The "National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030" formulates two strategic goals for a bio-based economy: Firstly, the development of novel products, processes and services from renewable raw materials should strengthen the competitiveness of the German economy. Secondly, the desired bio-based economy should contribute to the fulfillment of global obligations in the fields of world nutrition, climate, resource and environmental protection.



A structural change towards a bio-based economy, as the BioBall innovation area is striving for, must be oriented towards these strategic goals. As part of the accompanying scientific project "TransRegBio", the following questions are being considered in order to enable the BioBall innovation area to be continuously aligned with the strategic objectives of the research strategy.

• What are the barriers and drivers for the market launch of bioeconomic technologies?

• What are the environmental impacts of bioeconomic technologies in their life cycle?

• What influence does the demand for biomass caused by bioeconomic technologies have at the macroeconomic level on phenomena such as land use, biological CO₂ storage and biodiversity?

As part of the scientific monitoring of the R&D&I projects, TransRegBio supports the selection process of suitable R&D&I projects by developing guidelines that enable an assessment of the quantitative criteria defined by the BioBall innovation area during the application phase. On the other hand, the R&D&I projects are scientifically monitored during the research projects so that the technologies can be developed taking into account the needs of users and the market as well as environmental impacts.



The experience and developed methods of scientific project support are used to create instruments and guidelines for action that can also be used beyond the innovation area in terms of space and time in order to shape and evaluate the transformation process towards a bio-based economy on the basis of the strategic objectives of the research strategy. 

Bidoglio, GA, Schwarzmueller, F., & Kastner, T. (2024). A global multi-indicator assessment of the environmental impact of livestock products. Global Environmental Change, 87, 102853.

 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102853 



Güldemund, A., & Zeller, V. (2024). Reflecting Regional Conditions in Circular Bioeconomy Scenarios: A Multi-Criteria Approach for Matching Technologies and Regions. Sustainability, 16(7), 2935.

 https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072935 



Güldemund, A., Schüngel, J., Schebek, L., Schaldach, R., & Zeller, V. (2025). The regional nature of circular bioeconomy: Comparing the availability of residual biomass at national, regional and city levels. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 215, 108125.

 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108125 



Hennenberg, KJ, Gebhardt, S., Wimmer, F., Distelkamp, M., Lutz, C., Böttcher, H., & Schaldach, R. (2021). Germany's Agricultural Land Footprint and the Impact of Import Pattern Allocation. Sustainability, 14(1), 105.

 https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010105 



Kastner, T., Chaudhary, A., Gingrich, S., Marques, A., Persson, UM, Bidoglio, G., ... & Schwarzmüller, F. (2021). Global agricultural trade and land system sustainability: Implications for ecosystem carbon storage, biodiversity, and human nutrition. One Earth, 4(10), 1425-1443.

 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.09.006 



Schaldach, R., & Thrän, D. (2022). Scenarios and Models for the Design of a Sustainable Bioeconomy. In The bioeconomy system (pp. 289-302). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64415-7_19 



Semenchuk, P., Plutzar, C., Kastner, T., Matej, S., Bidoglio, G., Erb, K. H., ... & Dullinger, S. (2022). Relative effects of land conversion and land-use intensity on terrestrial vertebrate diversity. Nature communications, 13(1), 615.

 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28245-4 



Schüngel, J., Stuch, B., Fohry, C., & Schaldach, R. (2022). Effects of initialization of a global land-use model on simulated land change and loss of natural vegetation. Environmental Modelling & Software, 148, 105287.

 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2021.105287 



Schwarzmueller, F., & Kastner, T. (2022). Agricultural trade and its impacts on cropland use and the global loss of species habitat. Sustainability Science, 17(6), 2363-2377.

 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01138-7