tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71806115636022819502024-03-20T21:43:21.219-07:00Building and Sustaining Low Carbon Economies IIWe are accompanying our visits to Germany with this blog to share some of the experiences and insights we have gained here during the various Best Practice Exchanges starting in 2010Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-35017383057445490482013-05-05T07:27:00.000-07:002013-05-02T01:49:01.498-07:00Project Overview<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdOHUxrT2_UZRNRVW92otHTJyp6tDzE2i4Pj6KNR9dj8MEKs1uV-T3i83NR32pj4r0QaV6CSlN6W6cH_WgeBq2mZKSkXFl85hkxvajrtwnlX55A19t9Pjg4QShdOrls8tANDpszkkhQHU/s1600/IMG_2324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdOHUxrT2_UZRNRVW92otHTJyp6tDzE2i4Pj6KNR9dj8MEKs1uV-T3i83NR32pj4r0QaV6CSlN6W6cH_WgeBq2mZKSkXFl85hkxvajrtwnlX55A19t9Pjg4QShdOrls8tANDpszkkhQHU/s320/IMG_2324.JPG" width="240" /></a>This project will work with professionals employed in business and/ or training, responsible for designing or delivering training, professional development or career guidance. The participants will come from the Third Sector (charitable, non-profit making organisations), from the VET (vocational education and training) sector, governmental bodies, private training providers & SMEs. Participants are involved to design, plan, deliver training focusing on renewable energy technologies ranging from training in Solar PV, Solar Hot Water, Domestic Wind Generation, raising awareness on using sustainable construction methods and materials as well as delivering CO2/ Climate Change awareness training. With this Best Practice exchange we would like to give the opportunity to experience first hand how Germany has dealt with the integration of renewable energy technologies as part of their energy mix and what this meant for the development of training programmes as well as from an investment point of view. There are many lessons that can be learnt and mistakes avoided experiencing a country that has fostered renewables strategically since 1990s. The UK has made a lot of progress in the last couple of years and we wish to foster a cross-country dialogue amongst professionals in the sector to work together on local, national and international level. </div>
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There is a EU-wide target to source 20% of the energy needs from renewable sources and to cut CO2 by 26% by 2020. The European Commission has proposed that the UK’s contribution to this should be to increase the share of renewables in their energy mix from around 1.5% in 2006 to 15% by 2020. Currently there is evidence of skills gaps across the energy sector and around 72% of companies in the energy sector experience these skill gaps, notably in project management, technical and practical skills. The Sector Skills Council for Building Services Engineering highlights the pressing challenge of a "bottleneck in training the trainers, a limited number of enforceable standards or Codes of Practice for the installation of Renewable Energy (RE) systems, no specific system design course for RE systems, limited funding for establishing training schemes." These challenges will prevail in 2010 and beyond, as reports on relevant Sector Skills Agreements indicate. </div>
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1) Improve and update the competencies of professionals through the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience with specialists in Germany.</div>
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2) Observe, shadow and experience vocational training systems and methodologies in practice </div>
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3) Collaborate with peers to foster the exchange of knowledge and technologies within the renewable energy/ sustainable construction sector</div>
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4) Learn about Best Practice solutions in renewable energies/ sustainable construction (i.e. Zero Carbon houses etc.)</div>
Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-32519499527882591922013-04-30T06:49:00.000-07:002013-06-25T03:39:00.299-07:00Sunday 21st of April 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Chris Rowland - OVESCO & Tom Broughton - Transition Town Chichester</b></div>
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We chose not to fly to Germany and took the Eurostar from St Pancras to Brussels where we picked up a couple of beers and then boarded the ICE to Frankfurt. ECO Passenger comparison web site shows a one way trip flying is 99.9 Kg of CO2, but the train is only 20.7 Kg of CO2. It also shows how much Nitrogen Oxide is produced by aircraft and cars when compared with train travel.</div>
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<b>Lee Rose - Norfolk Solar</b></div>
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Just a short hop from the heathrow hotel to the airport terminal; meeting some of the other participants for the first time. got on the right plane so thats a good start (though i hate flying.......found out later that i could have taken the train to germany!)
flight was very quick, followed by an hour waiting at frankfurt airport for the plane from manchester carrying the rest of the participants. then a long drive to zella mehlis (did i spell that right?); the further away from frankfurt, the more solar panels i see. 6.30pm and we arrived at BCS (the venue); quick freshen up and then dinner (with such a lot of bread!) participants seem like a great bunch; learnt about banana beer and solar lamps for Africa today. looking forward to tomorrow.</div>
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<b>John Shaw - Burnley College </b></div>
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David and I had a good flight out from Manchester and arrived early in Frankfurt, met Dirk and Sebastian who drove us the two hours to Zella-Meplis here in Thuringia, formerly East Germany Brilliant on the Autobahn as the speed you want to go is the correct one and its legal! Drove through the old border between East and West, and saw the old Border Tower... Now just a relic... Arrived at our accommodation and we were assigned rooms on the 4th floor, Met our colleagues for the week over a evening buffet dinner and discussed the itinerary and the week ahead.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-11559283641366677792013-04-30T05:13:00.000-07:002013-06-25T03:54:17.770-07:00Monday 22nd of April 2013<span id="goog_1892471514"></span><span id="goog_1892471515"></span><br />
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<b>Chris Rowland - OVESCO & Tom Bourghton - Transition Town Chichester</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgta5sV0YJ0vyF3pQQuCYJs4sQhJE3FhuLVkUnVYxtzkN_GcWAZ0Yxt0AkfODp3NdQM2_AvtxZDqzwoIRnEcBH4-wSIFHK-hMOoWeApsFka9flOX825S197ZN5FErJrp7i7dIzfbOYbLwE/s1600/1+BCS+Workshops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgta5sV0YJ0vyF3pQQuCYJs4sQhJE3FhuLVkUnVYxtzkN_GcWAZ0Yxt0AkfODp3NdQM2_AvtxZDqzwoIRnEcBH4-wSIFHK-hMOoWeApsFka9flOX825S197ZN5FErJrp7i7dIzfbOYbLwE/s320/1+BCS+Workshops.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>Community owned PV array at Viernau.</b> We meet the group on at Frankfurt airport and drove to Zella-Menhis, which is in the East of Germany and were are staying at the BCS college. Today we visted Viernau an an inspiring village of 2000 inhabitants, 10 km from Zella-Menhis, which has really adopted renewable energy generation. As well as re-instating a water mill to generate electricity, and making use of the local wood fuel supply, they have 3 MW of PV in two solar farms and on their buildings.<br />
The largest solar farm is 1.6MW, which is privately owned, there is a further 400kW on local buildings and the second solar farm is a <a href="http://www.viernau.de/solar_info.htm" target="_blank">1MW community owned system</a>, which was funded by a community share issue. This raised 400,000 euros (65 members, each with one vote and 6% ROI after the second year) and 1 million euros from local bank finance (2.95% interest). The project pays the village council 2000 euros for land rent each year and an income from local tax, which is expected to raise 150,000 euros over twenty years. <br />
It was estimated that the current PV systems will generate 3500 MWh per year. The current consumption of the village is 8000 MWh (housing + industry), and the intention is to meet all this demand from renewables – with the dynamic mayor behind this target we am sure that they are going to achieve this.<br />
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So could Transition Lewes and Chichester achieve the same and generate all the power they need from renewables?<br />
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Chris asked what the mayor thought about the proposed 15MW PV array planning proposal for Upper Stoneham Farm between Ringmer and Lewes. The mayor suggested that the community could offer to finance the project with part bank and part community share issue. For more information on the planning application for Upper Stoneham Farm visit the <a href="http://planningpublicaccess.southdowns.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=MJAME6TU02B00" target="_blank">South Downs National Park planning application page</a> and attend one of two public consultation events. The events will take place Monday 29th April 2013 at Lewes Town Hall between 3 and 8 pm and Wednesday 8th May 2013 at Ringmer Village Hall also between 3 and 8 pm.<br />
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<b>Lee Rose - Norfolk Solar</b></div>
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BCS has a good selection of solar pv and CHP; i was particularly intrigued by the 6kwp array and trying to work out why the modules had discoloured. The afternoon brought a short drive to Viernau's solar parks, and a closer look at the 990kwp community owned PV array, complete with a celebrity guide - Viernau's mayor no less! what a nice bloke he was. then.......for me...... the highlight of the day; a presentation from Herr Gerlach on domestic solar thermal systems followed by a golden opportunity to fire off some technical questions.......life doesn't get any better! </div>
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<b>Jake Rendle-Worthington - Solar Aid</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiFZfkIzV7VbzhoEKTP92w1P_FPQmA7Fj5X7SLDB78-pSI1LcO9O8rKvtT_t0SagEoQZWFjzbIRazLK679rrEUH5m9jiEj2QQ-Q0y7YFLTKmag8S-Vb_F0s2qwrPi7MLVhYACPJOZFsk/s1600/1+Viernau3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiFZfkIzV7VbzhoEKTP92w1P_FPQmA7Fj5X7SLDB78-pSI1LcO9O8rKvtT_t0SagEoQZWFjzbIRazLK679rrEUH5m9jiEj2QQ-Q0y7YFLTKmag8S-Vb_F0s2qwrPi7MLVhYACPJOZFsk/s320/1+Viernau3.jpg" width="213" /></a>After a prompt start we headed up to BCS and were given an introduction on what this vocational training organisation did and the phenomenal facilities that they offer by Mr. Gerlach the Director. There are five main areas of expertise that they focus on; home economics, administration, plastics and moulding, metal work and electronics. We then were given a quick tour of the two PV systems installed at another building for this facility by Mr. Roth. The later PV system, a 30kWp system, due to cunning procurement and optimisation of feed in tarrifs having a payback of just over 5 years. </div>
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The older system showed visible signs of degradation, but was still generating decent amounts of energy. After a lunch prepared by the home economics department of BCS and consisting mainly of the German staple of reconstituted meat product we took a trip to the Solarpark at Viernau. This is a town that due to the energy and enthusiasm for renewable of the Mayor produces almost 50% of its electricy requirements from renewable technologies, mostly Solar. While this was inspiring it was hard to see how this could be replicated in the UK with the mechanisms of local government and trust of financial institutions for bankable renewable projects relative to the German model. </div>
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We then returned to Zella Mehliss we went back to BCS and Mr. Gerlach was good enough to give us a presentation on his most cost saving and efficient system of heating domestic hot water and home heating. This consisted of a maximal installation of Solar Thermal collectors coupled with a very large storage tank and supplemented by another heat source – such as gas boiler, wood chip or other. For me the most revolutionary part of the system was that the solar thermal collectors supplied hot water to a heat exchanger that was exterior to the storage tank and then water was taken for different applications, i.e. tap water; underfloor heating, from different sections of the tank to match the temperature requirement of those applications. All in all an inspiring day, but the pinnacle had to be the beer and car boot party in the car park! </div>
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<b>Andrea Berardi - Funky Renewables</b></div>
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First day in Zella-Mehlis: After a comprehensive introduction to the BCS we had the opportunity to visit the Viernau solarpark. This town of about 2000 residents can rely on a photovoltaic infrastructure of more than 3000 kW photovoltaic, awesome! It seems that more than 43% of the electricity is produced from renewable sources. Furthermore, although if methane is available, people tend to take advantage from the wood from the forest for heat their houses.
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In the afternoon we also had the pleasure of having a "private lesson" from the CEO of BCS who outlined the company approach regarding the integration of different technologies. From their analysis it would be possible to cost-effectively cut off the running costs of the 40%÷50% in many residential buildings, with a proper integration of thermal insulation, solar thermal and efficient heating systems like heat pumps or biomass boilers. </div>
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<b>John Shaw - Burnley College </b></div>
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Following breakfast, we had a welcome meeting from Herr Gerlach at the BCS centre. He speaks excellent Russian but no English , a legacy of East German education... he explained the number of professional staff the centre employs, the 27 courses offered...including Electrical, Engineering, Plastic moulding and Catering. Exams can also be taken accredited to the Chamber of Crafts and Commerce. We then had a tour of the facility, including the two Solar voltaic arrays installed...1 in 2008 and the new array in 2011 ... The newer system is visibly in better condition, as the older one ( by only three years) has discoloured panels, also generates more energy and therefore saves more carbon! Both electronic displays are in the centres main teaching room for all trainees to see.
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After a hot lunch at the centre we were taken to Viernau were a solar photo voltain farm with 4200 panels can generate up to 3MW ...about 35 % of the villages energy requirement. We meet one of the Directors who showed the farm to the group and explained the farms configuration...and the slight issue of soil erosion under the panels...as this is affecting the houses located below the farm... A solution is to grass seed the land and employ sheep to manage the grass... Simple and effective!!
