Updated 1 February. This article was written by Ingrid Coninx, Berien Elbersen en Joske Houtkamp. Lead photo: Berien Elbersen. This blog was written with those provinces, businesses and cluster organisations in mind that are working on the further development of the biobased economy in their region. These people often have…
Can circular agriculture also be practised in other countries? My answer is always: yes! And yes, it is possible in Africa too, although I also know that some of my (former) colleagues claim otherwise. I see and read the stories that explain why it cannot be done, so I thought, let me counterbalance that and show with an example from Ethiopia that it really can be done. Moreover, it also significantly improves the living conditions of those farmers who currently must survive on food aid.
Updated 31 augustus 2022. “Nowadays you can no longer cook without scissors”. I once heard this sentence somewhere, I do not remember exactly where and when, but it regularly haunts my mind. And in the context of my intention to shape my life in a more sustainable way, I decided…
Researchers Andrea Terbijhe, Andries Visser and Chris de Visser were involved in making this article. Do you have any questions or comments? Leave a reply at the bottom of the page to get in touch with Andries Visser. Agricultural businesses play an important role in decentralised energy generation. That role…
Yes, I was one of them. One of those people with the New Years’ resolution to live more sustainably. Last year I calculated my personal Earth overshoot day and that was a shock. So on New Year’s Eve, I shared my good intention (“As long as you don’t exaggerate,” my…
We must aim for a circular, climate-neutral economy. And yes, that is going to be quite a struggle. But it also saves us a lot of future stress and costs. Recently a parent asked me at the edge of the football pitch what kind of work I do. I explained…
Authors: Saskia Visser, Tammo Bult, Simkje Kruiderink Merely transitioning to circular farming systems is not sufficient for the sustainable production of enough food for the global population. We must develop a fully integrated food system, that includes marine food production as well as land-based food production. Only with a…
On January 24th, the first course of the new MicroMasters Biobased Sciences for Sustainability will start. ‘MicroMasters’ is a brand-new credential that was launched by edX and 15 of the world’s leading universities. Learn more about this exciting new opportunity to keep learning!
We want to move away from the use of petroleum-based plastics. The downsides of petroleum are well known: its use results in considerable CO2 emissions and it will eventually run out, and therefore also become expensive. Plastics can also be produced using sustainable raw materials such as starch or lactic acid. The problem, however, is that petroplastics have some important properties that we do not want to have to give up.
Bacteria, fungi, yeast, algae… Although it’s not something we’re aware of every day, much of what we eat and drink is processed by these microscopic organisms. Fermentation is the natural process which determines the flavour, aroma, colour, nutritional value and shelf-life of many products. As a process it offers food producers infinite possibilities, only a fraction of which are currently being used.