ProGrün project - 30/12/2023

Using proteins extracted from grassland cuttings to produce animal feed and exploit by-product streams

Animal feed often contains protein from soy and importing it causes major environmental harm. In the ProGrün project, researchers at the University of Hohenheim, including a work group led by Prof. Dr. Andrea Kruse, are developing a scalable technological process to extract proteins from grassland cuttings and use them to make sustainable animal feed produced in the region where it will be used.

Alternative construction materials: mycelium-based materials - 20/12/2023

Using fungi to create sustainable and economical mycelium-based materials

Most of us see fungi as just food - and possibly pathogens. This is a mistake, because these amazing organisms are capable of much more: they grow on plant residues of all kinds, forming a dense and interconnected structure as they spread. The resulting material can be moulded into desired shapes and be turned into new sustainable and economically attractive products such as leather and polystyrene substitutes or building materials.

Facade greening with precipitation retention - 19/12/2023

Rain-retaining living walls improve the urban climate and protect against flooding

Due to dense urbanisation and associated soil sealing, heat and heavy rainfall are becoming an increasing problem for people living in cities. Researchers at the German Institutes of Textile and Fibre Research (DITF) in Denkendorf have developed innovative living walls that not only help cool the environment, but also provide flood protection thanks to their water retention properties.

Sustainable binder alternative - 18/12/2023

Copied from insects: new biological wood binder under development

Plastic is all around us; and unfortunately, it is not going away any time soon. The search for more sustainable solutions is fully underway. However, binders that degrade only with difficulty or not at all are still used to bond natural materials such as wood and straw - not yet truly environmentally friendly. Fraunhofer researchers are working on an insect-inspired wood binder that makes bonded wood products both resistant and biodegradable.

The AlbLavendel project - 20/11/2023

Swabian lavender cultivation: aesthetic and sustainable

Blue-violet, fragrant fields like those in Provence may soon become a common sight in the Swabian Alb. As part of the AlbLavendel project, the University of Hohenheim along with the company naturamus GmbH and the German Institutes of Textile and Fibre Research Denkendorf has started to investigate the cultivation of lavender, the production of essential oils and the use of distillation residues for producing textile fibres in the local region.

Climate-neutral wastewater treatment plants thanks to patented real-time analytics - 08/11/2023

Using AI to reduce greenhouse gases in wastewater companies

The wastewater industry is responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of global aviation. The start-up Variolytics has found a way to significantly reduce greenhouse gases in wastewater treatment plants using real-time analytics. The patented sensor technology and AI-supported process optimisation offer multiple benefits: in addition to reducing nitrous oxide, the system helps to reduce energy costs and resources.

Wasser 3.0: #detect|remove|reuse - 31/10/2023

How to sustainably remove and recycle microplastics from water

We all pollute our water with things we use in our everyday lives. In the process, microplastics and micropollutants accumulate in sometimes significant quantities and are difficult to remove. This has increasingly devastating consequences for our health and the environment. Wasser 3.0, a non-profit start-up from Karlsruhe, has declared war on this problem by developing a customisable process to detect, remove and even recycle these pollutants.

Textiles are a given in civil engineering. Until now, textiles made of resistant synthetic fibers have been used for this purpose, having a long lifetime. For some applications, however, it would not only be sufficient but even desirable for the auxiliary textile to degrade when it has done its job. Natural fibers, in contrast, often decompose too quickly. The DITF are developing a bio-based protective coating that extends their service life.

Doubling food production, saving water, and increasing carbon storage capacity – this may sound paradoxical, but would be theoretically feasible. Reaching this goal, however, would require a radical spatial reorganization of land use. This is the conclusion of researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology (HeiGIT) of Heidelberg University.

Researchers at the University of Hohenheim are working on an alternative to fish consisting of microalgae. Advantage: Microalgae have high quality ingredients and also contribute to carbon storage.

