Industrial processes take up a considerable portion of the total energy consumed. This imposes challenges on society for two reasons: First, high energy consumption brings a high carbon footprint, as energy consumption could be more perfectly carbon neutral. Second, it strains the electrical grid, which is already more strained than ever due to the increased…
Solar cells are a favorite among renewable energies, especially in the more sunny countries further south. A remaining problem, however, is the available space: Solar cells produce less energy per square meter than conventional power plants. Hence, much larger areas are needed. This introduces a serious problem: The regions with the most significant energy needs…
Ancient countries were held together by horse riders: Whether fast messengers, transportation of goods, or the usage of cavalry for quick interventions. However, horses are sensible animals who get tired after some path and can’t continue the same day. If someone needed to travel quickly, they needed to change horses in substations. In Roman times,…
Decarbonizing heating processes is one key issue in achieving sustainability. The public discussion now mainly focuses on the heating of private households, as seen in the lively debate about Germany’s recently passed “heating law”, in which German lawmakers make it mandatory for new buildings to use sustainable heating sources such as heat pumps. Industrial processes…
In the search for ecologically friendly solutions, nuclear energy is the arguably most disputed solution: A French initiative led the EU to declare nuclear energy to be green, Poland just gets started with nuclear power, and many other countries, as the Czech Republic ramped up their repertoire. In stark contrast, Germany, the biggest economy in the…
Facing climate change and its consequences is usually discussed in terms of the technological challenges we have to face. However, any effort can only succeed with most of the population favoring the necessary changes. In public debate, the agreement of broad parts of society is often just a priori assumed – a state, however, which is not…
Electricity has been a natural part of civilized life for decades, yet almost nobody knows how the grid works. While this is a larger topic, today we discuss the increasing challenge of keeping the balance: The electrical grid always has to balance demand and supply. Yet, hectic daily life is full of constant changes: Lights…
The transitions needed to face climate change are numerous: About how we can reduce carbon footprint, become more efficient in our heating, or increase the availability of data in processes. Innovations are needed to tackle these problems. In a global context, Europe is often said to need to be faster, facing the danger of lagging…
Discussions about energy usage are becoming increasingly prominent in the eye of climate change. Still, they are also stirred up by international conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine and the ensuing discussion about Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. The most prominent component of the world’s energy usage is heating and cooling, taking up about…
Introduction Climate change and its consequences are a central issue at this time. Whether we are talking about direct impacts that have already been felt, such as forest fires in Australia in 2019 or in Canada recently, droughts and torrential floods; or about the political-technical component: debates about the expansion of renewable energy, the future…