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Smart Energy for a Brighter Future
This summer thousands of New Yorkers were affected again by brownouts and blackouts: According to a recent CNN-article, throughout New York City, about 52,000 of ConEd's 3.2 million customers lost power during July's heat wave. With temperatures soaring and air conditioning at maximum capacity, it is not surprising that the energy supply system overloaded. To prevent future energy shortages and outages, energy experts believe that a national smart grid system would avert blackouts and save billions of dollars.
As scientists and governments are searching for sustainable, clean, and cost-optimized solutions for today's growing electrical demands, smart grids have become a part of energy production and distribution plans. In 1997, the German scientist Gregor Czisch, for example, started to search for an ecologic, economic, and socially responsible method for electricity exclusively from renewable energies. In the GCRI-Interview, he talks about developing a proposal for a North American super grid scenario, and how the U.S. would benefit from such a concept.
2010 is Germany's science year of energy. The GCRI is, therefore, focusing two E-NNOVATION Germany issues and events on smart energy. In November, for example, we will, in cooperation with the German American Chambers of Commerce, host a panel discussion on "Focus: Smart Grid." For more information, please send us an e-mail.
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Interview: Talking about the Super Grid
The German scientist and energy expert Dr. Gregor Czisch has been researching scenarios and structures for a cost-optimized renewable energy supply since 1997. During his work in the R&D division Information and Energy Economy at the Institute for Solar Energy Supply Techniques (ISET) and at the Institute for Electrical Energy Technology/Rational Energy Conversion (IEE-RE) at the University of Kassel, he worked on potential analyses for renewable energies, simulating their production behaviour, conceptualizing energy transport systems and developing scenarios for a CO2-neutral electricity supply. This work resulted, among other things, in a dissertation entitled "Scenarios for a Future Electricity Supply - Cost-Optimized Approaches to Supplying Europe and its Neighbours with Electricity from Renewable Energies."
Since completing his doctorate, parallel to his research at the University of Kassel, Dr. Czisch has worked as a consultant to the Scientific Advisory Council on Environmental Change of the Federal German Government (WBGU) and was, among other things, invited as an expert to hearings in various ministries, parliaments and utilities.
The GCRI spoke with Dr. Czisch about a North American super grid concept he is currently developing, and about the "Declaration of Support for an Efficient Renewable Energy Future," he drafted with Roy Morrison, director of the Office for Sustainability at Southern New Hampshire University. To read the interview, please click here.
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Clean, Smart, and Longer Lasting:
Smart Energy Storage Solutions by Heliocentris
The Berlin-based company Heliocentris is taking the next step in off-grid power: A specialist for clean energy storage solutions, based on a smart combination of batteries, fuel cells, and energy management, Heliocentris develops and integrates solutions for diverse applications that require extended electrical runtime, such as energy-autonomous houses or special vehicles.
Heliocentris has implemented a new series of autonomous, hybrid energy systems equipped with energy storage solutions in Europe and the Middle East and has initiated projects in North America. A recent installation for the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), for example, included a fully-integrated autonomous energy system capable of handling inputs from a 4 kWp photovoltaic array and a 1.7 kWp wind generator, that stores energy by generating hydrogen and through a battery bank. A 1.2 kW fuel cell power module converts the hydrogen into electricity. The system has a total output of up to 5 kW - enough electricity to power the lighting and equipment of a showcase laboratory. For more information on Heliocentris' smart energy solutions, please click here. Heliocentris, which was founded in 1995, also has a North American office in Vancouver, Canada.
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E-Mobility Tailored to the Needs and Priorities of Urbanites
The Technische Universität München (TUM) has rolled out a comprehensive initiative to accelerate the development of electric vehicles that could play at least two vital roles in the foreseeable future: creating greener means of mobility and creating distributed energy storage devices networked to a "smart grid." Taking a paradigm shift in vehicle and mobility concepts into account, TUM Professor Markus Lienkamp asserts that "The goal of putting a million electric automobiles on the road by the year 2020 is achievable." The TUM concept, which is tailored to the needs and priorities of city dwellers, encompasses the whole process, from technical optimization - in areas such as reducing weight, improving batteries, leveraging IT and wireless networking for energy management, and enhancing safety - to market research, design and manufacture, and even to new models of vehicle use, such as a "car on demand" scenario. Around fifty professors in eight faculties are engaged in relevant research projects, coordinated through the newly formed Science Center for Electromobility and strengthened by collaborations with partners in the energy and automotive industries. A concept car will be unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show in September 2011. To read the press release, please click here.
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Yes, You Can...
Advance Your Research Career with a European Grant
Up to 2.5 million euros for established researchers
Up to 1.5 million euros for early career researchers
Meet experts from funding agencies and current grantholders on November 20, 2010, at 2 p.m. in the German House, 871 United Nations Plaza, New York City.
The event will culminate in a scientific lecture by Hannah Monyer, Leibniz Prize recipient and European Research Council (ERC) grantholder on "A Walk Down Memory's Pathways."
Established researchers will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop on ERC Advanced Grants, and early career researchers will attend a separate workshop on ERC Starting Grants. Each session will cover the following topics: application and evaluation procedures, success rate, insider tips, and Germany as a research destination for a Starting or Advanced ERC Grant. For additional information about this event, please send an e-mail to info@germaninnovation.org.
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