Bioeconomy

City of the future - 04/04/2023

FamoS: climate protection on facades

Resource-efficient water management, photovoltaic modules and innovative facade greening - FamoS is all that. By combining proven elements, the ‘facade module with synergy’ makes a valuable contribution to combatting climate change and boosting climate resilience in cities.

Sustainable construction - 28/03/2023

Digital manufacturing processes enable buildings to be constructed with flax and willow

A switch to sustainable and circular construction concepts is needed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the construction sector. At the German National Garden Show (Bundesgartenschau) in Mannheim, FibR GmbH, together with researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, will be showcasing two innovative buildings made from flax and willow, renewable raw materials that exemplify possible building concepts of the future.

Think Tank FYI: Agriculture 5.0 - 16/02/2023

Agriculture 5.0: fighting the climate crisis with agrophotovoltaics and biochar

Climate protection, agriculture and biodiversity are closely intertwined. Agriculture 5.0 provides positive guidance, as the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences has demonstrated: agrophotovoltaics (or agrivoltaics), which is currently in vogue in Germany, can be used to generate solar power on high-yield fields. Biomass strips and biochar remove CO2 from the atmosphere. All this improves soil quality and promotes biodiversity.

Synergistic effects with microalgae and purple bacteria - 03/02/2023

Working towards a hydrogen economy with a wastewater biorefinery: the SmartBioH2-BW project

A biorefinery that uses industrial wastewater and residual material streams is being built in Rheinfelden (Baden). It will have two interlinking bioreactors and will synthesize biohydrogen as well as organic basic materials such as carotenoids and proteins. SmartBioH2-BW is a pilot project run by the Urban and Industrial Biorefineries initiative and funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and Energy Sector.

Basic chemicals, which are needed as raw materials for a wide range of products such as medicines and detergents, can currently only be produced with an enormously high input of energy and raw materials. In many cases, fossil fuels and raw materials are still used. The extraction of chemical substances alone requires high temperatures, expensive catalysts made of precious metals and, in some cases, environmentally harmful starting materials.

The construction industry consumes large amounts of energy resources and produces tons of waste. At the Solar Decathlon Europe 21/22 university competition, students and researchers from KIT are eager to demonstrate that the building sector is already compatible with a functioning circular economy. The task of the interdisciplinary “RoofKIT” team is to convert previously unused roofs of buildings into usable spaces.

Filament winding technology for sustainable construction - 06/04/2022

Robotic building with natural fibres

One of the greatest challenges in the construction industry is the transition to more environmentally friendly and resource-saving buildings. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart are combining state-of-the-art robotic filament winding technologies with ancient local crops to produce stable and sustainable lightweight structures from flax fibres.

The HUEHOCO GROUP Holding GmbH & Co. KG, a family-owned company from Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, has acquired a 5 percent stake in carbonauten GmbH. The start-up is in negotiations with further interested parties from Germany and Japan. With the international metal strip refiner HUEHOCO Group, which has sites on 4 continents, the "minus CO2 factory" has acquired its first industrial partner.

Making important raw materials for fine chemicals out of carbon dioxide really works. As part of the Max Planck collaborative project eBioCO2n, a team of researchers from Fraunhofer IGB have successfully performed a first ever fixation of CO2 via a multi-enzyme enzyme reaction driven by electricity yielding a prospective intermediate for the chemical industry. The process for electro-biocatalytic CO2 fixation was recently published and is…

Climate-friendly circular economy - 11/11/2021

CO2 from the air as a raw material for chemicals

A Fraunhofer team has successfully produced a dye using CO2 adsorbed from the air. The aim is to move towards a climate- and resource-friendly circular economy. Chemicals, as well as fuels, can be produced cost-effectively using this process. How does the technical process work, and what opportunities does it open up?

Researchers find the enzymatic link in the formation of methane from fatty acids by cooperating microorganisms. Microbial production of methane from organic material is an essential process in the global carbon cycle and an important source of renewable energy. This natural process is based on a cooperative interaction between different types of microorganisms: the fermenting bacteria and the methane-producing archaea.

An international research team has calculated the potential for material efficiency strategies in residential buildings and passenger cars. Up to two-thirds of global emissions could be saved in these areas, provided that appropriate strategies are consistently implemented.

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.

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).

Agrivoltaics enables the dual use of arable land: Photovoltaic modules, which are mounted on a structure, generate renewable electricity and underneath agricultural crops grow. The approach increases land efficiency and could mitigate conflicts over the use of arable land in the future. A new guideline provides up-to-date information on the technology, its potential and the current state of development.

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.

