24.03.2022 News
Agriculture and forestry Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
Environmental microbiologists show for the first time that ammonium-oxidizing microorganisms are also active in Lake Constance.
Sun, 07/24/2022 - 12:00 In-depth report
Energy Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
Green hydrogen is considered a crucial element of the energy transition. So far, the gas has been produced mainly by electrolysis, a process that consumes considerable amounts of electricity. However, there are promising bio-based approaches to hydrogen production in which algae and bacteria play an important role. This dossier presents current research approaches.
29.03.2022 News
Chemistry Waste Chemistry
Cologne-based start-up PAPACKS and North American beverage producer Keurig Dr Pepper are pooling their expertise to jointly produce a plastic-free and compostable bottle.
30.03.2022 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
A research network is developing defense methods against cherry vinegar flies, pine weevils and white grubs.
04.04.2022 News
Chemistry Plants Chemistry
"Gardening without plastic waste" is the motto of a research consortium that develops innovative products such as plant pots from poplar wood and bark.
19.03.2021 News
Agriculture and forestry Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
Researchers in Bremen have discovered bacteria that can be used to fertilize teak trees naturally and thus grow them sustainably.
11.02.2021 Studies and statistics
unspecific unspecific Agriculture sciences
Biodiversity, which is crucial for the health of people and the planet, is declining faster than ever before in human history. Meat consumption is the world's biggest destroyer of nature, according to a recent study.
18.11.2021 Product
Consumables Waste
Cosmetic products are often sold in plastic packaging. As a result, they generate more and more packaging waste.
03.03.2021 News
Chemistry Plants Biotechnology/Systems biology
The Hamburg-based start-up LignoPure was able to secure 2.2 million euros from investors in a first round of financing. With this, the team now wants to start the large-scale production of lignin for cosmetics.
22.02.2021 News
Construction Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
A research team is optimizing the cultivation of bacteria that secrete lime and can thus patch cracks in structures.
20.12.2019 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
Poinsettias are not only beautiful to look at but also robust. Growers are constantly creating new color variations of the popular decorative plant.
19.12.2019 Interview
Agriculture and forestry Animals Agriculture sciences
The veterinarian Jens Baltissen talks about modern breeding approaches for dairy cows favored by bioeconomy researchers in the German Livestock Association.
09.01.2020 News
Pharmaceutical industry Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
Braunschweig researchers have discovered a new species of cold-loving yeasts in tree sap.
21.01.2020 News
Chemistry Waste Chemistry
Hamburg researchers are developing biodiesel without sulfur and nitrogen from french fry fat and electrolysis hydrogen.
22.01.2020 News
Food Animals Agriculture sciences
Overfertilization in fish farming pose a serious threat to ecosystems and food security, researchers find.
30.01.2020 News
unspecific Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
Max Planck researchers have created a synthetic cell that enables biochemical reactions and reacts to environmental influences.
29.01.2020 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
If we were to modify the metabolism of plants, they could bind up to five times more carbon dioxide than is currently the case. Bioinformaticians from Würzburg have run a simulation.
31.01.2020 News
Chemistry Plants Biotechnology/Systems biology
Big news for the Leuna chemical site: The Finnish group UPM is investing EUR 550 million in an industrial biorefinery. The plant will produce green chemicals from wood.
05.02.2020 News
Food Plants Chemistry
Partners from research and industry want to develop multilayer packaging materials based on chitosan and at the same time work out a corresponding method for quality control.
06.02.2020 News
Chemistry Plants Biotechnology/Systems biology
With the help of a new process, researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Rostock extract pentylene glycol, which is important for cosmetics, from bagasse, residual materials from the sugar cane industry.
23.06.2021 News
Chemistry Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
In its latest edition, the talk format "Karliczek.Impulse" devoted its latest edition to the smallest players in biotechnology - microorganisms and enzymes - and their important role for a sustainable circular economy.
28.06.2021 News
unspecific unspecific unspecific
With a functional fiber made from green waste, the young company nakt convinced the jury at the Bavarian PlanB competition for bio-based business ideas.
