“Climate change is a global problem. But if you really want to know its impact, you have to have local data.” So say meteorologist Steven Caluwaerts and bioengineer Pieter De Frenne. They both do research on microclimates, albeit with a different starting point. “Actually, we are very complementary. We should meet more often!”
A new development in agricultural robotics has the potential to make the sector more sustainable and profitable. Researchers at Ghent University have developed technology that enables agricultural robots to make site specific adjustments in real time, from soil analysis to soil cultivation, sowing, fertilising and the spraying of pesticides.
Remarkably, work that started as an occasional side project has resulted this year in a change to European law. Thanks to Liesbeth Jacxsens and Mieke Uyttendaele, more food can now be donated to those in need.
How to use waste water, CO2 and plastics as a source of energy or a raw material? This is one of the key questions that keeps professor Korneel Rabaey occupied on a daily basis. A question to which he is now seeing an answer emerge, thanks to the new research platform CAPTURE, which he helped to conceive. The opening of a physical research centre will accelerate progress in this area considerably, which has been his goal for years.
Ghent University uses about 260.000 m³ water annually, of which 92% is high-quality tap water. This needs to change. Ghent University is going to instigate the necessary adjustments based on a new policy on circular water management – and a break-away from traditional techniques. This is why, since 12 May 2021, there’s a wastewater treatment facility at Site Heymans in Ghent, Belgium based on water plants and bacteria: a constructed wetland.
If we want to continue enjoying our weekly portion of fish or shellfish in the future, it will be largely thanks to aquaculture. Just call it the fish farm of the future. Ghent University is one of the world’s top researchers on the sustainability and development of aquaculture.
It turns out that large forests are not the only woodland to contribute to combatting climate change. In fact, small woods are important too, and far more than we once believed. Small areas of woodland actually take in proportionately more carbon than their larger relations. This means it is really important to take care of such areas, and plant more of them.
Our tap water travels hundreds of kilometers each day, even though we get more than enough water falling on the roof. According to bioengineer Korneel Rabaey, switching to a local or even circular water supply is quite feasible.
The organization and transportation of water and food is one of the biggest obstacles to a manned trip to Mars. It is impossible to send all the necessary food and drink into space. Bio-engineer Jolien De Paepe is therefore developing a recycling system that converts astronauts’ urine into clean drinking water and valuable nutrients.
We live in the post-antibiotic era. At least that’s what the World Health Organization (WHO) says. And not without foundation — it suggests some ten million people will die annually from antibiotic-resistant bacteria by 2050 if we don’t act now. Furthermore, there are more cancers than now. And so it is a feverish search for alternatives. Ghent University researchers have already come up with a promising breakthrough.
Modern biotechnology in agriculture is a much-discussed topic. Geert De Jaeger is both a professor at UGent and a plant biologist. Ghent University alumni Dirk Holemans is a coordinator of the social-economic thinktank Oikos and a former politician for Groen – the Flemish green party. They are on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to the use of modern biotechnology in agriculture. This leads to a lively debate with the most important conclusion being that: they agree to disagree.
Elk kopje Fair Trade koffie dat aan de UGent gedronken wordt, komt de producent ten goede. Maar onderzoekers van de faculteit Bio-ingenieurswetenschappen gingen nog een stapje verder. Een hoogtechnologische methode om de kwaliteit van de bonen te achterhalen kan de koffieboeren op termijn een betere prijs garanderen.
