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Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Schlagwort: ‘Energiewende’

School’s out! – What next?

September 6th, 2024 | by
Two women and a man stand in front of a map, while a woman points to the map.

© Martin Braun

Which study programme is right for me? And what will my working life look like?

During the orientation phase, we develop a first picture of our future professional life. This image is shaped by various influences, usually from our immediate environment: What are my parents’ professions? What did my teacher advise me to study? But as individual as we are, the possibilities are just as varied – and the more often we take the opportunity to gain an insight into different professions, the wider our field of vision becomes and the clearer our personal path appears.

The researchers at the Institute for High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW) at RWTH Aachen University share their professional and personal experiences in three articles. The scientists, each team work in one of the institute’s three chairs, have different research focuses. However, they all have one goal in common: to integrate their ideas into people’s lives and thus advance our society.

Among other things, they address the following questions:

  • How can large amounts of energy from photovoltaic and wind power plants be integrated into our electricity system in the future?
  • What challenges will arise from the increasing share of renewable energies and flexible consumers such as heat pumps and electric cars?
  • What is necessary to ensure a reliable energy supply and to avoid blackouts?

What else will the scientists share with you:

  • How do typical researchers think? Do they work alone on their own research projects?
  • What are the career prospects after a PhD? Do science and business exclude each other?
  • When did the desire to become an electrical engineer arise, what is a typical working day like and what role does work-life balance play?
Two hands of different people point to specific points on a map showing the expansion of the electricity grid in Northern Europe and the Baltic region.

© Martin Braun


Be inspired and find your own way!
On our website we inform you about our study programmes.

Excellent researchers on an interdisciplinary stage: lecture by Professor Monti

April 12th, 2024 | by
Portrait von Professor Monti

© Peter Winandy

On 17 April, Professor Antonello Monti of RWTH Aachen University will speak at the scientific meeting of the engineering and economics class of the “Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste” about the development goals of his discipline in terms of solving major societal challenges.

Against the background of the international situation, the energy transition process is more important than ever.The necessary technological transformation of the energy system must be approached from two angles: On the one hand, a new major player in energy supply has emerged: renewable energy. On the other hand, there are new consumers such as electromobility and heat pumps. Digitalisation is proving to be a key enabler in this process. You could even say that digitalisation is not an option, but a necessity. The power system is consequently becoming a large, programmable cyber physical infrastructure with a high level of complexity. In his presentation “The Digitalisation of the Energy Systems: from the electrons to the cloud”, Professor Monti addresses this complexity by analysing the solutions currently being developed for the different levels of the infrastructure.

” Rethinking the whole architecture means reconsider the basic principles of operation of the new power system but also the corresponding IT systems”,
announced Professor Monti, Director of the Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems (ACS).

So what does it mean to run a digital grid? And will we be able to build a digital grid that is as reliable as the current infrastructure?

The solutions he proposes in his presentation are the result of concrete experience from large European research projects. Professor Monti leads a research group with about 50 full time scientists working intensively on the the border between energy and information and communication technologies. He is responsible for coordinating some of the most relevant European projects in this field, such as OneNet, TwinEU und int:net. His research work has received several awards, including the prestigious “IEEE Field Medal Award for Innovation in Public Infrastructure” and the “NRW Innovation Award”.

In another presentation – “Sustainable metals: contributions from basic research” – Professor Dierk Raabe from the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials will address the question of whether we can succeed in decarbonising a key industry with “green steel”.


Further information on the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste can be found on the organisation’s homepage.

CO2For-IT: A data room for the timber industry with a focus on climate protection

July 17th, 2023 | by
Information flyer about CO2 for IT with a list of all institutes and companies involved.

Project partners in CO2For-IT. © Institute for Man-Machine Interaction RWTH Aachen University

A new initiative to promote a climate-friendly timber industry was launched in July 2023. The CO2For-IT project, supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, aims to create a “Forest Data Space” to enable the sustainable use of wood from forests.

The Forest Data Space will provide data on the carbon footprint of the entire timber value chain and therefore support the development of data-based solutions for climate protection. The project is led by Materna Information & Communications SE and coordinated by the Dortmund Institute for Research and Transfer (RIF e.V.). Other partners include RWTH Aachen University, Rhenus Forest Logistics GmbH & Co. KG, HSM Hohenloher Spezial Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, Forstliches Forschungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Gotha (ThüringenForst – AöR) and Kuratorium für Waldarbeit und Forsttechnik e. V. (KWF). In addition, foldAI and iFOS GmbH are collaborating with the project.

Group photo from the Kickoff Event.

© Institute for Man-Machine Interaction RWTH Aachen University

 


For more information visit: KWH 4.0 | CO2For-IT (kwh40.de) (only in german)

Energy Park Herzogenrath: Chair of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems is involved in research

June 17th, 2023 | by
Black solar panels on green grass field under blue sky during the day.

