{"id":152005,"date":"2025-09-11T15:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T13:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greentech.at\/?post_type=im_fokus&p=152005"},"modified":"2025-09-18T10:29:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:29:38","slug":"green-utopia-made-in-green-tech-valley","status":"publish","type":"im_fokus","link":"https:\/\/www.greentech.at\/en\/goodies\/green-utopia-made-in-green-tech-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Utopia – made in Green Tech Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Green Utopia - made in Green Tech Valley<\/b><\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Utopias are characterized by the unrealizable, the fantastic. But this is precisely where their massive power lies; these images of the future are what make revolutionary developments possible in the first place. \u201cAnd the climate crisis, as well as the associated shift toward a comprehensive resource and circular economy, require almost utopian thinking in the same way,\u201d Bernhard Puttinger, Managing Director of the Green Tech Valley, is convinced. \u201cWe have to be faster than climate change. That is the order of the day. This is where visions, this is where courage, this is where green solutions are needed.\u201d And Green Tech Valley, as an international hotspot for green research & innovation, has a special significance in this regard, emphasizes Puttinger.<\/p>

Cooperation for a green future<\/h2>

For this reason, forces were joined together with the\u00a0Graz University of Technology<\/a>, the\u00a0Montanuniversity of Leoben<\/a>, the\u00a0Institute for Design and Communication of the Joanneum University of Applied Sciences<\/a>,\u00a0Creative Industries Styria<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Holzcluster Steiermark<\/a>. Interdisciplinary student teams produced green utopias here as short videos\u00a0 as part of Designmonat Graz<\/a> \u2013 visualizing a possible future of the energy, mobility and raw materials turnaround based on current research at the site.\u00a0 \u201cUtopias grow into technologies here,\u201d says Stefan Vorbach of Graz University of Technology enthusiastically of the results, which were presented. Illona Otto\u00a0Wegener Center for Climate & Global Change (University Graz)<\/a>\u00a0points out to consider all social structures: \u201cGreen Utopia helps us to visualize and discuss the future ahead of us. If we know what the goal is, we can reach it faster.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Visions spur innovation<\/h2>

The videos range from new post-consumer lifestyles and climate-positive construction to trees as electricity storage for stable grids. Utopian? From today\u2019s perspective, quite so in some areas. \u201cThis in particular is an incentive for research and for companies in Green Tech Valley,\u201d says Puttinger. Stefan Spirk (Graz University of Technology<\/a>) also emphasizes this: \u201cIt is of immanent importance to imagine the unthinkable in order to be able to realize revolutionary technologies.\u201d Sarah Meitz from\u00a0AAE Intec \u2013 Institute for Sustainable Technologies<\/a>\u00a0also speaks of the courage to take new, radical paths, for example \u201cin the production of hydrogen from wastewater and sunlight in solar reactors\u201d: \u201cGreen utopias are needed to ensure climate-friendly and cost-effective energy supplies.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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We dream it, so we can do it! - AGAIN
Green Utopia - made in Green Tech Valley 2025 <\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cGreen Utopia \u2013 made in Green Tech Valley\u201d once again highlights the future based on visionary Austrian research. The award ceremony for this year’s researchers and Vizualize teams took place on May 27 as part of Design Month at the Hornig Areal.<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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From smart \u201csoil sensors\u201d to CO2 stored in building materials…<\/h3>

Dominik Steinberger<\/strong> from TU Gaz<\/strong> is the \u201cutopist\u201d behind the term \u201cbiochar<\/strong>,\u201d or plant carbon. Carbon from biomass is proving to be a promising economic sector for the future and is increasingly becoming the focus of industry, as biochar can be used for much more than just soil improvement or as an additive in building materials. Steinberger’s vision for 2050: \u201cBiochar will be used specifically to bind carbon, close material cycles, and conserve resources. Cities will become carbon sinks themselves: instead of climate-damaging building materials, buildings will be made of highly porous biochar components that regulate moisture, store heat, and bind CO\u2082 in the long term.\u201d<\/p>