We returned to the village to meet the Burgermeister, (Town Mayor) Herr Hellmann, who gave a talk on the changing ways of village life... </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNz84wmVVQAlyvsrWr942S1mHfKvj_f2tonIGSV5UdgAHFHt_E3xzWfWMSvA4ckwU6yxn94OxCo13h9UO_UBmp8_z29httcLOWrSc_rROJh4fDyb0P3jE82yGpC96r8OQWqPx5DEwmCg/s1600/1+Viernau2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNz84wmVVQAlyvsrWr942S1mHfKvj_f2tonIGSV5UdgAHFHt_E3xzWfWMSvA4ckwU6yxn94OxCo13h9UO_UBmp8_z29httcLOWrSc_rROJh4fDyb0P3jE82yGpC96r8OQWqPx5DEwmCg/s320/1+Viernau2.jpg" width="213" /></a>Dirk kindly interpreting for those of us with limited German (very limited). Following 1945, a large metal processing factory which employed 600 people was shut down and the town now has many SME's contributing to employment...from my observations there are many new and very smart houses... Mainly detached Chalet type with their own gardens... A few are in need of repair...some need much repair... Although this is to be expected in a working village of 2000 inhabitants . The Solar farm cost 1.4 million Euros to set up... 0.4 raised by a group of villagers and the remaining million Euros borrowed from the bank...interest rates of 2.39% ensure a pay back time of 5-6 years... A very good investment.
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We returned to the centre for a presentation from Herr Gerlach on the best (and worst) ways to exploit renewables to ensure maximum energy efficiency and financial benefit from investments...here Dirk once again proved to be an excellent interpreter for our group...as the technical details were involved and our group questioned the Director closely on the finer points of heating systems and their relevant operating pressures and valves. The first day closed at 5.30 and we returned to our accommodation for our evening meal... Meat balls in soup... And to start our blogs. </div>
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<b>Lui Hepworth </b><b>- Brighton Energy Cooperative</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOO9K9pPHDwcQ-Kg9lj9LT0y3Z5PfNUWq2_ujZthw1fgjhKuPyaFDjkKxZaMY5VHLaBgPd9BFE2Gb11nM3cqDyQA3yhZy3E7ZxSqzkXCQmgmAArVM7kjlVLMf5IXDtypFb6dJmghRaLo/s1600/1+Viernau5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOO9K9pPHDwcQ-Kg9lj9LT0y3Z5PfNUWq2_ujZthw1fgjhKuPyaFDjkKxZaMY5VHLaBgPd9BFE2Gb11nM3cqDyQA3yhZy3E7ZxSqzkXCQmgmAArVM7kjlVLMf5IXDtypFb6dJmghRaLo/s320/1+Viernau5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It was great to see a 1MW community solar farm just outside the town and to hear about it's popularity with the local residents. I like the fact that all shareholders only have one vote, regardless of how much they have invested. There is also a maximum that any one person can invest. This stops any one investor dominating the project, making voting more democratic. It was fantastic to be able to quiz the Town Mayor and hear how passionate he is about renewables. With two solar farms and individual small scale renewables, the town now generates 3.5 million Kw/hrs per year. All this has been installed over the last ten years. The town's total consumption is 8 million Kw/hrs per year and the Mayor is confident that the rest of this demand will be met with small scale renewable installations eg roof top solar PV.</div>
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<b>David Aspin - Burnley College</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM62vxbsS_XLP4JmFMQt-TA3c7sMorOSb9u3A5M8uoE9Y0BGcCialliMGdtAmXK7gEFBADBe2OVxv-dHQaRlj0tSy6ENwkskmQJuzj6Zhyphenhyphenq-sWV_uXcGAz6SiTypQgRlQ-rlQ3TVyQVlU/s1600/5+Explaining+Stuff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM62vxbsS_XLP4JmFMQt-TA3c7sMorOSb9u3A5M8uoE9Y0BGcCialliMGdtAmXK7gEFBADBe2OVxv-dHQaRlj0tSy6ENwkskmQJuzj6Zhyphenhyphenq-sWV_uXcGAz6SiTypQgRlQ-rlQ3TVyQVlU/s320/5+Explaining+Stuff.jpg" width="213" /></a>Visit the BCS Vocational Training Centre. The facility has twenty seven professionals and specializes in five areas: Home Economics, Business Adminstration, Metal Engineering, Plastic Engineering and Electrical Engineering. There are sixty staff at the centre providing training for between 200 – 300 students per year. The facility is almost self sufficient with the majority of services delivered utilizing in-house resources.
The facility comprises of three building which includes the Guest House accommodation.
We had the opportunity to observe the two PV panel installations located on the roof of the facility. These were installed in 2008 & 2011 respectively. The 2008 installation generates 9KW and the 2011 installation generates just short of 30KW:
Whilst at the facility we were shown an example of a working CHP unit and the principles of the installation were explained.
We were also given the opportunity to visit the manufacturing facility.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0MQiJlMcLrLeKbazrP4cCL5pj7WH44q-JFTw-Y4ObhHZcLeiQbT-57kNKmEJQfNZ80S886Bqqkfifsw5caoBojzqNHUv7j_z4-Lp9hhzrGVFwZgEeylkFQVU3r3hA43Z_lVM5Cn8dJUA/s1600/1+Viernau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0MQiJlMcLrLeKbazrP4cCL5pj7WH44q-JFTw-Y4ObhHZcLeiQbT-57kNKmEJQfNZ80S886Bqqkfifsw5caoBojzqNHUv7j_z4-Lp9hhzrGVFwZgEeylkFQVU3r3hA43Z_lVM5Cn8dJUA/s320/1+Viernau.jpg" width="320" /></a>After lunch we drove over to the Solar park at Viernau where we met the director of the plant. He explained some key facts and figures such as the total area of the 4100 PV panels (18000 SqM) which were connected to 20 KM of installed wiring. The installation was undertaken by Siemens. The outputs are: 900 – 1050 W/m2, 8000 KWH/ day, 8MW hours / day. The installation was commissioned in Feb 13.
The installation is monitored regularly to identify problems at an early stage.
The Mayor explained the funding for the site which was provided through a community venture with a loan facility from the bank for a proportion of the project cost. The interest rate agreed with the bank was 2.39%
The Mayor also explained that no further land based solar parks would be allowed in the area.
The last session of the day was a presentation by H: Gerlach this covered solar thermal and heat pumps (air & ground)
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-77407463116544477462013-04-30T04:47:00.000-07:002013-06-25T03:58:25.718-07:00Tuesday 23rd of April 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><b>Chris Rowland - OVESCO & Tom Bourghton - Transition Town Chichester</b> </b></div>
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<b>Warm Jumpers and the BTZ Aus- und Weiterbildung Technical College.</b> Today we visited the </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4hXAHO4qNyhpVt3tbn2nJfNSXxd9Numnlni8hP-HFelWZtSgCBe6ysN2WYtRvKbnNxzLXOIPuivzqtE07pdht28zA8t3G2MmxgwM67kd9W3bDy-BvyU1Rz9OD3Otj0lE3TWJwersEn8/s1600/2+BTZRohr_LAser+Sintering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4hXAHO4qNyhpVt3tbn2nJfNSXxd9Numnlni8hP-HFelWZtSgCBe6ysN2WYtRvKbnNxzLXOIPuivzqtE07pdht28zA8t3G2MmxgwM67kd9W3bDy-BvyU1Rz9OD3Otj0lE3TWJwersEn8/s320/2+BTZRohr_LAser+Sintering.jpg" width="320" /></a>BTZ Technical College, where students young and old can study engineering, building construction and renewable energy technologies. The whole site is very impressive and courses take students through the entire design and build process. We saw CAD modelling, a range of CNC machines, laser metal sintering, rapid prototyping, part scanners, energy efficiency for homes and a wide range of renewables. All the renewables were deployed on site or being tested and included:</div>
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Solar thermal (see image above) combined with gas CHP, absorption chillers and a heat exchanger, to heat and cool the building. There are plans to link the college with a chicken farm 2km away by a gas pipe and supply the CHP engine with biogas to run the plant. Excess electricity would be sold to the grid.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0hfv7_M713WcKH8LiWKsVB8_X0gL3KYJsXCqRNpKW9NDp7HAf1nczBUaiZ2e6f40g9bIVCMRB1u46Rk0Xv0EMBp5NY4NrJGk2g3w9zuuAmCUBKFzE72FglMJUa_-1HOtDlosfC525W4/s1600/2+BTZRohr3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0hfv7_M713WcKH8LiWKsVB8_X0gL3KYJsXCqRNpKW9NDp7HAf1nczBUaiZ2e6f40g9bIVCMRB1u46Rk0Xv0EMBp5NY4NrJGk2g3w9zuuAmCUBKFzE72FglMJUa_-1HOtDlosfC525W4/s320/2+BTZRohr3.jpg" width="320" /></a>A twenty year old facade mounted 2 kW PV system still working at 80% of their original performance. So effectively this system is now as a 1.6kw array and was generating 600W on the day of our visit. Other sites/buildings had been fitted with panels for comparison throughout Germany and it would be interesting to see how they had performed.</div>
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One room devoted to testing technology which included a CHP gas boiler with Stirling engine, a range of biomass boilers, thermal stores and thermal batteries.</div>
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One block devoted to energy efficiency which included full size sections of homes with a wide rage of insulation measures including solid wall insulation, heat exchangers, innovative thermal stores and pellet fed biomass boilers.</div>
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Looking across the valley from BTZ to a 3.5 MW PV solar farm it was surprising to see that the roofs of the BTZ were not covered with PV panels. It was explained that BTZ didn’t want to do so, because it would mean that the college would get less funding (FiT rules) and its primary purpose is training students! We have noticed that the energy needs of this area relay on wood fuel, solar thermal, PV (small and large scale) and thermal heat. There are no large wind turbines in that part of Germany, because of its natural wooded beauty.</div>
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At BTZ they have a vision based around training, connections with industry and finance with a long term goal to continually improve. Of course technical solutions alone are not enough to supply our future energy needs and behaviour change is also necessary, but you have to admire the way that Germany is so good at the whole process of developing products which work and are of high quality.</div>
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So we end on a comment made yesterday; ‘jumpers are a very effective and simple way to keep you warm’. </div>
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Thermal batteries see <a href="http://www.thermobatterie.net/thermobatterie.html">http://www.thermobatterie.net/thermobatterie.html</a><b> </b></div>
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<b>Lee Rose - Norfolk Solar</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP6tOjTiSMzS702YvWxBGugnek9K2k7dxVFVF2vAyYrzE-Nm2meV4Naqtg7BKIIbvGeztw0nweaVP13v-B6y1hQo46Nv0GCB7CrCgWBVr_WgBe_zN2a1AhFebyapZO3iSRYPGHs1QHWo/s1600/2+BTZRohr_Building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoP6tOjTiSMzS702YvWxBGugnek9K2k7dxVFVF2vAyYrzE-Nm2meV4Naqtg7BKIIbvGeztw0nweaVP13v-B6y1hQo46Nv0GCB7CrCgWBVr_WgBe_zN2a1AhFebyapZO3iSRYPGHs1QHWo/s320/2+BTZRohr_Building.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Just yesterday i wrote 'life doesn't get any better'...... how wrong i was.
For a technical nerd like me, today's trip to BTZ Rohr was like opening all the best presents from all of my childhood christmas' at once!
This is a vocational college doing amazing stuff with metal and plastic engineering, and then, i counted a minimum of ten renewable energy or low carbon technology installations, of which some are simply excellent examples of best practice, at least two are pioneering works dating back some 20 years, and at least two more are at the cutting edge of thermal renewables. The phase change equipment is so new that they haven't finished installing it yet! and i have never seen not just one, but two working examples of ammonia absorption chillers (one of which fed by solar thermal). have i died and gone to heaven?
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<b>Jake Rendle-Worthington - Solar Aid</b></div>
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Today we started with a trip to the Chamber of Crafts for Thuringa. Quite an amazing facility with all kinds of resources for tradesmen to up-skill and become Master-craftsmen. They have several large workshops onsite with state of the art equipment for welders, mechanics, metal engineers and plastics engineering, carpentry and joinery amongst many other skills. They even had a converted monastery equipped with two bowling alleys!
