Events & publications

In view of increasing bureaucracy, many operators of biogas plants are asking themselves whether and how biogas still has a future. There was a lot of information and competent orientation aids at the South German Biogas Conference on November 22nd, 2023 in Ursberg. We were there and talked about the possibilities of using fermentation residues for materials.

Visit website: www.renergie-allgaeu.de

From the idea to finished product samples in a sustainable technological line for the production of Magaverde® wine carton, we presented our results of the R&D joint project in the Gravomer network (BMBF WE program!) as part of the scientific conference on the ACC Forum (Academic Coordination Center of the Neisse Euroregion). The projects presented show a wide range of possibilities of how bio-based residues and fibers can lead to sustainable regional bioeconomy systems and what obstacles there are still on the way.

Visit website: www.hszg.de

In time for the 30th anniversary of the Weinberg Campus in Halle, we were able to provide our sustainable Magaverde® wine packaging with the red Campus logo, along with a biodynamic wine from the region. The production of the labels and wine cartons, bonded with biodegradable glue and printed with organic inks by allesbedruckbar from Merseburg, was carried out in a technological chain together with regional partners. We extend a special thank you to the Halleschen Behindertenwerkstätten, where the cutting and bonding processes took place with great dedication and expertise. The proceeds from this initiative will be directed towards promoting young talents in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field. The summer Campus Family Day (Visit website: www.technologiepark-weinberg-campus.de) was an all-around successful event.

Participants of the 3rd abonocare® Conference in Leipzig on June 20, 2023, had the opportunity to learn about efficient nutrient recovery and sustainable fertilizer production from sewage sludge, manure, fermentation residues, and organic waste. The conference showcased the technologies jointly developed and tested by companies and research institutions within the growth core abonocare® for intelligent and sustainable nutrient recycling of organic residues. Their goal is to establish an economic circular economy where biogenic waste becomes a valuable resource once again.

As the consortium leader of one of the focal topics, Dr. Ute Bauermeister from GNS presented the results of integrating technologies for nutrient recovery in connection with the fermentation of nutrient-rich substrates.

April 25, 2023, was a special occasion for us to look back on 25 years of scientific and entrepreneurial activities in the sustainable energy and material utilization of biomass and waste. It was a time to reflect on our achievements and come together to develop new ideas for the future. We extend heartfelt thanks to the Weinberg Campus and all our partners for their fantastic support and excellent collaboration.

As supervisors of a student project in the field of technology on the topic "Biofibers as packaging material," we were able to experience the competition up close on the Weinberg Campus. It was an exciting state competition of "Youth research" and "Students experiment." Congratulations on so many great ideas!

Visit website: www.jugend-forscht.weinberg-campus.de

Together with small and medium-sized enterprises, we presented our new Magaverde® developments and products for sustainable viticulture at the Viticulture Day in Naumburg. These included:

• Mulch mats for viticulture
• Eco-friendly gift packaging and wine boxes
• Labels with bio-printing, and much more.

We work with practice partners to introduce sustainable products, processes, and methods, ensuring the use of biodegradable materials and environmentally friendly procedures throughout the entire process and product chain. Our "GNS tested" seal of approval represents this commitment. We had many interesting discussions and made new contacts at the event.

The report by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research reports on our joint project MagaVerde-Sustainably printable, surface-treated and microstructurable organic fiber paper with a focus on "Innovation & Structural Change".

In the GRAVOmer network, together with partners (TU Darmstadt, BENAS Power Group, all printable), we have found new ways and methods to give the Magaverde® fiber paper the desired surface properties from residual materials, so that they can be printed and processed in the long term. Only ecologically sustainable and biodegradable materials are used in paper production as well as in gluing, printing and coating.

Our lectures were held on the topics of "Sustainable products made from natural and residual materials in an environmentally friendly circular economy" and "Obtaining plant fibers from fermentation residues".

Visit website: www.renergie-allgaeu.de

Together with project partners we present project results of the model project "Sustainable viticulture with weed protection through biodegradable mulch mats in the wine-growing region of Saale-Unstrut".

Visit website: www.dbfz.de

Bioeconomy can make a decisive contribution to structural change in the region and to the development of sustainable value chains. On two posters we present our joint projects "Sustainable mulch mats on the vineyard" and "Nutrient recovery from organic residues" to a wide audience.

Visit website: www.mitteldeutschland.com

As an international networking event, the congress promotes the exchange of knowledge on the bioeconomy. The face-to-face and online event is organized by the 3N Competence Center Lower Saxony.