What alternatives to conventional agriculture exist to produce carbohydrates for food and feed? Scientists at Heidelberg University performed model calculations for artificial sugar production with a view towards synthesis of other carbohydrates such as starch.

Time for climate protection is pressing. One approach to tackle this challenge is to use the greenhouse gas CO2 as a raw material for chemicals. The researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, together with partners from science and industry, were able to produce a value-added terpenoid dye from CO2 adsorbed from air by a combination of electrochemical and biotechnological conversion.

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.

The combustion of conventional fossil fuels accounts for a large share of global CO2 emissions. A great deal of criticism is levelled against cruise and merchant ships for polluting the environment with sooty waste gas and toxic heavy fuels. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen have been looking into alternative climate-friendly fuels.

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.

Wood energy – heating with wood – interview with Stefan Pelz, HFR - 10/02/2020

Wood: a cornerstone in energy transition

While a good third of the electricity in Germany now comes from renewable energy sources, the production and supply of heat from renewables has stagnated at around 11.5 percent. Energy from biomass, mainly wood and biogas, accounts for over 80 percent of the renewable energy produced. Bioenergy municipalities show how locally available, renewable raw materials and solar power can be intelligently combined for supplying energy.

New perspectives for bioenergy - 10/02/2020

Biogas as a component of the energy transition

Dr. Andreas Lemmer has been involved in the generation of energy from biomass for over 20 years. His employer, the State Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, runs the biogas pilot facility at Unterer Lindenhof near Reutlingen. Scientists here work under practical conditions testing new techniques.

Biogas and wood as components of the energy transition - 10/02/2020

New perspectives for bioenergy

Decentralised, controllable and stable - renewable energy is an important component in the transition to a bioeconomy without fossil fuels. BIOPRO spoke to PD Dr. Andreas Lemmer from the State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy at the University of Hohenheim and Prof. Dr. Stefan Pelz, scientific director of the Institute for Applied Research and professorat the University of Applied Forest Sciences Rottenburg.

Article - 30/10/2019

Fuel from CO2 – compact decentralised facilities enable emission-free mobility

Can greenhouse gases like CO2 and methane be used to fuel cars? What sounds like wishful thinking is in fact already reality at INERATEC. The company’s compact mobile systems equipped with a unique chemical reactor technology are attracting worldwide interest. The systems enable CO2-free mobility for road traffic, aviation and shipping. Is this development close to successful market entry?

How can we achieve the internationally agreed climate targets? The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB makes the greenhouse gas CO2 usable as a carbon source for the chemical industry. With a patented catalyst synthesis, screening for the optimal catalyst in high throughput and combined (electro)chemical-biotechnological processes, various concepts are available to CO2 emitting industries.

Article - 04/07/2019

Sustainable energy storage using egg shells

Germans consumed 235 chicken eggs per head. While egg white and egg yolks are processed into cakes, pasta or scrambled eggs, the shell predominantly ends up as organic waste. This despite the fact that eggshells are complex composites of lime and protein fibres. “It has repeatedly been shown over recent years that natural products are excellently suited for energy storage,” explains Professor Maximilian Fichtner from the Helmholtz Institute Ulm,…

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 - 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.

Article - 06/12/2018

Celeriac and electricity: dual-use system on arable land

Food or fuel? Potatoes or electricity? In addition to growing energy crops for biofuel and biogas production, open space solar plants also compete with food production when it comes to land use. Agrophotovoltaics (APV), i.e. the dual use of arable land, can mitigate the conflicting interests of agriculture and open space PV systems. APV-RESOLA is a pilot project aimed at investigating the efficiency of this dual use.

Press release - 26/07/2018

Power-to-X technologies and renewables

Storage solutions will be very much in demand as renewables account for a growing share of electricity in the grid. One option – converting fluctuating green electricity into chemical energy carriers or raw materials – looks particularly promising. Scientists at the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) want to put power-to-X processes into action with a two-pronged strategy.

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 - 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…

Dossier - 10/09/2012

Horizon 2020 the EU framework programme for research and innovation a boost for top-level research in Europe

In the face of the ongoing financial crisis Europe is working on a new research strategy that is aimed at creating new economic growth and jobs. The new EU framework programme for research and innovation Horizon 2020 replaces the 7th Framework Programme FP7 and will run from 2014 with a budget of 80 billion. In July 2012 Brussels launched the final FP7 calls for proposals for 2013 that offer numerous market-based instruments designed to bridge…

Article - 30/07/2012

Hydrogen technology a future market segment worth billions

The importance of hydrogen as an energy carrier is expected to increase considerably over the next twenty years and play a key role in the worlds energy supply by 2050. An industrial sector offering technology infrastructure and services related to the use of hydrogen will evolve alongside this growth. The Biotechnology Forum in Freiburg on 19th September will focus on the potential future role of biotechnologically produced hydrogen.

