Friday Group: Algae + Energy

Talks + Presentations + Discussion

17 Jul 20266 – 9 pm

Former Zeeck department store

Accessibility +

The 21st Friday Group is all about algae and their manifold potential.

To date, only around 67,000 species of the estimated 500,000 micro- and macroalgae on Earth have been described. They produce around half of the oxygen in the atmosphere and play a central role in the global carbon, nitrogen and sulphur cycles. The potential for utilising microalgae – and in particular for industrial production – is growing year on year, although only a few species are currently used commercially. They serve as a sustainable source of raw materials for food and animal feed, cosmetics, medicines and bioplastics, as well as for electricity, heat and biofuels.

At the Centre for Algal Biology in Köthen and the Algae Farm in Klötze, both in Saxony-Anhalt, the potential of microalgae was recognised as long as 25 years ago. In the Friday Group, we will be presenting these initiatives. We will also be introducing the GICON high-altitude wind turbine, which can generate more than twice as much energy as conventional wind turbines. Due to its height, the impact on flora and fauna is significantly lower.

In the subsequent discussion with guests, we will, not least, be exploring the reasons that are holding back the further development of alternative energy generation.

The Friday Group follows in the tradition of the Bauhaus Dessau of actively engaging with and contributing to social challenges. Films, short lectures, discussions, interactive forms of participation, and shared food and drink invite guests and the audience to engage in low-threshold encounters.

The name of the series goes back to the Friday Group that Ludwig Hilberseimer led in his Berlin office until 1937.

Language: German

Programme

Welcome
Barbara Steiner

The Algae Farm in Klötze (Saxony-Anhalt)
Jörg Ullmann, Managing Director and Founder
Algae are at the heart of Jörg Ullmann’s life. He has been involved in the development of the algae farm in Klötze in the Altmark region from the very beginning. He talks about the many uses of algae and the numerous projects he has launched, including those in collaboration with entrepreneur Kirstin Knufmann: the ‘Algae World’ in Klötze, the ‘Algae Get-together’ and the courses to become an ‘algae sommelier’.

Film & Insight: Biotubes and the Latest from Algae Research
Johann Bauerfeind, biotechnologist specialising in microalgae
The Biotubes project (Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle) is pursuing a fundamentally new approach to shaping living and grown materials: using 3D printing, complex, three-dimensional habitats are created from tubular hydrogel.

Interaction: Making ink from algae
Introduction: Jörg Ullmann

Algae buffet
Kirstin Knufmann, PureRaw (in collaboration with Urbane Farm Dessau)
What can you make with algae, and what does it taste like? We’ll find out during this tasting session and get to know different types of algae. But we’re not just curious about the taste and texture; the tasting also promises to be a visual feast.

Lecture: “Green Technologies in the Bioeconomy – From Idea to Marketable Innovation”
Stefan Matthes, GICON
The GICON Group is active in areas including renewable energy and biosolar technologies, ranging from wind turbines to biogas and algal biotechnology. The GICON high-altitude wind tower is an innovation that can make a decisive contribution to Germany’s energy transition.

Group discussion: What is needed to accelerate the use of algae in various fields of application?
With Kirstin Knufmann, Johann Bauerfeind, Stefan Matthes, Jörg Ullmann
Moderator: Barbara Steiner

Address:
Former Zeeck department store
(Access via Restaurant LOU)
Kavalierstraße 72
06844 Dessau-Roßlau