daad energy

8/14/2019 Daad Energy

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for the future

CAREERStudyPhDJobs


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ENERGYIN NUMBERS

21,164Number of operational windfarms in Germany at the endof 2009. Together they gen-erate 25.777 MW, accountingfor about one third of theelectricity demand at peaktimes on cold winter days.

10.3 % The proportion of Germanystotal energy consumption that is met by renewablesources of energy more than twice the amount re-corded in 2000. World-wide the gure stands at 16%.

20 W The amount of energy our brainsconsume when we are reading or thinking aboutsomething about the same amount it takes topower a small light bulb.

1m The area of thesuns surface requiredto produce 62,000 KW.Thats equivalent toabout 60,000 electricheaters or a millionlight bulbs.

1000 GW The amount of electricity that couldbe generated globally by wave and tidal energy anamount, according to a World Energy Councilestimate, capable of meeting15 % of the worlds energy needs.

1,800,000 km The total distance covered by theGerman electricity grid. If the grid were made up of a single cable, it wouldcircle the Earth 45 times.

17.9 Percentage of the worldselectricity generated by renewable sourcesof energy in 2007. Hydropower made up thelions share with a contribution of 15.6%.


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DAAD I Special Issue on Energy 3

4 From Grassroots Movement toPolitical Power

Interview with Hermann Scheer

5 Constructive ExperimentationInterview with DAAD President Sabine Kunst

6 Degrees for a Green FutureGerman universities offer a wide variety ofcourses in renewable energy

8 Climbing the Green Career LadderDiverse career opportunities in the renewableenergy sector

10 Sun Natural Power Plants:

Energy You Can Count OnGerman researchers successfully focus onthe suns energy

14 Wind Concentrated Energy from the Ocean

Dynamic development of wind energy inGermany

18 Water Powerful Waves and Extraordinary

TreasuresGerman water experts are in demand all overthe world

22 Earth Designer Diesel and Deep Heat

Germany leads the eld in biofuels

26 Sending the Right SignalsEnergy Economist Claudia Kemfert: ClimateProtection as an Opportunity for Change

27 Car Today, Bike TomorrowEnvironmental psychologist Ellen Matthies

28 The Secret Lies under the BonnetHybrid technology paves the way for cleanbuses and trains

30 Pioneering the Silent CarResearchers put their foot on the acceleratorfor electromobility

34 The School of the FutureStudents at RWTH Aachen University design anenergy project for the classroom

35 Suggested LinksStudy, PhD, Jobs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WELL SAIDToday we are once again in the middle of a newindustrial and energy technology revolution.

Times like these have always been characterizedby big changes. There is nothing negative aboutclimate change for industry in fact, its actuallya fascinating challenge. From a technology pointof view, it is even a huge positive, as it opensup new markets for new and more energy andnatural resource efcient solutions.Professor Klaus Tpfer, Executive Director of the Potsdam-based Institute forAdvanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)


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IN DIALOGUE

DAAD I Special Issue on Energy4

When did the energy debate start inGermany?

People started to mobilize around theissue of environmental sustainability in the1970s. There were lots of citizens initiativescampaigning against issues such as defor-

estation, or the construction of a nuclearpower plants in their community. It becameclear that left unchecked, market forcesposed a terrible threat to nature. Peoplesfears and protests intensied in the wakeof the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. In lots ofcountries more and more people from allsocial ranks demonstrated against nuclearpower and the storage of nuclear waste. InGermany and in Germany only the pro-tests and the new concepts they spawnedbecame a real political force.

How was it possible for these ideas to gainpolitical currency?

The rst step was the founding of theGreen Party. But the Greens alone wouldnthave been able to push through wide-rang-ing political change. It was only when ideasabout an alternative energy supply and anew denition of environmental protectionwere accepted by the Social DemocraticParty of Germany (SPD) that new politi-cal majorities became possible. During thecoalition between the SPD and the Greens(1998-2005) laws such as the RenewableEnergy Sources Act were passed that hadpractical consequences. That really got

the energy debate moving and that is key,among other things, to making long-termchange possible. If ideas dont gain politi-cal momentum then citizens initiativesand similar groups run out of steam after awhile. A change in politics gives rise to new

practical experiences, which have wide-ranging implications and reach right backinto politics a mutually reinforcing spiralof change.

How does Germany compare to othercountries?

In Germany we can talk about a socialmovement on energy issues that is beyondthe organising phase. That makes Germanyunique. Many different parties trades-people, towns, communal energy suppliers,companies from the renewable energysector and consumers all see a tangiblefuture in energy transition. 90 per centof Germans support a massive develop-ment of renewable energy sources; only 10per cent are in favour of coal-red powerstations. In addition, they are increasinglyaware of the risks inherent to our currentenergy supply and potential environmentaldisasters. Renewable sources of energy arealso regarded with economic optimism: thesector creates a lot of new jobs.

What still needs to be achieved?Societys attitude to energy transition

is essentially positive and deep-seated.

What we need to focus on now is makingsure that the relevant changes are madeat all political levels. We have to be awareof just how high our standard of life isand of the myriad opportunities offered tous through renewable sources of energy.

Energy transition also stands for a globallyequitable energy supply.Interview conducted by Isabell Lisberg-Haag

Hermann Scheer was awarded the Alternative NobelPrize in 1999 in recognition of his commitment to solarenergy. As an activist for a fundamental energy transitionhe is lauded as a Hero for the Green Century. In 2002the American magazine Time bestowed the title on veof the most important people worldwide who are helpingto preserve our planet and make the 21 st century a greencentury. Hermann Scheer passed away shortly beforethe publication of this issue.

> Economist, politician, andauthor Hermann Scheer wasan international activist forrenewable energy. He wasthe founder and president ofthe European Association forRenewable Energy EURO-SOLAR. Scheer was a keyplayer in passing the GermanRenewable Energy SourcesAct in 2000, which serves as aprototype for initiatives in 40countries worldwide. He alsochaired the World Council forRenewable Energy (WCRE) andthe International Parliamen-tary Forum on RenewableEnergies.

BIOGRAPHY

An interview with Hermann Scheer

From Grassroots Move-ment to Political Power


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An interview with DAAD President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. Sabine Kunst

In your rst press conference as Presidentof the DAAD you announced that theDAAD will be making an even greater efforttoward solving global problems. What doesthat mean exactly?

We should make use of specic, existing

opportunities which the DAAD offers inas many ways as we can. That starts withreaching out to talented young people whohave, for example, expressed an interest ina university degree in renewable energies,or who want to pursue further studies.Our regional offices, lectors and alumni areideally suited to do just that. We can offerincentives for programmes focusing on thedeveloping world, as energy research is avery important issue in these countries. Wecan also pay special attention to whetheror not issues such as energy, water, climateand megacities are covered in the DAADprogramme German university coursesoffered abroad the main thing here is thatwe pass on positive examples.

Does that mean that there is a shift inemphasis from supporting inter-disci-plinary excellence to supporting specicsubjects?

No, what we are doing now is construc-tive experimentation. In the long run I im-agine a matrix in which the type of supportwe have given up to now is interwoven witha focused thematic direction. The DAAD isvery well placed to make that possible. If we

dont have a solid foundation of excellentscholars then attempts to reach the highestpeaks, namely thematic networks, wonteven be conceivable. So what we are talkingabout is extending our eld of vision, sothat we consider focal themes in addition to

specialist quality.

Which issues will receive the most funding?I have selected four main areas of

focus: energy, climate, water and megacities.How that breaks down exactly dependson the respective regions. As a water andsewage biologist, I am well aware howimportant clean water is for public health but that is just one of many importantissues which, in a globalized world, affecteveryone. On the issue of energy researchin particular, Germany has excellent know-how, and it should be built upon to meetthe demands that exist in many countriesthroughout the world.

How might more DAAD alumni be mobi-lized around these issues?

Our alumni are highly qualied menand women from all over the world wehave had some 545,000 foreign granteessince 1990. The DAAD network has longbeen sustained through personal contacts.Another idea is to organize future alumnimeetings around specic issues. Why notuse our numerous meetings as catalysts fortechnical networks in which alumni can

bring together their expertise across disci-plines and geographical borders?Interview conducted by Isabell Lisberg-Haag

Professor Sabine Kunst assumed ofceas President of the German AcademicExchange Service (DAAD) on 1 July 2010.She aims to make even more use of thewealth of experience that the DAAD andits grantees have gathered to addressglobal issues such as a sustainableenergy supply. It is her rm belief that ina globalized world, international experi-ence is absolutely crucial.

