzhausen close to Freiburg produces biological systems that can combine gene constituents following a construction kit principle. The company provides the pharmaceutical industry and basic researchers with products that have specifically chosen properties.

Press release - 24/05/2010

University of Stuttgart – biopolymers as construction material of the future?

The Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart is investigating whether it is possible to replace traditional plastics in the building industry with natural fibre-reinforced biopolymers. As part of the project, which is being funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, the ITKE researchers are working with the Nimbus Group to develop transparent lightweight building boards from biopolymers with…

Press release - 19/05/2010

Bionic Coating Helps Ships to Economise on Fuel

An inconspicuous plant could soon embark on a career as a climate saver hairs on the surface of water ferns are to allow ships to have a 10 per cent decrease in fuel consumption. The plant has the rare ability to put on a gauzy skirt of air under water and keep this dress on for months. Researchers at the University of Bonn Rostock and Karlsruhe have now discovered how the fern does this.

Article - 14/01/2010

BioPat: professionalised bionics research

Nature is being used as a model for new technical developments in the field of bionics. Nature’s huge potential as a source of inspiration is systematically explored with the “BioPat” search tool. Developers at the Fraunhofer IAO combine their BioPat software with an analysis to detect bionics potential which is aimed at speeding the passage of interesting natural phenomena into engineering departments.