Videos

Did you know that the water we drink and the air we breathe contain small fractions of metals? If the doses are low, this is not a problem, but once they're too high, this becomes harmful to our health. That's why Reinhart Van Poucke wants to capture metal particles from the air, water, and soil so that they don't end up in our food chain.

Products with an eco-label are often more expensive than regular products. Bio-engineer Sven Dierickx is determined to change this: he uses yeast from bumblebee honey to make environmentally friendly ánd low-cost detergent 🐝🍽🧽

In order to provide the growing world population with sufficient protein, Reindert Devlamynck (University of Ghent) focuses on duckweed. In addition to ducks, he also wants people to eat this tasty little plant and is setting a good example for himself 🍽

What if we could make plastic out of... Wood waste? This is already possible today, but unfortunately the technology to make such bioplastics is not yet fully developed. Tim Croes wants to help change that.

Soil biodiversity in our European forests is in bad shape. By focusing on public awareness, Iris Vanermen wants to help keep our forests healthy, so that we and future generations can enjoy them for a long time to come.

Too often, companies take too little account of the environmental impact of these inventions when developing new products. Gwenny Thomassen wants to change this: she developed a model to calculate both the cost price and the impact on the environment for products based on micro-algae.

Ever heard of pyrolysis? Then chances are you have a self-cleaning oven. But pyrolysis more than a fancy option in a modern oven. Willem Vercruysse uses this method to make fertilizers and water purification products from microalgae and ivy. 

Leila Paquay turns to funghi and bacteria to grow high-quality industrial hemp - not to be confused with drug type cannabis.

Cinnamon, one of the main ingredients of Belgium's beloved speculaas 😋, is almost exclusively harvested by farmers in Kerinci, a small region in Indonesia. One would think these farmers are rich, but are they really? Sidi Rana Menggala has the answer.

"If we think in circles, we start producing and consuming differently. In his research, Nicholas Vijverman (Vlerick Business School - University of Ghent) studies how we can engage everyone - from government, producer to consumer - in the circular economy. ♻️

People are selling overnight stays in their spare rooms and rides in their car. Then why can't they sell their unused (solar) energy? In her research Ariana Ramos proposes new rules that would enable you as a consumer to trade energy with other consumers.

Recycling plastic is kind of like eating spaghetti. With this analogy Christian Taplan introduces us into the world of plastic recycling. Christian is working on a new and very promising type of recyclable plastic materials, called 'vitrimers'.