> Sabine Kunst studied biologyand completed her doctorateat the Leibniz Universitt Han-nover (University of Hanover) in1982, qualifying as a Dr.-Eng.in environmental biotechnologyin the eld of civil engineeringand surveying. At the same timeSabine Kunst was also studyingpolitical science and completedher doctoral thesis in 1990 onthe conict between technologyassessment and interdisci-plinarity. She completed herHabilitation at the University ofHanover the same year, quali-fying as a university lecturer.After two years in ofce as vice-president of the University ofHanover for Teaching, Studies,Further Education and Interna-tional Affairs, she was electedpresident of the University ofPotsdam in January 2007. Shealready has close ties with theDAAD, having been a BoardMember since January 2008.

BIOGRAPHY

Constructive Experimentation


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ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

Munich

Hamburg

Flensburg

Bayreuth

Eberswalde

CottbusKassel

Gelsenkirchen

Oldenburg


Degrees for a Green Future

Germany is an absolute leader in the renewable energyeld, offering rst-hand experience of how the varioustechnologies are being implemented, says Bautista. Inearly 2009 he began his studies in Sustainable EnergySystems and Management in Developing Countriesat the University of Flensburg after winning a DAADscholarship. The Masters programme is interdisciplinary,covering the technical and economic aspects of renew-able energy with particular attention given to the situa-tion in developing countries.

Experts with a solid training are sought after in thesecountries in particular, but also elsewhere. The technol-ogy is often already in place, but in most countries thereis still a huge decit in trained personnel able to installand maintain the facilities, as well as those qualied tohandle the management and nancing of such powerstations and garner the necessary political support.The DAAD is tackling these problems head on. It issupporting three courses of study in renewable energy

with international focus offered at German universitiesthrough individual scholarships, teaching and subjectmaterial as well as supplementary events. In additionto the course offered in Flensburg, the DAAD also fundsthe Postgraduate Programme Renewable Energy atthe University of Oldenburg with a focus on technicalissues. It also contributes to the German-Arab Masterscourse Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency for theMENA Region, which is run jointly by the University ofKassel and Cairo University and is intended to furthercooperation between German and Arab countries in thedevelopment of renewable energy sources.

Energy on offer at numerous universitiesGerman businesses are world leaders in the renewableenergy sector and Germany also enjoys an excellentinternational reputation for the courses it offers onthe subject. Universities throughout the country offerBachelor and Masters programmes devoted entirelyto renewable energy. The spectrum ranges from a

At rst glance, Venezuela could be considered a showcase for climateneutral energy production: around 70 per cent of the countrys electricity isgenerated at large-scale hydro-electric power plants. But look again, andyou will nd that the rapid growth in energy demand is, for the most part,being met by power stations run on crude oil and natural gas, points outSantiago Bautista. Although there are many excellent sites for harnessingwind energy in the South American country, renewable energy is not reallyconsidered an option, bemoans the 31-year-old engineer, who spent severalyears working for a state-run energy company. It isnt possible to explorethese subjects in depth at any university in Venezuela. For Bautista, that

makes the opportunity to delve into issues in sustainable energy productionin Germany all the more valuable.

German universities offer a wide variety of courses in renewable energy


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Germany is one of the leading countriesfor research and innovation on environ-mental and energy-related topics.Cinthya Guerrero (28), industrial engineer from Mexico. Sheis currently conducting doctoral research as part of the PhDprogramme Environmental and Resource Management at the

Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus. Her research isgeared toward the development of biofuels in Latin America.


programme on Energy Systems Technology runby Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences incooperation with the company Siemens Power Genera-tion, to Renewable Raw Materials and Renewable Energyat the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbusand automotive engineering with a special focus onelectromobility at the Technische Universitt Mnchen(TUM). The University of Applied Sciences in Eberswaldelocated just outside Berlin has made a strong commit-

ment to sustainability by renaming itself the Universityfor Sustainable Development. Its research and teachingmotto is helping people by working with nature.

Students also benet from the strong links betweenGerman science and industry, which make it possible fornew discoveries to be put into practice quickly. For exam-ple, students can make on-site visits to wind farms andsolar parks, or organize internships and study projectswith a strong industry focus. These strong ties have alsoimpressed the technology company Masdar based inAbu Dhabi, which chose to set up a plant for producingthin-layer solar cells in the state of Thuringia. The excel-lent links to universities and research institutes were a

major factor in their decision to locate in Germany.

An alternative route to earning a doctorateThese well-established networks are also a plus forPhD students. In Germany, close collaboration betweenindustry, academia and research extends beyond theenergy sector. This synergy creates lots of excitingissues for early stage researchers to work on.

There are two ways to get a PhD. The traditional route isfor a PhD student to be mentored by a thesis adviser. Itis completely up to the individual to decide on a thesistopic, select a supervisor and devise a work plan. Alter-natively, doctoral degrees can also be obtained through

structured PhD programmes offered at graduate institu-tions. World-famous research organisations such as theMax Planck Society and the Helmholtz Association em-phasize a mixture of subjects and welcome PhD studentsfrom both home and abroad. The advantage is that thereis constant exchange between advisors and other PhDstudents as well as additional seminars and lively inter-disciplinary debate. Young people today need to be edu-cated in a way that allows them to move easily between

traditional disciplines, maintains Professor JrgenKhler. He is the spokesperson for the graduate collegePhotophysics of Synthetic and Biological Multichromo-phoric Systems at the University of Bayreuth, whichis funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).The college offers young researchers diversity across theboard: excellent teaching by scientists from a variety ofdisciplines and countries, the organisation of interna-tional conferences as a well as an issue that is of vitalimportance for the energy supply of the future. The 58International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS) areparticularly geared towards international PhD students.At the IMPRS on Earth System Modelling in Hamburg,PhD students from 33 countries are researching various

aspects of Earth systems. They also work at recognizedGlobal Change Research Institutes in Germany.

Linkswww.iim.uni-ensburg.dewww.ppre.uni-oldenburg.dewww.uni-kassel.de/remenawww.fh-gelsenkirchen.dewww.tu-cottbus.de/fakultaet4www.fahrzeugtechnik-muenchen.dewww.earthsystemschool.dewww.ep4.phy.uni-bayreuth.dewww.hnee.de

Transdisciplinary research forthe future: Environmental sci-ences receive priority treatmentat Brandenburg University ofTechnology Cottbus.

Spotlight on renew-able energies: Post-graduate trainingat the University ofOldenburg.


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Over the last decade or so the sector has seen job oppor-tunities increase at an annual rate of around ten percent,says Theo Bhler from the Bonn Science Shop. 30 to50 per cent of the newly created positions are lled bytechnicians and engineers. A trend which is reected inthe programmes offered at German universities. Accord-ing to a study by the Bonn Science Shop, the numberof programmes in renewable energy has risen from 144to 251 over the last two years. That makes Germany aninternational front-runner. I dont know of any othercountry that offers so many different opportunities toget a foothold in the green sector, says Bhler.

Of the programmes on offer, one quarter are dedi-cated entirely to renewable energy, while 187 give studentsthe option of selecting certain areas for in-depth study.

Being able to choose which areas to specialize in is greatfor students who want their degree to cover a wide rangeof topics, explains Bhler. Those with a more cautiousbent will go for a traditional engineering course and ex-plore the eld through work experience or an additionalMasters programme. All forms of alternative energy arenow covered at the Masters level. Employers also offertheir new recruits on-the-job training. Still, students whoare set on working in this eld should make it a clearfocus of their studies from the get-go, advises Bhler.

Students who graduate from these programmeshave to be aware that their green job is not necessarilywaiting for them on the doorstep. The renewableenergy sector operates globally, points out Bhler.Because of the variety of programmes on offer in

The green sector is booming. During the rst quarter of 2009 alone, companieswhich produce photovoltaic, wind and bioenergy technologies in Germany ad-

vertised around 1,600 jobs. The future lies in sun, wind and bioenergy. There isa growing need for training, research and development in the alternative energysector. Production engineers are in demand for biofuels, mechatronics for windenergy installations and development engineers for solar technology, and the listgoes on. More and more new types of jobs are being created.

A FUTURE FOR ENERGY

Flensburg

Bonn


Climbing the Green Career LadderDiverse career opportunities in the renewable energy sector


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Germany, specialists who qualify here are in demand allover the world.

Safe jobs in hard timesMany German companies have long since discoveredthe international market for themselves. The Bremen-based wpd group, which specialises in on- and offshorewind farms, is just one example. It has more than 500

employees and has set up shop in 15 countries, includ-ing Argentina, Vietnam, Sweden, Spain and France. 26year-old Ben Bisenius covers the French market. TheLuxemburg native works as a business project managerfor wpd, specialising in the nancing and efficiency ofwind farms. His degree in energy and environmentalmanagement from the University of Flensburg has stoodhim in good stead. As I see it, wind power is the mostlikely contender to provide Europe with affordable cleanenergy in the near future, as it is the most technologi-cally mature, says Bisenius. The decisive factor in hischoice of career, apart from his commitment to theenvironment, was the fact that the sector is immune tocrises. Thats what makes the green sector so appealing

to many people. Most jobs are permanent, which israrely the case in other industries, says Theo Bhler.

