How can our food system become more sustainable? This question is currently occupying many researchers. Eating less meat and more vegetables is just one way of protecting the environment and climate, as well as making agriculture more sustainable. Like other sectors of the economy, however, agriculture is geared to constant growth. For a long time, there have been voices arguing for an economy without growth, because this development is harmful to the environment. Researchers have now taken a closer look at these so-called "degrowth" approaches.

Solvents are central chemicals in many manufacturing processes in the chemical industry. They are used to dissolve starting materials at the beginning of a production process, but also to isolate and condition the desired compound from the reaction mixture at the end. However, most solvents have been based on petroleum. The international DECADES research project funded by the European Commission is therefore now looking for bio-based alternatives.

A new tool for biotechnology has been discovered coincidentally by research teams from the University of Leipzig and TU Dresden: while studying the cyanobacterium Scytonema hofmanni, they came across an enzyme with a previously unknown ability. The enzyme, called furanolide synthase, masters the ability to create certain carbon-carbon bonds.

Whether for electricity and heat production, for use in gas-powered household appliances or as a fuel, biogas is firmly established in everyday life. There are around 9,000 biogas plants nationwide, producing 94 terawatt hours (TWh) of biogas. Biogas production currently accounts for about 9% of total natural gas consumption in Germany. About half of the natural gas was imported from Russia in 2021. However, with the attack on Ukraine and a looming gas embargo by Russia, gas supply has become more uncertain.

Energy crops such as rapeseed and corn are grown on more than one-fifth of the arable land in Germany. This means that they compete with food production for valuable agricultural land. Agri-photovoltaics (Agri-PV) promises a resource-efficient dual use of arable land. The simultaneous use of fields for the cultivation of food crops and for the generation of electricity also opens up new sources of income for farmers.

With the trend toward plant-based nutrition, a food crop that seemed forgotten for decades is gaining in importance: the field bean. Nationwide, the area under cultivation has increased almost tenfold since 2010 and reached a new record level of around 56,500 hectares in 2020, according to the Federal Statistical Office. As part of the group's 2026 PLUS strategy, Südzucker subsidiary Beneo now wants to significantly expand its acreage under field beans.

The natural storage of carbon dioxide in the form of biomass and soil deposits is considered an important tool on the road to climate neutrality. Wetlands are particularly important in this respect, as documented in a study published in the scientific journal Science: According to the study, wetlands store five times more carbon per square meter than forests and even 500 times more than oceans.

The market for meat substitutes may still be small, but it is growing rapidly. Microbial protein could play a particularly important role as an alternative to beef, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) report in the scientific journal Nature.

Biobased materials and resource-saving methods and processes are the key to a sustainable future that protects the climate and the environment. For this purpose, the start-up competition "PlanB - Biobased.Business.Bayern" has been launched, which is now starting its fifth round. Start-ups and bio-entrepreneurs who have a so-called Plan B ready for a world free of fossil raw materials can apply for funding again since May 9, 2022.

Poplars are not only relevant for the paper and pulp industry - but they can do what plant research had not expected: Their defence hormones salicylic acid and jasmonic acid reinforce each other. In contrast, these two hormones block each other in annual plants such as the model plant thale cress, which is popular in research. Either one or the other defence pathway is particularly active.