“Wood may be present in people’s life more than we think”, says Mariana Hassegawa, a researcher at the European Forest Institute . She is one of the authors of a case study on new wood-based products by the BioMonitor EU project.

If you walk into a council office or a recycling centre in Germany today you might see a poster for the #wirfuerbio campaign , which states that no plastics including compostable plastics should be added to organic bins.

“When I grab something hard, then I can feel it in the fingertips, which is strange, as I don’t have them anymore. It’s amazing,” said Robin af Ekenstam , who lost his hand when an aggressive tumour was discovered on his right wrist.

The European grid already faces transmission challenges, as the alternative current (AC) infrastructure has almost reached its transport capacity.

A well-accepted measure for climate protection involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions . And buildings have the greatest energy saving potential, according to the official EU Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 .