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 - 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…

Press release - 20/12/2011

Biotech as a driving force for environmental technology renewable energy and sustainability

As a classical cross-sectional technology biotechnology has huge potential to develop sustainable innovations in these areas. BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH is planning to focus more and more on tapping this potential to make it useable in the areas of environmental protection and regenerative energy as well as in the cleantech sector.

Press release - 10/11/2011

Renewable electricity the cheapest energy source for Europe by 2050

On the basis of calculations for 36 countries in Europe and Northern Africa the German Advisory Council on the Environment SRU concludes that a power supply completely based upon renewable sources by 2050 is achievable at average costs of 65 Mwh.

Article - 10/01/2011

Batteries powered by waste

What can we do with all the waste produced by private households? One possible solution is to feed it into a fridge-sized tank in the cellar or garage that can convert waste into electricity. Dr. Sven Kerzenmacher and Dr. Johannes Gescher from the University of Freiburg are hoping that one day such a vision will be made possible through the use of bacteria. The two researchers work with so-called exoelectrogenic microorganisms which they put into…

Article - 07/01/2011

Residual waste an eternal fire that generates electrical power

Chemical energy is stored in the material used for packaging carpets and so on. Some of this energy can be recycled from discarded products. Every year the Thermische Restabfallbehandlungs- und Energieerzeugungsanlage TREA Breisgau Thermal Residual Waste Treatment and Energy Generation Facility located in the Breisgau industrial estate close to Freiburg converts around 170000 t of residual waste into electricity. Dr. Holger Heinig COO of TREA…

Dossier - 07/01/2011

Energy generation from waste

We are all very aware of what happens when we dispose of waste whether it is industry waste private household waste or CO2. We also know that cost-effectiveness is still given priority over sustainability. As more and more waste is dumped it is increasingly entering the groundwater soil and atmosphere. The ideal solution would enable us to kill two birds with one stone if we could somehow combine the problems related to increasing environmental…

Article - 07/06/2010

Biomass has great potential if used properly

Up until now biotechnology has mainly been focused on the production of enzymes basic chemical and pharmaceutical substances as well as other biobased materials. From now on efforts will be made to exploit the potential of biotechnology at the beginning of value creation chains by improving the access to regenerative resources. Apart from its potential for use as food and animal feed there are two more concepts that focus on the utilisation of…

Article - 10/05/2010

Europes largest bioethanol facility

Mannheim-based CropEnergies AG operates Europes largest bioethanol facility located in the town of Zeitz. The company is also erecting a large-scale facility for liquefying purifying and recycling biogenic carbon dioxide at the same site. The new plant will have an annual capacity of 100000 t of food-grade liquefied CO2.

Article - 03/05/2010

Energy produced from poplars and other plants how efficiently can this be done?

Renewable energies do not come out of nowhere. The sustainable cultivation of firewood requires land for plantation. The main criticism of the use of land for the production of renewable energies is that the production of renewable resources is in strong opposition to the production of human food. The forestry scientist Janine Fischbach and her colleagues at the University of Freiburg are investigating ways to avoid a plate petrol tank dilemma.

Press release - 30/04/2010

MYKOTOWN to focus in future on renewable energies and sustainably produced fuels

In the future the Swiss company MYKOTOWN GREENTECH AG will focus on sustainably produced fuels and regenerative energies. The company is thus continuing its journey towards the production of biological and ecological plants using mycorrhizal fungi as well as tapping new fields of business.

There are some exciting developments in the expansion of bioenergy said the Baden-Württemberg Minister for Nutrition and Rural Areas Peter Hauk speaking at the conference Progress in Bioethanol Production Energy- Material- and Emission Balances.

Press release - 05/04/2008

Hezinger Algaetec Bio-diesel should soon become cheaper

The system exporter Hezinger GmbH wants to act in future as a global supplier of photobioreactors for the breeding of algae in order to promote the extraction of bio-diesel from the vegetable oil of algae as an alternative to the use of wheat rapeseed and maize.

The BioRegio STERN Management GmbH and the Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH sent out invitations to the 7th Brüssels Background entitled Bio-energy Out of research. Into practice. Experts presented and discussed the latest figures and information on the subject of bio-energy.

An outline of ideas or a proposal must be sent up until 14th May 2008.

The EU hopes to tap innovative markets with a Lead Markets Initiative in which bio-based products have been identified as an important market. The Lead Markets Initiative is part of the EUs broad-based innovation strategy.

Professor Werner Hofacker from Constance is looking into one of the most original questions to face humanity How can food be preserved? He is interested in the oldest method of preservation drying.