News
10/04/2025
The GreenTech Innovation Competition at HANNOVER MESSE 2025
"Shaping the future with technology" was the motto of HANNOVER MESSE 2025 and was thus perfect for the presentation and discussion of almost a quarter of the projects in the BMWK technology program GreenTech Innovation Competition.
(from right to left): Cicy K. Agnes (ESCADE project), Thomas Kuhn (greenProd project), Hannah Stein (ESCADE project), Dominik Voigt (PredictECO project), Anne-Kathrin Richter (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection), Dr. Oliver Lohse (PredictECO project), Sebastian Karnapp (CliCE-DiPP project), Dr.-Ing. Daniel Fuhrländer-Völker (CliCE-DiPP project), Dr. Stefanie K. (accompanying research of the GreenTech Innovation Competition)
© BMWK
Artificial intelligence is currently the topic of the moment and not just for social opinion leaders and political regulators in everyday life. Behind the gates of production halls and development laboratories, the technical debate is also dominated by the question of how algorithms will shape or are already shaping future industrial value creation. "Green AI, Brown AI or No AI?" was thus the question of the accompanying GreenTech research on the floor of this year's HANNOVER MESSE.
The discussion between Dr. Stefanie Kunkel (Rifs Research Institute for Sustainability, Accompanying Research), Hannah Stein (ESCADE project) and Dr. Thomas Kuhn (greenProd project) focused on the role of artificial intelligence in sustainability and the future viability of the German and European economy.
After the trade show, Hannah Stein from the ESCADE project summed up the relevance of the questions discussed: "At HANNOVER MESSE, we take into special consideration how relevant it is for industry to combine sustainability with profitability. With our EAVE prototype, which provides a dashboard of energy efficiency analysis of AI algorithms in data centres, we can contribute to this. With increasing competitive pressure, digitalisation and compliance with climate targets, we can help SMEs remain competitive through energy and cost-efficient AI algorithms."
"Shaping the future with technology" – with diverse GreenTech solutions
Digital twins demonstrators serve in numerous projects of the GreenTech Innovation Competition for the visualisation of energy and resource saving potential. The question of how sustainability can be measured through digital technologies was also visualised at the HANNOVER MESSE by the projects represented on site for the specialist audience. As in previous years, the joint stand in Hall 2, which was initiated by the BMWK, was a cross-disciplinary forum for personal discussions and the demonstration of previously developed click dummies, visualisations and project films.
Project managers look back on the HANNOVER Messe
Whether at the BMWK trade show presence, at the booth of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft or at the Sustainable Supply Forum of the HANNOVER MESSE: With the projects ESCADE, CO2ptiMat, CliCE-DiPP, greenProd and PredictECO, nearly a quarter of the 21 projects funded since 2023 were represented in Hanover and were able to present the first, promising interim results of their nearly two years of research into the influence of technologies on more sustainable industrial processes.
PredictECO impressively demonstrated how a green digital twin can make the production of fibre composite components in the aviation and automotive industries more sustainable. "PredictECO uses a green digital twin to make production [...] more sustainable. [...] The green digital twin contributes to the development of more sustainable products by making important sustainability indicators visible and usable," explained Oliver Lohse, project manager of PredictECO.
Those responsible for the greenProd research project also demonstrated in practice how CO₂ emissions along supply chains can be recorded and analysed in a product-focused manner. "In the greenProd project, we are implementing a low-threshold solution for this using green digital twins," emphasised Thomas Kuhn at the booth of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The interest in the solution and the associated applications was correspondingly high.
The CliCE-DiPP project, in turn, used the technical interest in the trade show environment to actively participate in current debates around the Digital Product Passport. "The discussions around the Digital Product Passport in data ecosystems were particularly exciting and provided valuable impetus for our research," said Sebastian Karnapp, reflecting on the days of the trade show. The large crowd at the demonstrator clearly showed the interest in one of the main future topics of sustainably producing industry.
Coming up in May: See you again at the Demo Day GreenTech in Berlin
All interested professionals who won’t make it to Hanover this year should mark May 20, 2025, in the calendar. The Digital Technologies Forum will then host this year's Demo Day GreenTech and offer numerous practical insights as well as space for discussions on a total of seven projects.
