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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

2017

Abstract

The industrial demand for wax is about 1.000.000 tons annually from which about only 3% is covered by natural waxes and 97% (mainly as paraffin) is produced from non-renewable (mainly fossil) sources. The total market value for this market is about 600-700 M€ per year. Compared to synthetic waxes which are fossil (oil) based and chemically processed materials, the natural waxes are produced by biogenesis, renewable and thus contribute to sustainable processes and reduced carbon emission. Also, natural waxes show well-balanced composition and perform in many applications much better than their synthetic counterparts. In Scandinavia we have very interesting candidates for domestic wax production i.e. wild berries such as lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idae L.) and bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) are abundantly found and important industrially utilized wild berries in arctic nature but we have also other interesting species like black crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) and bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum). Wild berries are used increasingly by food industry due to their reported health and probiotic effects but much of the resource material is wasted as side stream after the food processing. In this project we want to develop methods for exploiting the raw material still present in the side stream and thus increasing its value. The broad expertise areas of the researchers involved covering biology, technology and marketing offer excellent background for the present project. The results achieved will be presented in the meeting. The project is funded by Interreg Nord.

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Abstract

Air pollution has become a global problem and affects nearly all of us. Most of the pollution is of anthropogenic origin and therefore we are obliged to improve this situation. In solving this problem basically our only partners are plants with their enormous biologically active surface area. Plants themselves are also victims of air pollution but because they are sedentary they developed very efficient defence mechanisms, which can also be exploited to improve the humanosphere. For their life processes plants require intensive gas exchange, during which air contaminants are accumulated on leaf surfaces or absorbed into the tissues. Some of the pollutants are included by plants in their own metabolism while others are sequestered. In some plant species, the processes of removing pollutants from the air is conducted in a very efficient way and therefore they are used in the environmental friendly biotechnology called phytoremediation. For urban areas, outdoor phytoremediation is recommended while indoor phytoremediation can be applied in our homes and workplaces. Because in near future purifying outdoor air to protect human health and well-being does not look the most promising, an important and increasing role will be played by indoor phytoremediation.