Many small, decentralised power generators could replace conventional large-scale power plants. But how can wind, sun and bioenergy be integrated into the future power supply system? With the “Kombikraftwerk2”, researchers aim to show how power generation from 100 per cent renewable energies can be achieved and stabilised.  more...

In the "Smart Country" model project, researchers in Bitburg-Prüm were testing out the distribution network of the future. It is designed to respond flexibly to the increasingly decentralised generation of renewable electricity in the grid. For this purpose various operating resources were further developed: an optimised biogas plant, which controls the electricity supplied by the grid, virtually stores surplus electricity with an efficiency of 98 %. In addition, voltage regulators double the usable output capacity in the grid. The Eifel project successfully passed the field test after around one year.  more...

At the Annual Conference of the Renewable Energy Research Association (FVEE) on 16 and 17 October 2012, scientists and industrial representatives presented innovations along with new strategies for their market introduction. In his opening speech, Federal Environment Minister Peter Altmaier emphasised that greater importance should be given to research and development in regard to the era of energy revolution.  more...

It is a core problem of the energy revolution: the fluctuating yields from renewable energy sources have to be integrated into the electricity supply without endangering its safety and economic feasibility. Here the Deutsche Bahn railway company provides a prime example: by 2020, the company intends to draw more than one third of the 12 billion kilowatthours it consumes each year from green electricity. Researchers have calculated that doubling the green electricity used today will increase the electricity costs by around five per cent. The German railway power grid is distinguished, however, by many unique features.  more...

On 19 March, around 120 delegates attended the international conference on "Energy Research in Europe: Germany´s Contribution to the SET-Plan", which was concerned with improving cooperation in the research, development and demonstration fields within the energy sector. The need for research and action was discussed in the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) using the example of smart grids and the hydrogen industry.  more...

A special purpose project company founded by Fels-Werke GmbH from Goslar in Germany has won the Innovation Award for Climate and Environment for a process that uses lime to produce pure synthesis gas from pollutant-rich waste and biomass. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology provided 4.5 million euros of support for this project. Since 2009, this award has been honouring concepts from Germany that contribute to climate and environmental protection and, at the same time, strengthen the country as a business location.  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...

Even in a remote village far from the public electricity grid there is modern everyday life with radios, washing machines and electrical appliances. In energy terms this is a “standalone” system. The electricity is supplied by a hybrid system that combines various renewable energy sources and an additional diesel generator, and is buffered with a battery system. An information and control network with a new operating system keeps the stand-alone grid (mini-grid) stable.  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...

Four federal ministries have jointly determined how they want to promote research in the next few years that contributes to "an environmentally sound, reliable and affordable energy supply". The 6th Energy Research Programme, which was adopted in 2011 in Berlin, replaces its predecessor from 2005. The plan intends to increase the German government´s annual funding budget to one billion euros by 2014.  more...