You will find us in the poster exhibition and the company presentation

After a year of preparation, the workshop on sustainable viticulture organized by the DFG Halle e.V. (http://dfg-halle.de) took place at the last weekend of October 2021. In this workshop, representatives of German and French wine-growing regions reported in a relaxed atmosphere on their own experiences, e.g. on biological protection against weeds using Magaverde mulch mats made from natural and residual materials.

The conference in the City Museum of Halle (Saale), which was conceived in cooperation with the GNS Society for Sustainable Material Utilization mbH Halle and the DFG Friedrichshafen e.V., was opened by Dr. Judith Marquardt/ Councilor for Culture and Sport. Numerous political representatives, e.g. from the French partner city Grenoble and the head of the Franco-German Citizens' Fund Benjamin Kurc from Paris, were online connected or present.

For two days, those involved from near and far benefited from the lively exchange of experiences between practice partners, engineers, experts and interested citizens. Current project results in the research project for sustainable viticulture in the Saale-Unstrut wine-growing region were also presented (F&E-Projects).

The "Energy and Environment" and "Process Engineering" working groups of the VDI Halle District Association invited members and interested parties to a colloquium in Sangerhausen to the topic "How clean is our drinking water?" GNS was involved in the organization.

Our less sustainable agricultural and industrial production often leads to high environmental pollution, the negative environmental effects of which often only become apparent after many decades. In her lecture, Dr. Bauermeister from the GNS, has referred on nitrate in groundwater as a problem for our drinking water treatment as well as solutions to reduce nitrate inputs from agriculture.

Other presentations reported on the increasing pollution of natural springs and wells for drinking water production and on pharmaceutical residues in drinking water.

Organic waste, liquid manure and sewage sludge are rich in nutrients and available in large quantities. These organic residues are valuable resources that require efficient and sustainable solutions to use. As a member of the abonocare® network group, we are involved in the new developments. Discussions have been about new approaches to nutrient recycling, the legal framework and the application potential of innovative fertilizer products at the online conference on July 6th, 2021. The presentations for this event can be found here: www.abonocare.de

At the symposium of the Flexodruck Fachverband e.V. (https://www.dfta.de/), Dr. Bauermeister presented the sustainable Magaverde® biofiber paper.

There is a great need to offer products in ecological packaging and to avoid the spread of microplastics in the environment. Our Magaverde® biofiber paper should therefore not only be sustainably produced and fully biodegradable, but the printing inks and surface treatments used should also be so. The status of our products to date and the challenges were presented.

With the title "New plant nutrients and fiber products from biogas plant residues", we presented current results from our EU project SYSTEMIC and the new product brand Magaverde at the 2020 annual conference of the German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ-link see below) in Leipzig.

DBFZ Annual Conference 2020, Conference Reader: https://www.dbfz.de/index.php?id=1152

• Innovative strength for the economic utilization of organic residues
• Creation of closed technology and value chains from residual material to product

The 1st abonocare conference aims at an intensive discourse between developers, users and authorities. In addition to exciting presentations, you can expect a lively discussion and exchange of ideas on innovations, novel processes, technologies and current issues. Use the conference as an information exchange and networking platform in the field of organic waste recycling. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

To the lectures

With the VDI on site in Bitterfeld-Wolfen on 15.01.2020.

The working group "Energy and Environment" of the VDI Halle district association started with a new management team and the visit of the project HYPOS H2-Netz on 15.01.2020 in Bitterfeld-Wolfen.

In order to achieve the ambitious goals of the energy transition, technologies for the generation, storage and transport of energy must be developed. In addition to the existing natural gas infrastructure, additional supply infrastructures for green hydrogen will also be required. So far, however, there is hardly any experience in the distribution of pure hydrogen. Worldwide, only a few hydrogen pipelines exist, which consist exclusively of steel materials.

On January 15, 2020, the "Energy and Environment" working group of the Halle district association of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) invited participants to visit the "H2-Netz" project at the HYPOS research network in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, where the focus was on the testing of plastic pipelines, their suitability for modern installation methods, the connection and supply of a hydrogen consumer, and the distribution network structure including safety technology. The twenty-eight participants were able to view the installed test technology:

• In an installed distribution network of plastic pipes, hydrogen is passed through in a partial flow.
• Various odorization methods are tested in an odorization plant.
• The measurement of the tightness of the pipes is carried out by means of a permeation measuring chamber.
• End users such as a fuel cell are tested via an experimental container.

