German Manufacturing Goes Green

BERLIN and TORONTO, May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- German industrial biotechnology is driving the shift away from fossil fuels. Over EUR 1 billion went to biotechnology R&D in Germany in 2010 and industry investments have begun to bear fruit. The federal BioIndustrie 2021 initiative provides over EUR 60 million to accelerate the commercialization of biotech processes. Germany Trade & Invest has witnessed increased investor interest in this nascent industry and will have representatives at this year's World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing in Toronto from May 8 - 11.

"Germany is at the forefront of biotechnology innovation and implementation. With world-class businesses and very generous public funding, companies here find optimal R&D and business conditions in one of the world's top cleantech markets," states Dr. Thorsten Bug, Senior Manager for Industrial Biotechnology at Germany Trade & Invest in Berlin.

A key example of facilitating industry scale-up can be found in Leuna, a chemical industry hotspot near Leipzig. Here the EUR 50 million Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes (CBP) is under construction and slated to open next year. According to experts, more than 20 companies and 15 research institutes and universities have expressed an interest in the site, which closes the gap between pilot plants and industrial implementation.

Both public initiatives and private companies are facilitating the fundamental shift to biotechnology. German chemicals giant Lanxess, for example, recently reaffirmed its commitment to biobased raw materials by investing nearly EUR 12 million in US-based Gevo. The renewable chemicals and biofuels company is developing a fermentation process to make isobutanol from fermentable sugars in biomass, starting with corn. This can later be used to produce isobutylene by dehydration, which eliminates the dependency on crude oil in rubber production.

Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.

    Germany Trade & Invest
    Andreas Bilfinger
    Email: [email protected]
    T: +49(0)30-200099-173
    F: +49(0)30-200099-111

SOURCE Germany Trade and Invest

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