17.08.2021 Interview
Agriculture and forestry unspecific Bioökonomie mitgestalten
As co-chair of the German government's new Bioeconomy Council, Iris Lewandowski wants to stimulate public debate on the topic of biobased management. The agricultural scientist from the University of Hohenheim is an advocate of modern as well as ecologically compatible agriculture.
07.07.2021 News
Pharmaceutical industry Waste Materials sciences
A Fraunhofer IMWS research team has been awarded the Halle IQ Innovation Prize for the development of a wound dressing made of natural elastin.
12.07.2021 News
Chemistry Plants Chemistry
BASF has developed a new biopolymer from the konjac plant tuber to replace synthetic ingredients in cosmetic products.
19.07.2021 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
Bosch and BASF develop Smart Spraying solution to automatically detect and control weeds.
22.07.2021 News
Construction Plants Materials sciences
Inspired by nature and built with natural fibers: the pavilion in the Botanical Garden of the University of Freiburg shows what sustainable building can look like.
01.07.2021 Studies and statistics
unspecific unspecific unspecific
In order not to push the earth beyond its carrying capacity, global CO2 emissions and resource consumption must be significantly reduced. A study by the International Institute for Sustainability Analysis and Strategies (IINAS) commissioned by the Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V. (NABU) shows where the potential for sustainable use of raw materials is greatest.
29.07.2021 News
Chemistry Plants Chemistry
In the EU project BIOMAT, researchers from eight EU countries, including Germany, are working on sustainable foam and composite materials, more than half of which are made from renewable raw materials.
02.08.2021 News
Pharmaceutical industry Fungi Biodiversity
The genes carried by the fungi of a lichen differ depending on whether they are found at the base and summit of mountains. This is relevant for drug research.
30.08.2021 Interview
Agriculture and forestry Microorganisms Biodiversity
Jena geoecologist Söhnke Zaehle is researching how nutrients such as nitrogen affect the material cycles of ecosystems.
04.08.2021 News
Chemistry Waste Chemistry
Researchers at the German Institute of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf, together with industrial partners, have processed plant fermentation residues from biogas plants into a composite material, which they used to make a piece of furniture.
29.07.2021 Studies and statistics
unspecific unspecific unspecific
Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2021, Earth Overshoot Day lands on July 29. This is according to calculations by the Global Footprint Network.
04.08.2021 Success story
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
In the joint project IMPAC3, partners from research and industry have explored which genotypes are suitable for mixed cultivation in fields, grassland and forests.
12.10.2022 Success story
Chemistry unspecific Chemistry
In the PepTight project, researchers want to identify peptides that are able to filter special rare earths, known as lanthanides, from industrial water.
18.10.2022 News
Chemistry unspecific Chemistry
Researchers from Halle have used a 3D printer to encapsulate an insect repellent in a biopolymer and molded it into a finger ring that protects against mosquitoes.
19.10.2022 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Plant breeding research
The salt protection mechanism now demonstrated in plant leaves is superior to that in roots and opens up potential for plant breeding.
14.10.2022 Studies and statistics
unspecific unspecific Biodiversity
According to the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) 14th Living Planet Report, declines in all observed populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles averaged 69% between 1970 and 2018.
25.10.2022 News
Pharmaceutical industry Plants Chemistry
A pilot plant for the production of two biobased pharmaceutical raw materials has performed well in test operation.
27.10.2022 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
A new study concludes that breeding new wheat and rye varieties can significantly reduce agriculture's carbon footprint.
26.10.2022 News
Chemistry Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
The biotech company AMSilk has moved into new laboratory and office space on the Neuried campus southwest of Munich - partly in order to continue growing outside Europe.
01.11.2022 News
Chemistry Plants Biotechnology/Systems biology
Cologne-based researchers have tapped safflower oil as a resource for the production of biobased polyamides.
02.11.2022 News
Chemistry unspecific Biotechnology/Systems biology
In the sustainability category of the FSK industry association's innovation award, this year's prize went to Fraunhofer researchers from Pfinztal.
