Environmental technology

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.

Deep in the sea, there is apparently another biological solution to the global plastic waste problem: researchers from the universities of Kiel, Hamburg and Düsseldorf have discovered an enzyme in a microorganism from the deep sea that breaks down the plastic polyethylene terephthalate, or PET for short. PET is the main component of many plastic bottles.

A problem with many former mines is that their floodwater is usually contaminated with heavy metals, in the case of uranium mines, for example, with uranium. Environmental biotechnology has long been developing approaches to filter out these heavy metals with the help of microorganisms. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have now discovered a promising bacterium for this purpose.

Electromobility is experiencing rapid growth. However, important issues relating to the charging infrastructure for electric cars remain unresolved. Further, there will continue to be areas of application in the mobility sector for which battery-electric solutions are less suitable. Synthetic, CO2-neutral fuels could cover these areas. A team of researchers at Coburg University of Applied Sciences is now investigating another approach to producing biogenic, climate-friendly diesel.

It's a question of perspective: Up to now, many companies have regarded mining sludge and mine water as pollutant-containing waste because they contain cadmium and arsenic, for example. But a research team from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg sees things differently. In a pilot project, the experts have developed a process that removes the pollutants from sludge and water, extracts valuable substances and uses the rest as raw material for a more climate-friendly production of cement and concrete alternatives.

"Green chemistry" - i.e., environmentally friendly, sustainable and biobased chemistry - is defined by twelve principles. Paul Anastas and John C. Warner established them in 1998. While many of their principles are now widely taken into account when the industry develops new substances, a research team led by the Goethe University in Frankfurt believes that one principle has so far been neglected: the reduction of environmental toxicity.