Career changers in demandThe young sector needs many skilled workers. Rightnow there are more engineers retiring than there aregraduating, Bhler explains. As a result, career changersfrom a traditional engineering or mechanical engineer-ing background are also nding themselves in thefast lane to a green career. There has also been a bigexpansion in opportunities for further training withinthe alternative energy sector in Germany. Women inparticular, who are underrepresented in traditionalengineering, are increasingly interested in the jobs on

offer. It certainly helps that young people stronglyidentify with this work and can help shape the sector,says Bhler.

While more and more graduates are ooding themarket, there is often a lack of qualied candidateswith work experience. As Agnieszka Marszalek, arecruiter for the Bonn-based company Solarworld, canconrm. The photovoltaic company has around 2,200employees world-wide and is looking for new hires.

As a result of the economic downturn people are lesswilling to change employers, Marszalek observes. Andalthough programmes in renewable energy are nowwell established, they can differ widely in structure,

content and quality, which in turn impacts both trans-parency and assessment.

Although German companies are international mar-ket leaders in wind energy and solar power, they haveso far only played a minor role in geothermal energy.There are only around 500 companies, accounting forsome 4,200 employees, producing geothermal power. Incomparison, the solar energy sector tallies around 10,000companies and 40,000 employees. Wind power is con-sidered to have the most potential as the energy sourceof the future. Theo Bhler also sees a bright future forbioenergy, thanks to its great diversity. One thing is cer-tain: the green sector will continue to offer interesting jobs for pioneers. Sabine Wygas

Linkswww.research-in-germany.dewww.euraxess.dewww.jobmotor-erneuerbare.dewww.renewables-made-in-germany.comwww.greenjobs.dehttp://ec.europa.eu

Wanted: Qualied professionals. The Bonn-based companySolarworld offers jobs in the solar energy industry.

I am particularly interested in wind power and solarenergy. I like the fact that there are so many jobopportunities, not just in Germany but elsewhere,too in China, for example, or in Arab countries where solar panels and air conditioning technologyare particularly important.Christian Denzel (25) studies environmental technology and resource manage-ment at the Ruhr University Bochum, specialising in sustainable process- andenvironmental technology with a special focus on energy technology.



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Germany was quick to understand that harnessing thesuns energy would be one of the global challenges ofthe 21 st century and responded accordingly. The Renew-able Energy Sources Act was passed in 2000 and showedreal political initiative. It gave the entire German solarenergy sector a massive boost and has been the sourceof much international admiration, says ProfessorEicke R. Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute

for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) located in Freiburg. Thelast few years have been busy for the largest Europeanresearch institute for solar energy. It has generated themost highly cited scientic papers on photovoltaicsand spawned discoveries which have been crucial forthe development of the solar industry. Scientists at theinstitute have even set a world record by developing amultiple photovoltaic cell with an efficiency factor of41.1 per cent substantially higher than what had previ-ously been possible.

A classic: the silicon solar cellThe list of top German research institutes also includesthe Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen ResearchBaden-Wrttemberg (ZSW), based in Stuttgart, theFraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics (CSP) in thecity of Halle an der Saale, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlinfr Materialien und Energie (HZB) and the Institut frSolarenergieforschung Hameln (ISFH). Eicke R. Weberis convinced that future energy needs will only be metwith help from renewable sources of energy. In thelong-run, the physicist regards photovoltaic energy ashaving the most potential to generate a substantialamount of sustainable electricity with negligible operat-ing costs. Solar cells have a key role to play in makingthis possible.

Solar cells based on silicon are currently the mostwidely-used, accounting for around 90 per cent of the

global market. Silicon is made from sand and is there-fore in almost unlimited supply. At the same time, it isexpensive to produce. With an efficiency factor of 19 percent, so-called crystalline silicon solar cells are the mosteffective at converting sunlight into energy. A cheaper toproduce but less efficient option is thin-layer solar cells.

Exciting potential: organic solar cellsOne of the most exciting alternatives is organic solarcells. These are based not on silicon but on organicsemi-conductors, types of molecules similar to thosefound in plastic bags or colorants. Organic solar cellsare 500 times thinner than a human hair which allowsfor extreme exibility in usage and makes it easy toattach them to almost all types of material. The rst setof products, including a bag with an integrated organicsolar module, is already on the market. For those timeswhen there isnt an electrical outlet handy, the solar bag

It sends the Earth more energy in 30 minutes than humankind uses up in oneyear: the sun. This huge ball of hot gases has been heating up our planet formore than 4.6 billion years, enabling life to ourish through its continual supplyof 120,000 billion kilowatts. Internationally, solar researchers are also workingat full capacity be it in photovoltaics, generating electricity from solar energy,or in solar thermal energy, harnessing the suns rays for easily accessible

heating.

Natural Power Plants:

Energy You Can Count On

German researchers successfully focus on the suns energy

Portable energy: Out-tted with an organicsolar cell module,this shoulder bag canrecharge a mobilephone.



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An export hit: solar thermal power plantsGermanys expertise is also in demand in issues relatedto solar thermal power plants. The principle consists ofusing sunlight, which is concentrated with the help ofparabolic reectors, to heat water. The resulting steamdrives turbines which produce electricity. The gener-ated heat can be stored in huge salt tanks, so that the

turbines can also produce electricity at night.Solar thermal power plants are a German export

hit. There isnt a domestic market for them, as they canonly be used in places which receive a lot of sunshine.Spain is a good candidate, for example, home to the 150megawatt project Andasol, located near Granada. Theproject was developed by the Erlangen-based companySolar Millenium. The rst of three power plants isalready operational. Mirrors covering an area as big as70 football pitches are busy harnessing the SouthernSpanish sun.

The Desertec project, which is still on the drawingtable, would take things one step further. Plans are afootfor a series of huge solar power plants to be set up in

the North African desert. They would provide an almostunlimited supply of energy carbon neutral and afford-able energy at that. Solar electricity from the Africandesert could help make Europe less dependent on fossilfuels. Credit for thinking up the largest green electricityproject in the world goes to Gerhard Knies. The Germanphysicist pursued his idea for years, bringing more andmore countries and industry partners on board. There arestill a lot of hurdles to be overcome before Europe runs ondesert electricity, but scientists such as Eicke R. Weber and

makes it possible to recharge a mobile phone or razor.For now, these variations of photovoltaics are mostlybeing used for small electronic devices, explains Dr.Elizabeth von Hauff, who researches organic solar cellsat the University of Oldenburg. The idea is for this typeof solar cell to be used at stationary photovoltaic plantsand to supplement silicon photovoltaics.

With an efficiency factor of 8 per cent, organicsolar cells arent yet able to keep up with silicon cells.There is also room for improvement in regard to endur-ance and stability. However, the question is whetherwe have to meet the same levels as silicon at all, saysvon Hauff. She describes photovoltaics as being like atriangle composed of endurance, price and efficiency.Because it so cheap to produce organic solar cells,endurance and efficiency issues can be accorded someexibility.

Elizabeth von Hauff and Eicke R. Weber concur: ifchemists discover the right molecules, then the range ofapplications for organic solar cells can hardly be over-looked. From sails on ships, to large windows or curtains

and solar panels on the roof everything is possible. Atany rate, the potential they have is truly exciting, saysWeber.

German research is also leading the charge in organicphotovoltaics. The programme Elementary Processesof Organic Photovoltaics run by the German ResearchFoundation (DFG), is helping to speed up the process ofturning ideas into reality while strengthening Germanyspole position. An interdisciplinary network of 40 insti-tutes has been working closely together since 2007.

Germany is an international front-runner in its use of solar electricitythanks to its law on renewableenergy. In the space of a few yearsit has built up a research structurewhich is second-to-none.Professor Eicke R. Weber, Director of the FraunhoferInstitute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg



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institutions such as the German Aerospace Center (DLR)think the project is realistic.

Masdar City is a similarly ambitious project. Locatedsome 30 kilometres from Abu Dhabi, the capital city ofthe United Arab Emirates, is a six square kilometre build-ing site which is set to become a green city, and home toaround 50,000 inhabitants. The goal is for Masdar City tobe carbon neutral. Cars with combustion engines will bebanned, waste will be recycled, houses will be built withenergy-saving in mind, and electricity will be generatedfrom solar and wind power plants. The sunny futureis sending its rays all the way to Ichtershausen in theGerman state of Thuringia: the Erfurt-based company

Masdar PV is producing thin-layer solar cells for MasdarCity. Katja Lers

Linkswww.zsw-bw.dewww.csp.fraunhofer.dewww.helmholtz-berlin.dewww.isfh.dewww.iapp.de

> Professor Eicke R. Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute forSolar Energy Systems (ISE) located in Freiburg

In what ways is harnessing the suns energy one of the mostimportant global challenges of the 21st century?

