German technology
Humic Substances Based Products
Logo of Humintech GmbH

Lignite is too valuable to burn them. 

Image of Berthold Stern holding a lump of brown coal in one hand and a plant in the other

The story of a literally hidden champion takes place in a world of its own: At the edge of the 11,400 hectare mining area of the Garzweiler open cast mine near Jülich, a small biotechnology company is about to add a new, exciting and surprising chapter to the history of lignite. After all, who would associate the raw material, which as an energy source should not have a too long future in Germany, with innovative and ecological exemplariness? But this is exactly what Humintech is all about. The roots of the company go back to the 1970s, when the then Rheinbraun AG and researchers at the University of Bonn were looking for an environmentally friendly and sustainable method of renaturing the post-mining landscapes in the Rhenish mining district. The result of these efforts was Perlhumus, an organic soil conditioner based on weathered earthy brown coal. 

The experts at Humintech extract a whole range of products from this material, the so called Leonardite, which RWE makes available as the operator of the opencast mine: as fertiliser substitutes, as plant strengtheners or as animal feed supplements, for example. The company is represented in more than 70 countries and uses platforms such as IPM Essen, the world fair for horticulture, to expand its market position. For Berthold Stern, Head of Research and Development at Humintech, the areas of application to date are just the beginning: "Brown coal is far too valuable to burn," he says. However, applied research is needed to discover the potential. "There's more to it than that." 

Berthold Stern,
Head of Research and Development at Humintech

Report in German

HUMINTECH GmbH

Humintech is a biotech company based in Grevenbroich, Germany. We are primarily focused on the research, development and industrial production of humic matter and humic acids for the agricultural sector. Our products find further use in pharmaceutical, construction industry, for ecological purposes such as water purification and soil decontamination.

Contact

Humintech GmbH

Am Pösenberg 9-13
41517 Grevenbroich / Deutschland 

Phone: +49 2181 70 676 - 0
Fax: +49 2181 70 676 - 22
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