Peacock feathers or butterfly wings, such as those of the peacock butterfly, fascinate with their splendid colours. However, it is not pigments that are responsible for this iridescent effect, but tiny structures that reflect the light in a special way. Some bacteria also have the talent to form similarly glittering and iridescent structures. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence ‘Balance of the Microverse’ at the University of Jena have now taken a closer look at bacterial colonies with this talent.

Large quantities of green waste, food waste and sewage sludge accumulate in every city and municipality. Tapping into these biogenic residues as a source of raw materials and optimising their use as materials and energy is an important cornerstone on the path to a sustainable and cycle-oriented bioeconomy. Stuttgart now wants to drive forward the transition to a bio-based circular economy in a targeted manner. The state capital of Baden-Württemberg is the first municipality in Germany to draw up its own urban bioeconomy strategy.

Utilising carbon dioxide (CO₂) as an alternative source of carbon is a promising approach to making industrial chemical production processes more climate-friendly and sustainable. In the FUMBIO project, researchers from the Centre for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) at the University of Marburg and the universities in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern-Landau, led by the chemical company BASF, want to develop such a sustainable production process for the manufacture of the platform chemical fumaric acid.

Polylactic acid – PLA for short – is a bioplastic that is particularly valued for its high rigidity. The range of applications for the bio-based and biodegradable polymers extends from children's toys to dowels and disposable cups to food packaging. Fraunhofer researchers have now expanded the range of applications for PLA with the development of a new type of film material.

Alongside water, nitrogen as a fertiliser is a key factor in determining plant yields and therefore people's food security. However, nitrogen consumption in agriculture is very unevenly distributed worldwide: Rich countries tend to use too much nitrogen fertiliser, which pollutes water bodies and reduces biodiversity. In the Global South, on the other hand, there is a lack of nitrogen for sufficient harvests. The imbalance in global nitrogen distribution was the focus of an international study involving the University of Göttingen.

Whether in seafood, drinking water or vegetables, microplastics have already been detected in numerous foods. The tiny, barely visible particles are the remnants of plastic waste that ends up in the sea or gets into our food, for example through fertilisers and pesticides from sewage sludge. There are filter technologies to remove microplastics from wastewater. However, the treated water is not completely free of microplastics. Researchers at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences have now succeeded in doing just that.

How can agriculture become more sustainable with the help of intelligent digitalisation without sacrificing yields? Researchers at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn have been working on this question for several years as part of the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence. With the development of software that can simulate the future growth of cultivated crops, the team is once again demonstrating the potential of digitalisation.

Sustainable, efficient and resilient production systems in agriculture are of fundamental importance on the way to a functioning sustainable bioeconomy. The Coordination and Support Action (CSA) "Green ERA-Hub", launched in September 2022 and funded by the European Commission, represents 15 former and still active EU initiatives from the fields of agriculture, food production and biotechnology.