Crude oil is of great value to the chemical industry because of the carbon compounds it contains. Not only vegetable biomass, but also the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide can be considered as an alternative source of carbon for chemical processes - as long as these processes are profitable. Catalysts are a key element for economic efficiency. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) are working on optimizing such catalysts and processes.

It is another success for the Swiss specialty chemicals group Clariant: In the pre-commercial lignocellulose biorefinery in Straubing, Bavaria, the company has now enzymatically processed around 30 metric tons of Miscanthus grass, also known as maiden silvergrass or elephant grass, into lignocellulose sugars and ethanol.

The exact details of insect decline in Germany are controversial and part of a new monitoring programme, but it has been proven that more than 3,000 native insect species have experienced a significant reduction in their population sizes in recent decades.

There are about as many bacteria living in and on humans as there are body cells. This is no different for most higher organisms. Bees, for example, also have a microbial intestinal flora that supports digestion and stimulates the immune system. Microorganisms live in beehives which secrete compounds to prevent the spread of harmful fungi.

They bring water into the desert: large plantations can influence the microclimate to such an extent that more rain falls. They help reduce desertification and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Scientists at the University of Hohenheim have now analyzed the exact mechanisms behind rain formation and, with the help of a supercomputer, have simulated it down to the regional level, where new crops could make the greatest difference.

The aim of the "MartA (Smart Spraying)" project is to identify diseased plants immediately after infestation and treat them with pesticides at the ideal time. Together with the industry partners Bosch and Cubert, the researchers are developing sensors and algorithms that make this possible. The project has already been successful for the sugar beet disease cercospora, and promising progress has also been made against three wheat diseases.

So far, they have only been nominated, but this in itself is already a distinction: the three chemists Walter Leitner, Christoph Gürtler and Berit Stange have made it to the final of the German Future Prize 2019. Their research success is an important building block for a future carbon cycle economy: The three scientists have developed a process with which polyols can be produced from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which in turn are the starting material for the polyurethane plastics group. So far, polyols have been produced primarily from crude oil.

The bond between a fluorine atom and a carbon atom is the strongest single-bond in organic chemistry. Splitting it would be a reaction that occurs automatically over a period of years, but some enzymes shorten the reaction to a few seconds. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg, the University of Potsdam and the University of Toronto in Canada have now documented in a highly detailed time-lapse film what exactly happens during this reaction in the enzyme fluoroacetate dehalogenase.

The second generation of biofuels is produced from agricultural residues, such as grain straw or Chinese reed. The Swiss specialty chemicals group Clariant AG has developed sunliquid technology for this purpose, a biotechnological process in which cellulose-ethanol can be produced from plant residues. In Straubing, Bavaria, Clariant operates a demonstration plant for the lignocellulose biorefinery. This technology has now found a second licensee in PKN Orlen, a petroleum company that is particularly strong in Central Europe.