The pulp of coffee beans is considered a waste product on coffee plantations, which is usually thrown away or dumped into rivers - with significant negative consequences for climate change and the environment. Macarena San Martín-Ruiz from the University of Stuttgart is working with Coopetarrazú, the largest coffee cooperative in Costa Rica, to find out how the mixture of pulp and husks can be turned into organic compost and thus protect the…

Zero Bullshit Company - 31/05/2021

From being thrown away to becoming a recycled product - Stuttgart start-up produces healthy snacks

Throwing away food? The Stuttgart-based start-up Zero Bullshit Company is declaring war on food wastage by making nutrient-rich products largely from food industry leftovers. The three food technologists who created this transparent brand are looking to develop more than just delicious and nutritious products.

Final chord of the EU-project Smart SMEs - 31/05/2021

Building a sustainable network for natural fibre-based SMEs in the Alpine Space

The European project Smart SMEs came successfully to its end in May 2021 with the final conference, which attracted participants from different parts of Europe.

The final report including comprehensive fact sheets of 25 applications is now available online in German and English.

Microorganisms are the oldest, most abundant, and most diverse life forms on earth and offer enormous potential for biotechnological applications. To date, however, only a fraction of them could be isolated and cultivated. The “MicroMATRIX” research project, funded with € 1.5 million by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and led by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), aims to shed more light on the microbial darkness.

It is not the first time that spiders have served as biological models in the research field of soft robotics. The hydraulic actuation mechanisms they apply to move their limbs when weaving their web or hunting for prey give them powers many roboticists and engineers have drawn inspiration from.

The EU funded research project HyFlexFuel recently succeeded to produce biocrudes via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) from a variety of biomasses, including sewage sludge, food waste, manure, wheat straw, corn stover, pine sawdust, miscanthus and microalgae in a pilot-scale continuous HTL plant at Aarhus University (Denmark).

Start-up kernique catch the zeitgeist - 29/06/2021

Nut snack as a sustainable ecological concept

A delicious vegan nut snack that uses no sugar, artificial additives, gluten or palm oil, is full of essential nutrients, and is part of a commitment to environmental and social sustainability. Impossible? An Esslingen-based start-up called kernique proves otherwise. The start-up is currently planning a crowdfunding phase that offers a lucrative deal for investors. The idea catches the zeitgeist, but what exactly makes it stand out?

The European Union is largely dependent on imports of white phosphorus (P4), a strategic raw material for the food and pharmaceutical industries. To tackle this challenge, the newly started four-year EU-funded project FlashPhos – led by the University of Stuttgart – will recover at a large scale high-quality white phosphorus and other raw materials using sewage sludge as input material.

Refuels are renewable fuels that can be produced in different ways. When they are mixed and processed such that they meet the existing fuel standards, they are suited for all types of combustion engines. This is the result of the latest vehicle and fleet tests within the project “reFuels – Rethinking Fuels” at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Compared to fully fossil fuels, refuel mixes allow for a CO2 reduction by 25% at least. Moreover,…

The "livMatS Pavilion" in the Botanical Garden of the University of Freiburg is a model for a bioinspired sustainable construction. In a joint project, researchers from the Universities of Freiburg and Stuttgart together with master’s students from the University of Stuttgart have designed a lightweight pavilion.

Alpha-Protein GmbH - 27/07/2021

Insect farming for sustainability

Mealworms instead of fish meal and soybean meal - this is what the sustainable future of feed production looks like as Alpha-Protein GmbH see it. The company has built a highly efficient automated production plant in which residual materials from local food production are used to breed mealworms.

The Hallertau is Germany's largest hop-growing region. During harvesting, hop bine chaff is left over, which is converted into environmentally friendly bio natural gas on site in a biogas plant. But that is not the end of the utilization chain for this fiber plant. Researchers at the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) have used the plant-containing biogas digestate to produce a composite material that can be…

Carbon dioxide is one of the main drivers of climate change – which means that we need to reduce CO2 emissions in the future. Fraunhofer researchers are highlighting a possible way to lower these emissions: They use the greenhouse gas as a raw material, for instance to produce plastics. To do this, they first produce methanol and formic acid from CO2, which they convert via microorganisms into building blocks for polymers and the like.

ROKO Farming - 03/08/2021

Thinking upwards: vertical farming to be further developed into continuous production

ROKO Farming’s novel technology is designed to produce fruit and vegetables worldwide all year round, while also freeing up areas for rewilding. This semi-automatic production method created by the Ulm-based business has huge future potential, as their success in innovation competitions demonstrates.

Plastics from the field - 12/08/2021

Great potential for biological residues

Huge amounts of waste are produced both during food production and by consumers. The Conversion Technologies of Biobased Resources group at the University of Hohenheim’s Institute of Agricultural Engineering has developed a process to convert this biomass into hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), the highly potent basic chemical that is used to produce plastics.

An international research team has calculated the potential for material efficiency strategies in residential buildings and passenger cars. Up to two-thirds of global emissions could be saved in these areas, provided that appropriate strategies are consistently implemented.

In August 2021, the BioMat Pavilion 2021 was inaugurated on the campus of the University of Stuttgart in a ceremonial setting and in compliance with the hygiene concept. The core of the elegantly curved lightweight construction is an active-bending structure made of natural fibers, reminiscent of bamboo. It was developed as part of the "LeichtPRO" research project.

Reduction of greenhouse gases in wine production - 31/08/2021

The REDWine project and climate change

In the EU project REDWine, the CO2 produced during wine fermentation is captured and used to produce algae biomass. Novis GmbH from Tübingen supplies the complete system for CO2 utilisation. The aim of the project is to reduce the share of global warming caused by wine production in a way that is economical for producers.

As a rapidly growing renewable raw material, bamboo is an ideal substitute for wood. However, bamboo’s susceptibility to mold in damp conditions poses a problem. Researchers at Fraunhofer have now analyzed bamboo’s response to moisture under specific climatic conditions. By using simulation software, building owners can plan and implement measures to prevent the growth of mold.

Start-up PROSERVATION - sustainable packaging - 21/09/2021

Husk as a substitute for polystyrene: packaging materials with a good conscience

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging is very practical, but it is made from petroleum and is not very environmentally friendly in other ways either. Single-use plastic containers made of EPS have therefore been banned in the EU, but alternatives are also urgently needed. The Stuttgart-based start-up PROSERVATION has developed an ecological packaging material made from grain husks that could replace EPS and be just as effective.

The research project RUN (Rural Urban Nutrient Partnership) explores how waste might be used more efficiently as a resource. In this project, Veronika Fendel investigates how recyclable materials from biowaste and domestic wastewater can be fed back into the material cycle in the best possible way.

Hygiene and health company Essity is today presenting a breakthrough in sustainable tissue production and is beginning production based on pulp from wheat straw. The plant in Mannheim, Germany, is the first of its kind in Europe, and the first on a large-scale tissue production in the world.

The bio-based industries continue their ascent marking a total contribution of 780 billion EUR, a notable increase of 30 billion EUR (+ 4%) compared to 2017. This represents a more than 20% increase compared to 2008 which is the earliest data taken into account in this series of reports by nova-Institute. The first report of the series was first commissioned by the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) in 2017.