Biobased innovations have been gaining prevalence in Germany, with German experts believing that the bioeconomy will have as much of a revolutionary effect on the nation’s economy as digitization. Not only is Germany using biobased materials to create renewable raw materials, but also to revamp industrial sectors. Biorefineries have been a major concept of innovation with in the chemical, energy and food sectors, and biobased raw materials are being used in multiple industrial sectors, from textiles to plastic.

In 2010, Germany was one of the first countries in the world to embrace the concept of a biobased economy, with the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) collaborating with six other ministries to create a “National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030.” As of 2018, BMBG has provided approximately €2.4 billion ($2.9 billion) for R&D for the Strategy. The Strategy has five main action points: securing global nutrition; ensuring sustainable agricultural production; producing healthy and safe foods; using renewable resources for industry; and developing biomass-based energy carriers.

To achieve these goals, the BMBF set up over 30 funding measures across interdisciplinary fields of research between 2010 and 2016, resulting in 1,800 individual and joint projects receiving approximately €876 million ($1.1 billion) in funding, with the majority of research focus on plant breeding and agricultural research. Along with BMBF, the European Commission also granted funds of €3.7 billion ($44.5 billion) for biobased research in 2013 for a seven-year period as part of a public-private partnership called Biobased Industries (BBI). The funding, which is currently being used, is for bioeconomy research projects and plants, and includes 140 partners from all over Europe that are accelerating research into the field.

Based on an update on the Strategy, Germany plans to further invest in biobased materials and international collaborations to help advance education and technology in the field.

Source: BMBF