In July 2026, @Dr. Franziska Brantner, Federal Co-Chair of Alliance 90/The Greens, visited Covestro Deutschland AG at its Leverkusen site. Dr. Liv Adler, Bio4PURConti project coordinator presented the company’s research on bio-based aniline and introduced the Bio4PURConti project, which started in June 2026. The visit included a tour of the Biotechnology Competence Center, where Dr. Lena Schaffert, biotechnology expert at Covestro and Bio4PURConti WP1 lead, explained how fermentation is being developed from lab-scale to pilot-scale . The tour concluded at the Decarboxylation Pilot Plant, where the fermentation intermediate is converted to bio-based aniline.
The exchange focused on the role of the chemical industry for innovation in Germany, on bio-based feedstocks as an alternative to fossil resources, and on how research results can reach industrial application. That last question sits at the centre of Bio4PURConti. Aniline is the precursor of MDI, which ends up as the insulation in buildings and refrigerators, and Covestro uses around one million tonnes of aniline every year. Shifting a volume of that size away from fossil feedstock takes more than a working laboratory route, it takes a continuous process that performs reliably at semi-industrial scale. That is what the ten partners of Bio4PURConti are building over 42 months.
Political interest at this early stage matters, because the regulatory and investment conditions discussed today will shape how fast a bio-based aniline process can move from pilot plant to production.