The Internet offers rapid and convenient access to information ? including for energy research. However, when it comes to obtaining reliable, complete and quotable information for research purposes, there is no real alternative to using specialist databases. This is the conclusion of scientists from the ETDE (Energy Technology Data Exchange). In a study they compared the search results provided by their ETDEWEB database with those from Google and Google Scholar, whereby they used search terms from different areas concerned with energy transformation and utilisation. The main thematic focus was on renewable energies, but energy efficient technologies such as recycling waste heat or utilising daylight in office buildings were also looked at.  more...

Several industrial products have to go through fire during production. In the metalworking industry, in the production of glass, ceramics and building materials as well as in parts of the food industry, heating processes are key production steps. About 65% of the industry's final energy requirement is expended on it. In Germany, industry furnaces are chiefly produced by small and medium-sized companies and close to every second furnace is exported.  more...

Heat recovery from exhaust gases and flameless combustion - this is the magic formula in many high-temperature processes in order to combine optimal fuel usage with low nitrogen oxide emissions. With a new recuperator burner, this technology now also offers advantages in the lower range of outputs under 100 kW. The exhaust gas losses have been almost halved compared to conventional recuperator burners. A number of burners of this type have been undergoing tests since early in 2009 in heat-treatment equipment for screws.  more...

The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology has published a strategy paper entitled "Eckpunkte und Leitlinien zur Weiterentwicklung der Energieforschungspolitik der Bundesregierung (Cornerstones and guidelines for the continued development of the German federal government's energy research policy)". The detailed analyses and suggestions were developed as a result of the cooperation between a number of institutes in the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres as part of a broadly based consultation process.  more...

An existing low-rise building was to be extended to expand a printing house. That was an opportunity to improve the graphic design and office workstations already housed there at the same time. The company also wanted to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection in this measure, as it is an advertising selling point beyond the printing process.  more...

Flameless burners, which are already providing considerable energy savings and emission reductions in the metal industry, have now been adapted to the special requirements of glass production by the research institute Gaswärme-Institut in Essen, Germany. Together with industrial partners, the researchers investigated how these burners, which operate on the principle of flameless oxidation, can be used to fire glass-melting tanks.  more...