There is no alternative to renewable sources of energy.Solar energy will supply the lions share, around 50 per cent.

Renewable sources of energy accounted for less than 20 per centof global energy consumption in 2008. How will things be differentin 2050?

Hopefully by 100 per cent. Europe could meet that goal by2030, but for that to happen there would have to be strong politicalconsensus.

Right now thin-layer technology is all the rage in photovoltaics.The modules are cheap to produce. Does that mean producers ofcrystalline silicon modules are on the way out?

No. I am sure that they will survive and will even gain theupper-hand in the long-term. After all, they have a 15 to 17 percent efciency rate, which is signicantly higher than the ef-ciency rate of thin-layer technology, which stands at around 10or 11 per cent.

> Fraunhofer ISE: The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems(ISE) conducts research on the technology needed to supply energyefciently and on an environmentally sound basis throughout theworld. To this end, the institute develops materials, components,systems and processes in target areas. The Fraunhofer Institutesees itself as an intermediary between academia and industry.The ISE cooperates with numerous German universities, both inthe lecture hall and beyond. Undergraduates and PhD studentsare given the opportunity to participate in research projects in theeld.

> www.ise.fraunhofer.deBeneath the Spanish sun: Solar thermal powerplant with heliostat eld and parabolic troughconcentrator at the Plataforma Solar de Almera.

Modern architecture and high energy efciency: The planned green urban development Masdar City near Abu Dhabi.

Halle

Berlin

Stuttgart

Emmerthal

Dresden

IN THE KNOW

TO THE POINT



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Wind energy is a successstory. Wind farms, bothon land and offshore, aresprouting up in ever-in-creasing numbers. In terms

of its potential, however,wind energy remains virtu-ally untapped. Researchers,engineers and builders facesizeable challenges.

14 DAAD I Special Issue on Energy


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alpha ventus is just a rst step. Increasingly largewind parks are going up in the North Sea, off the coastof Denmark for example, or in the Thames Estuary.German energy companies are frequently membersof the consortia, and German technologies are also onboard. This is hardly surprising given that the Germanwind energy sector comprises some 2500 companies and100,000 employees, supplies almost 30 per cent of theworld market, and easily generates 8 billion a year.

Germany ranks third in the development of windenergy, behind China and the USA. The future potentialis still huge, says Hermann Albers, President of theGerman Wind Energy Association (BWE). The market isset to grow from a current annual turnover of around 30 billion to 200 billion in 2030. Thanks to wind energy,Germany is well-placed to meet the European Unionsgoal of generating at least 20 per cent of electricitythrough renewable energy sources by 2020.

The wind energy success story is also a challengeto its future development. Wind turbines are constantlygrowing in size, but their external appearance remainspretty much the same. For the uninitiated, it looks asthough everything has already been developed. We haveto help the public and politicians understand that thereis still massive potential for research and development,stresses Martin Khn, Professor of Wind Energy Systemsat the University of Oldenburg. In a bid to give their disci-pline more clout, the universities of Oldenburg, Hanoverand Bremen are coordinating their research in a centrefor wind energy research called ForWind. Additionalinstitutes have also been set up elsewhere, especially inwind-rich Northern Germany, around the FraunhoferInstitute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology(IWES) in Bremerhaven and Kassel, for example.

Conrmation of the disciplines infancy is alsoprovided by the European Technology Platform for WindEnergy (TPWind), which has dened an EU research

strategy and coordinates a network with representativesfrom science, energy companies and politics. Five issueshave been singled out:

Wind as a resource: Wind-generated electricity shouldbe made easier to plan through better research intothe interactions between weather, location and rotorblades. Computer simulations and radar technologyhave a part to play in this. Radar technology in particu-

lar will soon make it possible to calculate wind speeda few seconds in advance and to then adjust the rotorblades in such a way as to produce energy as smoothlyas possible.

Wind turbines: It isnt possible for engineers to pushthe technologys limits as many of the processes whichhappen at the level of the rotor blades or the powertrain have yet to be comprehensively researched.However, if output is to continue to rise, up to tenmegawatts or more per wind turbine at offshore-parks, then new technologies such as carbon bres orsuperconductors will come into play, opening up newfrontiers for the sector.

One press of the green button and twelve huge wind turbines in the North Sea areset in motion: April 2010 saw the launch of alpha ventus, the rst oceanic windpark in German waters, to the applause of the German Federal Environment Min-ister and CEOs of the large energy companies EWE, Vattenfall and E.ON. The site,which is located 45 kilometres off the island of Borkum, supplies electricity for50,000 homes on shore.

Invisible from shore: alpha ventus is Germanys rst offshorewind farm.

Concentrated Energy

from the Ocean

Dynamic development of wind energy in Germany



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Economics and politics: The energy sector plays animportant role in job creation, but there are alsoissues to be claried relating to safety and develop-ment policy.

The last two points in particular could lead to a bot-

tleneck in the further development of wind energy.According to the law on renewable energy which waspassed in 2001 and has since been amended twice,electricity generated through renewable energy sourcesis given priority status. This includes giving companieswhich run wind farms guaranteed access to the gridand, in the long-term, a higher feed-in tariff. That beingsaid, at some sites in the Baltic Sea, wind turbines haveto be slowed down from time to time because the gridisnt able to manage the high energy feed-in. In addition,consumers are more likely to be found in Southern Ger-many or the Ruhr. For wind energy to reach consumersnew supply lines are necessary. ENTSO-E, a consortiumof grid operators from 34 European countries calculates

that 28 billion needs to be invested over the next veyears. The grid is set to increase in size by 35,000 kilome-tres by 2020.

While all eyes are on the big wind farms and themassive investments in grid expansion, a market forsmall wind turbines has been developing almost on thesly. The term refers to wind turbines with a maximumcapacity of 70 kilowatts and a maximum height of 20metres. Kilowatt for kilowatt they are more expensivethan large turbines. However, in isolated areas whichare not connected to the grid they guarantee a basicenergy supply. Bernd Mller

Linkswww.wind-energie.dewww.forwind.dewww.iwes.fraunhofer.dewww.windplatform.eu

> The town of Dardesheim in the fed-eral state of Saxony-Anhalt meetsall of its electricity needs by itself.

Dardesheim mayor, Rolf-DieterKnne, talks about the aims of the1000-strong community.

Why does Dardesheim describe itself as a renewable energy town?We have lots of big roofs covered with solar panels, cars which

run on biofuels and electricity, and we have had a green petrol sta-tion since 2008. And then theres the wind farm, which was set up in1994 and has been extended to a current level of 66.6 megawatts. Itenables Dardesheim to produce 40 times more energy than it uses.We are now at the point where energy tourists from all over the worldcome to visit us and nd out more about what we are doing here.

How did it all get started?In 1994 we were approached by a private company which man-

ages wind turbines. The operating company made us an attractiveoffer of one percent of the feed-in tariff. We are actually using thismoney to invest in additional sources of renewable energy. We dontwant to nd ourselves in a situation where other countries can cutoff our oil or gas supply, or where our children are saddled withatomic waste. We have set a precedent: our whole county aims to beenergy independent by 2015.

Is the whole town on board?Yes. Our residents have attended every meeting, and their sup-

port has been unwavering. We have always kept everyone informedabout what is happening at the wind farm at the Druiberg site.

More electricity fromwind means morelines: Wind farm oper-ators have guaranteedaccess to the grid.

Offshore: The potential for developing wind energyon shore is huge, but politically contentious, as manypeople reject proposals for new wind turbines. Thatis why the future of wind energy is in the ocean. Thisraises a whole new set of questions with regards toreliability, maintenance and integration into the grid.

Feed-in: Wind is extremely variable, as is the demandfor electricity. Balancing them out is the biggestchallenge of grid integration. The aim is to make windfarms as reliable and quick to regulate as gas turbines.

Berlin

Brussels

Oldenburg

Bremerhaven

IN THE KNOW



17/36

> Wind energy research has along tradition at the Universityof Oldenburg predominantlyas a branch of physics. Theendowed chair in wind energy

systems nanced by the federalstate of Lower Saxony andthe energy company EWE isintended to strengthen theengineering science componentof wind energy research and topromote cooperation with otherfaculties, such as computersciences. An additional push isprovided by the PostgraduateProgramme Renewable Energy,which gives internationalstudents the opportunity toearn a Master of Science afterthree semesters. The degreeprogramme cooperates with nu-merous foreign universities andmakes a big effort to maintainstrong ties to alumni who havegone on to work in research,industry, politics and consulting.Students in the programmeEuropean Master in RenewableEnergy often spend time study-ing at two or three of the sevenEuropean partner universities.

> www.uni-oldenburg.de

Germany is considered a world leader in thedevelopment of wind energy. Can the samebe said for its research and teaching?

