Environment and Resources

We are rethinking process and wastewater treatment – wastewater is both a residual material and a resource: it can supply entire greenhouses with its nutrients and, after treatment, can be recycled in production processes for months or even years. Water is essential and should be available everywhere in sufficient quantities and good quality.

In addition to traditional solutions, we use light as a versatile tool for increasing the efficiency of wastewater treatment processes as well as for high-performance food production systems. Fraunhofer UMSICHT is one of the pioneers in Germany for building-integrated food production. Our team is set up in an interdisciplinary manner to reflect this diversity of topics. Our expertise covers process, water and wastewater technology as well as plant cultivation in a controlled environment.

Resource Recovery

Our research team stands for the development and implementation of innovative technologies for the sustainable use of resources and the circular economy. One of the central focuses of our research is the recovery of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen from industrial and municipal wastewater using membrane and ion exchange processes. In view of the increasing demand for lithium, we are also focusing on innovative methods for the sustainable extraction of this valuable metal from salt lakes in South America and geothermal brines in Germany. With our expertise, we offer customized, resource-oriented water management concepts for industrial customers.

Another focus is water supply for the production of green hydrogen. We provide information, offer site and regional analyses, identify and resolve conflicts of use and conduct systemic research (technology assessment). In addition, we develop technologies that make alternative water sources such as wastewater treatment plant effluents, industrial wastewater or brackish water usable for electrolysis.

Indoor-Farming

Our mission is to develop innovative technologies to enable sustainable and efficient plant production in controlled environment. Our research focuses on precisely controlling environmental conditions to increase not only yield but also plant quality while minimizing energy consumption. To this end, we are developing novel approaches in the field of sensor technology to obtain information non-destructively and in real time throughout the entire cultivation cycle. Using statistical methods, we extract valuable insights that form the basis of various prediction models.  We also rely on demand-oriented light recipes and efficient cycle management for the crops supply of resources.

Reference projects of the department Environment and Resources | Information material of the department Environment and Resources