In-Depth Reports

Agroecology stands for an approach that combines agricultural production with ecological principles, focusing on natural cycles, biodiversity and regional resources. Read more in this short report.

Agroforestry systems combine the cultivation of arable crops with the use of woody plants. This dossier presents various concepts and current agroforestry projects and sheds light on how they can be used to make agriculture more sustainable.

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object or system that is updated in real time with data from the real world or from simulation runs. This short report explains how digital twins work and how they are used in the bioeconomy.

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.

Life cycle assessments, or LCAs, are a key component of holistic environmental and sustainability assessments of new materials, processes and products. This dossier explains how such LCAs work in the field of bioeconomy and illustrates this with practical examples.

Producing food on agricultural land while simultaneously generating electricity – this concept is called agri-photovoltaics. This dossier sheds light on the potential of agri-PV for climate protection and the bioeconomy, and it depicts some approaches that are being researched and tested in Germany.

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. 

In recent years, AI technologies have revolutionized protein research and the possibilities for producing tailor-made protein molecules. This dossier highlights how AI-based tools are opening up new avenues for research and innovation. 

Plant roots are hotspots of the soil ecosystem and an important starting point for arable farming and soil management. The interaction between plant roots and their immediate environment is a key biological process that researchers want to better understand and utilise in order to make agriculture more sustainable.

Their great diversity and broad food spectrum make insects a unique resource for the bioeconomy. This in-depth report sheds light on how humans utilise insects and the natural products they produce and highlights the research into innovative applications.

Space is an extraordinary and fascinating environment. Biobased innovations can help open up the universe as a space suitable for living. At the same time, satellites and other innovations in space research help to further develop the bioeconomy on Earth.

Cell-free systems dispense with the use of living cells in biotechnological production. Instead, all biochemical components necessary for the biosynthesis of molecules are combined in one reaction vessel. This dossier highlights different cell-free approaches and presents important applications.

3D printing has become a key technology in increasingly digitized industrial production. This dossier discusses the potential of 3D printing for the manufacture of bio-based products in food production, materials engineering and medicine.

Organic residual and waste streams have considerable but often untapped potential as a resource for a sustainable bioeconomy. This dossier presents innovative research approaches to waste utilization.

Lignin is one of the biopolymers that occur most frequently in nature. Nevertheless, the potential of this complex molecule is far from being exploited - today, lignin is mostly burned. This dossier provides a concise overview of research and development projects that are opening up new applications for lignin.

Producing new, high-quality plastics from plastic waste - not only chemistry but also biotechnology offers promising recycling approaches for this. This dossier explores how enzymes help degrade polymers and how bio-based plastics can be optimized for the circular economy.

New molecular tools, modern bioprocessing technology and powerful IT are enabling the biotechnology industry to tailor-make biomolecules with interesting properties. This dossier presents the emerging field of precision fermentation.

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.

On the way to a biobased and climate-neutral economy, new value chains are emerging. With the Bioeconomy Innovation Spaces ("Innovationsräume Bioökonomie"), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding four large networks that aim to bring innovative approaches for the biobased economy into application more quickly. A portrait of the four Bioeconomy Innovation Spaces.

Vegetarian and vegan alternatives to sausage and meat are booming and have hit the middle of society. This dossier looks at the plant-based alternatives. It presents the most important resources and meat substitute products, market development, economic players and relevant funding projects.