Our world is changing at a rate and to an extent that is unprecedented. World population is growing and the consequences of climate change are already being felt. We will only have a liveable future if people, animals and the plant world live in harmony. This is why at Festo we consider the bioeconomy the economic system of the future. It is our aspiration to make a significant contribution to improving the quality of life of today's and future generations through the cultivation of biomass on a large scale using our automatic technology.
If we can manage to establish a circular economy, this will create innovations from which both people and the environment can benefit equally. A circular economy refers to carbon-neutral production while using as few resources as possible. The idea behind this is that living matter will be cultivated in energy-efficient processes, so that they can be used as the biological basis for extracting raw materials that can then be turned into products. They should ultimately be returned to the natural cycle.
In the learning company that is Festo we have for years considered biology as a source of inspiration and a teacher. Over the years, our bionic engineers have created and developed a wide range of technological innovations. The experience that we have built up, our automation technology and our expertise in control technology make us the ideal partner for the cultivation of biomass on an industrial scale.
With the biotechnological BionicHydrogenBattery system, Festo is presenting a completely new, fully automated solution for the energy-efficient storage and low-risk transport of one of the energy sources of the future: hydrogen. It is converted into formic acid with the help of bacteria and, compared to previous processes, at mild temperatures and low pressure.
The energy-efficient and low-risk storage of hydrogen offers great potential. It allows us to produce and store hydrogen when enough sustainably generated energy is available – for example in summer or in windy and sunny countries – and to recover it when it is needed for generating power.
Essential parts of the biological transformation are digitalisation, artificial intelligence and quantum sensor technology. These methods can be used to optimise the data from bioreactors in a very short time. Only when the automated cultivation of biomass is reliable, economical and high-quality will bioproduction be marketable on a large scale and be able to achieve the desired environmental results. We are working on this in cooperation with other companies and institutes.