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The most interesting part came after lunch as we were shown around the newly opened energy in buildings facility. It was served by a 130m¬¬¬¬¬2 array of flat plate solar thermal collectors which fed into a 3,000 litre storage tank for heating. There was also a refrigeration unit attached so the heat energy from the solar thermal could also be used for cooling. As well as serving the practical and classroom areas of this building this system also connected to a loop in the ceiling of a lecture hall so that on balmy summer days cooled air could drift down into this hall making lectures more bearable!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JVxKwmcCusCaKLIRq5XRa8tTVotWfQm0WTc0cwD5RGE5vej4Gtejf_VQziNoRpPz_HzO3XAc75mo_3IJBNC_GAwFs3UyS3REbAxG2LnU_LlsAZX2FmL5boSNBtL5doc7-wu1kRZ71j8/s1600/2+BTZRohr6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8JVxKwmcCusCaKLIRq5XRa8tTVotWfQm0WTc0cwD5RGE5vej4Gtejf_VQziNoRpPz_HzO3XAc75mo_3IJBNC_GAwFs3UyS3REbAxG2LnU_LlsAZX2FmL5boSNBtL5doc7-wu1kRZ71j8/s320/2+BTZRohr6.jpg" width="320" /></a>The practical area of this facility was also phenomenal with several styles of German buildings from different eras semi constructed in a large hall. This was so that students can see all the different methods used for retrofitting energy saving and energy efficiency measures. Each building also has several mistakes in built into them and an interactive monitor to help you identify these mistakes. An excellent tool for best practice for builders and tradesmen, the kind of thing that would blow the mind of any British builder! We also looked at the utility room of the whole place which had several different types of heating system installed, pellet boilers, wood boilers, a gas CHP plant with hot water storage tanks. They also had ready to install a number of tanks for hot water storage using salt in water as a method of phase change heat store.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWg0X7Zl8ulViNLy8RE3O9W5tetxF3AdVQbQORe2sSJwrdXV_Pt73rXZOavNZD_fCK1BC01xvgNF7dR8D-_-KILR-H7xAqna9Jt791wN1FRqCaAb9dH1hkie2JrEJ9_CEoSNFbLzyCdQ/s1600/2+Crypt..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWg0X7Zl8ulViNLy8RE3O9W5tetxF3AdVQbQORe2sSJwrdXV_Pt73rXZOavNZD_fCK1BC01xvgNF7dR8D-_-KILR-H7xAqna9Jt791wN1FRqCaAb9dH1hkie2JrEJ9_CEoSNFbLzyCdQ/s320/2+Crypt..jpg" width="213" /></a>These were to be tested here as well at a number of other establishments to find out their potential for the manufacturer.
We made a visit to the ancient village of Rohr with its Church and crypt on the way home at which we were given a great insight into the history of the village by an old lady who ran the museum. It seems for at least 1000 years everyone had picked on the inhabitants of Rohr. There was the travelling Kings who ate all their food, local knights who stole their harvests, Bavarian Barons who stole their baby King, Saxon administrators who got them into massive debt, the neighbouring village who lent them money and stole their village and the Croats who put their priest in an oven. The Swedes where at least quite nice and came back after the 30 year war to marry some of the locals. All in all an interesting and exhausting day, no more car park party for me tonight! </div>
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<b>Andrea Berardi - Funky Renewables</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyx6mU2qy5P8Jmcrg4ZB-pbagcUlex4vU8E-nNdsHVBqa6Ej0wQI-wioIs71BBJ397Z6XrY78vPwqEdry43y1tipawD2eGahxTgnkkcfr1p4nu6mncNXUL6CLlbM3W1SLmPfa5_k0wqys/s1600/2+BTZRohr_Bolt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyx6mU2qy5P8Jmcrg4ZB-pbagcUlex4vU8E-nNdsHVBqa6Ej0wQI-wioIs71BBJ397Z6XrY78vPwqEdry43y1tipawD2eGahxTgnkkcfr1p4nu6mncNXUL6CLlbM3W1SLmPfa5_k0wqys/s320/2+BTZRohr_Bolt.jpg" width="320" /></a>Today we had the opportunity to visit the local buildings of the Chamber of Crafts and adjacent areas, dedicated to the training of students. It is the first time I see a training center where Selective Laser Sintering is used. It is an additive manufacturing layer technology that uses laser in order to fuse together particles of plastic or metal powders, creating the desired three-dimensional shape. The results are impressive.
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The center also has an advanced division, dedicated to renewable energy and energy savings. The building can be considered an exhibition in itself, as it uses the most different techniques you energy production and distribution, including an absorption refrigerator powered by solar collectors.
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<b>Lui Hepworth - Brighton Energy Cooperative</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeKVLpfM3Mzw9SRGH2mZZEco5AZ7hkglAiZJ5o1PrljAsSkfLRJVQVHBnuuKCF4OphO7Oe_gvJRz5VrOGk-9Ugax-SZhck4z9KqqhtKD9noaRRSAAr8ZKPWvoqmZXqBHa502CfvXjKr8/s1600/2+BTZRohr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeKVLpfM3Mzw9SRGH2mZZEco5AZ7hkglAiZJ5o1PrljAsSkfLRJVQVHBnuuKCF4OphO7Oe_gvJRz5VrOGk-9Ugax-SZhck4z9KqqhtKD9noaRRSAAr8ZKPWvoqmZXqBHa502CfvXjKr8/s320/2+BTZRohr.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Highlight of today was to see innovative ways of storing heat. Excellent for storing excess heat produced from solar thermal in the summer to use used into the winter months. I loved the big rubber storage tank that be easily squashed down to get it into the basement of existing homes, where the system is then assembled. This system cleverly stores and uses heat in different temperature layers and can provide enough heating and hot water to get through the whole winter.
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It was also good to see the wall mounted solar panels, still working at 80% of their original capacity after 20 years of use. Those are panels made 20 years ago. Since then PV technology has moved on greatly, with panels now generating more and loosing less efficiency over their long life span. They are only going to get better and better over time. Good stuff. </div>
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<b>John Shaw - Burnley College</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSJpcNdK068gaocetzB4MlQJFxzOAGbNHd_-ClMAyJPf6lS-GaD4eg2mS0dwQVgXHwcG7EI6KRvHNgG6rOgikOOPNdZ4VnzePkpy30AW1wqzwGEmz-XKV4ws4xkKPRRctYlWDpiHc_Gg/s1600/148_1_79.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSJpcNdK068gaocetzB4MlQJFxzOAGbNHd_-ClMAyJPf6lS-GaD4eg2mS0dwQVgXHwcG7EI6KRvHNgG6rOgikOOPNdZ4VnzePkpy30AW1wqzwGEmz-XKV4ws4xkKPRRctYlWDpiHc_Gg/s320/148_1_79.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Dirk shared breakfast with the group and then accompanied us on a short drive to BTZ Rohr... Today we went to the BTZ training centre in Rohr... A really modern facility for training in the areas of Building crafts, Engineering, plastic moulding and Rapid prototype equipment. The centre has training courses funded by companies and the chamber of crafts and chamber of commerce...and BTZ provides the practical element of the Apprentice training. The Chamber of crafts provides opportunities in 42 disciplines. Master craftsmen also train here ... This is similar to a degree level education and you must have Master craft status before you can secure funding to start a business. Or have been in a leading position in a company for at least 6 years!
Being a Master craftsman opens up more opportunities and some people have gained 2 aster craft status areas... Including the Carpentry teacher...who is also a Master bricklayer...
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Master crafts courses are self-funded through State owned student loans or a local bank or company. School links provision is a carousel type course where the school youngsters attend one day pre week and have a taster to sample the craft areas prior to choosing the one they would like to study.. There are specific courses manufacturers can choose for their own product design...including up to three days design and make rapid prototype and testing welding equipment at the centre. Michael Bickel then gave the group a tour...starting at Carpentry on top of the hill and working our way back down via, engineering, electrical and rapid prototype and welding workshops...
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We had lunch in the sunshine before visiting a brand new facility dedicated to low energy and low carbon building...including a brilliant fault finding centre with six differing full size models of construction types in Thuringia...that has two hundred deliberate faults installed that the students have to locate within two hours ... I found five in the hour I was there ...but then again I wasn't really looking!!! The centre is open to the students and once a month to companies and members of the local populace... Who can come to view the house types before deciding to renovate a property or pursue a business idea... What abreast idea that is!!!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDv3t0yLgVLSx41F1cuAbPOCJCjDm97YgnWJaScVUkeja7WTUMYatuCs9ir7qtoJb_QTRPiiZfou4-0u33hdm4el8xiEy6UTwhfPTKoNn1udlieFG0PlJ6drZyVrh5r9-kqXqPZaklTQ/s1600/2+Crypt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDv3t0yLgVLSx41F1cuAbPOCJCjDm97YgnWJaScVUkeja7WTUMYatuCs9ir7qtoJb_QTRPiiZfou4-0u33hdm4el8xiEy6UTwhfPTKoNn1udlieFG0PlJ6drZyVrh5r9-kqXqPZaklTQ/s320/2+Crypt.jpg" width="213" /></a>This new centre is something i would definitely like to replicate back in Burnley college... What a fantastic way of showing people what building do and what they can do to use less energy an still be comfortable to live in...
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We stayed over an hour longer than we should and so we were late for our visit to the crypt in Rohr Closter ...Germany's oldest crypt at 811AD
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We had a very interesting talk from the lady there who explained in detail all about the traveller kings and Otto the third.... Married at 17 and died at 27... But left one of five children to survive as his heir at the tender age of 3.5 years old!!
The church is surrounded by a walled area to protect it form centuries of pillaging and raiding by Croats , travellers and even the local monks and nuns did their share of extortion form the locals ...it is a beautiful place for a photo or three!! </div>
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<b>David Aspin - Burnley College</b></div>
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The crypt was freezing and I was glad to take some photos and get back up to the sun outside... Following a short talk in the visitor centre we returned to the BCS Gastehaus and a dinner with the team
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8PB5r3QzE0PEhbWfVxF-xn4aeKNfX9LAmNlqFYOvwaLzWm7-Y6_TgJQPFkluSgHIl9JN3Tf-p7riFINmXJsb3Sbo6E2763WR1QaPeAChgg6_lkddI0c-IBJFsuzDxoRENJaIimydLR4/s1600/2+BTZRohr_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8PB5r3QzE0PEhbWfVxF-xn4aeKNfX9LAmNlqFYOvwaLzWm7-Y6_TgJQPFkluSgHIl9JN3Tf-p7riFINmXJsb3Sbo6E2763WR1QaPeAChgg6_lkddI0c-IBJFsuzDxoRENJaIimydLR4/s320/2+BTZRohr_7.jpg" width="320" /></a>This morning we visited BTZ Rohr Aus- Weiterbuildung. This is the most modern Vocational / Renewable energy centre in Germany.
The centre caters for students who wish to learn a certain craft such as Engineering and provides a level of study to enable the student to progress to become a Master Craftsman.
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As part of the visit we had a tour of the facility which included visiting the wood machine area with a demonstration of the CNC machine. The tour progressed to the welding workshop and testing area and finally concluded with a detailed discussion of injection moulding CNC engineering using both plastics and metal. The session included a brief overview of the manufacturing process including the drawing of the component using CAD Inventor.
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The afternoon session included a visit to the recently opened Renewable Energy Centre which includes several construction models identifying various build forms and techniques. The models have been carefully constructed utilizing the actual materials and construction methods which have been copied from the different types of construction that have been adopted throughout the years from traditional construction to ultra modern construction methods.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl9nRO4pAvE35aiYB5xxkCl1R7DSCHrIMci2hRb0SzLFILR-yoDvEvKWaTU7zcqBc4k932ODLOAWHVX_BhYVha3aY11i3499P5fmH0Xbv2cNtRXcHcsmjm3L1fArJSI_GTJEgVFGxLDM/s1600/LEE_ST.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl9nRO4pAvE35aiYB5xxkCl1R7DSCHrIMci2hRb0SzLFILR-yoDvEvKWaTU7zcqBc4k932ODLOAWHVX_BhYVha3aY11i3499P5fmH0Xbv2cNtRXcHcsmjm3L1fArJSI_GTJEgVFGxLDM/s320/LEE_ST.JPG" width="320" /></a>Actual building defects / faults have been purposely built into the models to provide a training exercise for students to identify the faults or areas of bad practice.
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The facility also includes the latest energy saving equipment which is all on display.
