Innovations



Project GreenToGreen (completed)

Project GreenToGreen – municipal green waste as the basis for green chemistry – develops processes for the material use of park and garden waste for a sustainable production of chemicals and animal feed.
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© THM Gießen

The project aims at recycling municipal bio-waste using the example of green waste. For this purpose, the use of green waste as raw material in fermentations and its conversion into electrode material for the electro-biotechnology are being studied. Both products are to be used further on in the context of green chemistry.

The utilization of green waste as a raw material for the production of basic and fine chemicals represents an interesting step towards increased added value. In addition to its previous use in biogas plants or composting, the raw material green waste could be used for a variety of applications within a biorefinery. Particularly noteworthy is that green waste can be processed in a less energy-intensive way compared to heavily lignified raw materials. The industrial implementation of the developed concept would lead to the connection of municipal material streams to the chemical industry.

Electro-biotechnology generally aims at the development of energy and resource efficient processes to generate energy and basic chemicals. The processes can be divided into microbial fuel cells (MFC) for energy conversion and microbial and enzymatic electro synthesis (MES or EES) for the production of substances. The availability of efficient and cost-effective electrodes is a crucial factor for the success of these processes. However, these are currently not yet available. By carbonizing municipal waste materials such as green waste, correspondingly inexpensive electrode materials are to be produced and evaluated with regard to their applicability in MFCs and MES. If successful, results can lead to new, more efficient electro-biotechnological processes.

Support:


The project is supported by the BMBF funding measure "Innovation Spaces Bioeconomy" within the framework of the "National Research Strategy Bioeconomy 2030".

Office:

Provadis Hochschule

Provadis Hochschule is the university of the industry and offers dual and part-time science and business degree programs for more than 1,200 students throughout Germany.

DECHEMA e.V.

DECHEMA e.V. is the competent network for chemical engineering and biotechnology in Germany. As a non-profit professional society, it represents these fields in science, industry, politics and society.