At RüBio, we combine modern, “blue” production techniques for fish, vegetables, and medicinal herbs, for example, in a particularly sustainable and, above all, impressively vivid way.
The future of food supply requires new solutions in order to adapt to rising population figures, climate change, and increasingly limited arable land. In Germany alone, 10 million hectares of land are used to produce feed for livestock. That is more than half of the total area used for agriculture. German livestock farmers can cover a large part of their animals' basic feed requirements with grass, grain, and corn. However, what is lacking is protein-rich supplementary feed. This is not produced in sufficient quantities in Germany or the EU, which is why Germany imports around 26 percent of the protein contained in animal feed – much of it in the form of soy – from South America and the US. Even rapeseed, the world's second most widely grown plant for food, feed, and energy production, does not have a positive carbon footprint.
Yet sophisticated systems could be used to produce healthy protein and feed biomass more economically, diversely, and in a more resource-efficient manner on smaller areas of land, largely eliminating the need for imports. Modern, animal-friendly insect and aquaculture farms, just like fruit and vegetable farms, can be run on much smaller areas of land with very high yields and are up to 100 times more productive than grain farming. To illustrate: just 2.7% of the land in this country is used for potato cultivation, but the yield covers both our own domestic demand and significant export requirements.
Traditional agriculture should therefore be sensibly supplemented and even expanded through targeted circular economy practices. The Gruber family impressively demonstrates how this can work sustainably and economically to both experts and lay audiences at RüBio, the first blue bioeconomy model site.
Initially, four coupled production cycles are planned: (medical) herbs, insects, fish and beer brewing. The system remains permanently dynamic and can always be expanded to include further components, e.g. mushroom cultures.
The Bioeconomic Research Center Rügen, RüBio for short, will be a comprehensive development facility with a lot of practical research, intended to be a linking element between science and new products.
The modernized industrial facility allows creative experts of various fields to find a place where visions and the implementation of new bioeconomy technologies can be realized with the time it often needs. Bioeconomy is a process that needs a lot of biological understanding, and patience to promote natural cycle processes.
RüBio is thus intended to become a permanent attraction and innovation hub for blue bioeconomy professionals from all over Europe.
