Dossier - 15/11/2019

Microplastics waste is a valuable resource – it is just in the wrong place

The negative image of plastic persists and is not getting any better in the face of the ongoing debate about microplastics which are basically everywhere. Plastic pollutes the environment. The globe is littered with huge quantities. We have to modify the production and utilisation of macroplastics as well as fundamentally rethink the way we dispose of them. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ mentality must become a thing of the past.

Degradable biopolymers - 29/05/2020

Bioplastics make wood cycles more sustainable

Innovative technologies and bacteria can transform wood residues into sustainable bioplastic packaging. Before bioplastics are broken down into CO2 and water in an environmentally friendly way, they can thus lead lives as products in the cosmetics industry, for example.

The “Rhizo-Lentil" EIP-AGRI project - 20/05/2020

NovoCarbo turns plant waste into biochar

NovoCarbo GmbH produces biochar from plant residues such as wood chips, nutshells and manure. Different feedstocks, and the way these materials are processed, create biochars with different properties. This makes biochar suitable for different uses, including as a soil conditioner, in biogas plants or as bedding for stables and cowsheds. The Rhizo-Linse project is currently investigating whether biochar is also suitable as inoculant carrier for…

Phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge - 21/10/2020

Bacteria help to recycle phosphorus

Biotechnology for the bioeconomy: in something known as the P-bac process, sulphur bacteria extract phosphorus from sewage sludge ash. Phosphorus is one of the key building blocks of life and an essential nutrient for plant growth. When there is not enough phosphorus in the soil, farmers apply it via organic or mineral fertilisers.

Qualitative soil fertiliser - 10/07/2020

How natural cycles can be closed with wood ash

Recycled material instead of waste: wood ash is good for soil and plants - if the quality is right. The German Federal Quality Association for Food Ash ensures reliable wood ash standards with its certifications. The RAL-Dünger label for fertilisers provides the necessary certification for natural wood ashes to be used in the circular economy.

rezemo GmbH - 26/06/2020

Coffee capsules: wood instead of aluminium

In Germany alone, around three billion disposable coffee capsules made of aluminium and plastic are sold every year. This creates a gigantic waste problem, as only a small proportion of the capsules can be recycled. Fully compostable wooden coffee capsules might be a solution to this problem. The capsules have been developed by a start-up company called rezemo, which also has other biobased packaging solutions in the pipeline.

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.

Urban agriculture - 23/04/2020

alphabeet – the green-fingered smartphone

Given the challenges faced by modern agriculture, it is vital to raise people’s awareness of how to change their approach to food. The founders of the Stuttgart-based start-up company farmee GmbH see urban agriculture as the key to making this change possible. The company has developed “alphabeet”, an app designed to encourage consumers to produce their own food. After all, only those combining knowledge and practical experience can be expected…

The “Rhizo-Lentil" EIP-AGRI project - 03/03/2020

University of Hohenheim wants to improve the conditions for lentil cultivation

Lentils were once considered poor man’s food, but in Germany demand for them has never been greater. And to satisfy this growing demand, more lentils need to be cultivated. This is why the University of Hohenheim is involved in the EIP-AGRI "Rhizo-Linse" project. The aim of the project is to find rhizobia strains that go well with lentil plants to increase yield and improve quality.

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.

As healthy and tasty as mushrooms might be, they are good for much more than just the dinner plate. The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT has now teamed up with the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP to investigate the use of fungus-based materials for the fabrication of eco-friendly sound absorbers.

Paper production from plant fibres - 20/01/2021

In one cycle: ecopaper, energy and fertiliser made from Silphium perfoliatum

Many consumers don't care about exactly how their paper packaging is made and what it is made of as long as it is "eco". But even producing recycled paper, trees need to be felled. An alternative could be paper made from cup plant. Together with partners, a company called Silphie Paper has developed concept for obtaining fibres for a new type of grass paper, while also producing heat, energy and nutrients for natural fertilisers.

Development of biogenic packaging - 16/11/2020

Sustainable packaging - the devil is in the detail

Modern packaging often boils down to a tick list of biogenic origin and/or biodegradability. But comprehensive sustainable packaging concepts need more than just that. Perishable foods, for example, require special barrier properties. The Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences is researching packaging concepts for their sustainability.

Outlook on the future of agriculture - 30/11/2020

Agriculture 4.0 - ultramodern and without harmful plant protection products

The demand for organic products is continuing to grow; at the same time nature is being preserved – so why not switch completely to organic farming? The answer is simple: because not everyone can afford it, and with current consumption patterns not everyone would get enough to eat. A cooperative project is researching an an agricultural system that falls between conventional and organic farming.

Dossier - 09/11/2020

Packaging of the future

What will the packaging of the future look like, and what will be required of it? Can packaging be biobased, recyclable, sustainable and economic? In Baden-Württemberg, there are various approaches to developing packaging with the above properties from various sources including agricultural residual and side streams as well as municipal waste.

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.

Biobased building materials - 14/01/2021

Chitin for the development of sustainable materials for use in the construction and other industries

Pliable and robust, light and stable - it sounds like an ideal material for the construction and many other industries. A team of researchers at the University of Stuttgart is researching what purposes the naturally good properties of chitin can serve.

Natural substance with herbicide potential - 10/12/2020

The same but different: What makes sugar 7Sdh a better herbicide?

The sugar 7-deoxy-sedoheptulose (7dSh) is produced by cyanobacteria and inhibits the same metabolic pathway as the broad-spectrum herbicide glyphosate, thus making it an excellent herbicide candidate. Despite this amazing similarity, the microbiologist who discovered 7dSh, Prof. Dr. Karl Forchhammer, believes that this sugar has clear ecological advantages over glyphosate.

Textiles can be coated with the biopolymer chitosan and thus made water-repellent by binding hydrophobic molecules. The good thing is that this can also replace toxic and petroleum-based substances that are currently used for textile finishing. In the last few years Fraunhofer IGB and partners have developed technology to provide fibers with the desired properties using biotechnological processes and chitosan.

University of Hohenheim project contributes to maintaining valuable biotopes: Autonomous robot to help prune fruit trees so they stay healthy.

The European Commission agreed on the successor of BBI JU – the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) in a legislative proposal adopted today. The new partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) is expected to build on the success of BBI JU while stepping up its contribution to the EU’s climate targets, in line with the European Green Deal. The European Parliament and Council will now study the…

For quite some time now, the European Commission (EC) is putting a special focus on biodegradable and compostable polymers when assessing the general role of bioplastics.

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.

Microbiologists at the University of Tübingen modify bacteria to produce climate-neutral and rapidly degradable bioplastics.