Preventing waste from instant meals - 05/10/2023

EDGGY: edible packaging film made from eggshell waste

Many instant meals such as ramen soups have both a protective outer packaging and individual ingredients in small plastic sachets. To prevent this environmentally harmful waste, five students at the University of Hohenheim have developed a sustainable film based on eggshells and plant proteins that dissolves in hot water and is edible.

Researchers at the University of Freiburg quantify the amount of material needed to enable people to live without poverty. 1.2 billion people live in poverty. To lift them out of it, an average of about six tons of raw materials are needed per person and year – in particular minerals, fossil fuels, biomass and metal ores. This is the result of a study by researchers from the Chair of Sustainable Energy and Material Flow Management.

Mobile units for processing fruit and vegetables on-site may play an important role in food supply in 2035. The EU’s FOX project investigated the form that such local food chains might take. To this end, Fraunhofer ISI developed future scenarios that could be used to test the viability of business models for regional food processing and distribution.

The Cultivated B (TCB) began discussions with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and officially entered the pre-submission process for novel food approval of a novel or non-farmed sausage product. Subsequent to the official submission, TCB will emerge as world’s first biotech company to apply for EFSA certification for cultivated meat. This is a pivotal first step in the evolution of the cultivated meat market.

Germany has the most active market, Southern Europe wants more variety, and people in Poland find dairy substitutes too expensive, according to a recent study by the University of Hohenheim.

Konstanz chemists develop mineral plastics with numerous positive properties from sustainable basic building blocks and, together with biologists, demonstrate the material's excellent microbiological degradability.

Industrial biocatalysis with enzymes is deemed to be a “game changer” in the development of a sustainable chemical industry. Enzymes can be used to synthesize an impressive range of complex molecules. Researchers of KIT have now developed a new class of materials by producing enzyme foams of tremendous stability and activity. The researchers have already filed a patent application on the process to produce enzyme foams.

Can biosurfactants increase microbiological oil degradation in North Sea seawater? An international research team from the universities of Stuttgart und Tübingen, together with the China West Normal University and the University of Georgia, have been exploring this question and the results have revealed the potential for a more effective and environmentally friendly oil spill response.

As the world's population continues to grow, the construction industry faces the challenge of using fewer resources and switching to sustainable materials. Scientists from the Universities of Stuttgart and Freiburg are developing new interdisciplinary approaches to construction for the future.

Insightful study with participation from the University of Konstanz warns of human-induced impacts on the marine ecosystem.

Innovative materials - 14/06/2023

Reinventing ‘wood’ with programmable bacteria

Conserving wood by producing furniture and other objects from wood-based materials with the help of microorganisms? That is exactly what a team of researchers from the University of Freiburg and the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM) in Saarbrücken is working on in the DELIVER project. The aim is to create a database of materials with a broad range of controllable properties for various applications that can be produced from wood waste.

Team of Freiburg researchers shows how information about the quantity of absorbed light passes from the leaves to the roots. Plant growth is driven by light and supplied with energy through photosynthesis by green leaves. It is the same for roots that grow in the dark – they receive the products of photosynthesis, in particular sucrose, i.e. sugar, via the central transportation pathways of phloem.

Daisies, peas, canola, etc.: Researchers at the University of Hohenheim want to replace gluten protein with new alternatives. Instead of ovens, 3-D printers would be possible

3D-Thermocell project - 17/05/2023

Paper instead of plastic: sustainable packaging with a good conscience

Replacing plastic – for example in packaging – is not that easy but nevertheless urgently needed. In the 3D-Thermocell project, researchers at DHBW Karlsruhe are currently developing new plastic substitute products made of thermoformable paper as a renewable resource, which should be cheap and light and easy to dispose of along with waste paper. The characterisation and application of demonstration models will start soon.

This year's Venice Architecture Biennale sees itself as a "Laboratory of the Future". Bio-composites are not just dreams of the future in architecture. The German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research (DITF) have developed a sustainable material for support profiles and connecting nodes, which will be on display at Palazzo Mora during the Biennale from May 20 to November 26.