Christof Bauer

Christof Bauer

2770 Bansko, Bulgaria
I love frogs!
15 weeks ago
Bacteria, fungi and plants can be grown and engineered to remove plastics, chemicals and pollutants from contaminated soil and water. In June, French biotech Carbios presented its biorecycled bottle to the world. Made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, the transparent flask contains French beauty brand L’Occitane’s almond oil shower gel. But this is not just any plastic. It is not made from crude oil or natural gas. This PET is made from biorecycled plastic, digested from used bottles with microbial enzymes. Plastic-eating enzymes are just one example of the means by which microbes can be harnessed to eat pollutants—from the ‘forever chemicals’ per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to cyanide and petroleum1. Governments and biotechs are investing in bioremediation, as the science of using living organisms to remove pollutants is known and proven, with the market expected to grow by $8.29 billion between 2023 and 2028. Bioremediation is “affordable, doable and uncontroversial,” says Jillian Banfield, a microbiome researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02401-1
    16 weeks ago
    Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) is wind 2.0 Airborne Wind Energy is about to become a game-changing solution which allows accessing the large untapped wind resource at high altitudes enabling more energy to be extracted at lower carbon intensity and at lower cost. Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) produce electricity using kites or wings which are attached by a tether to a ground station. Benefits: - Low material use - Access to untapped wind resource at high altitudes - High capacity factor - Low costs - Low environmental impact https://airbornewindeurope.org/ https://www.technologycatalogue.com/product_service/awes-airborne-wind-energy-system
      24 weeks ago
      Desalination could solve the grand challenge of water scarcity, but materials-based and conventional thermal desalination methods generally suffer from scaling, fouling and materials degradation. Here, we propose and assess thermodiffusive desalination (TDD), a method that operates entirely in the liquid phase and notably excludes evaporation, freezing, membranes, or ion-adsorbing materials. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47313-5
      35 weeks ago
      I am happy to share some pictures of the 60 years celebration of the partnership between the cities of Osnabrück (DE), Angers (FR) and Harlem (NL). This 2 day event took place in Angers with the mayors and delegations of respected cities and the former ambassadors (my mother was invited in her role as ambassador for Angers in Osnabrück in 1972). It was a beautiful reminder of what we already have achieved in creating and shaping a united peaceful Europe. "United in diversity"