© Michael Förtsch by Unsplash

The project for CO2-neutral energy supply in Herzogenrath, the first city in NRW to strive for this goal, is accompanied by a consortium of four chairs and institutes, including the Chair of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Technology.

Herzogenrath wants to achieve CO2-neutral energy supply by 2030. A consortium of Siemens Energy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen University of Applied Sciences and the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences is conducting research on the project “Energy Park Herzogenrath Research & Development”, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection with 2.7 million euros. The project is also closely interlinked with other ongoing research and funding projects: at the local flat glass manufacturer Saint Gobain, CO2-free production is being researched, in which the Chair of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Technology at the E.ON Energy Research Center (ERC) of RWTH Aachen University is involved. The aim is to recycle the heat generated during glass production in Herzogenrath and Kerkrade in the Netherlands as green heating energy.

The project uses a digital twin that virtually maps and simulates the energy supply. In this way, different scenarios can be tested and optimised. The project looks at generation, consumption and marketing options across sectors. RWTH is receiving around 918,000 euros in funding for this.


More information on the project can be found at Energiepark Herzogenrath – Strukturwandel Rheinisches Revier (revier-gestalten.nrw) and at CO2-neutral bis 2030: Forschungsprojekt Energiepark Herzogenrath mit rund 2,7 Millionen Euro gefördert | Wirtschaft NRW.

Climate protection through electrical engineering – Professor Dirk Uwe Sauer’s lecture at the Children’s University

June 16th, 2023 | by
Kinder im Hörsaal

Kinder im Hörsaal. ©RWTH Aachen University

Whether drought, floods or forest fires – the consequences of global warming are dramatic for nature and people. The countries of the global south are being hit particularly hard, but the effects are also being felt here. We experienced this at the latest with the devastating floods in July 2021. That is why we urgently need to address the issue of climate change. 

This is also what Dirk Uwe Sauer, Professor of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Technology at RWTH Aachen University, is doing. He has been researching new energy systems for over 30 years and advises politicians on the energy transition.

„We see in all places that climate change is happening – with many negative consequences. And we urgently need a radical change in the way we have supplied ourselves with energy so far.“

This does not only affect us adults, but especially the children and young people of today. They will have to live with the limitations that climate change will bring. “I don’t think we should underestimate what children know and what they are capable of,” says Professor Sauer.

It is not too late to make a difference

In his lecture, the physicist not only explained the dangers of climate change, but also made the necessary changes understandable. He used various materials such as videos, slides and interactive presentations to show the physical basics and the possibilities through timely action: “I also want to spread optimism and show that things can also get better than they currently are. Because if we still grab the wheel in time, then we still have the possibility to avoid worse things.” For this to happen, however, society must overcome its fear of new technologies. The professor said that there is too much talk about the risks instead of seeing the opportunities. “And we simply can’t afford that now either.” A ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2021 has obliged politicians, and thus the population, to act more quickly. The slower progress is made, the more the living conditions of the next generations are restricted. That is why the previous federal government tightened the climate protection targets and the Climate Protection Act. “We have the opportunity to achieve these goals. We have the necessary technologies to supply all eight billion people in the world properly with renewable energy,” Sauer said.

Climate change is an important issue that concerns us all. But what does it actually mean and how can we work against it? Professor Sauer explained this to the children in his lecture at the Children’s University on 16 June 2023. He showed them how the earth is warming up and what consequences this has for nature and people. He also presented solutions on how we can protect the climate with renewable energies and new technologies. For example, with solar cells that generate electricity from sunlight, or with electric cars that emit no exhaust gases. Professor Sauer showed the children not only the problems of climate change, but also the opportunities that arise from it. He showed them that we can not only influence the climate with our energy supply, but also promote biodiversity.

„I would like to show the children that, for example, large photovoltaic systems on open fields not only generate electricity, but also create space for extensive agriculture, for insects that can live and flourish in these areas again.“

Climate change is a major challenge that we can only overcome together. For this, we need an awareness of the connections between energy and the environment that starts with children. Another goal of the Children’s University event was to get the children excited about scientific topics. “Physics has the great advantage that it can illustrate things very vividly and also show connections,” said Sauer. Using simple means, Professor Sauer showed where research starts and what possibilities can arise through technical progress.

Source: Aachener Zeitung, 16 June 2023

National academies support European climate protection with study

July 14th, 2020 | by
The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, National Academy of Science and Engineering (Acatech) and the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities have presented a study. ” Energy transition 2030: Europe’s path to carbon neutrality ” aims to provide the German government, in light of its upcoming presidency of the EU Council, with a compact series of recommendations for giving the desired European energy. The ad-hoc statement was prepared by ESYS – Energy Systems of the Future, an initiative of the German Academies of Science. Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dirk Uwe Sauer as a member of the ESYS Board of Directors and Philipp Stöcker contributed to the study.