Bioeconomy News

With COLIPI and traceless materials, two German start-ups have qualified for the finals of the "Renewable Material of the Year 2023" award.

Researchers at the University of Jena have extracted activated carbon from brewer's grains and used it as a raw material for the production of electrochemical energy storage systems.

Researchers have succeeded in harnessing electrons from the early stages of photosynthesis.

For more sustainability in soft robotics, a Max Planck research team has developed artificial muscles made of gelatin, oil and bioplastics.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a natural fiber reinforcement for concrete that can be a bio-based alternative to synthetic fibers.

Researchers have optimized an enzyme that activates indole and indene to produce, for example, the precursor of an HIV protease inhibitor.

Without contact with roots, one third fewer decomposers live in the soil. This is what biodiversity researchers from Germany found out during studies in tropical rainforests and plantations.

Researchers from Fraunhofer IGB have developed a process for torrefaction of biomass. It is now being tested on a large scale to produce green chemicals and biochar.

A European research project aims to reduce fossil raw materials in the textile industry and make PET fibers recyclable.

In Ellwangen, a sports field is being built with a playing surface made of biopolymers.

Researchers from Cologne University of Applied Sciences (TH Köln) and Aachen University of Applied Sciences (FH Aachen) have developed an enzymatic process that can be used to produce biosurfactants from domestic raw materials more sustainably.

In a mixed agricultural operation, a team led by ATB researchers from Potsdam wants to demonstrate the benefits of systematic use of precision crop management techniques.

Covestro and its partners have developed a process to obtain the important chemical aniline from biomass. The process is now being scaled up to pilot production.

Researchers have identified new biocatalysts that can make recycling of the plastics polyurethane and polyvinyl alcohol resource-efficient and environmentally friendly.

A pyrolysis plant developed by Fraunhofer researchers was commissioned at RWE's Niederaussem research site to convert residual and waste materials into high-quality hydrocarbons.

Last year, the comprehensive brochure “Bioökonomie in Deutschland” was published in a completely revised and updated version. Now the standard work on the bio-based economy in Germany has been translated into English.

Converting biomass into chemicals is a technical challenge. Supported with 2 million euros from the European Research Council, a Hamburg research team develops new catalysts specifically for this purpose.

Machine learning is used to detect atypical peptides in bacteria and make them available for use.

Biotech companies AMSilk and BRAIN Biotech will collaborate on the development of high-performance protein fibers for the textile industry.

With the event series "Bioeconomy Workshop Saxony", an alliance of business and science aims to bring innovative concepts of the bioeconomy into practice.

The carbon cycle in soil is significantly influenced by the way microorganisms die.

With an EU grant, Max Planck researchers want to bring their new concept for optimizing microbial production organisms into biotechnological application.

Researchers have succeeded in pressing wooden boards from the bark of native trees that do not require glue, thus enabling easy reuse.

A special polyester has properties comparable to thermoplastics and is both recyclable and microbially degradable.

Plants protect their cells from too much sun with the help of color pigments. The signal for this is given by the sugars from photosynthesis.

After two years of record figures, the mood in the German biotechnology industry is worse than ever. This is shown by the annual survey of the industry association BIO Deutschland for 2022.

Berlin-based food tech startup Project Eaden receives another €2 million in a seed round to further develop its fiber technology for producing plant-based meat.

Soy production in Europe could be further increased by breeding new drought- and heat-tolerant varieties.

Max Planck researchers have presented a combination method that produces plants without traces of the gene scissors.

A German-Japanese research team wants to enable algae to produce green hydrogen without photosynthesis even at night.

Researchers have succeeded in developing a domestic alternative to palm oil from rapeseed oil.

Bacillus subtilis is a multi-talent - equally important for human and animal health as well as for industry.

Improving the taste and consistency of plant-based meat substitutes is the focus of a new research partnership between Holzminden-based Symrise AG and Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Exotic spices are key to baking cookies. But instead of coming from India, vanilla and pepper could soon come from domestic indoor farms.

Researchers have discovered how the cabbage white butterfly detoxifies toxic mustard oils from its food source.

Traceless has developed a pilot product from its innovative biomaterial, which is currently being used in a Hamburg store of the C&A fashion chain.

A worldwide consortium with the participation of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg aims to advance the genome sequencing of eukaryotic unicellular organisms and make it available as a resource for the bioeconomy.

A new reforming process generates another source of fuel from biogenic waste.

Heat-resistant enzymes could be incorporated into biodegradable plastics to accelerate their decomposition.

With the help of an innovative plasma technology, researchers have paved the way to protect grain from pests and thus make it last longer.

Gene scissors are an important tool in genome editing, but they originated in the battle between bacteria and phages.

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is funding 13 new collaborative research centers at universities with a total of 166 million euros - including two on the bioeconomy.

Researchers at the University of Hohenheim want to make proteins from plants from meadows and pastures usable for the bioeconomy. A protein extract for animal feed has already been obtained.

A flexible vertical greening system developed by Fraunhofer researchers has reached market maturity after years of research.

Researchers at TU Dresden work on sustainable stage design made of a composite material with fungal mycelium. The corresponding premiere is at the beginning of December in Munich.

Researchers reconstructed the distribution of global plant diversity and used it to create a world map showing where and how many plant species exist.

A silicone sponge can be used to detect bacteria that cannot be cultured in the laboratory and to analyze their DNA.

The Gregor Mendel Foundation has awarded the Innovation Prize to researchers Nils Stein and Martin Mascher from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben for their contributions to decoding the complex genomes of wheat, barley and rye.

Researchers in Hamburg want to tap new sources of raw materials - straw, to be precise - in order to obtain cellulose fibers for the textile industry.

The Potsdam-based start-up Targenomix uses systems biology and bioinformatics to develop new crop protection products.

Plant researchers from Tübingen have investigated epigenetic marks in a crop plant - the field penny-cress. These adapt to the climatic conditions of a site.

Genetic analyses of old landraces of winter barley have led plant researchers from Gatersleben to discover a molecular mechanism that can be used to produce virus-resistant barley varieties.

A new research project aims to tap the potential of residual and waste materials from hemp processing - especially their use for energy.

In the sustainability category of the FSK industry association's innovation award, this year's prize went to Fraunhofer researchers from Pfinztal.

Cologne-based researchers have tapped safflower oil as a resource for the production of biobased polyamides.

A new study concludes that breeding new wheat and rye varieties can significantly reduce agriculture's carbon footprint.

The biotech company AMSilk has moved into new laboratory and office space on the Neuried campus southwest of Munich - partly in order to continue growing outside Europe.

A pilot plant for the production of two biobased pharmaceutical raw materials has performed well in test operation.

The salt protection mechanism now demonstrated in plant leaves is superior to that in roots and opens up potential for plant breeding.

Researchers from Halle have used a 3D printer to encapsulate an insect repellent in a biopolymer and molded it into a finger ring that protects against mosquitoes.