Together with the industrial partner Linde AG, researchers from the German Aerospace Center have further developed a latent heat storage system based on nitrate salts. In combination with a cascade of sensible heat storage units, the goal is to maintain the electricity production of solar thermal power plants at night and at times with low solar irradiation. To this end, the scientists have developed a storage system that can also be used for conventional steam power plants and industrial processes.  more...

Synlight is the name of the world's largest artificial sun, which is situated in Jülich near Aachen. Its bundled light is 10,000 times stronger than the sun. With this energy, researchers want to test solar thermal components in order to produce hydrogen directly – without having to use electrolysis. Last week, the research facility was officially inaugurated.  more...

Until now, the energy and transport sectors were considered separately from one another in the energy balance. The “Energy transition in transport” funding initiative by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is entering into force to change that. It is intended to help bring the energy and transport sectors closer together and advance the technological possibilities in a cross-system approach encompassing a wide range of vehicles.  more...

Uhland School in Stuttgart, which dates back to the 1950s, no longer accorded with today's structural and energetic standards. The renovation work is now almost complete and the City of Stuttgart is getting its first energy-plus school. A photovoltaic system on the roof and façade of the building covers the electricity requirement.  more...

Thermoelectric generators convert waste heat directly into electricity. They utilise temperature differences and are paving the way for more energy-efficient production processes. However, the technology has previously led a niche existence because the module production is labour-intensive and therefore expensive. Researchers from Freiburg now want to improve this.  more...

Metal hydrides store hydrogen and heat. Their use in thermochemical storage systems is hampered, however, by the material's poor heat conductivity. To increase the charging and discharging performance, researchers are pelletising the material together with graphite, which has a high thermal conductivity. With different metal hydrides they can cover the temperature range from room temperature up to 400 degrees Celsius.  more...

A newly developed gasification process utilises waste plastics, carbon-containing sorting residues and rubber parts as well as shredded materials in the automotive industry. It can also process chlorine-containing plastic streams with PVC fractions in an environmentally friendly and efficient manner. It produces a purified syngas without flue gas emissions. In the process, lime serves as a transport medium and simultaneously binds halogens and other harmful substances. The gas generated in the shaft kiln can replace valuable primary energy sources such as natural gas in high-temperature processes or be used to generate electricity in efficient gas engines.  more...

Waste heat is produced in all areas of daily life – in industry, homes and transport. In Germany alone, this adds up to a waste heat potential of 300 TWh per year. This energy volume corresponds to nearly half the total energy consumed by German industry. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) can tap into this huge energy reservoir and transform the "waste energy" without moving parts into a higher form of energy.  more...

Researchers are developing a new approach for generating energy from tidal currents. Here they are combining a semi-submerged platform with several small-sized instream turbines. This means that the tidal power plant requires less maintenance than is usually required. However, in order to achieve the highest possible energy yields it requires strong water currents. Canada’s Bay of Fundy has an exceptionally high tidal range exceeding 15 metres. This is where it is planned to build the hydropower plant so that it can provide the first electricity in 2017.  more...

In the production of landfill gas, other gases are produced alongside the desired methane that damage motors and turbines. To protect these plant components, trace compounds of organic silicon contained in the gases are separated beforehand, e.g. by means of adsorption. The high consumption of the adsorbent, however, endangers the efficiency of the process. A research team has developed an on-site regeneration method for the adsorbent. This can increase the efficiency of the energy recovery of landfill gas.  more...