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The final session of the day was a visit to the Rohr-Closter. This is Germanys oldest crypt dating from 811 AD. The visit included a talk which covered the history of the area and the building. The group visited the actual crypt before ending the session in the Museum.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-85526952562401901842013-04-30T03:42:00.000-07:002013-06-25T04:02:37.386-07:00Wednesday 24th of April 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Tom Broughton - Transition Town Chichester</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJC3Tfo_6hSPVHEGrz_QWr_QW7nMOK6LaPYe5DErAkCyXiBUW7MwUd6-ug9SgOI1w6w7ebo-0oQPsUJ9NE49tIk4RCzmJIeZ0epiaG_iM2qZT2xLqtxnm30rdEOqj6U5AY7EK0OrZ3ObY/s1600/DSCF3610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJC3Tfo_6hSPVHEGrz_QWr_QW7nMOK6LaPYe5DErAkCyXiBUW7MwUd6-ug9SgOI1w6w7ebo-0oQPsUJ9NE49tIk4RCzmJIeZ0epiaG_iM2qZT2xLqtxnm30rdEOqj6U5AY7EK0OrZ3ObY/s320/DSCF3610.JPG" width="240" /></a>My illusions of a country that strictly did things by the book were dented somewhat today when I learnt that the requirement for an Energy Pass, equivalent to the UK’s EPC, when selling or letting a property was not strictly adhered to. The cost of an Energy Pass, €50-100, didn’t seem that different to the UK, as long as the property owner had 3 quarters of energy bills, otherwise the price could double. Even the potential fine of €50,000 didn’t seem to encourage stronger adherence. As highlighted by Energy Assessor Dipl. Physiker Reiner Maschke, the number of energy assessments was much less than the number of sales/lets. Herr Maschke hoped than a central register for the Energy Passes which should have been live in 2012 would be ready in 2015! Surprisingly, this does seem to be something that the UK has done better than Germany as there has been a central database, administered by a Quango, Landmark, since the start of EPCs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGQFZCn4KVG6anLRYdAtw3AT2YVaPYkEiL4ofQQoNbwO0TBVn9b48VkKeXYDL7SebUiCpgu7-Nwzq_OFC2grFH10lbTlja9c6RFUpMlQq6egHPX8oKCRqtHK1qdC57E1pvLv-nNvNNI4/s1600/Untitled4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGQFZCn4KVG6anLRYdAtw3AT2YVaPYkEiL4ofQQoNbwO0TBVn9b48VkKeXYDL7SebUiCpgu7-Nwzq_OFC2grFH10lbTlja9c6RFUpMlQq6egHPX8oKCRqtHK1qdC57E1pvLv-nNvNNI4/s1600/Untitled4.png" /></a>At the Pumped Storage system at Goldisthal, we learnt that the system could generate 1GW of electrical power in 90 seconds! And could change from pumping to generating in 2 minutes. It could even pump and generate at the same time – this latter scenario was motivated by contracts on the electricity market that could actually have electricity generators selling electricity at negative prices, due to imbalances created by the country’s significant renewable energy sources of 7GW Wind and 18GW PV. It was wondered whether a PV system could be used to also pump the water and have a truly integrated system on site. However, it was noted that a 1GW PV system would occupy the same entire area as the model.<br />
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<b>Chris Rowland - OVESCO</b></div>
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Retrofitting of homes in Germany is funded by KWF bank at a 1% interest rate. There is also a grant of for up to 10% of the cost, which can be taken as an alternative. This is more attractive that the Green Deal in the UK, which has an interest rate of about 7%. You wonder why one of our state owned banks in the UK cannot offer a lower interest rate, when Germany offers such an attractive deal? Home energy assessments are similar to those in the UK but use a sliding scale instead of steps to indicate a buildings performance.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHR9q-f_WCJS2BAhwkODPUPX-FjaWuRE69063dZuWj_ajKO3m5lBqkEm3E_3bl1DWCA0x-9lJaDm6JXbMoIR62vpCF0T_8NnG61vKR5t4lpc2tFT0OmXxaZHJsu3EB5-lBmnOEeYcU6Q/s1600/Untitled6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHR9q-f_WCJS2BAhwkODPUPX-FjaWuRE69063dZuWj_ajKO3m5lBqkEm3E_3bl1DWCA0x-9lJaDm6JXbMoIR62vpCF0T_8NnG61vKR5t4lpc2tFT0OmXxaZHJsu3EB5-lBmnOEeYcU6Q/s320/Untitled6.png" width="320" /></a>When we visited the back pumping station at Goldistha and the high speed rail link from Hamburg to Nurnberg, I was struck by the long term planning required to make these projects happen and scale of these projects. Both projects are located in the Thuringian Forest, which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. I had a mixture of emotions about the high speed rail link standing in front of the bridges and tunnels cutting through the forest (see photo). On the one had I saw a fantastic construction project, which promoted the use of train travel, on the other hand you cannot ignore the fact that this is a huge scar in the landscape. Perhaps it will be easier to except once the project is completed in 2017 and all the landscaping is in place. Dirk explained that the link will be primary used for freight transport and aims to take lorries off the autobahn reducing and this will carbon emissions.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofTY602ihr30uAlSwrJ7Qxdv1xu9H6y-ScveCEAhaIgACIzZZNObrEvwyYMxfPvHSAgQRsgtIp2DBi5oO8Yn1lrE95D1Nk7gx1ODpszC9Hor5weETjzaYa6sTMDHJGLdrO1dBve2287I/s1600/Untitled5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiofTY602ihr30uAlSwrJ7Qxdv1xu9H6y-ScveCEAhaIgACIzZZNObrEvwyYMxfPvHSAgQRsgtIp2DBi5oO8Yn1lrE95D1Nk7gx1ODpszC9Hor5weETjzaYa6sTMDHJGLdrO1dBve2287I/s320/Untitled5.png" width="320" /></a>It seemed easier to justify the back pumping station, because most of the hardware is hidden in the turbine hall about 1KM under the mountain (see photo). This project almost was almost small in comparison to the rail link and it also helps to balance the grid in Germany, which is important with so much for PV and wind generation now on line. This is basically a huge battery you can switch on an off any time you like. If you want renewable energy at scale you need storage and a way to manage that storage.</div>
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So where does that leave us? Small is beautiful, but can big be beautiful or have we just lost the ability to think on a human scale when it comes to national decisions about infra structure? Germany has it all from home retrofits and solar systems houses to huge filed scale PV, back pumping stations and high speed rail networks. They are working at every level in this country to simply keep up with our changing world and they are deploying all of this at scale right now.</div>
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25 April 2013: Community smart grids, CHP, solar and electric cars, could this be the future for Transition Towns and are we already on this path</div>
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<b>Lee Rose - Norfolk Solar</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qMwejobAgAMQH_jq3vhiUkZ4dRRpQ2q2b21AiiDY50vy1rKn5ropaeg469ag2ZTHlfS7No6Mn8KpMGpvNInxWWlb-H2yLv_UIbIsc-N0z9fuWfzV1POB3ET72_Zrfd63RkJHCmMwE38/s1600/3+PSW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qMwejobAgAMQH_jq3vhiUkZ4dRRpQ2q2b21AiiDY50vy1rKn5ropaeg469ag2ZTHlfS7No6Mn8KpMGpvNInxWWlb-H2yLv_UIbIsc-N0z9fuWfzV1POB3ET72_Zrfd63RkJHCmMwE38/s320/3+PSW.jpg" width="320" /></a>Mr Maschke (an energy assessor) gave a presentation about performance of buildings; he clearly knows a lot about his subject but i personally found this session less useful than the others so far. Then it was off to Goldisthal pump station, a water driven electric turbine complex above the forest. Aside from stunning scenery, the tour of the complex was great. The guide was really helpful and knowledgeable, and we got up close to some impressive equipment, all buried deep in a mountain.......it felt like the lair of a james bond villian. Just around the corner, we got a tour of the new section of Deutsche Bahn network from Berlin to Munich; again impressive feats of engineering.......huge bridges and long tunnels. i look forward to travelling on the finished article in 2017!
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<b>Jake Rendle-Worthington - Solar Aid</b></div>
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This morning we started with a presentation from an energy assessor or auditor. He ran through the German system of energy performance certificates for building, what they consist of and how to perform them as an overview. He highlighted the main areas to look at for energy loss in homes and thus where improvements can be made in efficiency. He also showed where the main areas of energy usage are, mainly heating. Once efficiency and energy use measures have been exhausted he thought that the next push would be for home energy storage.
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We were then taken to a massive pumped storage facility owned by Vattenfall. This consisted of a man-made lake in hills that was at about 800m above sea level feeding turbines about 300-400 metres lower that flushed out into a basin that had once been a valley, but now was damned. The Turbine hall was deep underground and contained 4 x 265MW turbines, giving a total capacity of 1.06 GW! Each turbine was reversible, thus turning it into a pump to push water from the lower reservoir up to the top. This could be done at times when there was excess generating capacity on the grid causing negative electricity prices.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1j0bc7aoIi6Kdn1nYNZ4hWAq4cqe4Z9Gz5gahINtv9V8DlIAVHIwDakW9OyKAqZf95Nph6jJUiggSE7umYpd6x6D7h0ZMOaW7JonvUE1Ad9BoVqTSyUIlZ1xUfNI7jSkca_-vHGZzQOw/s1600/3+PSW_Turbine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1j0bc7aoIi6Kdn1nYNZ4hWAq4cqe4Z9Gz5gahINtv9V8DlIAVHIwDakW9OyKAqZf95Nph6jJUiggSE7umYpd6x6D7h0ZMOaW7JonvUE1Ad9BoVqTSyUIlZ1xUfNI7jSkca_-vHGZzQOw/s320/3+PSW_Turbine.jpg" width="213" /></a>There are even occurrences when two turbines could be pumping and two turbines could be generating because of house the electricity market is distorted. Most impressive was the size of the actual turbines, over 4m in diameter. When fitted in place they are surrounded by a coiled penstock in which are a number of fins that can regulate the pressure of the water as the total fall decreases due to the water level in the top reservoir falling.
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After this tour we were given a talk and tour of the new high speed train line be constructed between Nuremburg and Berlin. In order for this line to allow freight trains to maintain speeds of over 200kmh the angle of slope could not be more than 12m in 1000m, and as the route goes through the mountains of Thuringa 28 arch bridges and 40km of tunnels had to be built. There were numerous other challenges faced by this new high speed line, but works, as we saw are progressing rapidly and it is expected to open on time in 2017 and on budget at 10 Billion Euro. After a highly interesting day of information overload we came back to the Guest House at the BCS for a BBQ and a Volley ball tournament. Not quite managing to hold the British end up in the latter.
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<b>John Shaw - Burnley College</b></div>
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After breakfast ... We walked up the hill to BCS headquarters and had a presentation from Herr<br />
Maschke...an independent e energy assessor, he gave an overview of the Domestic Energy Assessor process here in Germany. In Thuringia, on average 87% of energy used in the home is for space heating...and for a typical house with no insulation measures ...this equates to 220 parts of 275 parts for the whole house needs…
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The biggest factors to heat loss and energy used being</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ1FGUzo2_qgx5G6AsESY07ql-6fkw69r0gUG5UVKWPBMXC6rw_9ds-GOVqv6lI5DpuM1CZ0eoz3sP24_LXzsNm0wx6I2qd5uuf-mqTjhH0DkeYPW6Z0Um01XYB0pwfjQvAG_rgky6n8/s1600/3+Turbine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ1FGUzo2_qgx5G6AsESY07ql-6fkw69r0gUG5UVKWPBMXC6rw_9ds-GOVqv6lI5DpuM1CZ0eoz3sP24_LXzsNm0wx6I2qd5uuf-mqTjhH0DkeYPW6Z0Um01XYB0pwfjQvAG_rgky6n8/s320/3+Turbine.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<li>External envelope/shell ...a factor being East Germany's change from wood and coal since the reunification of 1990/91 and the change to oil and gas...most internal heating systems are 22 years old!! </li>
<li>Energy demands are increasing and it's difficult to predict as climate changes are uncertain when factoring into energy requirements </li>
<li>Quality of current building insulation standards </li>
<li>Perversely ...people who live in poorly insulated homes tend to use less energy...as they are aware of the building's performance and so tend to wear more clothes in winter!!!
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Herr Maschke went on to describe more factors and then presented a live as element on the utilising where we are staying...the Gastehaus at BCS including the typical assume not of a German one of 172 m2. The BCS building could be significantly improved from 131 KWH per metre 2 per year to 106 KWH per year per metre 2...with a five year payback (this is based on a 1% bank loan as the measure sod not cost over 75,000 Euros to fund). We took our pack lunches and drove to the Goldistahl pump storage facility about an hours car journey away...