The working group "Environmental Technology" in the VDI Hallescher Bezirksverein thus started with new activities after a longer break and under the name "Energy and Environment". Our employee Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Meier has taken over the leadership of the working group together with Dipl.-Ing. Sigrid Klein. Thus, after a multitude of international activities, GNS is again increasingly involved in Halle.

At the annual biogas congress of the Compost & Biogas Association Austria, Thomas Meier gave a presentation on the FaserPlus process for nutrient recovery from digestate and the results of sustainable fiber production from digestate.

GNS has been headquartered in the Technology and Start-up Center in Halle (Saale) on the Weinberg Campus since 2012. The Weinberg Campus Technology Park is an excellent location for us as an innovative technology company. It offers us good opportunities for networking with other companies and the scientific institutes. In an interview we could present our company on the platform of the technology park.

Ways to recover nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from biowaste and digestate are in demand. Mineral nitrogen fertilizers, high-quality fibers and phosphoric fractions are recovered at a plant in Lower Saxony.

Newspaper article in the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung from June 7, 2019 about the meeting of the EU project SYSTEMIC in Halle, which was organized by GNS.

Technical article by GNS in the trade magazine "Energy from Plants" Volume 23, Issue 4, 2019.

With a keynote speech on new value chains for biogas plants, GNS answered the questions of practitioners on 26.09.2018 in Unsleben (Rhöhn-Grabfeld). Further dates followed in October 2018 until March 2019.

The joint project "Potential Fields of a Rural Bioeconomy" by the IÖW and IfaS is dedicated to the evaluation and development of concrete value chains of a rural bioeconomy.

Regional workshops and a final workshop have now taken place at several locations in Germany, at which GNS was present in part with expert presentations and as a discussion partner.

To the Rural Bioeconomy

• Brochure: How decentralized bioeconomy can strengthen rural areas
• 26.09.2018 "Future Workshop Rural Bioeconomy - New Value Chains for Rural Development in Southern Germany" in Unsleben (Bavaria)
• 23.10.2018 "Future Workshop Rural Bioeconomy - New Value Chains for Rural Development in Northwest Germany" in Werlte (Lower Saxony)
• 14.11.2018 "Future Workshop Rural Bioeconomy - New Value Chains for Rural Development in Northeast Germany" in Wandlitz (Brandenburg)

GNS presents itself at the Biogas Conference in Heiden on 30.08.2018. Under the topic Biogas from Straw we present our Faser-Plus process with current results in a lecture. At the accompanying exhibition, we can provide expert advice on all questions of digestate processing and new opportunities for adding value to biogas plants.

20 years of innovative thinking and acting are behind us. We celebrate this on April 26, 2018 at the Biozentrum Halle together with invited partners and customers.

Our heartfelt thanks go to all customers, partners and fellow campaigners for the trust, the good cooperation and the joy with which we were able to work on exciting projects and topics. We look forward to many more years together! We have newly compiled our service profile for you in our image brochure.

Visit website: www.terratec-leipzig.de

Visit website: www.tkor-netzwerk.de

A highlight of the trade fair appearance was the visit of the Saxon State Minister for the Environment and Agriculture, Thomas Schmidt, to the TKoR network booth. Minister of State Schmidt informed himself about the work of the network on 07.04.2017 with Dr. Ute Bauermeister, GNS GmbH, Dr. Gerd Arnold, evermind GmbH, as well as Claudyn Kidszun, LAV GmbH.

From 05 to 07 April 2017, 3,200 trade visitors came to the Glass Hall of the Leipzig Trade Fair to find out about current topics and innovations at terratec and to establish contacts with other industry representatives. 128 exhibitors from six countries took part in the top-class technical program and exhibition, including numerous well-known manufacturers and institutions in the waste and recycling sectors.

Thomas Schmidt, Saxon State Minister for the Environment and Agriculture, Claudyn Kidszun, LAV GmbH, Dr. Ute Bauermeister, GNS GmbH, and Dr. Gerd Arnold, evermind GmbH, in conversation at the TKoR network stand at terratec in Leipzig (from left to right). - Photo: evermind GmbH/Georg Drabner

The TKoR network participated with great success at the industry trade fair terratec in Leipzig. The Technology and Competence Center for Organic Residue Recycling, managed by Leipzig-based evermind GmbH, was represented with its own booth at the trade fair for the waste disposal, recycling and resource management industry.

Bio Economy Cluster project Biogas Faser Plus successfully completed ...

Learn more about fiber production from biogas plants