The use of synthetic pesticides such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides is increasing worldwide. As a result, pesticide residues are increasingly found in food and are accumulating in groundwater and drinking water. Synthetic pesticides are also criticised for reducing biodiversity and reducing soil fertility due to their non-specific effect. It is not possible to do without plant protection, but so-called biologics – i.e. bio-based active ingredients – are a sustainable alternative.
Chemistry
Algae enzymes for hydrogen production
Hydrogen is one of the energy sources of the future, as it can be produced in a completely climate-neutral way. However, green hydrogen is only sustainable if it is also produced entirely from sustainable sources. It is known that certain algae have the potential to produce hydrogen from water and sunlight.
DATI innovation communities
Bringing more good ideas into application and thus to companies and people: As a new component of its transfer and innovation promotion programme, the Federal Government intends to promote social and technological innovations in the future by setting up the German Agency for Transfer and Innovation (DATI). As an innovation agency, DATI will be based in Erfurt.
Antimicrobial coating for shoe soles
For several years, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC) have been working on compostable barrier layers that could help biopolymers achieve a breakthrough in their use as sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging materials. With bioORMOCER, the team has come up with a material that can be used in a variety of ways. It is a bio-based coating that can be applied to improve the barrier performance of conventional bio-packaging and replace so-called eternity chemicals from the PFAS spectrum.
Shell starts bio-LNG production on the Rhine
Bio-LNG is a mix of fossil liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied biomethane. As biomethane is obtained from sustainable residues such as slurry and manure, its CO2 intensity is negative. The resulting mixture of bio-LNG from biomethane and fossil methane can therefore reduce CO2 emissions.
Biotech start-up Insempra secures millions in financing
The demand for environmentally friendly and resource-conserving products is growing, and with it the search by companies for alternatives to their previous, often petroleum-based production methods and processes. The Munich-based biotechnology start-up Insempra has developed a technology platform that makes it possible to obtain natural ingredients from renewable raw materials.
Thinking big with smart bioprocess technology
Industrial biotechnology utilises microorganisms or individual biomolecules such as enzymes in bioprocesses as the basis for the industrial production of chemicals, biopharmaceuticals or food additives. The key players are cells as living factories that can produce a desired product in large quantities in closed bioreactors. Developing bioprocesses in such a way that the biotechnological production of a product is optimised is very time-consuming and complex.
Alliance of microalgae and bacteria
Soil is home to countless microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and algae. These invisible microorganisms form communities in a wide variety of ways, ensuring a smooth nutrient cycle and thus fertile soil and plant growth. How these microorganisms work together and which factors promote or inhibit growth has been the subject of research at Friedrich Schiller University Jena for many years.
Traceless: First production facility in former industrial bakery
The construction of a demonstration plant is a decisive milestone for the bioeconomy start-up traceless materials on the way to the market launch of its innovative biomaterial. Last year, the team led by the two founders Johanna Baare and Anne Lamp received 36.6 million euros from investors and a further 5 million euros in funding from the Federal Ministry for the Environment.
Sustainable production of synthesis gas from biogas
Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fuel global warming and are major drivers of climate change. However, in order to achieve the Paris climate targets, emissions will need to be significantly reduced or, ideally, avoided. The use of carbon dioxide and methane as a raw material can make a significant contribution to this. This is where the Biogasohol project comes in. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) in Rostock want to convert the two gases from biogas into an important basic chemical, synthesis gas.