Last week, at the 2026 Biogas Innovation Congress in Osnabrück, Dr Christiane Herrmann was presented with the German Agriculture Biogas Innovation Award in silver. The award recognised the interdisciplinary, practice-oriented research into reducing greenhouse gases and nutrient losses during the storage of slurry and digestate.
The prize, awarded by the German Farmers’ Association, recognises the groundbreaking results of the research project “ EMeRGE ”, which was coordinated by Dr Christiane Herrmann, head of working group and programme area spokesperson at the ATB. At the heart of the award-winning work is the use of the additive calcium cyanamide, which offers three key advantages: it specifically reduces greenhouse gas emissions, preserves nitrogen during the storage of farm manure and, at the same time, maintains the valuable methane production potential for more efficient use in biogas plants.
Interdisciplinary research as the key to success
“We are delighted to receive this award and the recognition it brings to our interdisciplinary research,” said Dr Christiane Herrmann, who accepted the prize. “Many thanks to our colleagues and partners for their excellent collaboration on this exciting and interesting project.”
The success of the EMeRGE project, which was completed last year, is based on close collaboration between several departments and working groups at ATB, as well as with our industry partner Alzchem Trostberg GmbH. In addition to the investigations into emission reduction carried out by the WG Environmental Bioprocess Engineering, the project also included extensive analyses of the microbiome in farm manure and soil by the Microbial Engineering Ecology working group, studies on greenhouse gas emissions in the field, and a comprehensive assessment of the entire process chains by the Technology Assessment department. The “EMeRGE” research project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Home Affairs (BMLEH) via the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR).
Renowned award for science with impact
The German Agriculture Biogas Innovation Award is presented annually in the categories of Science and Business and is regarded as a major accolade within the industry. The winners are selected through a two-stage process: first, a panel of experts selects the 15 most interesting innovations from all entries, which are then presented at the congress. The winners are ultimately chosen from this shortlist.
The Science Prize is endowed with a total of 10,000 euros, provided by the Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank. The Silver Award comes with prize money of 3,000 euros.
Prof. Barbara Sturm, Scientific Director at the ATB, shares the project team’s delight: “Congratulations to Dr Christiane Herrmann and the entire EMeRGE team on this well-deserved award. This success is a prime example of the strength of our cross-departmental collaboration at ATB, where expertise in process engineering, microbiology and technology assessment mesh perfectly. My special thanks go to Dr Herrmann, who has coordinated the project with great dedication and scientific excellence. Such practical innovations are key to making agriculture more sustainable and making a measurable contribution to climate protection. The prize is an incentive for us to continue along this path with determination.”
Further Information
Press release about the project completion EMeRGE Final Report
Contact
Dr Christiane Herrmann
Head of the Environmental Bioprocess Engineering Research Group and Project Coordinator for EMeRGE
Telephon: +49 331 5699-231
Email: cherrmann@atb-potsdam.de