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ePaper created 2014-05-07, 13:23:14 | version 1.30.01
ENERGY 119 Dr.-Ing. Ursula Schließmann Ensuring an adequate future supply and efficient use of energy is of the highest economic pri- ority, since the primary energy sources that we currently use to meet the greatest part of our energy needs are finite. The use of crude oil, natural gas and coal also leads to a rapidly rising concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere – and consequently incalculable climate change. As a result of the use of these fossil energy carriers and the reduction of the overall capacity for photosynthesis, the Earth’s net energy content is continually decreasing. Making the transition to a sustainable energy supply is thus one of the 21st century’s major challenges. Energy efficiency, the use of regenerative energies and energy storage are funda- mental components here. At the Fraunhofer IGB we take on this challenge: key fields of action are sustainable energy conversion, the optimization of the energy efficiency of processes, e.g. through coupling processes, and developing suitable energy storage systems. We contribute, for instance, to expanding photosynthesis capacity by developing methods for cultivating microalgae; we also advance the exploitation of regenerative energy sources by means of highly innovative membrane technology (gas separation, fuel cells, osmosis power plants). A specific example is the development of membranes for oxygen enrichment to fa- cilitate more efficient combustion reactions in energy-intensive sectors such as the cement or steel industries. A further focal point is the development of absorption and membrane process- es or ionic liquids that have a high capacity to bind CO2 and separate it efficiently from biogas. Further developmental work to improve energy efficiency includes the production of biogas from organic waste, by-products of the food industry and primary agricultural production, as well as energy savings achieved through process optimization at municipal and industrial sew- age plants and anaerobic wastewater treatment. Noteworthy in this context are also industrial processes such as the drying of biomass and porous materials with super-heated steam at am- bient pressure, and methods for rapid energy input, e.g. microwave pyrolysis. Additionally, the Fraunhofer IGB is developing systems for stable long-term storage of thermal energy in order to make waste heat available for temporally and spatially decoupled heat requirements. A fur- ther project is refining biogas for CNG-powered vehicles. We are also active in designing integrated material flow and energy concepts for municipalities and regions, replacing the current, historically grown solutions with systematic approaches us- ing state-of-the-art technologies. For this purpose, the Fraunhofer IGB is an active partner in the Fraunhofer Energy, Building Innovation and Water Systems (SysWasser) Alliances, as well as the Fraunhofer Morgenstadt (city of the future) initiative.