Resurrecting formerly extinct animal species has been a utopian dream for many researchers, and even Hollywood used this idea to resurrect dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. As implausible and surreal it may seem – scientifically speaking we’re not that far off from being able to bring back extinct species. The recent huge breakthroughs in the area of genetic engineering and stem cell biology have turned this utopia into a not-so-distant reality.
Agriculture, food production, and many more result in a substantial amount of bio-based waste material. However, although they provide high energetic potential, they are thus far hardly used to generate energy. This is due to their high moisture content and inhomogeneous composition. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich together with SunCoal Industries have now developed a new technique to produce biocoal from these waste materials.
Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) is a fairly young but also diverse crop that is farmed across Europe. The cultivation of sugar beet was the starting point for the industrial sugar production. Today, approximately one third of the global sugar consumption originates from sugar beet, which generates a yearly revenue of about €25 billion. However, in recent years the plant the beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) - causing rhizomania - has endangered the sugar beet yield more and more.
In order to preserve the fish population, fish have to be above a certain size before they can be caught. This is supposed to ensure that only adult animals will be caught and the younger ones will be able to procreate. Therefore most catching devices are specified for bigger fish, while smaller ones are able to escape.
At the end of May, as part of the EU Green Week 2017, the Green Awards ceremony was held. An expert jury had previously chosen a total of 15 finalist projects for the three categories Environment, Nature and Biodiversity, and Climate Action. The winners for each category were chosen by public vote on Facebook. The awards for the categories Environment as well as Nature and Biodiversity were presented by Karmenu Vella, the European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
Different habitats require different ways of life. Throughout evolution and over the course of millions of years a multitude of animal species have adapted to their respective homes. Even honey bees differ from one another in their behaviour. East African honey bees, for instance, live either in the dry savannahs or in the darker and damper mountain forests – each environment requires their own skill set. Researcher at the universities of Hohenheim and Uppsala, and the Institute for Bee Research Hohen Neuendorf e.V.
“Would you like a plastic bag for your purchase?” That was a standard question in Germany until recently – and is still practiced in many countries such as the US and Indonesia. Most retailers know about the devastating environmental consequences that these plastic bags entail, and are thus willing to change this practice.
At the end of May roughly 300 representatives of governments, as well as scientific and civil society organisations met in Berlin for the Fourth Global Soil Week (GSW), to assess some of the gaps and synergies regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation, and the relevance of soil protection in this context.
Whether it’s chive, parsley, or dill – herbs are an integral part of every kitchen. They can be cultivated in a garden or bought directly at the grocery store. Cultivating them at home, however, is no easy task and more often than not does not bring the envisioned results. To avoid these disappointments, startup Agrilution has developed a new solution: “Plantcube”, a smart greenhouse for the kitchen.
The “International Conference on Bio-based Materials” is a well-established meeting point for companies working in the field of bio-based chemicals and materials. For the tenth year in a row the conference was held this year on May 10 and 11 in Cologne. Almost 200 participants, particularly experts from the chemical and plastics industry met at the event organized by Nova institute.