Bioeconomy

Article - 30/11/2017

Biomass from algae and the wholesale market – a promising replacement for fossil raw materials

Funding renewable energies is one of the EU’s key objectives. Biomass such as algae and organic waste are particularly promising because they are not in competition with food production. Scientists at the Fraunhofer IGB in Stuttgart ferment biomass from wholesale market waste and algae. They use a cascade process to obtain valuable materials and the biogas methane. Their aim is to close material cycles and achieve high efficiency and flexibility…

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.

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.

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.

Press release - 25/07/2011

Lufthansa using biofuels on scheduled flights

An Airbus A321 will be flying between Hamburg and Frankfurt to test biofuel on scheduled flights over the course of six months. On this service, one engine will be using a fuel blend containing 50 percent biosynthetic kerosene. The key objective of this project is to conduct a long-term test during which the impact of biofuels on the maintenance and efficiency of jet engines can be investigated.

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.

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.

Article - 14/05/2012

Biogas and sustainability

The German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has led to a considerable increase in the use of biogas in Germany. However, increasing biogas production must make ecological sense and not generate conflict with the sustainability objectives of environmental conservation schemes. There must therefore be a careful consideration of the overall conditions. An analysis of the ecological impact of the generation and use of biogas in Germany taking into…

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.

Press release - 01/08/2011

Water purification unit generates its own energy

A new biological water purification facility developed by Siemens generates enough methane gas to power its own operations. It also produces much less sludge than conventional systems.

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.

Article - 10/05/2010

Europe’s 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 - 07/05/2012

Wastewater is not just boring old waste – it is an alternative source of energy

In view of the changing climate and the finiteness of fossil resources, research into renewable energies is gaining in importance. One of the things that researchers have been looking into for quite some time is different possibilities to use organic wastewater compounds as sustainable energy sources. Carsten Meyer from the University of Stuttgart works on the generation of alternative energy sources. Together with his team of researchers, Meyer…

Article - 09/05/2016

Biobattery made from unused and windfall apples

The disadvantage of wind and solar energy is that they cannot be produced continuously nor can they be stored, at least not yet. High-performance batteries that can store intermittent renewable energy sources might change this in the future. Sodium-ion batteries would be both a cheap and environmentally friendly possibility. Prof. Dr. Stefano Passerini and his team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a battery that…

On 8 February, the European Parliament adopted its Own Initiative Report on the Circular Economy which recognised the role of bioplastics for the future. Amongst other issues highlighted, the MEPs emphasised the potential role of bio–based and biodegradable and compostable plastics in the circular economy whilst noting that bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics alone will not provide a solution to the environmental concerns related to plastics.

Article - 14/05/2012

Making money with waste – biogas

At a time when energy crops are competing with food crops for agricultural land, the company n-bio GmbH is doing something positive by turning what is considered waste into bioenergy. This not only reduces waste disposal costs, but also protects the environment. The technically highly sophisticated waste fermentation plants manufactured by n-bio GmbH automatically remove packaging residues and are also able to cope with pralines. The company’s…

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.

Article - 22/02/2016

Building with wood to decarbonise the economy

If we want to limit the effects of climate change, wood is the building material of choice as it can store carbon. As trees grow, they take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and, even when they are harvested, carbon remains stored in the wood for the lifespan of the product. Prof. Dederich from Rottenburg University of Applied Forest Sciences shows that even multi-storey buildings can be built from wood and be safe, durable and aesthetically…

Article - 07/03/2016

Bio-racing car as a prototype for the car of the future

How “bio” can a car be? Quite a lot, as the Bioconcept car developed by Reutlingen-based Four Motors demonstrates. Former DTM driver Tom von Löwis and his team are currently working on a fourth-generation biofuel-powered Bioconcept car. The body parts and interior are made from fully or partially biobased materials and composites with plant-fibre reinforced duromers. The optimised combustion engines are powered with biofuels. Anyone who thinks…

Press release - 16/07/2012

CO2-development: a vision of a carbon dioxid economy

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are largely responsible for the greenhouse effect and thus for climate change. A reduction in CO2 emissions is therefore at the very top of the international political agenda. Trials are running in parallel to explore underground sequestration of CO2 from power stations, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. It would at first sight seem paradoxical to wish to use energy-poor, inert CO2 molecules. Considerable…

Dossier - 23/09/2013

Bioeconomy: a new model for industry and the economy

On the one hand, a bioeconomy relies on renewable resources to meet society’s need for food, energy and industrial products. On the other, it emphasises the role of biogenic material flows. The bioeconomy model is expected to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels in the long term. In order to implement the shift from a fossil-based economy to a biobased economy on the regional level, the Baden-Württemberg government launched the Bioeconomy…

Alternative engines and fuels for cars of the future still lack technical maturity and are not yet competitive. In the short to medium term, the only way to replace fossil fuel will be other fossil fuels – compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Biodiesel and ethanol are and will remain for the foreseeable future the only renewable resource alternatives to fossil fuel. As is the case for any other technology, the development…

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…

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.