Logo Universität Bremen, back to home

Search

Wildcard: asterisk (*)
Sustainability

Developing Innovative Solutions

A woman adjusts a scientific device.
© Patrick Pollmeier / Universität Bremen

From environmentally friendly zinc-ion batteries to participatory neighborhood development: What technologies and processes are necessary for a sustainable future?

A sustainable future requires new approaches, technologies, and processes that effectively address ecological and social challenges. Technical innovations, such as environmentally friendly energy storage systems or resource-saving materials, are as necessary as social and organizational innovations. In numerous application-oriented research projects, scientists at the University of Bremen are developing long-term sustainable solutions to reduce resource consumption and promote positive social change.

Exemplary Projects

Eine Forscherin steht vor einem wissenschaftlichen Gerät mit vielen Kabeln.
© Frederico Scarpioni

The energy transition places high demands on modern storage technologies. High-performance, safe, and environmentally friendly energy storage systems make it possible to integrate the steadily growing share of renewable energy into the power grid in a stable manner. This research project focuses on aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIB) and aims to make a significant contribution to the transformation of the stationary energy sector.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are considered a promising alternative to conventional lithium-ion systems. They are based on widely available, cost-effective, and non-toxic materials, which means they provide a resource-efficient and economically viable storage solution. A key advantage is their high operational reliability. Because the electrolyte is water-based, there is no risk of fire or explosion. In addition, ZIBs stand out for their significantly better environmental footprint over their entire life cycle.

With an increasing amount of wind and solar power being fed into the grid, the demand for stationary storage systems is growing rapidly. In Germany, the share of renewable energy in electricity consumption is rising, and further significant increases are being targeted by 2030. Scalable and reliable storage solutions are needed to achieve these targets. Zinc-ion batteries offer great potential in this regard, being financially attractive and technologically flexible. Furthermore, their drawbacks – such as their greater weight – are not a factor in this application.

Although the technology has already reached a high level of development, the transition to industrial application has not yet taken place. A major bottleneck lies in the lack of standardized testing procedures that meet the specific requirements of stationary applications. This is precisely what the project addresses: It develops and tests practical test protocols, optimizes materials and cell structures, and in doing so lays the groundwork for industrial scaling and market entry of this sustainable storage technology.

In the long term, the project will help reduce dependence on critical raw materials, strengthen the security of supply in the energy system, and accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral economy in line with the European Union’s goals. In this way, the project makes an important contribution to a secure, sustainable, and future-proof energy supply.

Key figures: 

Paper has established itself as a material for the future due to its sustainability, environmental friendliness, and versatile characteristics. Its applications range from lightweight construction to an environmentally friendly alternative to plastics. Nevertheless, its high sensitivity to moisture is a significant limitation that substantially impairs both its mechanical stability and its usability in moist environments. Improving the wet strength of paper is therefore of paramount importance, particularly in industries such as construction and packaging. While current approaches such as water-repellent coatings are promising, they make recycling more difficult and increase costs. This is what the research project addresses, using an innovative, cross-scale simulation approach to analyze the fracture mechanisms of paper in both dry and wet conditions. This approach opens up the possibility of developing targeted chemical modifications and optimization strategies to establish paper as a durable and sustainable building material of the future.

Key figures: 
Blick auf das UFT - Zentrum für Umweltforschung und nachhaltige Technologien
© Harald Rehling / Universität Bremen

Clean water is essential for a healthy life. One of the biggest current problems related to clean water is eutrophication, which is caused by an excessive accumulation of nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P). Conventional technologies for removing phosphate from wastewater primarily include chemical and physical processes, which mainly involve the addition of chemical agents that are costly and lead to secondary pollution and phosphorus loss. On the other hand, hunger is on the rise worldwide, and the scarcity or high cost of phosphorus fertilizers is a major contributing factor. The global transport of plant nutrients is expensive and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, which potentially exacerbates global warming. The goal of this German–Brazilian project is to find a solution to both problems, in the form of a novel process for recovering phosphorus from wastewater and surface water with low investment and operating costs.

The process is based on membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI), an electrosorption process for the selective separation of ions with low energy and chemical consumption. The phosphate can be separated, concentrated, and subsequently recovered using a two-step MCDI system. The recovered phosphate can be used as a raw material for phosphate fertilizers.