We are doing very well in those areas too,although it should be said that we are stillat an early stage in development. Its not likesolar energy, where an established researchlandscape has already been in place for manyyears. Wind energy is extremely multi-disci-plinary. Developing and building a wind tur-bine requires input from the natural sciences,mechanical and electrical engineering, as wellas know-how provided by civil engineers andlawyers. The advantage is that there are lotsof ways to approach wind energy from a re-search or teaching point of view. At the sametime, the subject suffers from primarily beingdened in terms of different approaches.

What steps need to be taken in order forwind energy to become established as anindependent subject?

A lot of progress has already been made.Before I came to Oldenburg I was at theUniversity of Stuttgart, where the rst chairin wind energy in Germany was introduced,albeit as an endowed chair nanced byindustry. Now the number of regular chairs

in wind energy is constantly increasing.They serve as a nucleus for further teachingactivities which, in turn, cover the length andbreadth of the subject. Universities are alsooffering students more options. Renewableenergy has been acknowledged as an issuewith a very wide impact, which should becovered in other university courses, too. Whatwe still need are adequate opportunities forspecialisation in Masters programmes. Theopportunities for PhDs are already very good.

How much demand is there for the newuniversity courses?

A huge amount. In 2009 Stuttgart re-ceived over 700 applications for the Bachelorsprogramme in renewable energy. We endedup only offering places to people who hadthe best exit exam grades possible, with veryfew exceptions. Wind energy in particular isextremely popular. That helps us to attractstudents from disadvantaged backgrounds.We also have a higher proportion of womenthan other comparable engineering pro-grammes. It is important to point out thatstudents still receive a broad education andare also equally qualied to work in otherelds. Interview conducted by Bernd Mller

Wind Energy is ExtremelyMulti-Disciplinary

The courses on energy offered at German universities arein high demand from international students. Over the last23 years the Postgraduate Programme Renewable Energyin Oldenburg has attracted students from more than 80countries. There is also a great deal of international interestin the European Master in Renewable Energy, which is of-fered jointly together with seven additional European univer-sities. Part of the attraction is the opportunity for studentsto spend time studying in at least two, often even three dif-ferent countries over the course of their degree.Martin Khn, Professor of Wind Energy Systems at the University of Oldenburg

Martin Khn, Professor of Wind Energy Systems at the University ofOldenburg talks about what makes his subject so attractive

TO THE POINT



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Raging rivers, waterfalls,the tides. Water is motion,life, energy. A look into

German research reveals just how diverse and prof-itable many of the newtechnologies are, bothland-based and offshore.



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It is a fuel that makes your ngers f reeze: Gas hydrates

are composed of methane molecules which adopt a solid,ice-like state when combined with water. The fossil fuelis stored up to 400 meters beneath the surface of theoceans. World-wide stocks are huge: according to currentestimates around 3,000 gigatons of carbon is tied up ingas hydrates. Thats about thirty times more than theamount of conventional natural gas deposits.

Environmentally-friendly extractionof gas hydratesGas hydrates have yet to be commercially exploited. Butwhen they are, it could be largely thanks to Germantechnology. German researchers and companies havebeen working together on an environmentally friendlyprocess for extracting the gas since 2008. The project iscalled SUGAR (Submarine Gas Hydrate Reservoirs) andaims to replace methane that is embedded in ice withsequestered CO 2 from power plants. By simultane-ously taking advantage of the opportunity for carbonstorage, natural gas companies can make a contributionto climate protection and generate additional revenue,says acting project leader Dr. Matthias Haeckel fromthe Kiel-based Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences(IFM-GEOMAR).

Germany does not have access to any reservesof its own as the North and Baltic Seas are relativelyshallow. Gas hydrates are only formed in areas wheretemperatures are low enough and the pressure is suf-

ciently high. What Germany does have, however, is

excellent skills in many of the areas that are importantfor exploiting gas hydrates such as exploration tech-nology, chemical processing technology and drillingtechnology, says the geochemist. The SUGAR projectaims to develop existing technologies and gear themtowards gas hydrate extraction.

Exploiting the vast reserves of gas hydrates is farfrom being a cost-effective and risk-free endeavour. Thetop of the hydrate layer is home to sensitive marine eco-systems. In many cases the ice sheets stabilize continentalslopes; removing them could cause formidable landslides.But even if we could only extract ten per cent of whatis out there, it would still be an inconceivable amount,says Haeckel. In terms of energy content, it would be theequivalent of all the commercially viable oil and naturalgas reserves in the world. Dietrich von Richthofen

Linkwww.ifm-geomar.de

German researchers are developing an exciting new technique for extracting gas

hydrates: replacing methane molecules embedded in ice with the greenhousegas CO2.

A Positive Exchange

Kiel

Burning ice: Power-ful methane gas islocked in the worldsocean oors.

Researchers fromIFM-GEOMAR exploregas stores at thebottom of the oceanwith the submersibleJAGO.

Environmentally-friendly extraction of gas hydrates



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The Earth is rich inenergy sources, bothabove and below itssurface. Renewableresources and geo-thermal energy make

for climate-friendlypower. Germany isthe home to creativeprojects and promisingprototypes.

22 DAAD I Special Issue on Energy


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For the time being, spark ignition and diesel engineswill continue to be the major drive forms, says DietmarKemnitz of the FNR (Agency for Renewable Resources),putting a damper on inated expectations. The FNR an initiative of the German federal government coor-dinates related research projects. According to Kemnitz,developing alternative fuels is a matter of urgency and Germany is still leading the charge internationally.

We have been market-leaders in biofuel productionand usage for many years now.

German research institutions are driving thetechnology forward. They are cultivating new speciesof grain, for example, and making improvements to the

production of existing biofuels such as biodiesel andbioethanol. However, the future might lie in syntheticfuels. These so-called Biomass to Liquid (BtL) fuelsare made from straw or scrap wood through a thermochemical route. Their advantage: they can be usedin new engines and generate few pollutants. Energy-producing plants are also a promising eld, opening upa wide range of raw materials for BtL fuels. In contrast

to existing biofuels the process makes use of the wholeplant, not just the seeds. Kemnitz claims that 25 percent of the countrys fuel needs could be met by BtLfuels, if and when they are industrially produced.

There are more than 50 million cars registered in Germany, and most of themrun on petroleum-based fuel. But stocks of this fossil fuel which does so muchdamage to our environment wont last forever. The Member States of theEuropean Union have set a target for ten per cent of liquid transport fuels to comefrom renewable sources of energy by 2020. The automobile industry is power-ing ahead with the development of electric cars, but existing technologies wont

disappear from the market overnight.

Designer Diesel and

Deep Heat

Germany leads the eld in biofuels

Cultivation of renewable resources in Germany2,151 ,000 ha

Area in hectares, 1990-2010

2,000 ,000

1,000 ,000

Source: FNR



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Direct applicationThe cluster of excellence Tailor-Made Fuels from Bio-

mass at the RWTH Aachen University is putting thesefuels under the spotlight. We are combing variousdisciplines such as biology, chemistry, process engi-neering, combustion research and motor technologyto nd the best solutions in all areas, says coordina-tor Professor Stefan Pischinger. Additional partnersinclude the Aachen-based Fraunhofer Institute forMolecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) as well asthe Max Planck Institute for Coal Research located inMhlheim an der Ruhr. An advisory board composedof internationally renowned researchers, including sci-entists from Princeton University, Yale University andMIT, as well as industry representatives from Bayer,Shell, Daimler and Volkswagen, makes regular progressreviews. The aim is for research results to ow directlyinto industrial applications.

Biomass isnt just a source of fuel. Dr. Jan Mumme,a researcher at the Leibniz Institute for AgriculturalEngineering Potsdam-Bornim (ATB), works on a processthat is set to produce both biogas and biochar. Mummetook one of the four top spots in the ideas competitionBioenergy 2021 Breaking New Ground held by theGerman government. His premise: Producing biogasthrough conventional processes creates organic wastematerial that doesnt decompose easily. Mumme devel-oped a type of biogas-biochar-hybrid process with theaim of rening this organic waste material through athermal route, similar to charcoal production.

What makes his idea so unique is the fact that he plansto use only waste products such as straw, grass cuttings

and animal waste. While energy can be produced frombiogas, the byproduct biochar, with its high storagecapacity for water and nutrients, can serve as a naturalhumus. At the same time, biochar provides long-termstorage in the earth for the carbon dioxide it contains.

Electricity at 150 degrees CelsiusAnother source of energy lies dormant deep underthe Earths surface: hot rocks. Germany has access toenormous sources of geothermal power, which arehardly exploited. At the GFZ German Research Centrefor Geosciences in Potsdam, scientists are developinggeothermal processes that make better use of thisenergy source. The current technology is still too pricey.The GFZ is using a research borehole at its geothermallaboratory in Gro Schnebeck to access water attemperatures of around 150 degrees Celsius theminimum temperature at which the Earths heat can be

At the biomass power plant electricity is generated by burning biomass fuels. Wood pellets are an ideal source of such fuel.