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Z-64tX425SzKGU3i6xjAjFm4__2GhmiawVMMEFpgcSglRAR4efkpDmANakHC50mBElgDdwZRLUMTIQjMe1onZ18sTMmhA0yOGLzPFMRe-s4ZLuU21S36WUagaSye1M5CevP5AVbOROw/s1600/3+PSW_Group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Z-64tX425SzKGU3i6xjAjFm4__2GhmiawVMMEFpgcSglRAR4efkpDmANakHC50mBElgDdwZRLUMTIQjMe1onZ18sTMmhA0yOGLzPFMRe-s4ZLuU21S36WUagaSye1M5CevP5AVbOROw/s320/3+PSW_Group.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This was an impressive and modern Hydro-electricity generation storage facility...similar to Dinorwig in Wales UK. A top lake discharges water to run turbines and disperse into a bottom lake...so to generate above a giga watt of electricity when needed...and purchase electricity back from the state Grid to pump water back up to the top lake. The actual economics of this are complex...Germany's energy prices are set on exchanges...the nearest one at Leipzig, and it is not uncommon, especially in sunshine, when PV is at its optimum, that the facility is both making energy for the grid and buying it back to pump water uphill simultaneously !! Very complex indeed!!
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The visit started in the visitors centre and we then went underground via bus...a system of tunnels and steps took us to view the main turbine hall and gallery, Thomas Schubert, a member of the facilities team, explained the actual process of moving water from the top lake....which "drops" 25 metered over 8 hours continuos running...via four pipes which start at 6metre diameter and reduce to 2.5 metres at turbine point...a pressure of 32 bar!!! Several working models explain the process and I took many pictures for the team back in Burnley...sharing my experience will be important for the College.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Y0w8Cb-GDBO2h6XgqJSEJRtyb5IEtsO1d0KhrQdSfE7h7W0k9_6ZVsEV60ll6yAUuswZlq5LzsPdnbBKfurxANmGgXyvIEBXBSyFCvSBQZudTITNwnUMdPucVq5r5nnsyUhaDgXYbDg/s1600/3+DB+Construction3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Y0w8Cb-GDBO2h6XgqJSEJRtyb5IEtsO1d0KhrQdSfE7h7W0k9_6ZVsEV60ll6yAUuswZlq5LzsPdnbBKfurxANmGgXyvIEBXBSyFCvSBQZudTITNwnUMdPucVq5r5nnsyUhaDgXYbDg/s320/3+DB+Construction3.jpg" width="213" /></a>Following another mini-bus ride to the surface, We left Thomas and drove to our next visit ...the new planned High Speed rail link from Munich to Berlin. Due to Thuringia's mountains and forests... The rail track is a series of tunnels and bridges spanning the valleys and hills... For an Engineer or keen bridge enthusiast like me...it was fantastic and I enjoyed taking many pictures of beautiful curved arch bridges and tunnels.... Our guide was the local engineer who has been a part of this project since conception in the early 1990's.
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After his presentation in the Goldistahl visitor centre, we again got in our vehicles for a tour of the construction site, the road being especially built for the project. I took advantage of this by taking as many pictures as possible, trying to apply the camera tips I have learned from Jorin, a Dutch member of our group. I'm looking forward to seeing them on the big screen back in college.
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We returned to our base at BCS and following a BBQ, had agame or two of volleyball...I did join in but it is several years (25 or more!) since I've played and it took a while for me to get into the play of things...luckily: Dirk, Louie, Andrea and Jorin didn't seem to mind...as we had good fun with beating ...only just...the local kids ...They were very good and to be honest I think they let us win!!</div>
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<b>David Aspin - Burnley College</b></div>
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Today we visited the BCS training facility where we attended a presentation by a Physics Engineer and an Independent Energy Assessor. The presentation explained the principles of the assessment and the elements of the Assessment which are:</div>
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<li>Year of construction</li>
<li>External construction</li>
<li>Location of the property</li>
<li>Geographical exposure</li>
<li>Primary and secondary heating system</li>
<li>Domestic hot water system</li>
<li>Number of occupants</li>
<li>Use of property</li>
<li>Existing insulation levels</li>
<li>Heating controls</li>
<li>DHW controls</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwDod0fDF1TWxJXxCT6GlVykOzw5hNR2tnLD8sBmkeprMM1MdqoP1A8hqo9YZL4cEsrnkGS2S6oG4vZXkEZtmWC0SnY1kWQxp7QHWwn614ovYSnkBbWzYRhwxSmwlrLOWm1ZBD1jTmKQ/s1600/3+DB+Construction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwDod0fDF1TWxJXxCT6GlVykOzw5hNR2tnLD8sBmkeprMM1MdqoP1A8hqo9YZL4cEsrnkGS2S6oG4vZXkEZtmWC0SnY1kWQxp7QHWwn614ovYSnkBbWzYRhwxSmwlrLOWm1ZBD1jTmKQ/s320/3+DB+Construction.jpg" width="213" /></a>The presentation also explained the change of legislative requirements imposed by the government throughout the years and the introduction of the Assessment system in 2007.
The scale of charges for the assessment was also covered i.e. a domestic property with three energy consumption bills would pay in the region of between 50 – 80 euros, for a domestic property 5 units 300 – 400 and an industrial unit 3000 – 4000 euros
It was also explained that owners must provide an EPC when requested or face a fine of up to 50000 euros.</div>
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The session concluded with an example of an assessment on a typical 1930´ s property
In the afternoon, the group visited a pump storage facility Goldisthal which was completed in 2003 despite interrupted funding. We had the opportunity to visit the underground complex and view the working models in the display room above where the turbines are located.
The final session of the afternoon included a visit to the new high speed railway site which is its construction phase. This is located at Goldisthal. We visited several locations where construction of tunnels and bridges were taking place. We also attended a presentation in the visitor centre.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-6573322767843163092013-04-30T02:45:00.000-07:002013-06-25T04:08:18.765-07:00Thursday 25th of April 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><b>Chris Rowland - OVESCO</b></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuI6K0VtHWPqpR0F-Yp2wgLFMpM0gAxx71JaJxQiiILEkHPjMXPTfVR1ef0Mgs1NwwNZ9-QYF5Fd5-kfCffjYeHtrtyaNZBRhNnWJWz0Wu5U9-YM4OfUXiwbzaTC7_7rHyi4ZNemPsmQY/s1600/Untitled8.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuI6K0VtHWPqpR0F-Yp2wgLFMpM0gAxx71JaJxQiiILEkHPjMXPTfVR1ef0Mgs1NwwNZ9-QYF5Fd5-kfCffjYeHtrtyaNZBRhNnWJWz0Wu5U9-YM4OfUXiwbzaTC7_7rHyi4ZNemPsmQY/s1600/Untitled8.png" /></a>In the morning we visited
a commercial solar thermal power station at the Oberhof Sports Gym.
Here 50,000 litres of water is heated by a solar thermal façade made up
of 100 flat plate collectors vertically mounted into the aluminium
frame. This is a cross county ski resort high up in the mountains and we
wondered if they made use of reflected sun light off the snow. So
perhaps Wave Leisure in Lewes could heat its water for most of the year
simply using the sun? Lewes District Council has already invested in PV
for the swimming pool, but they still have roof space for solar thermal!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rgQBkcxpWaJOIxW2Aa-st2pE6t2vsOKLNZaIzDiRiBLql3sR2S40_h9Yj9bf7jAx8M5Mj-HciuyXDnKokIbx9TpqtDuYKaf9DCn_L1QczZNCtl0NH8-icQjwjgKRBcug65Xn3SHkzRE/s1600/Untitled9.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rgQBkcxpWaJOIxW2Aa-st2pE6t2vsOKLNZaIzDiRiBLql3sR2S40_h9Yj9bf7jAx8M5Mj-HciuyXDnKokIbx9TpqtDuYKaf9DCn_L1QczZNCtl0NH8-icQjwjgKRBcug65Xn3SHkzRE/s320/Untitled9.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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Diagram taken from SINUSSTROM web site www.sinusstrom.com</div>
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In
the afternoon we drove to Zella-Mehlis where we met Mr Rossell the
mayor and Mr Schwarz from Sinusstrom. The local council invested
€600,000 and set up an energy services company to build and run a smart
grid. So what is a Smart Grid? In the case of Zella-Mehlis (population
of 11,600) it 130kWp of PV on the hospital to charging points for four
battery powered cars (the public can use the cars for a nominal fee) and
a bank of 68kwp lithium iron phosphate batteries. This means the town
is starting to manage its own electricity supply. In day light the PV
panels can supply the hospital and or the car charging stations. In
addition any surplus electrically can be stored in the batteries when it
is not consumed and use another time, which could be at night for
charging the cars. The mayor plans to invest in more renewable energy
such as CHP cogeneration and a new design for a small scale wind
turbine.</div>
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We asked the mayor a few questions:</div>
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<li>What is the main aim of the project? Public access to new technology to show the potential for a low carbon future.</li>
<li>Did the town get grant funding? No, they chose to use their own money and did not want to be restricted by grant funding rules.</li>
<li>Was
a large utility company involved? No, they wanted to be independent of
the large utilities and want to be in control of their own energy
supply.</li>
<li>Is the project financially viable at this moment in time?
No, the cars and batteries are currently too expensive, but the mayor
believes they are paving the way for the future of their town and a time
when they can supply much of their own energy needs using an integrated
community owned transport system and energy supply.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnQJE5vtEfQxjxhZl15_BJNCd5TaclwQNRAbvC2ZF_gcuSEcBevcm6j2d9rw1zL2_Skdr5zta2pwMlycIkAuyklq1GltZ2Hc3oPaENliqDH0ybzt3Zs2-hkWEIMTNbGHyGmWVgA-0CuI/s1600/Untitled10.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnQJE5vtEfQxjxhZl15_BJNCd5TaclwQNRAbvC2ZF_gcuSEcBevcm6j2d9rw1zL2_Skdr5zta2pwMlycIkAuyklq1GltZ2Hc3oPaENliqDH0ybzt3Zs2-hkWEIMTNbGHyGmWVgA-0CuI/s1600/Untitled10.png" /></a>At this
point I have mention that OVESCO now uses Common Wheels, the car share
scheme set up by LDC for anyone in Lewes to use. Common Wheels have some
electric cars, but not yet in Lewes. So would it be possible to build a
Smart Grid in Lewes where electric cars were charged by the community
owned PV panels around the town (Harveys Depot, Priory School, Wave
Leisure, LFC and LDC’s Council offices) for use by the public? Perhaps
this is a debate Transition Town Lewes could start with the Town Council
and LDC? </div>
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This trip is about technical solutions, but it also
raises questions about powering down and sharing within our community.
Ask yourself why many families have two cars or more and is that really
financially or environmentally sensible? Why not take a big step forward
and have one car or a fold up bike and use a car club when you need
those extra four wheels, because this is one way we can build a low
carbon community for the future. So a look at the Common Wheels web site
or find out if you have a local care share scheme and just consider
trying it out! Then ask you council if you can have access to a
community electric car.</div>
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Oberhof Sports Gym <a href="http://www.thueringen.de/th9/tmblv/bau/shkv/sp/">http://www.thueringen.de/th9/tmblv/bau/shkv/sp/</a></div>
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Sinusstrom <a href="http://www.sinusstrom.com/news/smart-grid-zella-mehlis-en-GB/">http://www.sinusstrom.com/news/smart-grid-zella-mehlis-en-GB/</a></div>
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Common Wheels <a href="http://www.co-wheels.org.uk/">http://www.co-wheels.org.uk/</a></div>
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Zella-Mehlis <a href="http://www.zella-mehlis.de/">www.zella-mehlis.de</a><b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Lee Rose - Norfolk Solar</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFEgVTuS6mtzkxZ7dcLQ_CckDW9-4ZgsAOnLC8JcqA5v6XThrfG5a70YJ_n4A1xIC1v8b_fL0sbBdUdsIgBnt4MkPTvKlYDlI_Xc2Z2kepUjbPLWUjxMMNQ43cje9_v1m9ZoDTjLF-gE/s1600/5+Waste+Incinerator_Control+Room.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFEgVTuS6mtzkxZ7dcLQ_CckDW9-4ZgsAOnLC8JcqA5v6XThrfG5a70YJ_n4A1xIC1v8b_fL0sbBdUdsIgBnt4MkPTvKlYDlI_Xc2Z2kepUjbPLWUjxMMNQ43cje9_v1m9ZoDTjLF-gE/s320/5+Waste+Incinerator_Control+Room.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
In the morning the group split up. some went to the motor and weapons museums but i went with a small group to the local ski resort. its only now i've seen a real ski jump do i appreciate the huge courage needed for the sport. We also had a chance to see inside a cross country ski hall, which must be a huge energy consumer to cover the 1.7 kilometre indoor track with snow! around the corner is a very impressive 117m2 solar thermal system preheating a 50,000 litre buffer tank for a sports centre, and the solar collectors were part of the building facade. after lunch we met the mayor of zella mehlis, who gave a presentation about an innovative smart grid system on a complex of public buildings behind the town hall. the scheme included a large pv array, a water cooled inverter achieving amazing efficiency, a clever dc system design with a 68kWh lithium battery store, and a range of electric pool cars, which we were invited to test drive. I drove the mitsubishi i-miev which was very impressive........ it seemed to accelerate up a hill as though the hill wasn't there! The whole scheme promises great things as it evolves and i look forward to an update.
