Wood is a versatile and sought-after raw material in Germany and has to be imported in large quantities due to the high demand. An alternative to wood could be plants from paludiculture, as peatland plants also contain important wood components such as cellulose and lignin. Reeds and peat mosses are already being used for building materials, animal feed and food. Now the paper industry could also benefit from peatland plants as a wood substitute. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV have now provided proof of this.

How can nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which are removed from the environment through the cultivation and consumption of food, be returned? This question was the focus of the ‘zirkulierBAR’ project, which was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from 2021 to 2024 as part of the REGION.innovativ funding programme. Following the completion of the three-year project, which was coordinated by the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), the consortium has now summarised its results and findings in a handbook.

Humus is known to be good for the soil. The complex mixture of organic matter, such as dead animal and plant remains, serves as a food source for plants and soil microbes alike and is therefore a driving force for plant growth and soil health. It is primarily the humic substances contained in humus that ensure that moisture and nutrients are bound in the soil, convert microbial biomass into nutrient-rich biostimulants and make these available to plants. In practice, however, things often look different.

Potting soils usually contain peat, which is formed from dead plant remains in bogs. However, peat extraction destroys the habitats of many plants and animals as well as a valuable carbon store. There are now alternative plant substrates such as coconut pulp and fibres. However, the raw materials have to be imported from India or Sri Lanka. In the TOPKO project, researchers at Oldenburg University of Applied Sciences and industrial partners now want to prove that regional raw materials are also suitable as a peat substitute for plant substrates.

For many people, sweets such as chocolate, biscuits and meringue are part of the Christmas season. But the trend is also moving towards vegan treats that are healthy and sustainable. However, when it comes to baked goods in particular, it can be difficult to completely avoid animal products such as eggs. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising want to change that. In the ‘LeguFoam’ project, a team led by Maike Föste has developed a plant-based alternative to traditional egg whites from hens' eggs.

Microorganisms play a key role in the bioeconomy – from sustainable energy production to the development of new materials. It is therefore essential to understand and further optimise their metabolism. Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University and the Leibniz Institutes in Jena have discovered the extent to which the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can adapt its metabolism – simply through new cultivation conditions, without the need to intervene in the genetic material.

Until recently, chocolate without cocoa and palm oil was unthinkable. With Choviva, the Munich-based start-up Planet A Foods has developed a chocolate alternative that not only manages without cocoa and palm oil, but also saves large amounts of CO₂ during production. The company, which was founded in Planegg in 2021, has now raised 30 million US dollars as part of a Series B financing round to further increase the production of cocoa-free chocolate.

More than 9,000 public sewage treatment plants in Germany ensure that wastewater is biologically purified, thereby minimizing pollution of local water bodies. However, valuable nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are also lost during conventional treatment.