17.02.2021 News
Chemistry Microorganisms Biotechnology/Systems biology
Researchers at the University of Tübingen have modified the metabolic pathway of special cyanobacteria so that they produce large quantities of the natural bioplastic polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB).
12.02.2021 News
Consumables Waste Plant and process engineering
Cleantech start-up BIO-LUTIONS has raised a further 2.7 million euros and can now push the expansion of its production of sustainable packaging and disposable products.
08.04.2025 Success story
Chemistry Fungi Biotechnology/Systems biology
In the MycoSorb project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Straubing have developed adsorbent materials capable of removing pharmaceutical residues from wastewater.
23.03.2016 Success story
Agriculture and forestry Fungi Forestry
German fungus researchers from Tübingen have developed a special substrate of biochar that will help young plants to take root and to sustainably protect against diseases.
10.04.2025 News
unspecific unspecific unspecific
The Volkswagen Foundation is supporting nine projects that address closed raw material-product cycles with a total of 11.6 million euros - including innovations for the bioeconomy.
04.04.2025 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
Not only legumes, but also crops such as sunflowers are suitable as catch crops to remove pollutants from agricultural soils. This is shown in a study by the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research.
02.04.2025 News
Agriculture and forestry Microorganisms Plant breeding research
An international research team has deciphered how legumes control the symbiotic relationship with bacteria in their root nodules via signaling pathways.
11.04.2025 News
Agriculture and forestry Animals Biotechnology/Systems biology
Researchers at the August-Wilhelm Scheer Institute want to make the breeding of insects more efficient, resource-saving and comprehensible by expanding the InsectAI technology platform.
26.08.2019 In-Depth Report
unspecific unspecific Biodiversity
In Germany, almost 800 research institutions in the natural sciences and humanities deal with the bioeconomy. Every two years, biookonomie.de contacts these research institutes and asks them about their priorities regarding R&D, their raw materials, industrial applications, financing and number of employees. In addition to the data collected, this year six bioeconomy experts were interviewed about their assessments of the local research landscape.
31.03.2025 News
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
Growing biomass on rewetted moors and generating electricity at the same time: the feasibility of this innovative concept is currently being investigated in the MoorPower project.
Sun, 04/13/2025 - 12:00 In-depth report
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Through the Horizon Europe framework program, the European Union supports researchers from academia and industry in realizing their ideas. How can bioeconomy researchers benefit from this attractive EU funding? This dossier offers a compact overview of the wide range of funding formats and explains where interested parties can get help with their application.
Fri, 07/12/2024 - 12:00 In-depth report
Food Plants Agriculture sciences
Vanillin is arguably the most important flavoring in the world. The bio-based economy can contribute in various ways to the sustainable, reliable and high-quality supply of vanillin. This dossier describes indoor farming methods for vanilla cultivation and highlights biotechnological and chemical approaches on the way to vanilla flavoring.
09.06.2016 Sector
Automobile unspecific
The mobility of today would be hardly imaginable without the automobile. In view of climate change, sustainable mobility concepts are increasingly in demand. The automotive sector is one of the largest users of bioplastics and is otherwise also increasingly sympathetic for bio-based materials.
19.12.2024 News
Food Plants Biotechnology/Systems biology
The Munich-based food tech start-up Planet A Foods has received 30 million US dollars in a Series B financing round to further increase its production of cocoa-free chocolate.
27.03.2025 Success story
Food Waste Agriculture sciences
In the joint project CUBES Circle, a consortium of researchers from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is developing and testing a symbiotic production system for the preparation of food in cities.
02.04.2025 Interview
Agriculture and forestry Plants Agriculture sciences
Saxony-Anhalt wants to become a “center of the pea bioeconomy”. A research consortium led by Jochen Reif is laying the groundwork for this.
14.04.2025 News
unspecific unspecific Materials sciences
In the interdisciplinary BioSHIP project, industry and science are working together to prevent the fouling of ship parts with biodegradable antifouling coatings.
