There are many places in Germany where deep geothermal energy is available as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels as a source of power and heat. When it comes to utilising this energy, drilling is the most expensive part. Power and heat generation is only cost-effective if sufficiently high water temperatures and flow rates are found. Via GeotIS, an online information system, planners can now gain fast access to geological and geophysical data for Germany.  more...

There are many good reasons for using geothermal power. For example, it is available around the clock, 365 days a year, has great potential in many German regions and can be used for supplying both heat and electricity. With this in mind, the German government intends to increase the contribution of geothermal energy in domestic energy production in Germany in the future. The new 6th Energy Research Programme from the German government details the key research areas for the coming years.  more...

The political conditions for a change in energy policy (from fossil fuels and nuclear energy to renewable energy sources) have never been better. However, a successful change in energy supply can only take place with the support of private households who change to green electricity and homeowners who invest in renewable energy technology. How can potential users (and especially women) be persuaded to change? The interdisciplinary research project "Renewable energy sources and green electricity - communication according to specific target groups" intended to find the answer to this question.  more...

In its 2010 Annual Report, the German Federal Ministry of the Environment has presented its focal areas for funding research in the field of renewable energies. Topics include wind energy, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, solar thermal power plants, geothermal energy, the optimisation of energy supply systems, ocean power, interrelated issues and international collaboration.  more...

Buildings of the future are secret power plants: they will generate more energy than they require. The surplus can be used for the residents? electromobility or is fed into the grid. This idea is now to be implemented as an energy-plus building with electromobility. The fully recyclable house designed by scientists from Dresden, Germany offers 142 m² of floor space and produces more energy than is required for a 4-person household and to run two electric cars and an electric scooter (with an annual mileage of 29,000 km). The team of researchers from Dresden University of Technology won second prize at the planning competition of the Zukunft Bau (Future of Construction) research initiative with this pilot project in February 2011.  more...

The eagerly anticipated draft version of the "Lead Study 2010" can now be downloaded. The study, entitled "Long-term scenarios and strategies for developing renewable energies in Germany taking into account developments in Europe and worldwide", is available on the website of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. For the first time the study carries out a complete dynamic simulation of the electricity supply and describes the technical and economic impacts of developing renewable energies.  more...

In 2009, renewable energies met 11.6% of the gross final energy consumption of the European Union, whereby they generated 18.2% of the electrical energy supplies. Their economic importance is also growing: more than 900,000 workers in the various sectors generate a turnover of 120 billion euros. These are the results of the tenth report published by the EurObserv'ER consortium on "The State of Renewable Energies in Europe". The annually published report describes not just the development of the various technologies, broken down according to the respective EU countries, but also explains their socio-economic importance. The documentation, which is published in English and French, can now be downloaded free of charge.  more...

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...

On 7 December 1990, an economic and ecological success story began in Germany that is still going strong. It was the day the German Electricity Feed Act was adopted. As of 1 January 1991, the operators of the German electricity grid were obliged for the first time to include electricity from wind turbines, small-scale hydropower plants, biomass and photovoltaic plants in the grid at a fixed, long-term remuneration rate. The act itself, which consisted of no more than five short articles, had a significant effect in times to come.  more...

"Everyone is talking about the weather... except us!" One competitive advantage for rail transport over road transport is that the former is less dependent on weather conditions. However, running trains and trams in winter still involves a certain amount of effort. Alongside platforms at stations and level-crossings, the numerous sets of points on the rail network also need to be kept free of snow and ice to ensure that services can run safely and smoothly. This is where points heaters, which prevent the moving parts of points from freezing up, come into play.  more...