Last week, we hosted the very successful fourth edition of the BIOTEXFUTURE Forum as another step in our joint effort to convert the textile value chain from petroleum-based to bio-based. More than 160 attendees joined us in zoom for updates from the innovation space BIOTEXFUTURE, to listen to inspiring keynotes and impulse talks and to discuss in interactive sessions. The main topic of the Forum was CO2-Reduction in the Textile Industry.
The BIOTEXFUTURE Forum started off with an opening keynote on the climate crisis by the renowned German physicist and physical oceanographer Prof. Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf from the Climate Research Institute in Potsdam (Germany). The following expert speakers provided the audience with deeper insights into new technologies and approaches to transforming CO2 and using it as a resource:
- Dr. Anna Schulenburg – Climeworks AG – Achieving Negative Emissions with Direct Air Capture
- Gordon Brinitzer – Fraunhofer IGB – Process Intensification with Novel Photobioreactor Concepts in a Biorefinery Approach and its CO2 Reduction Potential
- Dr. Jo-Ann Innerlohinger – Lenzing AG – Towards a Sustainable Textile Industry – A Fiber Manufacturers View
- Dr. Benoit Illy – Fairbricks – Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Polyester Manufacturing by using CO2 as a Raw Material
- Dr. Jochen Norwig – Covestro AG – CO2 as Feedstock for Yarns and Textiles
- Ernst J. Siewers – DyeCoo Textile Systems B.V. – Water Free and Process Chemical Free Textile Dyeing
Furthermore, Thomas Köhler (RWTH Aachen University) from the BIOTEXFUTURE Project Management Office provided an update on current developments in BIOTEXFUTURE and presented the new call of BIOTEXFUTURE for project proposals. In the concluding networking session, the audience had the chance to get to know each other better.
Many thanks again to all participants and speakers who made the forum such a success.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to our next BIOTEXFUTURE Forum, which will take place in the first half of 2022.
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