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<b>Jake Rendle-Worthington - Solar Aid</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvZ10bz46yGD_ERTuJlcikOmOeJnuvPz6f7yGiXFG4SHRLcwxKk03YoVG07ad_jI-54ykPNE53BhYtS0fMQ86Uh_2eSJWbl6Xeo7MSJVD3d9q2Cz3PQECMRjxlLRKo11LeOT-NIMuLcQ/s1600/148_1_109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvZ10bz46yGD_ERTuJlcikOmOeJnuvPz6f7yGiXFG4SHRLcwxKk03YoVG07ad_jI-54ykPNE53BhYtS0fMQ86Uh_2eSJWbl6Xeo7MSJVD3d9q2Cz3PQECMRjxlLRKo11LeOT-NIMuLcQ/s320/148_1_109.jpg" width="320" /></a>Today was something of a more relaxed day. The morning be filled with a trip of our own choice, I choose to go to the Weapons and Motorbike museums in Suhl. Suhl has been at the centre of weapons manufacture for over 500 years making everything from crossbows, to muskets to AK47s and hunting rifles, and the museum has no shortage of examples. The motorbike museum, although not quite so impressive holds some samples of cars and bikes unknown to the west, such as the East German version of BMW – EMW.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheXatkw3q118-as_GTve-n9qAL1AzLxygeYO-L6BkKEA56eY8MXBNOpM4nbeh9G75tEDyqGPSYWSBb9EMqHShijpgtcb0-j0rK_dcEbV_Vmhmh6cskjm51sbFx-iiBIzpmUzdi3kjmpLE/s1600/4+Electric+Cars_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheXatkw3q118-as_GTve-n9qAL1AzLxygeYO-L6BkKEA56eY8MXBNOpM4nbeh9G75tEDyqGPSYWSBb9EMqHShijpgtcb0-j0rK_dcEbV_Vmhmh6cskjm51sbFx-iiBIzpmUzdi3kjmpLE/s320/4+Electric+Cars_2.JPG" width="320" /></a>After lunch we were given a reception by the Mayor of Zella Mehlis, who had exceptional (American) English. He very proudly introduced us to the Smart Grid and Electric car charging pool developed just for the town. Wolfgang Schwart of Sinusstrom who developed and installed the smart grid gave us a presentation on how it worked. Basically a 130kW PV system connected to a 68kWh battery bank, especially developed DC car charging system and a CHP plant all on the DC side of the system is connected through an inverter to a former 100 bed hospital and the Grid on the AC side. The hospital had changed use, but was still run and owned by the municipality, but only 10% of grid electricity that was used before is used now. The electric vehicles are completely charged by the system and are available for use by doctors and for hire by the general public, there is a fleet of 4. 60% of energy generated by the PV is self used. An amazing system, but at 600,000 Euro not cheap and not financially viable, but someone has to try these things out so that they can be modified to become viable and hopefully one day commonplace.
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<b>Andrea Berardi - Funky Renewables</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bgMIJJIkrJMYZDAz9BySOiRd8rPgjwHaBNMPJ_LrWwq8R_2lHGODENzWUJTLaZbm4iR2XIXsvPPUJZyrVRARYpC_52KjHCCc-AV6WTsNahZbhGmdIDuA8KILraGJHfw4Txe1ym_t2sM/s1600/IMG_9495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4bgMIJJIkrJMYZDAz9BySOiRd8rPgjwHaBNMPJ_LrWwq8R_2lHGODENzWUJTLaZbm4iR2XIXsvPPUJZyrVRARYpC_52KjHCCc-AV6WTsNahZbhGmdIDuA8KILraGJHfw4Txe1ym_t2sM/s320/IMG_9495.JPG" width="213" /></a>In the afternoon we had the pleasure to visit a local pearl: a very "smart" building almost entirely powered by renewable sources. It is one of the few grid connected sites that makes use of batteries as well, (68kWh storage capacity) and it can therefore also operate in stand-alone mode. The main components are:</div>
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<li>07 kWp PV system, roof mounted.</li>
<li>CHP unit: 15 kW electric output / 30 kW thermal output, mainly used in winter for heating, it can compensate the decreased generation of the PV array during the rainiest seasons.</li>
<li>5 kW wind farm, helpful to satisfy the base load requirements.</li>
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However we can find the most interesting part in the parking lot next to the building, where we can find four electric cars recharged by above-mentioned power generation systems. We tested the electric cars in a small test drive on the streets of the village. The performances are comparable to a common city car and the car performs well even uphill. The total absence of noise, emissions and the awareness of travelling for free give a special touch to the driving experience. Unluckily I do not have much technical data about the cars, but we know that they can travel about 100 ÷ 130 km per charge.</div>
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<b>John Shaw - Burnley College</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgeR-VCJXmfjmDcOMCx3WbSsxFa4C3igoj2x-FJ7TDGAP5Gkcgd2MWBMSuvhfKwGHD3zAuIGS1v_4QAYY_BJCkLprtTWs8K5DedKIaQ05c4v5q0GodXw-H_N22DZiU5N8ABxTrf9IfEjU/s1600/4+Electric+Cars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgeR-VCJXmfjmDcOMCx3WbSsxFa4C3igoj2x-FJ7TDGAP5Gkcgd2MWBMSuvhfKwGHD3zAuIGS1v_4QAYY_BJCkLprtTWs8K5DedKIaQ05c4v5q0GodXw-H_N22DZiU5N8ABxTrf9IfEjU/s320/4+Electric+Cars.jpg" width="320" /></a>After breakfast, the group split into two with one group vivid ting the mountain park whilst we went to Suhl's museums of Weapons manufacturing and Motorbikes and cars. Dirk again made sure we were looked after and he kindly paid the entry fee to both museums. The weapons museum was fascinating... Suhl has had gun and weapon manufacturing for hundreds of years...even Napoleon recognised the importance of the local craftsmen when he asked them to repair 40,000 of his damaged rifles whilst retreating from Russia in 1812 ...there are many beautiful examples of hunting and military rifles...presented in clean glass cases. The only disappointment was that we could not spend more time there, as we wanted to visit the motorbike museum too. In fact it's worth mentioning that both museums were exceptionally clean and tidy, as were the many visits we've had so far... Germany is a very clean and tidy and proud country...I wish I could say the same for my home town!!!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAsALzrTEtLBoYXy_PW-_XIFqr59hJajPq0hDdCHz-B0wkWssRafgg9hwevoRLHe7BcBxloz9gJwuV79LxioCmXU2HDzUcl5M6n7FcCNAqAKx9qxcl0eMNx3qdR36KMcHEDIglcV2os8/s1600/148_1_108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAAsALzrTEtLBoYXy_PW-_XIFqr59hJajPq0hDdCHz-B0wkWssRafgg9hwevoRLHe7BcBxloz9gJwuV79LxioCmXU2HDzUcl5M6n7FcCNAqAKx9qxcl0eMNx3qdR36KMcHEDIglcV2os8/s320/148_1_108.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I was happy to see the museum had motorbikes by Zundapp... As my late uncle had one a 750 cc machine including a side car and hand gear shift mounted onto the petrol tank... fantastic and a happy memory...and we spent many a happy time discussing the merits of German and English engineering.. He would have loved to be here!! We saw Early BMW's, CMZ's and a maker called Simsom... So I had to take pictures for Alex... She would not be happy if I told her and didn't have the picture to show her..
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In fact there were many fine examples of simson cars and a funny one from 1955 ...a EMW..!!. Built here in the East and remarkably like a 1933 BMW... I wonder why?? There was also a beauty called a WartBurg... A red open top 2 seater that had all of us mouth watering... What a shame that they are no longer available ... Unless you're a multi millionaire of course!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRwL7jU5Kd6bcu4SiLX04b92y6r-nGpQfW3myCdlPDsdj5xWYR5uYe1DkpPfLV2gej7GuG6sNPcQc2pt0dNHHBFdFfxAAhhvrdr0O7pMLOHftXTnzGMnNYMC_-08Q_KCCV00E0P4FOu8/s1600/DSCF3672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRwL7jU5Kd6bcu4SiLX04b92y6r-nGpQfW3myCdlPDsdj5xWYR5uYe1DkpPfLV2gej7GuG6sNPcQc2pt0dNHHBFdFfxAAhhvrdr0O7pMLOHftXTnzGMnNYMC_-08Q_KCCV00E0P4FOu8/s320/DSCF3672.JPG" width="320" /></a>We returned to BCS for lunch, our afternoon visit to the Rathaus (Town Hall) were Herr Gerlach<br />
welcomed us, asked if we were enjoying our tour and introduced the group to the Burgermeister, Richard Rossel. We were invited into the council meeting room and Herr Rossal, who spoke very good English, proudly introduced the project we had come to see, along with his colleague from SINUSSTROM... Herr Schwartz.
The mayor of Zella-Mehlis has developed , along with SINUSSTROM, a localised smart grid system...whose prime function is to introduce the possibilities of further uses of solar energy. In simple terms, a local health centre has been refurbished and has an installation of PV panels...generating energy that is stored in batteries San charges electric cars that the local populace can hire!... It's very innovative and, although not maximising profits, its earning enough to pay back with within 6 years and is a cutting edge way of ensuring "buy-in" form local energy users and suppliers
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i37VVwMcgEIkR7vAL-sNI9LcQcFkwzTML-SzNKhq7r69bS_jdAi7jaj0T9yGWaAU40SkCw6VjDabZEa2rR0qXzHmXCnWqXzAgM3zmtgeC4Jh_UrphPrVc-t153CVwgo_H-LCWyG93qg/s1600/IMG_9496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9i37VVwMcgEIkR7vAL-sNI9LcQcFkwzTML-SzNKhq7r69bS_jdAi7jaj0T9yGWaAU40SkCw6VjDabZEa2rR0qXzHmXCnWqXzAgM3zmtgeC4Jh_UrphPrVc-t153CVwgo_H-LCWyG93qg/s320/IMG_9496.JPG" width="320" /></a>We visited the battery store, a garage type building, located behind the Rathaus about 100 metres up the hill, and we all surprised to discover that despite their capacity ... They only occupied as much space as a wardrobe!! We then had the opportunity to drive a car and I volunteered to drive a converted small car...it was manual and left hand drive... I haven't drove manuals for about 10 years and so it was no surprise that I crunched the gears ha ha...much to the amusement of my colleagues ...thankfully Dirk was in the car with me to give direction and advice..my colleague David was in the back...much to his amusement !
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One underway, it was surprisingly nippy and coped with the steep hills and tight corners easily... But I still couldn't understand why not an automatic?? And no power steering!!! Still it was a very good drive and I have started to change my mind about the limitations of electric vehicles .. For town and city driving they will be ideal...
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The purpose built Mitsubishi was a better option, being both automatic and power steered...
All in all it was a very good visit and we thanked our hosts and returned to BCS</div>
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<b>David Aspin - Burnley College</b></div>
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Today we drove to the town of Suhl wher we visited a couple of museums, the Special museum of small arms made in Suhl and the adjacent Automobile museum
The Special museum of small arms included numerous displays located over three floors covering the following:</div>
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<li>Geology</li>
<li>Workshop</li>
<li>Military fire arms</li>
<li>Porcelain</li>
<li>Hunting guns</li>
<li>Sporting guns</li>
<li>Special exhibition </li>
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The workshop facility provides four apprenticeships per year covering the art of a Gunsmith. This is the only facility in Germany which provides this. Indeed there were two apprentices working in the workshop undertaking restoration work at the time of the visit.
The second museum that we visited in the morning session was the Automobile Museum which contains splended examples of vintage cars and motorbikes. Famous makes such as BMW, EMW, Triumph and Simson are all displayed.</div>
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All of the exhibits have been painstakingly restored and are very well presented. There is also several information boards which present historical information and key facts in relation to some of the more famous examples.
