Bioeconomy

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.

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.

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 - 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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 - 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,…

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.

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.