In Germany, technologies for capturing and storing carbon dioxide have so far failed to gain acceptance. This sixty social scientists and technicians attending the "Acceptance Research on CCS" workshop held at the Wuppertal Institute were in agreement in this respect. One aspect that has not failed, however, is the research on how acceptance develops among the population. Many large-scale technologies ranging from wind farms to high-voltage grids are faced with the need to find acceptance ? not least through participation.  more...

A superconducting fault current limiter is protecting the auxiliary power supply in the Boxberg lignite-fired power plant in the German state of Saxony against damage caused by short circuits and voltage peaks. The developers have now replaced the first-generation system with a fault current limiter based on YBCO superconducting tapes - which represents a world first. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Nexans SuperConductors have thus improved the intrinsic safety of the grid and also helped to reduce equipment investment costs.  more...

Special micro-organisms can make direct use of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) contained in flue gases from lignite-fired power plants as ?food?, and grow even at a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius. This is the interim result of the research cooperation between an electricity producer and a biotechnology company at the Niederaussem power plant near Cologne.  more...

Small, decentralised power plants are on the increase: as fuel cells, they are enormously energy efficient, provide heat and electrical energy whilst giving off harmless emissions. Scientists from the Research Centre Jülich and the metal group ThyssenKrupp VDM are now making a contribution towards competitive production costs.  more...

Germany is financially supporting the construction of the first large-scale solar thermal power plant in Morocco. The Moroccan Solar Energy Agency and KfW Entwicklungsbank have signed a corresponding agreement. The power plant with parabolic trough collectors is planned to have an output of 160 MW. The storage capacities integrated in the design enable the operation to be continued up to three hours after sunset. Construction is earmarked to begin in 2012 and is scheduled to last around one year. The plant will be located in the town of Ouarzazate, which is situated on the northern edge of the Sahara.  more...

Its sounds ideal: a domestic energy plant that generates heat and electricity works almost without emissions and also exclusively utilises the sun and bioalcohol as renewable energy. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy systems ISE are working on such a plant. The heart of the system comprises a fuel cell combined with a newly developed reformer that generates the hydrogen required for the fuel cell from bioethanol.  more...

The Faculty of Supply Engineering at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences has installed a renewable energy park at its Wolfenbüttel campus. A redox flow battery weighing 5,000 kg has now been added to this energy park. With this system, which is only the second of its kind in Germany, a further storage technology is now available in this "Smart Grid Test Facility".  more...

"Within the next ten years, the number of load changes in large-scale power plants will double." In his opening speech, Professor Michael Beckmann outlined a central task for power plant technology, namely to flexibly ensure grid stability without overly reducing the service life of turbo engines. Each year, his Institute for Energy Technology at the Technical University of Dresden organises a conference at which hundreds of experts discuss a wide range of issues spanning from solar power plants to nuclear technology.  more...

The first measurement results confirm the efficient building concept for the Science College Overbach, which opened in June 2009: the data from 186 measurement points are continually captured via the building's services technology and enable continual monitoring, analysis and optimisation of the technical systems. In terms of the primary energy, the building is doing very well: it only consumed 83.4 kWh/m² p.a. in the first year. Not only do the figures add up, the students are also thrilled by their new school. Whereas 15% of the students used to opt for technology and 85% for the three foreign languages on offer, 60% of the students are now choosing a scientific subject in order to enable them to attend lessons in the attractive new building.  more...

Government and industry representatives jointly inaugurated the high-efficiency Combine-Cycle power plant (CCPP) in Irsching in the vicinity of Ingolstadt. Incorporating high-tech components, such as the latest gas turbine manufactured by Siemens, the power plant is currently the most modern of its kind. Its total capacity is 561 megawatts and its electrical efficiency factor over 60 per cent - a world first. Further technological innovations allow the power plant to adapt to fluctuations in electricity demand.  more...