The Chemical Process Engineering (CVT) research group is initially developing a pilot MCDI plant capable of efficiently separating phosphates and sodium chloride from synthetic wastewater on a laboratory scale. In this process, various influencing factors such as pressure, flow rate, and geometry are analyzed experimentally. The findings are being incorporated into the scaling of the process from laboratory to pilot scale. This innovative concept demonstrates how a circular economy can be achieved with return on investment serving as a deciding factor. By applying specific design rules and operating parameters, the process is optimized to enable large-scale design and the construction of a pilot plant.

Key figures: 
Acelor Mittal in Bremen
© Arcelor Mittal – Kerstin Rolfes

The project focuses on an alternative process for producing iron from iron ore. There currently exist three methods:

  1. The established blast furnace process, in which iron ore is reduced to iron using coke (carbon) and coke is converted to carbon dioxide (CO₂). The problem is that each metric ton of steel produces 1.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
  2. Gas-based direct reduced iron (DRI), in which porous iron ore pellets react with hydrogen (H₂), producing iron and water as products. This requires large volumes of hydrogen, the availability and cost of which are currently unknown.
  3. The electrochemical reduction of iron ore, which in this project is done with an aqueous electrolyte containing highly concentrated sodium hydroxide (NaOH). To do this, fine iron ore particles are added to the electrolyte and reduced to iron by applying an electric current. The process also produces oxygen and hydrogen as further products. Simultaneously, no carbon dioxide is produced, but the electricity used must be renewable to make low-CO₂ steel.

The goal of the project is to further develop the process. It aims to determine process parameters such as particle size, temperature, electrolyte, potential, and impurities to enable efficient, continuous, and scalable iron and steel production.

Key figures: 
Model with figures: A person sits in a fishing boat on the water and steers toward a fish trap.
© Patrick Pollmeier / Universität Bremen

The world’s growing population and the increasing demand for animal protein pose enormous challenges for global food production. In particular, aquaculture – which already accounts for about half of global fish production – needs sustainable feed alternatives to curb the overfishing of natural stocks.

The pilot project relies on an innovative technology: microbial electrosynthesis. In this process, specialized microorganisms use electricity and carbon dioxide to produce complex organic compounds such as proteins or biopolymers. This direct link between renewable energy and the production of biological materials opens up new avenues for a resource-efficient circular economy. A key objective of the project is to develop and test a large-scale electrosynthesis cell that enables production of single-cell protein (SCP). SCP is considered a particularly promising product because, as a protein-rich feed ingredient, it can replace fish meal, a raw material whose production has so far been heavily dependent on wild fish stocks.

The advantages of this technology lie in its sustainability: by turning wastewater streams and carbon dioxide into raw materials, the production of SCP reduces pressure on marine ecosystems and contributes to the circular economy. At the same time, it contributes to climate protection by using renewable electricity to transform carbon dioxide into valuable biomass. In addition, SCP offers economic potential because the profitability of the process depends largely on the value of the product, and protein-rich feedstuffs represent an attractive option.

Key figures: 

Haptisches Modell einer Stadt
© darknightsky / Adobe Stock

The collaborative project InnovationsCommunity Urban Health (ICUH) is guided by the principle of environmental justice and supports cities in creating healthy and equitable living conditions regardless of social inequalities. The focus is on the traditional industrial regions of Bremen/Bremerhaven and the Ruhr area. Inner-city areas and former industrial districts, where social inequalities are particularly pronounced, face significant challenges such as unequal access to healthcare, poor environmental quality, and limited social participation. At the same time, areas like these offer opportunities for socio-ecological change and have valuable experience in addressing various social and structural challenges.

Despite a wealth of knowledge on health equity and environmental justice, existing principles – such as sustainability and health-promoting urban development – as well as strategies and measures that have already been developed are often not implemented consistently. ICUH’s primary goal is therefore to address gaps in the achievement of procedural and distributive justice in relation to the environment. Real-world experiments and implementation-oriented projects are designed to bring together academia, practitioners, and various communities to test innovative approaches aimed at overcoming barriers to implementation while simultaneously contributing to socio-ecological transformation.

The InnovationsCommunity Urban Health sees itself as an open, long-term platform for promoting urban health and environmental justice. The transdisciplinary research approach recognizes and integrates different forms of knowledge, such as everyday and experiential knowledge, as well as knowledge from various academic disciplines.