Home-madeelectricity and heat?

A home power plantwill make it possible.



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converted into electricity. Water channels through hotrock, absorbs heat, and is then conveyed to the bore-hole. Researchers capture the water via an initial drillhole. Once the waters thermal energy has been tappedat the power plant, it is sent back to the undergroundreservoir via a second drill hole a cycle that provides along-term energy supply.

A very different approach to energy generation is

offered by the green energy company LichtBlick in theshape of the home power plant. Working in coopera-tion with Volkswagen (VW), LichtBlick has plans toinstall small co-generation power units in homes andbusinesses. The units provide heat as well as electricity,which is fed into the public grid. They run off naturalgas-powered car motors, which are produced at lowcost by VW. Prototypes are already being built at VWsresearch unit located in Salzgitter. The company showershave already been tted with a prototype for producingwarm water. Boris Hnler

Linkswww.nachwachsende-rohstoffe.dewww.fuelcenter.rwth-aachen.dewww.ime.fraunhofer.dewww.mpi-muelheim.mpg.dewww.atb-potsdam.dewww.gfz-potsdam.de

> The energy company LichtBlick is amarket leader in green electricity.Company spokesman Ralph Kamp-wirth talks about the benets ofdoing business in Germany, and hisideas for the future.

What role will natural gas play in the future?In the medium-term, natural gas will increasingly be used for

heating and electricity. Technology is improving all the time, whichwill bring down demand for energy and gas in the long-run. Inthe electricity sector so-called COGAS combined gas and steamturbines are an attractive option because they use renewablesources of energy to balance out uctuations in energy input. Thesame is true of smaller power-heat-coupling-plants which produceelectricity and heat at the same time. Unlike coal and nuclearpower, natural gas is a real bridge fuel for the transition to a renew-able era. What is more, natural gas can gradually be replaced withbiogas. That is the idea behind the gas-powered LichtBlick homepower plants. Because they are so efcient they already supplygreen electricity through natural gas operations. Biogas would en-

able the home power plants of the future to operate on a renewableand therefore climate-neutral basis.

What are the benets of operating in Germany for a company likeLichtBlick?

Germany formally opened up its electricity and gas markets in1998, creating the conditions for an independent energy provider likeLichtBlick to be successful. Our business units are closely alignedwith the German energy market. At the same time, ever since thecompany was founded we have made a big effort to translate thestatutory requirement for competition into practice. Up until now,the market has been dominated by a few large companies, makingit difcult for alternative providers to get established. There is stilla long way to go before there is pure competition.

What are your expectations for co-generation power units?LichtBlick has developed an intelligent co-generation power

unit concept. We call it swarm power. LichtBlick links up 100,000home power plants to a computer-controlled decentralised large-scale power plant. The power plant supplies electricity at timeswhen renewable sources of energy, which uctuate depending onthe weather, are unable to meet demand. In addition, the generatedheat is stored locally and is available to homes and businesses asheating energy. In keeping with our concept, co-generation powerunits make an important contribution to achieving an ecologicalenergy transition as wind and solar energy are ideally suited tobalance out uctuations in energy input.

Potsdam

Glzow

Mlheim

Aachen

IN THE KNOW



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Claudia Kemfert has a soft spot for number crunching and shes also one to get her point across clearly. As Chairof the Department for Energy, Transportation and Envi-ronment at the German Institute for Economic Research

(DIW) and Professor of Energy Economics and Sustain-ability at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, sheaddresses political decision makers in a bid to alert themto the opportunities offered by climate change. Extremeclimate events create costs. By 2050 the bill could run to 800 billion in Germany alone.

A lot of companies are investing heavily in renew-able energy sources and sustainable transportation rightnow. We knew that our o il supplies were dwindlingthirty years ago, and yet the global economy is stillalmost completely reliant on oil. It takes a catastrophelike that in the Gulf of Mexico to start a public discus-sion about a sustainable energy supply, and even then itis not taken seriously enough. The roots of the problem

are not addressed at all. An amazing amount of energyis wasted by industrial nations. The price of oil-basedtransportation is kept articially low, and there are nomarket alternatives to crude oil. Thats the real catastro-

phe, criticizes Kemfert.Renewable sources of energy played a crucial part

in starting the process of forgoing fossil fuels. Germanywas quick to provide funding for these alternatives,But an affordable energy supply and sustainable trans-portation are only possible with industry support, saysthe energy economist. Consumers can also inuencethe market through their buying decisions, by choos-ing to buy cars which run on biofuels, for example. Itsimportant to support global climate protection. To turnthe argument on its head and come to the conclusionthat it is irrational for local authorities or countries toinitiate the energy turnaround is counterproductiveand absurd.

The German government sent the right signals, saysKemfert. You cant change an energy system overnight.Putting an infrastructure in place, introducing new vehi-cles or building new power plants takes decades. Thatswhy it makes sense to start small and celebrate the smallvictories. Sabine Wygas

Energy economist Claudia Kemfert: Climate protection as an opportunity for change

Sending the Right Signals

ENERGY AND SOCIETY

> The German Institute for Economic ResearchThe German Institute for Economic Research (Deutsches Institutfr Wirtschaftsforschung DIW Berlin) is the largest economicresearch institute in Germany. Its core mandates include appliedeconomic research and economic policy consulting, inter alia onenvironmental issues. DIW Berlin cooperates with over 20 Germanand over 50 international universities and institutes. The afliatedGraduate Centre gives PhD students from all over the world theopportunity to do research and complete their degrees at variousuniversities in Berlin. At the same time, the Centre brings the earlystage researchers into direct contact with political decision makersand with the social and economic problems that they have to dealwith.

> www.diw.de

> Hertie School of GovernanceThe Hertie School of Governance is a foundation-run school in Ber-lin that prepares highly qualied students for leadership positionsin the public sphere. Lectures, panels, symposia, and other eventsare open to interested members of the public. The Hertie School ofGovernance is a project of the non-prot Hertie Foundation.

> www.hertie-school.org

TO THE POINT

The average German produces around ten tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

Individuals could actually offset their CO 2 emissions by paying 70 cents a day.Professor Dr. Claudia Kemfert, energy economist at the Hertie School of Gover-nance and departmental chair at the German Institute for Economic Research(DIW), advises politicians at both the state and EU levels. She sees the promo-tion of renewable energies bringing strong, positive economic impacts.



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28/36

The ELFA-system was developed by Siemens and is setto be incorporated into MAN and Evobus models as wellas into buses from other international manufacturers,among them Tata in India. The hybrid concept whichis currently doing the rounds in the car industry hascrossed over to the utility vehicle sector. According toSiemens the ELFA-drive is suitable both for deliveryand refuse disposal vehicles as well as mobile harbourcranes. Depending on usage, the system can cut fuel

consumption by up to 40 per cent.The MITRAC Energy Saver is a system for trams

developed by the company Bombardier with the supportof the German Federal Ministry of Education andResearch (BMBF). It is not a hybrid, but the concept issimilar. A battery consisting of double layer condensers onthe roof of the tram stores energy which is released whenbraking, energy that is wasted in conventional trams. Inthis case, however, the battery feeds the energy back intothe electric motors when pulling off, thus reducing thecurrent drawn from the overhead power line. It will helpus save around 93,000 kilowatt hours per vehicle each

year, says Martin in der Beek, managing director of theRhein-Neckar Transport Association (RNV). RNV is set tolaunch a total of 19 Bombardier Energy Saver variotramson routes in Heidelberg and Mannheim by the end of 2010.

The energy-independent tramThe exceptional thing about Energy Saver is the factthat trams are even able to go short distances withoutusing an overhead power line at all. That makes it

particularly useful in areas where an operating companywould prefer not to install overhead power lines, out ofconcern that they could spoil the townscape if erectedin front of listed buildings, for example. The tram simplycontinues independently for a few hundred metres untilit reaches the next overhead power line. In Heidelbergcutting out overhead power lines also serves a furtherpurpose: two sections of track without overhead powerlines are planned for the Neuenheimer Feld area in orderto prevent electrical elds produced by power lines fromaffecting the sensitive measuring instruments of theuniversitys physics institute and the German Center for

Hybrid technology paves the way for clean buses and trains

The Secret Lies under theBonnet

On the surface, it looks like a perfectly normal public transit bus spacious andsomewhat bland. Until it pulls away, without making a sound. The only thing whichlets on that the engine is running is a quiet whine; the typical diesel noise doesntkick in until after a few hundred metres. The secret lies under the bonnet in theshape of two engines: an electric engine which drives the wheels and a diesel en-gine which powers a generator and only kicks in when the stored energy, createdwhen braking and stored in a battery pack of ultra condensers, is not sufcient.

ENERGY AND BUSINESS

No overhead powerline: Trams of thefuture will do without.



