Fundamentals of sustainable energetic.
(October 2011) Energy Consumption and Energy Sources in Germany by
2050
Author 1Author 2Author 3
Status quo Germany today
Total area: 357,012m²Population: 82 mill.GDP 2.4trillion in 2010Electricity imports: 42.1 TWhElectricity exports: 59.1 TWh
Energy resourcesCoalOilNatural gasNuclear Energy Renewable Energy
Reduction of Energy Consumption
Use of all available eco-friendly technologies Lights. Reducing of street lights, eliminate lights-
advertisement for reduction of energy consumption and light-pollution.
Give feed-back on energy consumption, at least a monthly bill
Enable the consumer to level-out the energy consumption over the day to make use of smart grids
Combustion of fossil fuels for heating is inefficient as electrical heating
Transport I
Tailormade transportation according to the needs and the traffic density (rush hour – rural areas)
Cities: public transport, supported by measures like city-toll (maut)
Rural area:Higher efficiency of infrastructure reduces the need of transportation, no need for long distances. In rural areas, efficient cars can be justified
Transport II 90% reducing of fossil fuel demand by new
technologies and efficiency for cars (1-3liter cars, electro cars, etc.)
Electro cars used also as electricity storage
Reduce energy need by decreasing of traffic
Offer transport resources at the point of need, i.e. car sharing, public transport, bicycles
Get away from the attitude one consumer-one car. That reduces the problems of stationary traffic
Housing Home heating. Zero energy homes (ZEH) – good
insulation, solar or/and horisontal ground source heat pumps for water and room heating, solar or/and wind electricity production by house, controllers for energy and water consumption at homes
Electricity. Connect homes to electricity system – use energy from system if needed and donate energy to the system if it is overproduced by house
Water. Rain water collection for household needs
Create incentives for smart use of energy, i.e. flexible tarifs
Industry Demographic change leads to decrease of industry
production Energy intensive industry sectors decline Decrease of production (there are too many things
produced we don´t really need) Introduce more measures, based on the footprint of
a production. I.e. ease investment in greener technologies through tax-legislation
Food. Use local food. Stop food waste and so reduce its production and transportation energy needs. Save territory for wild life.
Paper. Eliminate paper advertisement, packaging. Save forests and CO2/O2 balance.
People I
Parks. Plant more parks and forests to reduce CO2 amounts, to clean up the air
Waste. Waste sorting and their reuse or recycling
Introduce a master plan to make the people think green in their decisions
give a feed-back in their taken decisions and make them benefit financially from it
People II
Introduce the ecological footprint in tax-legislation
Do the right thing and benefit from it
Impose certain taxes on efficient usage of energy. Higher taxes on fossil fuels and unjustified usage
Demography I
~15 Million people less until 2050
In Germany by 2050, the years with a strong birth rate are becoming erased due to their age
Introduce measures to help supporting the scarcely populated regions and optimize it under energy-saving aspects
Demography II
Industries with high energy consumption are decreasing generally in Germany and are not labour intensive
Change to the service industry, which is labour intensive solves the labour market problem
Environmental- and labour market issues are disconnected
How Much Energy Does Germany Need by 2050
Natural- and biogas for “high value energy” – industry
Heat pumps, geothermal and solarthermic sources for “low value energy” – housing, service sector
transportation
Source: Greenpeace: PlanB 2050 – Energiekonzept für Deutschland
Source: Greenpeace: PlanB 2050 – Energiekonzept für Deutschland
Possible Energy Sources
Solar PV. Even more potential than in the following graph
Solar heating. Especially for housing Ground source heat pumps for housing limited by
regional access Wind. Increase mainly in offshore wind parks Hydropower. Nearly constant amount of power
plants “Sustainable” biomass. No new areas of cultivation,
but areas of compensation
Source: Greenpeace: PlanB 2050 – Energiekonzept für Deutschland
Conclusion There is no “right answer”, complex possibilities
Changes are introduced by the people and require a change in attitude
A master-plan for the introduction of new technologies according to the expected lifetime
Close consideration of international collaboration (im- and export)
Smart grids and storage can contribute to the need of installed power plants
References http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIgVvPEVznc Alex
Steffen: The shareable future of cities (TED) http://www.bmwi.de/BMWi/Navigation/Energie/Statistik-und-
Prognosen/Energiedaten/gesamtausgabe.html Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
http://www.greenpeace.de/fileadmin/gpd/user_upload/themen/klima/Plan_B_2050_lang.pdf Studie: Klimaschutz: Plan B 2050 – Energiekonzept für Deutschland
http://www.bmu.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/energieszenarien_2010.pdf Studie: Energieszenarien für ein Energiekonzept der Bundesregierung