Bioeconomy

As the global population increases, agricultural land recedes, and fossil fuel resources are on the decline, there is a need to transition from an oil-based economy to one based on the sustainable use of renewable resources. It is in this respect that the bioeconomy – a bio-based economy built on the sustainable use of natural material cycles – can make some key contributions.

Highlights & News

From Lignite to the Bioeconomy

Interview with plant researcher Prof. Ulrich Schurr on the role that the bioeconomy could play in structural change.

Blog of the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences - Plant Sciences (IBG-2)

In the blog, the scientists of the research centre describe their research activities around bioeconomy (in German)

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Research fields & institutes

Biotechnology

In biotechnology, new technologies are investigated for the development of enzymes, production strains, and bio-processes.

Plant Sciences

Plant researchers investigate how plants grow and how their crop yield can be increased sustainably.

Agrosphere

Jülich scientists use simulations in laboratories and in field research to investigate the hydrological and biogeochemical processes in terrestrial systems.

Bioinformatics

In this field, researchers investigate biological processes and functions in order to make them more useful for humans.

Research labs, Projekte & Initiativen

Research labs

Projects

Initiatives & Cooperations

Bioeconomy Science Center

The Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC) is a competence platform for the sustainable bioeconomy coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University, the University of Bonn, and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf.

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BioökonomieREVIER

BioökonomieREVIER Rheinland is intended as a pilot project for all of Europe in which the conversion of the traditional economy based on fossil fuels into a sustainable bioeconomy adapted to the local conditions and future prospects is implemented in the Rhineland region.

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Geoverbund ABC/J

Geoverbund ABC/J is the geoscientific network in the research region of Aachen–Bonn–Cologne/Jülich. The geoscientific institutes of RWTH Aachen University, the University of Bonn, the University of Cologne, and Forschungszentrum Jülich all collaborate under its umbrella.

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Researchers

Ulrich Schurr

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schurr has many years of experience in the field of the bioeconomy. The plant researcher heads the BioökonomieREVIER Rheinland coordination office and is director for Plant Sciences (IBG-2) at Forschungszentrum Jülich's Institute of Bio- and Geosciences. In addition, he is the spokesperson of the managing directors of the Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC). He teaches at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. > Read an interview with Prof. Schurr

Harry Vereecken

Prof. Dr. Harry Vereecken is the head of Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – Agrosphere (IBG-3). He is a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts and scientific director of TERENO, a network of environmental observatories in Germany, as well as a regional geoscientific network (Geoverbund ABC/J). The agricultural scientist also teaches at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Bonn. > Interview with Harry Vereecken

Dörte Rother

Prof. Dörte Rother was awarded the 2018 DECHEMA Prize, the 2014 Bioeconomy Science Center Supervision Award, and the 2010 Jülich Excellence Prize. In 2017, the biotechnologist received an ERC Starting Grant for the subject of light-controlled enzyme cascades. She heads the biocatalysis department and the synthetic enzyme cascades research group at Forschungszentrum Jülich’s Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – Biotechnology (IBG-1). Rother has also been a professor at RWTH Aachen University since 2018. > Press release Dörte Rother Receives 2018 DECHEMA Prize

Further information

Helmholtz research field earth & environment

Sustainable bioeconomy

With their research, the scientists contribute to a bioeconomy that delivers sustainably produced foodstuffs and renewable resources while also reducing the environmental footprint of the world’s population.

How research contributes to structural change

Structural Change

The structural change in the Rhineland raises a whole series of questions and is one of the central societal challenges.This structural change has already begun – and Forschungszentrum Jülich is helping to actively shape it. Both its excellent scientific expertise and its special location in the heart of the Rhineland are valuable to this effort.

Website: Helmholtz Climate Initiative

Agrivoltaics: clean power from the farm

When fruits and vegetables grow under solar modules, we call it agrivoltaics. Could the combination of agriculture and energy production help make Germany carbon-neutral? A visit to some test fields.

Last Modified: 23.11.2023

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