The components of ICUH are:

The ICUH management project aims to build a network that brings together academia, actual practice, and diverse communities. The transdisciplinary process is supported by change management and knowledge management. The ICUH management team itself drafts calls for proposals for community projects such as the Implementation Pioneers and oversees the selection process. The social innovations developed within ICUH and the experience gained there are being incorporated into a transfer concept for urban health in local communities.

The Community Project ExperimentierRäume (“Experimentation Spaces”) focuses on the action areas of promoting active mobility and climate change adaptation. In selected urban neighborhoods, ongoing processes are initially documented and barriers to implementation systematically analyzed in order to identify suitable entry points for co-creative, real-world experiments. Innovative approaches and methods are then developed and tested in collaboration with stakeholders. The “experimentation spaces” provide a framework for testing initiatives in the neighborhood quickly and at little expense. The goal is to derive specific recommendations for action, for example, in connection with funding frameworks, legal frameworks, municipal structures, and work processes. 

The implementation pioneers are practice–research teams that have successfully applied to ICUH’s Call for Ideas with innovative project ideas and, through their approaches, contribute to ICUH’s strategy and goals.

The Community Project LebensWelt-Expert:innen (LWE) (“Habitat Experts”) aims to further develop, test, and evaluate the LWE approach in the context of urban health. The “habitat experts” contribute their knowledge of everyday life and community to research, practice, and teaching in a structured way. They develop context-specific solutions and support transdisciplinary knowledge generation.

The Urban Health digiSpace provides an open, digital information space dedicated to the topic of urban health. Content on topics such as age-friendly urban planning, citizen participation, and walkability is presented in a way that is accessible to a broad audience. In addition, this platform supports agile project management at ICUH by facilitating streamlined and efficient application and administrative processes for community projects and by fostering exchange among community members.

Key Figures: 

 

The goal of these sub-projects within the large-scale research project “hyBit – Hydrogen for Bremen’s Industrial Transformation” is to further develop microbial electrolysis cells for producing hydrogen from wastewater and biogenic waste. To enhance performance, the system employs the patented concept of a filtering microbial anode, in which the filtration layer of a membrane filter used for wastewater treatment simultaneously serves as the anode of the microbial electrolysis cell. In addition to identifying suitable municipal and industrial wastewater streams, the work also includes operating a 5-liter laboratory reactor using actual wastewater, as well as conducting a detailed characterization and assessment of the concept. 

Key Figures: 

The project is a subproject of the “Metal Extraction” research area within the Cluster of Excellence “The Martian Mindset”, which plans to develop the electrolytic extraction of metals (and the production of oxygen) from metal oxides. This process emits no greenhouse gases and uses no fossil fuels, which, in addition to its applications in space exploration, can also contribute to sustainability on Earth. The drawbacks of typical processes for extracting reactive metals, such as high energy consumption, low efficiency, and severe environmental pollution, make the adoption of sustainable green processes essential. For this reason, the plan is to develop an electrolytic cell which operates at temperatures of approximately 900 °C (well below the melting point of Martian regolith) and uses an oxygen-ion-conducting molten salt as the electrolyte. In this molten salt, the metal oxides are intended firstly to be dissolved from the Martian regolith and the dissolved metal ions then deposited electrochemically at the cathode. The oxygen ions can diffuse to the inert anode, where they simultaneously contribute to oxygen formation. This project will examine the operating parameters, including polarization ranges, reduction times and temperatures, and various other factors such as electrolyte composition and the potential for near-edge metallurgy.

Key Figures: 

 

Neuroscience research provides important insights into the human mind and can contribute to human well-being. However, it can have significant negative impacts on the environment. Neuroscientific methods are particularly resource-intensive and potentially harmful, from the carbon footprint of MRI machines to the long-term environmental footprint of data centers that store datasets permanently for academic reuse. This position paper discusses the tension between academic research, the principles of open science, and responsible academic practice in the climate crisis era. We explain how sustainable open science practices in neuroscience can be implemented at every stage of the research cycle according to the ARIADNE framework. In particular, we propose:

  1. replacing new data with open data,
  2. refining methods to make them more sustainable and
  3. reducing carbon emissions when conducting studies by precisely determining sample sizes and research protocols.

The project develops recommendations for sustainability in neuroscience with open science.

Key Figures 
Updated by: Content-Redaktion
RSS
Print page