In the afternoon the group visited the Town Hall in Zella – Mellis where we met the Mayor, Richard Rossel. The CO of Sinusstron was in attendance and delivered a presentation in relation to a local pilot project smart grid and e-mobility ( LSIM – Lokal Solar Innovation Mobil).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyQ5jn2Gz83_qwbgfkofn5hCNd_aEaIolNPc_F5PH-G7nBX7VBiQsauDrScRB3YzqLDfP7Sn-VPYaO-JsM93YxXJ0TH_BvlBXRlCo4zKcJX0ucMmVwKi5biK41d673UVCJVfBMfoF9tQ/s1600/5+Waste+Incinerator_Crane.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyQ5jn2Gz83_qwbgfkofn5hCNd_aEaIolNPc_F5PH-G7nBX7VBiQsauDrScRB3YzqLDfP7Sn-VPYaO-JsM93YxXJ0TH_BvlBXRlCo4zKcJX0ucMmVwKi5biK41d673UVCJVfBMfoF9tQ/s320/5+Waste+Incinerator_Crane.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We had the opportunity to visit the plant room to look at the electrical storage facility (Batteries) and the inverter and other installed equipment. There were also examples of two of the electrical powered cars which some members of the group drove. We also took the opportunity to observe the charging facility for the cars.
The Mayor confirmed that the initial installation including vehicles was in the region of 600,000 euros.<br />
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<b>Tom Broughton - </b><b>Transition Town Chichester</b><br />
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<b>Oberhof Skisportshalle and Sportgymnasium</b>. Is this like wanting to eat strawberries at Christmas? Cross-country skiing in summer! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP06yUqEOohoSAeQC4iNuwawyiXL0UhZM-TiS4A03JIrzyhTc46BbD0p_INIYz0uFFqbhO-JcO5Knm7BFQTzRT8_RRb1AOAa-9ehOv8_86Dz0_B8GLlRg093k7a4_cWOl6FLVkS3pL1cY/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-05-21+at+10.50.48.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP06yUqEOohoSAeQC4iNuwawyiXL0UhZM-TiS4A03JIrzyhTc46BbD0p_INIYz0uFFqbhO-JcO5Knm7BFQTzRT8_RRb1AOAa-9ehOv8_86Dz0_B8GLlRg093k7a4_cWOl6FLVkS3pL1cY/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-05-21+at+10.50.48.png" /></a>After seeing some really impressive carbon saving
technologies on our trip to Germany, it was incongruous to
discover the Oberhof Skisportshalle. This indoor cross
country skiing facility boasts two rotary screw compressors
with an output of 620 KW to provide cooling for the entire
hall. It wasn’t possible to get the data, but it wouldn’t be
surprising that the 1MW solar farm that we visited at
Viernau wouldn’t be able to supply the annual energy that
this sports hall consumes. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubB2_aogpV1WhxPErlJn8kwTHwIl2WTf2xSCdkUzZ0bqR7VA7J9rGZDS01sHsBCCpUd9nLZ5Iw31sgZnitd0PkvDWiitgV0_FlI_69FNPR8SATGDhfZMOm2uW62XVZBMFykN1y_q1iSA/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-05-21+at+10.51.00.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubB2_aogpV1WhxPErlJn8kwTHwIl2WTf2xSCdkUzZ0bqR7VA7J9rGZDS01sHsBCCpUd9nLZ5Iw31sgZnitd0PkvDWiitgV0_FlI_69FNPR8SATGDhfZMOm2uW62XVZBMFykN1y_q1iSA/s320/Screen+shot+2013-05-21+at+10.51.00.png" width="320" /></a></div>
In the same resort town is the
Sportgymnasium with a 117m
vertical solar thermal wall that is
used to supplement its hot water
demand. Today a display showed
that by 11am on a warm partially
cloudy day it had produced 25kWh
of heat, which is about half the daily
average of what a typical UK house
would use for all its heating needs.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-82830253532898123632013-04-30T01:00:00.000-07:002013-06-25T04:12:53.422-07:00Friday 26th of April 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhix_vxEtDyJAOjk-R6UtPAouqh4qMBxvVefFCeKj7RRn87eVR3J2QzVH_YJcs5XBXD3Do8DiUS44FHZ-dOJ6Nz0TwdLsNnNpu4Bi4dNQ67QhnU5pX-_slREA_ScQd7VeQ_8r3LOS4Ap7Q/s1600/Untitled12.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhix_vxEtDyJAOjk-R6UtPAouqh4qMBxvVefFCeKj7RRn87eVR3J2QzVH_YJcs5XBXD3Do8DiUS44FHZ-dOJ6Nz0TwdLsNnNpu4Bi4dNQ67QhnU5pX-_slREA_ScQd7VeQ_8r3LOS4Ap7Q/s320/Untitled12.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Tom Broughton - Transition Town Chichester</b></div>
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<b><br />Into the belly of the Green Dragon.</b> After a week of trying to avoid the gaze of the green dragon that dominates the southern view from the BCS Gastehaus (our accommodation for the week), we ventured into its midst.</div>
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The green dragon is an incinerator, run by a municipal company ZAST, which burns 160,000 tonnes of (perceived) unrecyclable waste per year. </div>
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From this waste it can generate up to 30MW of heat and 8.2MW of electricity, or when the heat demand is low, up to 13.7MW of electricity.</div>
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This heat is transported 2km to a district heating scheme generation/distribution centre in neighbouring Suhl. The district heating scheme, run by a municipal company SWSZ, heats most of Suhl and some of southern Zella-Mehlis. SWSZ has 300 customers, including private homes and companies. It wasn’t detailed, but these 300 customers probably include groups of private homes as one customer. </div>
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The district heating scheme supplies 110,000MWh per year, equivalent to nearly 3000 1930s style German homes’ heat demand. The incinerator’s maximum heat generation of 30MW is enough to supply the district heating scheme demand down to ‑5⁰C. In order to cope with temperatures that fall below ‑5⁰C, or when the incinerator is offline, due to its annual 3-4 week maintenance, or other outages (which apparently weren’t uncommon), the district heating scheme also has 3 CHP units and a 30MW boiler. 2 of the CHP units are similar and can supply 4.5MW electrical power and 8.4MW heat. The third CHP unit can supply 8MW electricity and 8MW of heat. These CHP and boiler units can burn oil or high pressure gas depending on whichever is the cheapest. The district heating scheme can respond to incinerator outages in 15 minutes and claims 100% availability!</div>
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A domestic customer is charged 7c/kWh for this heat, which considering gas for a domestic customer is about 6c/kWh, means that this is very good value. Just on fuel consumption alone a boiler would have to be better than 85% efficient to match this.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkJ1duhEoX7ayaAWz3Z3v8kD5tQPAqEi5UYFIhcKz9-aQFzgUaXlN6y-4iG1dnEHz7x6YIrAlNR0Tub6niOOmUeXjVu_iOvKKaXY1mNdCCkw8BDvmcymQjSOKr3bmwxNh4t5KMKc-NAGU/s1600/Untitled13.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkJ1duhEoX7ayaAWz3Z3v8kD5tQPAqEi5UYFIhcKz9-aQFzgUaXlN6y-4iG1dnEHz7x6YIrAlNR0Tub6niOOmUeXjVu_iOvKKaXY1mNdCCkw8BDvmcymQjSOKr3bmwxNh4t5KMKc-NAGU/s1600/Untitled13.png" /></a>The visit to the incinerator was the most difficult event of the week for me to deal with as I have actively campaigned against them in the past. I perceive them as a waste of energy, rather than energy from waste plant when one considers the embodied energy in the items being incinerated. In the waste bunker that we were shown I saw a complete mattress and a sofa (see image below) - both items that could, at least, be recycled for their material content. Once burnt, there is no possibility to recover the materials in the waste, and burning does create more toxic chemicals that require more sophisticated handling and eventually landfill. </div>
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Anyway these are well rehearsed arguments. I accept that I am being idealistic and I don’t want to sound as if I am carping after an amazingly inspiring week. I feel that I am going to need a few weeks, if not months, to digest what I have seen and learnt. I really believe that in years to come, I will look back on this week as a significant juncture in my career.</div>
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Chris Rowland - OVESCO</b></div>
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<b><br />Live & Let Die, in the end everything is recycled.</b> On the menu for today we had CHP district heating and heat from waste. First stop was the SWSZ CHP plant generates heat and power and was build in 1990’s. They use gas and oil depending the price of the fuel (Germany imports all of it’s fossil fuel gas and oil).</div>
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The heat is distributed in Zella-Mehlis to businesses, flats and public buildings at 7 cents/kWh. Insulated pipes supply the town through a 25KM long primary and secondary network, which is mostly underground with the exception of some areas where the ground is too hard. The gas boilers run continuously 24/7, however the two 4.5MW turbines, which are similar to jet engines do not run all of the time (see image below), because the waste to heat plant in Zella-Mehlis also provides heat and power to the town. This plant is in effect a backup to the new waste treatment plant situated at another site. Buildings were is set back onto the landscape and were not very noticeable in the town. The reduction in the towns population since unification took place, has also meant that there is a reduced demand for the heat and power and there is now a problem with the base load. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwOTQUH_xZGWmyc4GnNz2H-Ee8ft6fau0iaMaJ84tYg6kX7u7lh4c5iZSDOnV6IkapltiTA924eBw2OVfn9eJMqmxNaHhYlrYhLBpL_BZS8u5YkuLrB2bqBSg0Q4Xjq_a8oK81zDlVTw/s1600/DSCF3719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwOTQUH_xZGWmyc4GnNz2H-Ee8ft6fau0iaMaJ84tYg6kX7u7lh4c5iZSDOnV6IkapltiTA924eBw2OVfn9eJMqmxNaHhYlrYhLBpL_BZS8u5YkuLrB2bqBSg0Q4Xjq_a8oK81zDlVTw/s320/DSCF3719.JPG" width="320" /></a>In the afternoon we visited the RABA Sudwestturingen waste treatment plant on the other side of the town, which provides the safe disposal of waste for more than 500,000 residents and the business community in the South West region of Thuringia. The plant became financially viable when targets for recycling waste came into effect in 1996 and it now provides the safe disposal of waste for more than 500,000 residents and the business community in the South West region of Thuringia. This building is very prominent in the town and is lit up at night for safety reasons. There was opposition it construction five years ago. Last year 2000 people visited the site and opposition has bee reduced by the companies efforts to engage with the community and explain the benefits of plant to the town of Zella-Mehlis. We had the opportunity to see most of the site including the crane operators viewing point where the waste is lifted into the bunker for burning, which was not unlike something out of James Bond film and there was even a chance to site in one of the drivers operation chairs (see image below). The manger went to some lengths to explain how the plant was run to stick safety rules and publishes its emissions data on their web site. I was left with an uneasy feeling having seen how the opposition to the waste heat plant in Newhaven.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomQ1acZJSRdzk2lnhqlSJe-jslNZMs8uGDpRA6zh3UHIECAd7zPC9dUNy_AVich2x9IOsfFjfioy_aAdDDjDyoCU50gZtClSCgwvM4o3I608GQ8VFhPq1T-i_0vVmHJjDVsokbmCbqCE/s1600/IMG_9540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomQ1acZJSRdzk2lnhqlSJe-jslNZMs8uGDpRA6zh3UHIECAd7zPC9dUNy_AVich2x9IOsfFjfioy_aAdDDjDyoCU50gZtClSCgwvM4o3I608GQ8VFhPq1T-i_0vVmHJjDVsokbmCbqCE/s320/IMG_9540.JPG" width="213" /></a>Both Tom and I noticed that all the mangers at the sites we visited were very helpful and keen to<a href="http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/2012/07/veolia-opens-16-mw-newhaven-waste-to-energy-plant.html" target="_blank">Veolia</a> waste to heat plant at Newhaven, which is in comparison architecturally more attractive than the one plant in Zella-Mehlis. I now realise where the idea for the proposed water park in Newhaven comes from assuming, but would such a scheme bring benefits to the homes and businesses in Newhaven? Is a water park really the best use of this heat? This trip has widened our understanding of large scale infrastructure projects for towns and states, but are these just required to make the transition to low carbon economies? Are we heading for a future which relies on infrastructure of this scale or can we reduce and scale down demand to decentralise the need for services?<br />
educate us and the general public about what they are doing. Perhaps Transition Town Lewes should request a visit to the 16M </div>
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SWSZ <a href="http://www.swsz.de/">http://www.swsz.de/</a></div>
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ZAST RABA Sudwestturingen <a href="http://www.zast.info/raba_swth.html">http://www.zast.info/raba_swth.html</a></div>
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Veolia Newhaven <a href="http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/2012/07/veolia-opens-16-mw-newhaven-waste-to-energy-plant.html" target="_blank">http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/2012/07/veolia-opens-16-mw-newhaven-waste-to-energy-plant.html</a></div>
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Tom and Chris would like to thank Dirk, BSC and all those who made this programme, so interesting and useful.<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Lee Rose - Norfolk Solar</b></div>
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A leisurely start today.....10am at SWSZ, the local district heating and power operator for Zella Mehlis and Suhl towns. This is my first experience of a district heat and power network, and i was impressed by the enthusiasm of the SWSZ engineer leading our tour (this enthusiasm and professionalism has been demonstrated on practically all of our site visits throughout the week; these people are clearly and rightly proud of their work). in terms of scale, the numbers are mindblowing...... eg, 1,000,000 litres of oil fuel stored on site. StadtWerke (SWSZ) supplies virtually all of the buildings within 2 kilometres with heat and electricity and has capacity to do much more (mainly because the population has contracted since reunification).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCCtsXZDTQRK6o8Gbh3fo0FBiHY_HnlL9QrOAm_djRZCYGFiRRVS1EbkUBxDWmTB5t6BE8LhN9R5LuL-72yu72_B_dS9WPgWLjtclazQQXf96B5pmux5cmIKpZiMJpJTsI1AvjokITEc/s1600/5+Waste+Incinerator_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeCCtsXZDTQRK6o8Gbh3fo0FBiHY_HnlL9QrOAm_djRZCYGFiRRVS1EbkUBxDWmTB5t6BE8LhN9R5LuL-72yu72_B_dS9WPgWLjtclazQQXf96B5pmux5cmIKpZiMJpJTsI1AvjokITEc/s320/5+Waste+Incinerator_2.JPG" width="320" /></a>There's a tie with our afternoon visit to the local incineration plant, which provides upto 30MW of heat and 8MW of electricity to SWSZ from burning municipal waste.
