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| Energy for a Sustainable Tomorrow
On Sunday, October 3, Germany will celebrate 20 years of German reunification. One week later, the Renewable Energy Research Association will also celebrate its 20th anniversary in Berlin. In terms of a renewable energy supply for Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who visited New York last week, is already looking ahead to 2050. Earlier this month she presented Germany's Nine-Point Program, which is designed to make Germany's energy supply, by 2050, the most efficient and environmentally sound worldwide. Part of the plan is to increase the share of renewable energy in gross electricity consumption to 35% by 2020, 50% by 2030, 65% by 2040, and 80% by 2050.
For this edition of "E-NNOVATION Germany", the GCRI interviewed German Ambassador to the United States Dr. Klaus Scharioth. He spoke about the Transatlantic Climate Bridge, an initiative between Germany and North America to jointly tackle today's climate change and energy security challenges (see below).
Note: Our Japanese counterpart, the German Science and Innovation Forum Tokyo (Deutsches Wissenschafts- und Innovationshaus Tokio), will host its inaugural event on October 6.
Note: The application deadline for the DAAD Science Tour is October 6. This year's theme is, "Chemistry Research and Higher Education in Germany: Today's Endeavors Towards a Sustainable Chemistry." For more information, please click here. |
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German Ambassador to the United States Dr. Klaus Scharioth on the Transatlantic Climate Bridge
Two years ago, on September 30, the German government launched the Transatlantic Climate Bridge (TCB), an initiative to foster transatlantic cooperation and partnerships between Germany, the U.S. and Canada on climate and energy policies at the local, state, and federal levels. With the goal of tackling today's common climate change and energy security challenges, the TCB is a joint commitment to invest in newer, cleaner sources of energy that can create new jobs and world-class industries, clean up the environment and protect the climate, improve standards of living and enhance global security. On the occasion of the initiative's second anniversary, GCRI spoke with German Ambassador to the United States Dr. Klaus Scharioth, who together with the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan, opened the GCRI on February 19, 2010. In the interview, the Ambassador discusses the TCB's effect on the relationship between Germany and the U.S., how the TCB changed the science and technology dialogue, and its impact as a model for joint approaches appealing to the scientific and business communities. To read the full interview, please follow this link. To learn more about the Ambassador, please click here.
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Innovation: HyWindBalance -A Hydrogen Storage System for Wind Energy
HyWindBalance, a consortium of companies and organizations, develops, analyzes, and tests a system that permits wind energy to be stored in hydrogen for use on a schedule of demand. Besides the wind farms themselves, the systems utilize electrolysis, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, and sophisticated control units that optimize the performance of the system by means of wind power prediction and load forecasting.
The main aim of this joint venture of scientific organizations, engineering companies, and consultancies, is to develop a wind hydrogen system that, functions as a »virtual power plant«, using carbon-dioxide-free options to balance naturally fluctuating wind power with predictable energy usage. The developing systems have the advantage of providing scheduled power generation, reduction of need for balancing power from conventional power plants and sale of wind-based electricity.
In the medium term, approximately in the year 2025, HyWindBalance hopes to sell part of the produced hydrogen outside of the energy sector, for example, as CO2-free fuel for road vehicles. HyWindBalance expects its market launch in 2020, and is a project co-funded by the federal state of Lower Saxony, the European Regional Development Fund, and EWE AG, one of Germany's largest multi-service agencies in energy, IT, and telecommunications.
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Facing the Four Elements: Developing a Transatlantic Approach to Sustainability
More than 100 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) alumni will gather at the German House New York from October 28 to 30, 2010, to discuss and exchange their expertise on sustainability and transatlantic relationships. The networking event, which is co-sponsored by the GCRI, will also address new approaches to supporting academic and scientific research and exchange. Ulrich Grothus, DAAD Deputy Secretary General, and Professor Dr. Enno Aufderheide, Secretary General of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, will welcome the participants to three days filled with panel discussions, networking opportunities, and a dinner cruise around Manhattan. During the conference's opening night, Professor Dr. Roland Schindler, Director of the Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, will discuss the challenges and opportunities of extending Fraunhofer research to the U.S. Alison Taylor, Vice President, Sustainability for the Americas, Siemens Corporation, will speak about Siemens' approach to sustainability.
Throughout the conference, approximately 38 former DAAD and AvH alumni will discuss topics, such as "Sustaining Coastal Systems in a Changing Global Environment," "Oil, Carrots, and Sticks: Energy Dependence as a Threat to Germany and the U.S." and "The Legacy of Alexander von Humboldt in a Virtual Platform." For more information, please send an e-mail to dumisic@daad.org |
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Escape to Life - German Intellectuals in New York
On September 29, the GCRI will host the opening event of the three-day symposium on the impact of German intellectuals on the cultural and educational landscape of New York and the United States. At the conference, experts will elaborate on the translation and consequent transformation of German intellectuals' ideas and work, which accompanied their immersion in American life and culture. During the opening, Sigrid Weigel from the Center for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL, Berlin) will speak about Hannah Arendt's bilingual writing. Other topics will include: "From Königsberg to Little Rock: Childhood East and West (Hannah Arendt; Liliane Weissberg) and "Nature versus History, or the Lifeworld According to Karl Löwith" (Rodolphe Gasché).
The symposium will continue at Deutsches Haus at New York University on September 30 and October 1. For the complete program, please click here.
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Coming Up at the GCRI
The GCRI has planned a broad range of events for the remainder of 2010. If you are interested in more information on one particular event or would like to attend, please send an e-mail to info@germaninnovation.org
- 9/29-10/1: Escape to Life - German Intellectuals in New York
- 10/26: Transatlantic Perspectives on Emerging Technology Management: Encouraging and Nurturing Internationally Competitive University Spin-Offs
- 10/28-30: Facing the Four Elements: Developing a Transatlantic Approach to Sustainability
- 11/3: Mapping the Brain: Reconstructing the Cerebral Cortex with Nobel Laureate Dr. Bert Sakmann, Scientific Director of the the Max Planck Florida Institute
- 11/8: The Widening Atlantic: The Market Gap, the War Gap, the God Gap
- 11/10: Focus: Sustainable Cities and Urban Development: A Transatlantic Conversation
- 11/18: Focus: Smart Grid
- 11/20: Yes, You Can... Advance Your Career with a European Grant
- 12/7: Getting your Idea/Invention to Market, focusing on the success of Plasma Medicine's transition to the marketplace
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