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Cancer Research (DKFZ), which are both situated veryclose to the tram line.

In fact, it is now even possible to do without over-head power lines altogether. With its PRIMOVE systemBombardier has introduced a contact-free chargingconcept for the MITRAC Energy Saver. Power transferis achieved via induction loops which are located outof sight under the tracks. The few seconds it takes for atram to make a stop are enough to replenish the batterywith sufficient power to reach the next tram station.

The AutoTram, an interesting cross between atram and a bus, is a new concept developed through acollaboration of 33 Fraunhofer Institutes. The vehicleis tted with rubber tires but is as long and exible asa tram. The AutoTram isnt ready to go into production just yet. For the time being it serves as a development

platform for new transmission components, in particularpower packs which combine several technologies suchas double layer condensers and lithium-ion batteriesor fuel cells. The Fraunhofer Institutes are developingappropriate charging concepts for the power packswhich replenish the battery at tram stops within 30 to 60seconds with a current of 1000 amps at 700 volts.

The reason why hybrid systems are so energyefficient is that they win back energy that is releasedwhen braking. This energy does not necessarily have tobe stored; it can also be used immediately. This has beenput into practice recently in locomotives. Siemens hasbuilt the rst electric locomotive with energy recovery,albeit without batteries. Energy that is created duringbraking feeds into the overhead power line to be used byother locomotives which might need it at that particularmoment in time. The Siemens locomotive pulls largefreight trains full of coal in Australia. On the journeyfrom the countrys interior down to the coast the fullyladen trains generate a huge amount of braking energy,which is immediately used by empty trains travelling uphill in the opposite direction.

The right energy balanceHowever, the ability to save energy while operating isonly one aspect of a locomotive or trams energy balance.Producing and recycling these vehicles also uses energyand generates greenhouse gases. These considerations

impact on production processes and often raise conictswith regard to outcomes. For example, a locomotive with

an aluminium roof is lighter and therefore needs lessenergy. However, producing aluminium uses up moreenergy. Todays train manufacturers therefore have topresent their customers with detailed life cycle costs andmaterial balance analyses, which take total energy andmaterial inputs into account.

To this end, engineers at the Siemens locomotive fac-tory in Allach near Munich manage a database which runsto many thousands of part numbers. In addition to detailsabout material composition, each entry also lists informa-tion about emissions, and is even sorted by country of ori-gin. This is important because aluminium produced fromgreen-energy in Iceland, for example, has a much smallercarbon footprint than aluminium from China, where the

electricity used to produce it comes mainly from coal-red power stations. There are similar differences whenit comes to operating costs. A subway train like the onewhich Siemens has supplied to Oslo produces only 827tons of CO 2 in the course of its 30-year service, making itthe most energy-efficient metro train in the world. If itwere to operate in Prague, it would produce 47,900 tons ofCO2, as most of the Czech Republics electricity is also gen-erated from coal. On the other hand, the Prague subwayruns underground which makes it warmer so the heatingdoes not have to work so hard and there is no need for anextra thick insulation layer, as there is in Oslo.

Nowadays customers take these subtleties into ac-count, and dont just look at the sticker price. After all, aten per cent higher purchase price for a locomotive whichis made of lightweight materials or has been tted-outwith more efficient engines is easily offset by energysavings of just one or two percentage points. Bernd Mller

Linkswww.bmbf.dewww.ivi.fraunhofer.de

Berlin

Dresden

Half bus, half tram: New energystorage components are currentlybeing tested for the AutoTram.



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ENERGY AND MOBILITY


Pioneering theSilent Car Most cars today run on petrol or diesel. That is set to change as stocks of crudeoil continue to fall and prices keep on rising. Concerns about car exhausts con-tributing to global warming by churning out carbon dioxide are another motivator.Plenty of reasons for a change in technology.

Researchers put their foot on the accelerator for electromobility


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Electric cars could be one solution. They have yet to hitthe streets in large numbers - in Germany there are atmost a few thousand humming away on the roads. TheGerman federal government wants to change that bysetting a target of one million electric cars by 2020. Teamsof scientists are rising to the challenge and gearing upelectromobility research.

In the ideal scenario, most of our future energyneeds will be met by renewable sources of energy suchas wind, solar and geothermal energy. Energy will beconverted into electricity and stored in electric carbatteries. Cars will run off electric motors. A promis-

ing alternative is offered in the shape of hybrid cars.Built-in small petrol motors can be turned on if neces-sary for covering longer distances, reducing the size ofthe electric battery accordingly. There are numerousprojects dedicated to the development of hybrid andelectric cars throughout Germany.

Affordable electric cars arent just a pipe dreamOne of the most exciting projects was launched at theend of 2009. The project, run by a group of researchersat the Technische Universitt Mnchen (TUM), is calledMUTE, and its aim is to develop a concept car that ticksall of the right boxes. The researchers want to prove thatit will soon be possible to build affordable electric cars

for the mass market. The model car is due to celebrateits premiere at the 2011 International Motor Fair (IAA)in Frankfurt. Researchers are also hoping to catch theattention of a company to commercially produce the car.The concept car is intended to push 120 kilometres anhour with the help of two types of batteries: a recharge-able lithium-ion battery for town traffic and for longerdistances, an additional zinc air battery, which has to bereplaced at the end of the trip.

More than 20 professors, around 30 research as-sistants and at least 200 students are collaborating onthe Munich-based MUTE project. We are pooling ourresources, says Professor Markus Lienkamp (see shortinterview). That way, the team can be sure that thecomponents t together properly. There are sometimessurprises along the way. When the cars heating was onthe drawing table the rst drafts were for an electricheating system. However, given that the car shouldntweigh in at more than 400 kilogrammes, it wouldhave been too heavy. Instead, researchers opted for abioethanol burner. In order to keep the car as light aspossible many of the parts are made out of aluminiumand synthetic materials reinforced with carbon bres.To ensure that the cars safety isnt compromised by thelack of bulk, long crumple zones are being built-in at thefront and rear, explains Lienkamp.

Over the next ve years, the Munich-based research-ers will be cooperating with colleagues in Singapore.

Work at the Campus for Research Excellence andTechnological Enterprise (CREATE) will focus on thedevelopment of a joint-concept for electromobility inthe tropics. We will have to spend a lot of time think-ing about the cars cooling system, says Lienkamp. TheAsian scientists will also spend time researching inMunich.

Science is a global affair, and competition in carmanufacturing is no less international. Germany ranksthird in the production of passenger vehicles afterJapan and the USA. It owes its success to companieslike Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW. The arrival of the

electric car has led to a reshuffling of the pack. A global jostling for the best starting position in the futuremarket has begun. Germany is well placed to lead thisnew eld, too.

Forward-looking production: Suppliers and car manufacturersare gearing up for hybrid and electric cars.


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> Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Lienkamp,TUM Science Center for Electro-mobility, MUTE project leader

The MUTE project is dedicated to building an electric concept car.How did the project come about?

At the end of 2009 I took up my professorship at the TUM and ap-proached some colleagues at the Science Center for Electromobilitywith my idea. They liked it and we set up the MUTE project together.A lot of research used to be done in isolation, thats not the case now.

How noisy will the electric concept car be?You wont be able to hear a thing at the very most you might

hear the gearbox click. Thats why we called the project MUTE. Wemight actually have to build-in some articial noise so that pedes-trians know the car is coming.

How will you prevent the car from stopping in its tracks becausethe batteries have died?

If the driver types in the destination of a g iven trip into a GPSbefore setting off, then the car computer will adapt the routing andthe batteries discharge strategy to keep that from happening.

ENERGY AND MOBILITY

IN THE KNOW


The battery of the futureThe German Federal Government has so far provided

more than 500 million for electromobility researchand development. The range of topics covered goesbeyond electric motors, power electronics and materi-als research. German research also extends to energystorage. The expert opinion is that lithium-ion batteriesare the best option for providing electricity to hybridand electric cars. These batteries have a high energydensity and, so far, have mostly been used in smallelectronic devices such as cell phones and cameras.

There are still several obstacles to be overcome beforelithium-ion batteries are ready to be deployed in cars,

explains Professor Martin Wietschel, director of the busi-ness unit in energy economy at the Fraunhofer Institutefor Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe.Working in collaboration with other colleagues from theinstitute, Weitschel has drawn up a technology roadmapfor battery research. We need to reduce the cost of thesebatteries by two thirds, increase their life span from sixto ten years, and really get a handle on safety issues. Itis true that there is room for improvement in electricmotors and in power electronics. For example, there arevery few factories which produce electric motors in the50 to 80 kilowatt performance category. But compared tobattery research, these issues are secondary.

