Last summer, heat and drought have afflicted farmers in many places and caused enormous harvest losses. The damage caused to farmers in Germany was estimated by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture at 770 million euros.
Extreme weather conditions make plants more susceptible to disease and pest infestation. This also endangers wheat production in Germany and large parts of Europe.
Bogs have a reputation for emitting methane and thus warming the climate. Methane is mainly formed by a particularly old group of microorganisms, the archaea. Eight years ago, however, Dutch researchers reported that the moors contribute less to climate change than previously feared: Certain bacteria directly recycle methane and process it into metabolic products, which mosses then absorb and incorporate into their biomass.
Whether as breakfast eggs or baking ingredients, chicken eggs have become an integral part of everyday life. In addition to the food industry, eggs are also frequently used in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. However, the vast quantities of shells that accumulate as a result have so far hardly been noticed and have mostly ended up in organic waste. But the white or brownish shells are made of a material with great potential for new sustainable energy storage.
The specialty chemicals group Evonik started its venture capital business in 2012 with €100 million and launched its first venture capital fund. In this way, the Essen-based company aims to secure access to forward-looking technologies and innovative business models. A total of 25 investments in start-ups in the fields of health care, new materials, animal nutrition and special additives were created from the first fund. Up to 5 million euros were available to the founders for the realisation of their ideas and their successful market entry.
How sustainable are German companies? How seriously do they take ecological and social issues and how openly do they deal with them?
The plastic mountains from old packaging need to be reduced - on this, consumers and companies agree. But in addition to product protection, plastic packaging also offers other advantages such as low weight. That is why most manufacturers do not want to eliminate the use of plastics, but rather to develop a clever packaging design that allows as much recycling as possible.
The demand for living space in Germany is expected to increase by seven percent by 2030. And even today, politicians are struggling to find solutions that will reduce housing costs. One such measure could be the construction of new buildings. These could also help promote the transformation of the housing sector towards greater sustainability. Several institutions of the Zuse Research Association have developed new technologies precisely for this purpose.
The Food Accelerator Network is entering the next round: once again, start-ups from the agricultural and food industries have the opportunity to receive not only practical assistance but also financial injections. The target group are young companies whose business ideas are aimed at strengthening confidence in the food industry, addressing people's health or improving the sustainability of the sector.
Trees are a natural source of CO2 and make an important contribution to climate protection. However, species diversity varies greatly from region to region and has changed dramatically over the years. In the humid tropics, for example, there are considerably more plants to be found per square metre than in Germany. But why is this so, and what factors influence the diversity of tree species? In order to find answers to these questions, the forested areas of the world would have to be thoroughly explored - truly a Sisyphean task.
New technologies such as field robots are already making agriculture more efficient and sustainable. New habitats for insects and other animals are being created with flower strips or mixed cultivation of crops. This contributes to the protection of biological diversity. But can all these measures halt the global loss of biodiversity? Apparently not.