Chemistry

Agricultural and forestry raw materials and residues have enormous potential for a sustainable bioeconomy. These include waste such as bark, wood residues, straw or grass, but also plants that grow on meadows and pastures. The utilization of grassland cuttings for the bioeconomy in the sense of a circular economy is the focus of the ProGrün project. Researchers at the University of Hohenheim want to establish the proteins contained in grassland cuttings as a new resource - for example, for animal feed, food or platform chemicals.

The DFG has been supporting cutting-edge research at German universities for years. In the coming year, more than a dozen new collaborations will again be funded: The research organization is making a total of 166 million euros available for 13 Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs), initially for the next four years. Bioeconomy research will also benefit from the millions in funding.

"The Entrepreneur" by Kevin Rittberger at the Residenztheater in Munich is a premiere in two respects. When the curtain rises on December 9, 2022, at the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel, not only the actors but also, for the first time, a stage set will be in the spotlight. An eight-meter-high tree trunk made of a sustainable material will be presented. A composite material made of wood chips and mushroom mycelium was used to build this backdrop.

The textile industry's interest in sustainable materials is growing. In particular, this revolves around alternatives to cotton, but also around replacing petroleum-based synthetic fabrics. Expanding the raw material base for textile fibers is the goal of a new research project. As part of the CRF-Sraw project, researchers at the University of Hamburg, together with fiber expert J. Rettenmaier & Söhne, now want to make agricultural residues usable for fiber production.

Collaboration is followed by acquisition: German pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer has bought the start-up Targenomix. The two companies have already been working together since the spin-off from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in 2014. Targenomix uses systems biology and bioinformatics methods to identify new molecular targets for crop protection products.

They are indispensable for the plastics industry: polyamides (PA). The polymers are used, for example, to produce synthetic fibers for textiles or technical applications. The best-known synthetic fiber is nylon, which is used in women's stockings as well as hot air balloons and car tires. However, the popular polyamides are usually obtained from crude oil.

When it comes to storing and loading heavy goods, industry often turns to so-called Euro pallets. These load carriers are usually made of wood, can be used universally and can carry up to 1,500 kilograms. Although there are also pallets made of plastic, these are still used quite rarely compared to the wooden variant. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT in Pfinztal near Karlsruhe have developed a high-performance lightweight pallet made of foamed biopolymers.