Environmental technologies: Sustainable management as an innovation driver

Germany already has a leading position in the environmental technologies sector. Sustainable management is all about innovative concepts, for example in the building industry, where researchers are working on developing low-energy houses and optimizing recycling measures.

Sustainability has become a significant competitive factor in our economy. Germany is in an excellent position to develop and market technologies and services in this sector at a global level. This has also been confirmed by the Expert Commission on Research and Innovation in its second report.

Germany already holds a leading position in the environmental technologies sector, and we want to strengthen and expand this position even further. That is why the Federal Government passed the Environmental Technologies Master Plan in November 2008 as a further step towards implementing the High-Tech Strategy. The initiative for this interconnected environmental and innovation policy measure came from the BMU and the BMBF. The aim is to open up future markets more effectively in three particularly promising fields and to continue to improve the framework conditions for innovation. In the first stage, the Master Plan is focusing on the areas of water, raw materials and climate protection (including renewable energy). In the second stage, further activities will be added and developed by the different Federal Ministries. The BMBF Foresight Process and especially the results of the "Roadmap Environmental Technologies 2020" project of the Karlsruhe Research Center will form the basis of these efforts. The Roadmap's "State-of-the-art Report" confirms that there is great innovation potential, not least in the area of resource efficiency. The Roadmap will be completed in 2009 and will form the basis for various possible courses of action that are in keeping with current funding policies. One early success of the Environmental Technologies Master Plan is the "German Water Partnership" (GWP). The BMBF and the BMU jointly initiated this platform, on which different stakeholders from research, industry and associations come together. By presenting themselves in a unified form, German businesses can achieve a stronger long-term position in this export market.

Project example
Long-term commitment, reliability and a solid partnership pay off when it comes to operating abroad, and the "German Water Partnership" has already been able to benefit from this. A consortium including the GWP member CONSULAQUA Hamburg was recently awarded a contract for the planning of a sewage sludge incineration plant in the multi-million inhabitant metropolis of Shanghai. The decision to award the contract was based on the company's expertise, but also on the customer's trust in the German partners. The consortium was put together under the BMBF project "Research on the sludge treatment and removal technology used at sewage treatment plants in Shanghai, China" by the project partners of the TU Darmstadt, which also initiated contacts with China. The partnership was then gradually expanded as part of Sino-German scientific and technological cooperation. The German Water Partnership is interested in taking advantage of the contacts and networks of the individual members of the GWP and exchanging information and experiences. In this way, the resources and activities of the German water sector are pooled and Germany's expertise in the water sector is promoted at a global level.
http://www.germanwaterpartnership.de/

klimazwei

The BMBF's measure "Research for Climate Protection and Protection from Climate Impacts" (klimazwei) increases the practical relevance of research by creating close links between basic research on the climate system and the atmosphere and application-oriented aspects. The main aim is to reduce greenhouse emissions, create detailed climate models, and develop strategies for responding to the changing climate and extreme weather events. http://www.klimazwei.de/

KLIWAS

Climate change is also affecting waterways and navigation. The BMVBS's research project "KLIWAS - consequences of climate change on waterways and navigation in Germany and development of adaptation strategies" examines the potential effects, such as a rise in sea levels or changes in river basins. The Association of Departmental Research Institutions is working on the scientific basis of climate change and its effects and developing new solution strategies. In this way, the effectiveness of waterways as an environmentally friendly mode of transportation can be secured in the future. The results will also be relevant to other changes in bodies of water.
www.kliwas.de

Clean energy: lowering CO₂ emissions through intelligent power plant technologies
The pilot plant for low-CO₂ power generation at the Schwarze Pumpe power station in Lusatia.

Intelligent power plant technologies make a significant contribution to the reduction of CO₂ emissions without limiting fossil energy generation. The aim of the innovative power plant technologies project is to design a clear and economically viable general concept for a modern lignite-fired power plant unit. To this end, various individual research projects are being carried out by TU Cottbus in cooperation with industry partners. In this way, technologies for the reduction of CO₂ emission, new filters, methods for the drying of lignite, and processes for the long-term maintenance of power plants can be developed.

Construction of the Future

In the future, sustainable management will be particularly important for buildings. The "Construction of the Future" research initiative of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (BMVBS) aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the German construction industry in the European internal market. In particular, it is designed to strengthen knowledge gain and innovation in the areas of technology, the built environment and organization. The aim is to combine scientific and technological developments in the low-energy house sector and work towards the development of a plus energy house. This can be achieved through improved raw materials productivity, for example through resource-efficient waste disposal and recycling and through the increased use of recycling material. In this context, the "Construction of the Future" research initiative is also making improvements to technical rules in the construction sector, with the aim of introducing high technology into construction practices.

"Climate Service Center"

The "Climate Service Center", a new information and advice platform for politicians, decision-makers and investors, was established at the GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht on 1 January 2009. The Center bridges the gap between climate system research and the users of climate data by pooling, evaluating and providing reliable information about the current state of the climate and its future development in an efficient and demand-oriented way. The CSC is creating a network of research institutions, climate advice providers and commercial companies which will rely on close cooperation between users and scientists, a clear demand-orientation and needs-based products. This includes the routine development of global and regional climate scenarios and predictions.

Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies / IASS

The Federal Government supports the Land of Brandenburg in developing a leading interdisciplinary institute in Potsdam that conducts climate, earth system and sustainability research. This measure is based on the recommendations of the Potsdam Nobel Laureate Symposium "Global Sustainability - a Nobel Cause" and the results of the climate summit, which were taken into account when developing the High-Tech Strategy. The Founding Director is Prof. Klaus Töpfer. Up to 50 guest scientists (fellows) - from promising young scientists to Nobel laureates - will have the opportunity to conduct research on a subject of their own choice for a limited period of time. The institute (working title: IASS) will bridge the gap between science and politics; industry and society. It will promote social communication about the opportunities and necessary measures to overcome global change processes. If the institute receives a positive evaluation, the Federal Government and the Land of Brandenburg will assume permanent funding of the institute in 2016.

Project example
Beech and oak instead of tropical woods
Can teak and mahogany be replaced by home-grown types of wood without compromising on quality? The scientists from the BMBF's "Sustainable Forest Management" funding priority certainly think so. The process used in Göttingen by the "Beech Wood Modification" network and the "OakChain" project of Holzindustrie Templin GmbH is called wood modification. However, the methods used by the two groups are actually very different: the former changes the properties of beechwood at a cellular level through waterproofing and cross-linking; the latter changes the composition of oak in a thermal chamber. However, the results are similar - both kinds of wood acquire the advantages of tropical wood: durability, stability, resistance to decomposition and weather-resistance. After this ecologically harmless modification, it is possible to produce skateboards, sauna benches, garden furniture and wooden terraces. In this way, tropical wood can be replaced by wood from native deciduous trees. In addition, CO₂ is captured for extended periods of time in the form of high-quality products, which protects the climate.

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  DEKLIM

  The BMBF research programme DEKLIM has been terminated in 2006. This homepage is not being maintained any more and the platform only serves as information platform about this research programme.
  more (URL: http://www.deklim.de/seiten/dek-frame-en.asp)
   
  

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  Bionics - Learning from Nature

  The central principle of bionics can be summed up under the motto of "Learning from Nature". Nature reaches its goals economically, with a minimum of energy, and it always recycles its waste completely into the natural cycle. The wealth of experience available in animate nature must be used by humans. In order to develop the resulting great innovation potential, the BMBF has established the bionics network BIOKON and is funding new research approaches of bionics within the framework of the ideas competition BIONICS - Innovations from Nature.
  more (URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/1010.php)