Together with a consortium of German businesses,

the German government provides funding for the Inno-vation Alliance Lithium Ion Battery 2015 (LIB 2015). Thisnational research association with representative fromscience and industry aims to develop batteries and set inplace an accompanying infrastructure. The project waslaunched in 2009 and is scheduled to run for four years.Germanys strong political commitment to electromo-bility is also evidenced in a number of other supportinitiatives. The government funds the ProLiEMO project,in which battery and car manufactures are developingtechniques that will make it possible to produce large-sized batteries for passenger vehicles. In addition,funding has been awarded to the Innovation Alliance forAutomotive Electronics E/ENOVA, in which producersand suppliers are committed to improving the energymanagement of cars. The project Electric Grids of theFuture is co-nanced by the Federal Ministry of Finance.The aim of this project is to explore how electricity fromelectric cars can be fed back into the grid to balance outuctuations in energy input.

Germany offers a wealth of opportunities for any-one who wants to make a concrete contribution to theproject of the future that is electromobility. Programmesin electrotechnology, mechanical engineering, electro-chemistry and transportation are offered at numerousuniversities and technical colleges. Not every course outthere automatically has a direct bearing on electric cars.Some universities stand out in the programmes they

Currently under development: Thelithium-ion battery is the plannedenergy source for electric cars.


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Berlin

Stuttgart

Karlsruhe

Mnster

Munich

VEHICLE-TO-GRIDCONCEPT

The ow of electricity:Surplus power fromelectric cars is fed intothe grid to neutralizeuctuations.


offer, explains Professor Jrgen Janek from the Instituteof Physical Chemistry at Giessen University, whoseresearch group is working on various battery processes.For students who want to approach the subject from achemistry angle, Janek recommends the programmeson offer at the universities of Bochum, Giessen, Mnsterand Ulm as well as at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technol-ogy (KIT). The TUM offers programmes which have more

of a physics slant. The International Graduate Schoolof Science and Engineering at the TUM offers studentsa structured PhD programme. Whether they opt for astructured programme or a more traditional route witha thesis advisor, the German university and researchlandscape offers students numerous options for PhDs inthe eld of electromobility.

A lot more effort will need to be put into research anddevelopment before electric car technology makes itonto the global market. But who knows, maybe the nextgeneration of students in Germany will already drive tolectures in quietly humming electric cars. Sven Titz

Linkswww.mute-automobile.dewww.isi.fraunhofer.dewww.lib2015.dewww.eenova.dewww.fkfs.dewww.bmbf.de


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> Plug Into Future is one of 13 projects which were announced aswinners of the Energy for Ideas competition. As part of the 2010Year of Science initiative, the German Federal Ministry of Educa-tion and Research (BMBF) called for students to develop creativeconcepts geared in particular to motivating younger members ofthe population on energy issues. Winners are awareded m 10,000 tohelp implement their ideas.

> Information on all the winning projects is available in German at:www.energie-fuer-ideen.info

ENERGY FOR IDEAS

First up are the pupils in the schools lower grades.They collect important energy data about the school.How many windows does the school building have?How thick is the insulation layer? Hand-held electricitymeters provided by Aachens municipal utilities com-pany are intended to help the school kids calculate howmuch energy their everyday equipment uses. The aimis to increase the awareness of energy issues among theyounger pupils, explains Bartholomus Wasowicz. The

12th graders then use the data to come up with the bestenergy concept for their school. The competition coversfour important areas: investment, communication, direc-tion and information. For the pupils, that means delvinginto new areas from meteorological data analysis tothe functionality of a solar cell. The projects lynchpinis a web platform where pupils gather and exchangedata. The platforms most impressive feature is an onlinesimulation tool that enables students to see the conse-quences of their decisions straight away.

The Aachen student project takes its inspirationfrom a management game based on the stock exchange.In that game, players trade under the same market con-ditions as real traders with monopoly shares. As in the

stock exchange management game, our aim is that thesimulation is as close to the real thing as possible, andthat its repeatable for every generation of pupils, saysFabian Potratz. In the long-term, Potratz and Wasowiczcan imagine schools from all over Germany or evenEurope using their game to compete for the best energyconcept.

No easy taskAbove all, we want to show the complex factors involvedin nding the right energy mix, says Wasowicz. Pupilsare not the only target audience: the Aachen projectteam also wants to involve teachers and parents in theenergy debate. To this end they have put together in-formation booklets which are intended to help teachersprepare and de-brief students on energy issues.

How did the 25-year-old students access all therelevant information from such a variety of disciplines?One thing we did was enlist the help of educators andcomputer scientists. Five of the people who came onboard are now part of the core team. The prize for thegroup of pupils with the best energy concept will beawarded in December. Julia Walter

Students at RWTH Aachen University design an energy project for the classroom

The School of the Future

What is the best energy management strategy for a school? It sounds like a jobfor an energy economists or the local electricity provider. Fabian Potratz andBartholomus Wasowicz, students at the industrial engineering department of theRWTH Aachen, disagree. They have designed a management game called Plug IntoFuture Schools and the Energy Revolution in which pupils compete to come upwith the best energy management strategy for their school. A high school in Aachenwill be giving the project a test-run in the fall of 2010.

The project team (from left): Stephan Raths, Andreas Roehder,Bartholomus Wasowicz and Fabian Potratz

TO THE POINT



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Germany provides ample and exciting opportunities for thoseinterested in the eld of energy from undergraduate studiesand PhDs to interesting careers. For power-packed sources ofinformation and tips click into the links listed below.

Publisher DAADDeutscher AkademischerAustauschdienstGerman Academic Exchange ServiceKennedyallee 5053175 Bonn,Germanywww.daad.de

Executive EditorDr. Ursula Egyptien Gad

Managing EditorCornelia Hauswald

Editorial + Creative ServicesDr. Isabell Lisberg-HaagTrio MedienService, Bonn

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ProductionDruckhaus Fromm GmbH & Co. KG,Osnabrck

Photos (t=top; b=bottom; r/l=right/left)ABB/Transpower (16 t), Abu DhabiFuture Energy Company (Masdar)(13 t), Alfred-Wegener-Institut (18foreground), Tiplyashin Anatoly (35),Jeff Banke (33 bl), BASF The ChemicalCompany (32 tr), Bedolaga (2 center),Bombardier Transportation (28),Bosch (32 tl), BTU Cottbus (6), Carlvon Ossietzky Universitt Oldenburg(7 b), Continental (31), Composingmaster stock and TranceDrumer (26 l),Meelis Endla (34 t), Eon (19 bl), Fenton(22 background), Tanja Fliege (25 t),Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy

Systems (12 t), Fraunhofer Institute forTrafc and Infrastructure Systems (29),Gemenacom (27 t), Adam Gregor (10foreground), S. Hanusch (2 t), Lu Heng(20 t), IFM Geomar (21), images talk(title background), irabel8 (2 b), JensJeske (26 r), Peter J. Kovacs (18 back-ground), Yuriy Kulyk (10 background),Kurhan (title foreground), NeuberGmbH & Co. KG (11), mp-tec GmbH& Co.KG (4), Jan Oelker (15), JensOttoson (2 l), Pavelk (2 r), private (7 t,9 b, 17, 20, 27 b), Fabian Potratz (34b), REpower (8, 14 foreground), RicoK(23), Gina Sanders (22 foreground),www.foto-schulzendorff.de (3),

Siemens AG (30 background), Solar-world (9 t), Sren Stache/UniversittPotsdam (5), www.markus-steur.de/DLR (12 b), Technische UniversittMnchen (30 foreground, 32 b),thinkstock (14 background), WindparkDruiberg (16 b), Manfred Witt/Licht-blick (25 bl), Voith Hydro (19 br), GavinYoung/Eon (24), zimmytws (33 br)

This publication was funded by theFederal Ministry of Education andResearch

DateOctober 2010

Studywww.daad.dewww.daad.de/international-programmeswww.hochschulkompass.dewww.inobis.dewww.internationale-studierende.de

www.jobmotor-erneuerbare.dewww.kisswin.dewww.university-ranking.de

Jobswww.academics.dewww.bdi.euwww.ecosense.dewww.experteer.dehttp://fazjob.netwww.jobmotor-erneuerbare.dewww.jobpilot.dewww.myscience.de

PhDwww.academics.dehttp://blog.scholarz.net/www.daad.de/international-programmeswww.daad.de/promotionwww.daad.de/research-explorer

www.dfg.de/gkwww.dfg.de/exzellenzinitiative/gscwww.euraxess.dewww.eurodoc.netwww.fraunhofer.dewww.funding-guide.dewww.helmholtz.de/graduiertenschulen-kollegswww.innovations-report.dewww.kompetenznetze.dewww.kooperation-international.dewww.kowi.dewww.leibniz-gemeinschaft.dewww.mpg.de ber Schnellzugriff zu Research Schoolswww.research-in-germany.de/faq

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The picture was taken in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Spreewald.

Cinthya Guerrero from Mexico is pursuingher doctorate in Environmental and ResourceManagement at Brandenburg University ofTechnology Cottbus.

The source ofmy energy is here.

daad energy

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