The world’s natural resources are limited. Yet they are being consumed at ever faster rates by a growing global population. This leads to increasing competition and rising prices, especially for resources such as oil, cobalt and rare earths. At the same time, the extraction of natural resources causes environmental damage such as the release of greenhouse gases, pollution of our air, water and soil, and a decline in biodiversity.
A society can only ensure a sustainable future by learning to make efficient use of natural resources while still protecting the environment. As well as developing resource-and energy-efficient technologies, Fraunhofer researchers also help partners adopt a more holistic view of value chains. They strive to support the transition from the linear economic system that predominates worldwide to circular material flows, for example by promoting the re-use of plastics, most of which are still incinerated or channeled into soils and oceans. To this end, Fraunhofer experts seek ways of establishing and expanding the kind of sustainable production that can trigger deep-seated processes of social and economic change. Their focus includes sustainable growth strategies and lasting efficiencies that will impact all areas of value creation, fostering the development of sustainable economic systems such as the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy.
Sector coupling is another key area of research in this context. Experts hope it will play a key role in achieving Germany’s ambitious climate goals and help the country meet its target of becoming climate-neutral by 2030. The idea is to steadily replace fossil fuels with renewables in the transport, industry and heat sectors. Sector coupling has the potential to create new business opportunities and significant optimization within an evolving energy system.
Scientists hope this will offer new, resilient answers to some of the fundamental challenges facing society today, such as resource and energy consumption, climate change and the long-term relationship between humankind and nature.
The Chairmen and the Local Organization Team are glad to invite you to the 6th CIRP Conference on Biomanufacturing BioM. It will be held in Dresden, Germany from June 11 - 13, 2024.
Initiated by CIRP in 2013 the BioM Conference has developed into the world’s leading forum to discuss progress and future directions, set milestones and promote scientific exchange on biodesign, biofabrication and biomechatronics.
The BioM Conference 2024 is headed “Future Production. Driven by Nature”. Experts from academia as well as industry will meet to discuss novel solutions, latest research findings and visionary ideas addressing biologically inspired processes and products in manufacturing, biological transformation and biointelligence. Futhermore, artificial intelligence and digital methods that will promote the transfer of biological principles into technosphere will be topics of the conference.
Following the high-level stations of the CIRP Conference on Biomanufacturing BioM in Tokyo (2013), Manchester (2015), Chicago (2017), Guangzhou (2019) and Calabria (2022) it is an honor for us to welcome you in Dresden 2024.
The Energiewende – Germany’s ongoing transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy – is the subject of research by a number of Fraunhofer Institutes. By pooling this expertise, Fraunhofer is able to take a broader and more holistic view of the shift toward renewables, addressing it from multiple perspectives including economic and technological aspects as well as environmental and social factors. This lays the foundations for a successful transition to a new energy era.
The institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are conducting research into numerous fields of technology relevant to the Energiewende, ranging from renewables and energy efficiency technologies to smart energy networks, digitalization of the energy sector and energy storage technologies. Our goal is to offer our customers pioneering and competitive system-level products that represent a sound investment.
We work with small and medium-sized enterprises, industrial enterprises and the energy sector, providing them with access to a wide range of research and development offerings that are geared to help them achieve success with innovative products and win new markets. Fraunhofer has all the necessary in-house expertise to act as a one-stop solution provider.
All its activities are aimed at accomplishing the goals of the Energiewende by creating a sustainable, secure, affordable and socially just energy system.
Several million tonnes of waste are produced each year, ranging from construction waste, scrap wood and municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash to carbon fiber-reinforced composites and electronic waste. With resources becoming scarcer and sustainability moving up the political agenda, the time has come to move away from our current mostly linear approach to resource use and switch to a circular economy.
A circular economy is the opposite of the "take, make, dispose" model of production that still prevails today. In our current linear or “throw-away” economy, most of the natural resources we use are sent to landfill or incinerated once a product reaches the end of its useful life. Only a small proportion is re-used or recycled. In contrast, a circular economy promotes a renewable or regenerative system of industrial production. Its goal is to minimize the use of resources and the generation of waste and emissions and to make a more efficient use of energy. This can be achieved by slowing, narrowing and closing energy and material loops. Key tools for this purpose include long-lasting design, maintenance, refurbishing, repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft actively seeks to help shape the transition from today’s primarily linear economy to a circular economy. It does this by conducting research into the necessary systemic, technical and social innovations and the new value creation networks these innovations entail.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft