BASF and Avantium have formed a joint venture for the production and marketing of the green building block furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and the drop-in bioplastic polyethylene furanoate (PEF) made from FDCA. Synvina will be headquartered in Amsterdam and will invest several hundred millions euros to build a plant producing 50,000 metric tons annually at BASF’s Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium, to demonstrate feasibility of manufacture at industrial scale and to license production.

According to Gilles Laroche, Head of Unit F1 – Bioeconomy Strategy– at DG Research and Innovation, “the review won’t be finalised before mid-2017 and the results will be available only in autumn 2017”. Prior plans foresaw the announcement of the results at the end of 2016.

The Bioeconomy Council of the German Government had invited delegates from all over the world to Berlin to attend this first Global Bioeconomy Summit from 24 - 26 November. At the end, the participants agreed on a final communiqé, highlighting five priorities. Summing up with regard to the Sustainable Development Summit in New York and the upcoming climate negotiations in Paris, Christine Lang, Co-Chair of the Bioeconomy Council, said, "Sustainability is one of the top issues on the political agenda. 2015 is the year of major international negotiations.

To avoid competition with food production, the EU research consortium "Bioconsept" was launched four years ago. Bioconsept is 13 million euro EU-funded research project, which converts second-generation biomass into valuable platform chemicals and bioplastics. It has developed manufacturing processes for two platform chemicals, which are derived from inedible biomass – such as wood or old vegetable oil.

Even so, the pressure of competition is also increasing amongst the German producers of Gouda and other cheese. The demand for new flavours of cheese is rising and production processes must be optimized. In cheese manufacturing, raw materials alone account for 87% of the costs. Nutrition researchers at the Hohenheimer University in Bonn now aim to advance an era of 'Cheese 4.0' by establishing a new technology platform. The new process is aimed at simplifying the production of sliced cheese, in particular, which has a market share of 30%, and increasing its variety.

Lactic acid bacteria, also known as lactobacilli, are in popular demand as aids and additives in the food industry. However, these useful microorganisms have considerably more potential, as the Organobalance company from Berlin has demonstrated in a clinical study. In its own proprietary collection of bacteria and yeast strains, the Organobalance researchers have now found an organism that can help to soothe dry skin: the bacterium Lactobacillus brevis DSMZ17250.

Floods and droughts are presenting increasing challenges for agriculture throughout the world. For many years, therefore, research efforts have been focussed on the search for more resistant plants that can cope with the environmental challenges. "To do this, we need to gain a better understanding of important crop plants such as rice, which is reckoned to be the world's most important source of food," explains Michael Riemann of the Molecular Cell Biology working group at the KIT's Botanical Institute.

It’s about 15% lighter than synthetics but 100% biodegradable. Built from the biologic Biosteel fiber, the adidas Futurecraft Biofabric prototype shoe represents the strongest fully natural material available, German sportswear company adidas said at the Biofabricate Conference in New York City. At the show, adidas announced a long-term partnership with German biotech company AmSilk, the developer of the biosteel production process.

With its 'high-tech strategy', the German government has paved the way for more sustainable economic activities. But how can the topic of sustainability be anchored more firmly in Germany whilst at the same time strengthening the country’s position as an innovation and technology hub? This is the question that the 'Sustainable Management' ('Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften') Expert Forum, part of the German government's Hightech Forum advisory group, has put at the top of its agenda.

A single gene regulates the length of female reproductive organs, thus helping avoid self-fertilisation. This discovery means that plant geneticists working with Michael Lenhard at the Institute for Biochemistry and Biology at the University of Potsdam have solved a centuries-old puzzle. Together with colleagues from England, Switzerland and Japan, the researchers wrote up their findings in the scientific journal eLife. The gene produces an enzyme that subtly alters the flower's hormonal balance.