Morten Streblow<\/strong>, also at Graz University of Technology<\/strong>, is committed to the EU project SPIN-FERT<\/strong>. The aim is to process various agricultural by-products and waste products to produce high-performance fertilizers and growth substrates without peat. In the Utopia short video \u201cSoil-Nose,\u201d the \u201csoil nose\u201d is the program. In reality, there is a lot of AI behind it.<\/p>

Viktoria Schett<\/strong> is researching efficient and easily accessible goods transport in car-free urban areas at the University of Graz<\/strong>. Her research focuses on the CarryMeHome<\/strong> concept: “This represents a visionary solution for mobility and transport in car-free (inner) cities of the future. The focus is on (semi-)autonomous trolleys that serve as flexible and sustainable transport aids.”<\/p>

… to green hydrogen valleys and wood building materials that last forever.<\/h3>

According to Ernst Alexander Dengg<\/strong> from Graz University of Technology<\/strong>, the paradigm shift in the construction industry over the next few years must be from reuse to ever-use<\/strong>: What is needed is integrity-oriented planning that focuses on the wooden component itself and not just the entire building as a \u201ccommunity of fate\u201d: \u201cBecause while structurally used solid wood remains functional for several hundred years with good care, buildings are often renovated or demolished after only 20 to 50 years.\u201d<\/p>

“In Styria, the amount of residual waste per capita is over 100 kg per year, but only about a third of this actually belongs in the residual waste bin. The majority of the waste consists of materials that should be collected in a different bin,\u201c explains Paul Demschar<\/strong> from Montanuni Leoben.<\/strong> His question for \u201dMagic Bin<\/strong>” is: What role can AI-supported systems, digital sorting aids, or smart waste bins play in minimizing incorrect disposal?<\/p>

Styria, together with Carinthia and Upper Austria, caused an international stir last fall with the first European Hydrogen Valley for industrial applications. This is where Michael Richter<\/strong> from Graz University of Technology\/HyCentA<\/strong> comes in with his vision of \u201cA New H\u201d: \u201cBy establishing regional ecosystems, resilient production and consumption structures, introducing standards, and creating supraregional links to large-scale hydrogen unions, the path to FREE H<\/strong> is being paved.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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But what lies behind these creative titles, and how far apart are research vision and reality? Have a closer look!<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The videos by the young designers on \nGreen Utopia 2025\n& background information on research in the Valley<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Information & research on the Utopias 2025:<\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Utopia 01 \u2013 Biochar<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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“IMAGINE a FUTURE…<\/strong><\/em><\/h1>

where we remove & use CO<\/strong>2<\/sub><\/strong>“<\/strong><\/em><\/h1>

_ _ _<\/strong><\/p>

Biochar: New inventions enable the affordable and effective storage of CO2<\/sub> in many goods.<\/h2>

Green Utopist:<\/b>
Dominik Steinberger-Maierhofer (TU Graz)<\/p>

Video-Team<\/b>
Institute for Design & Communication – FH Joanneum<\/a>:
Alina Huft, Valerie Schwarz, Lina Sandersfeld, Fiona Bartl, Angelo Jantscher<\/p>

Biochar 2050: From utilization to regeneration \u2013 The biochar world of tomorrow<\/h2>

The world of 2050 is characterized by a paradigm shift in materials management. Biochar, once a by-product, has become a key resource in the renewable circular economy. It is not just a material, but an essential element for restoring natural cycles.<\/p>

Material-centered approach: Biochar as a source of added value: Biochar is no longer viewed solely as a soil conditioner or building material additive\u2014it is a product that retains its value over time and has a wide range of functions. Whether in soils, building materials, or industrial processes, biochar is used specifically to sequester carbon, close material cycles, and conserve resources.<\/strong><\/p>

Cities for carbon reduce:<\/strong>\u00a0Instead of climate-damaging building materials, buildings today are made of highly porous biochar building elements that regulate moisture, store heat, and bind CO\u2082 in the long term. Cities are no longer sources of emissions, but active carbon sinks that have a positive climate effect thanks to biochar building materials.<\/p>

Soils as storage and filters:<\/strong> Biochar is the backbone of regenerative agriculture. Soils worldwide are enriched with biochar, which helps them retain nutrients, store water, and stabilize agricultural yields. This targeted use has doubled humus content and made global food production more resilient to climate change..<\/p>

Innovative approaches<\/h3>