The incinerator plant tour featured an insight into the whole cycle from waste truck delivery through to heat and power export, and removal of ash and dust from the site. The viewing glass into the burn chamber has a most amazing view of a huge pile of rubbish burning intensely at 1000 degrees C, and the burn chamber loading crane is enormous..... we had a chance to look straight down four storeys into the waste bunker from the crane operators room. Thanks also to the staff at BCS for laying on a celebration lunch today.<br />
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<b>Jake Rendle-Worthington - Solar Aid</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsIsy4AtRZSiRGEaefVlncsgTH1FRPP-24HJkOVUCpCGMRClnUOEaiNgd3StED8VxCY7vf22L32-pNr6uYZ0NNHTlLYWek5NjygJ7R2k2zn7T-79dIa4SoI7J23Mpu-9NMQdrKEQspVU/s1600/5+Waste+Incinerator_Control+Room.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFsIsy4AtRZSiRGEaefVlncsgTH1FRPP-24HJkOVUCpCGMRClnUOEaiNgd3StED8VxCY7vf22L32-pNr6uYZ0NNHTlLYWek5NjygJ7R2k2zn7T-79dIa4SoI7J23Mpu-9NMQdrKEQspVU/s320/5+Waste+Incinerator_Control+Room.JPG" width="320" /></a>An even later start today (much appreciated), which gave me the time to take a quick walk around the mainly coniferous forest surrounding Zella-Mehlis, extremely pleasant on such a sunny morning. Our first trip of the day was to the SWSZ - community heat and power plant that distributes to the whole of Zella-Mehlis and Suhl. This enormous facility supplies heat through a network of highly pressurized 30cm diameter hot water pipes to 3000 customers in the area, basically all of the 50,000 or so inhabitants of the two towns. It also exports electricity to the grid. There are several turbines resembling jet engines that each produce 4.5MW of electrical power and 8.4MW of Thermal power. These feed hot water to a massive pressurised hot water tank. Since the installation of the waste to power plant (our afternoon trip) extra heat energy has been imported to the system from here reducing the need to burn gas and oil to fulfil the network’s demand for hot water.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0_Q5Zle3THnHdbapo_RzvAF02Pjd41dD6lgljbivlKPxqK2eGoTwGb3E9cRo7J21Ci8AFfsNurn8RsCUXzcmxvjZOIJg92RGW-fHB-rGviWX734ITAYV-IsJYqk6TiqBIqoL_xyErQ8/s1600/5+Waste+Incinerator.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0_Q5Zle3THnHdbapo_RzvAF02Pjd41dD6lgljbivlKPxqK2eGoTwGb3E9cRo7J21Ci8AFfsNurn8RsCUXzcmxvjZOIJg92RGW-fHB-rGviWX734ITAYV-IsJYqk6TiqBIqoL_xyErQ8/s320/5+Waste+Incinerator.JPG" width="320" /></a>We were treated to a lunch at BCS which was the best meal we had had so far, possibly because Herr Gerlach the director was dining with us! We took this opportunity to thank Herr Gerlach and give feedback about the excellent access to facilities and trips that they had organised for us as well as a few comments on what could have improved the trip for us, all taken with good will. We were also presented individually with a certificate of attendance for ‘Building and sustaining low carbon economies’. At least I have proof for my family back home now!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K-osf5UkNlkwICT-Yj26xt_CSpt4xcnlmR3u0nObYfLTFnB1LMjyP8c-srxU3tq2SuBX_NfxLo04289B5FQeB5hVv68EQ49r1DZngLySAgEnJZ4WlS8DYYY_mU92lDuo-Zj91pLSF-Y/s1600/DSCF3721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6K-osf5UkNlkwICT-Yj26xt_CSpt4xcnlmR3u0nObYfLTFnB1LMjyP8c-srxU3tq2SuBX_NfxLo04289B5FQeB5hVv68EQ49r1DZngLySAgEnJZ4WlS8DYYY_mU92lDuo-Zj91pLSF-Y/s320/DSCF3721.JPG" width="320" /></a>In the afternoon we made a visit to the waste to energy plant that we could see just the other side of<br />
the road from our guesthouse. The director here gave us a very professional presentation on the workings of the plant, and like all the facilities we had stayed in, eaten at and visited in Germany, everything was immaculately clean and tidy. He then took us on a tour of the plant. Basically non recyclable waste from the surrounding population is brought in on trucks, scanned for radioactive material and weighed then tipped into a enormous concrete waste bunker, which is held under negative pressure to prevent unwanted fumes and smells from escaping into the locality. Here it is mixed up and then deposited into a huge furnace by a giant grab. We had the opportunity to look into the actual furnace through heavily shielded portholes and I can only describe what I saw as a burning pit of hell for refuse. The heat is then either used to generate electricity up to 40MW or heat water that is pumped to the SWSZ where it is then distributed to the town. The exhaust fumes then have to pass through a complicated multistage filtration process before being released. The content of these fumes is heavily monitored and is the one part of the whole process that may be monitored remotely as this has to comply with very tight emissions controls. The cinders left from the burn are also disposed of carefully, being handed over to another company that extracts any ferrous and non ferrous metals and then disposes of the rest in land fill. Given that waste in an inevitable part of modern life this seems like a brilliant solution and the local community although having had much antipathy to the construction of the facility now enjoys the benefits of heat and waste disposal. Considering that we have spent a week accommodated virtually in the shadow of this plant the tight environmental controls seem to be working, in fact the only time I detected a faintly funky smell was when we entered the furnace room, right in the guts of the building!
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<b>John Shaw - Burnley College</b></div>
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As we had not far to travel to our visits today, a later start saw the group on a tour of the local District<br />
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Once again we were surprised at the cleanliness of the site... In particular the oil loading bay was spotless ( see photos) and the lack of security to enter the site indicates the respectfulness of public property that we have seen throughout our tour...
Following an excellent lunch at BCS headquarters with Herr Gerlach, and Dirk and our drivers, we were presented with certificates of acknowledgement and we presented Herr Gerlach with a present and card to show our gratitude for our visit.
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Our final visit was to the ZAST waste incineration plant.. just across from our accommodation. This was fascinating... As the plant has a Geiger scanner to detect any radioactive materials being brought in any waste that cannot be recycled for burning. The excess heat is sent to the District heating plant for distribution. 160,000 tons of domestic and industrial waste is burned in one incinerator. It has a 5000 m3 waster bunker and the plant is controlled from the fourth floor and deserves about 500,000 people throughout south-Thuringia. The facility operates a sophisticated exhaust scrubbing system to cope with fumes, dioxins and any potential pollution.
As there is no down time for waste...the three week shutdown in summer for maintenance means the waste must be compressed in blaes which are stored, to be burned later, rain water from the plants buildings is stored and used by the plant.
5% of the residual waste is radioactive and the whole 4000 tons of waste are collected without charge by a metal processing firm who remove the usable metals, and are responsible for disposal of the remaining waste at landfill.
The plant has a designed life span of 25 years, although the manager explaind that due to careful managing and good maintenance, he expects 40-45 years of running is expected.
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Our tour was insightful into the working of a large industrial plant, and very dusty and smelly and hot too ...I'm glad I don't work one of the shift patterns there. At the end of the tour we thanked the manage and return to BCS...we will complete our evaluations sheets tonight prior to leaving for the flight back to the UK tomorrow.
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<b>David Aspin - Burnley College</b></div>
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The morning session included a visit to the Beiichtgung SWSZ plant – district heating installation. We had the opportunity to walk around the plant which is built on a quarry site. The guide took the opportunity to show the group the area which is served by the plant and explained the link with the incinerator plant (ZAST). We had access to the turbine rooms and the boilers (heat exchangers). The extraction units all feed into separate flue which terminate in a 70 metre chimney.
The guide explained the full process of the plant.</div>
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Outside of the plant the 300mm diameter distribution pipework which feeds the various villages is externally sited above ground before going below ground some 200M from the plant. This is due to the stoney ground which the plant is constructed on.
The guide explained the due to a reduction of the population in the area the plant capacity output has been significantly reduced and is only generally increased in very cold weather when the (ZAST) plant is unable to cope with the demand.
The afternoon session included a visit to the ZAST incineration plant.</div>
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A representative from the company delivered a presentation which explained the process of incineration.
The company representative escorted the group around the plant. We had the opportunity to see delivery vehicles deposit waste in the collection areas before being sorted and incinerated. We had the opportunity to observe the incineration process and also the crane operation. The group also visited the central monitoring room which monitors the complete process throughout.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-80365685897617822362013-04-30T00:00:00.000-07:002013-06-25T04:14:11.502-07:00Saturday 27th of April 2013<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Lee Rose – Norfolk Solar</b></div>
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<b>Conclusions of the week:</b>
I've met so many very professional and passionate people; proud of their work, highly competent and so freely giving of their knowledge, and with such modesty.
I found it humbling that town mayors, company CEO's and organisation Directors were all equally keen to make time in their busy schedules to meet with us and discuss openly topics which clearly had a commercial and political sensitivity, and they were equally open about discussing costs and failures as they were successes.
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<b>Jake Rendle-Worthington – Solar Aid</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0HJ7hiU86gZZXdQGFqtbTZSdmYYN1rCYhj9wIdoC945EXdu4QVbXMGGseH12Q7bYfD9yLxZEQgH3qwOrSLtZGdygIDKpcPEoOdP3b8Xdk3BAv7L2MI_W9jrQKJ0cG7-EhWE0zG76uN8/s1600/148_1_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0HJ7hiU86gZZXdQGFqtbTZSdmYYN1rCYhj9wIdoC945EXdu4QVbXMGGseH12Q7bYfD9yLxZEQgH3qwOrSLtZGdygIDKpcPEoOdP3b8Xdk3BAv7L2MI_W9jrQKJ0cG7-EhWE0zG76uN8/s320/148_1_6.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>Conclusions for the week:</b> So our week here has come to an end and what a whirl wind tour of projects and facilities of all kinds of scale and application. As a renewable specialist the solar PV, solar thermal, storage and hydro projects have been of the most interest to me. However, I can see how all of these technologies benefit massively from the wider infrastructure of support for skilled tradesmen, training facilities, local government enthusiasm and local manufacturing base. Gemany, so far, has really figured out how to move toward a low carbon economy much better that what I see in the UK and from what I have seen on this trip there are several reasons for this.</div>
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Firstly they have the skills and the support for people wishing to upskill and gain relevant knowledge easily accessible, where there are 23 certify bodies in the UK there are 5 in Germany, seemingly all controlled by government. Secondly finance is simple, available and affordable for renewable projects of any size, a state bank gives up to 100% loans at a rate of around 2.9% for all scales of projects as it has the confidence of return in these projects. Thirdly, despite there being objections to certain projects it seem that engineers, project developers and local government can easily come together to find solutions, modify elements of these projects and make them move forward and not just as a profitable business as the Zella-Mehlis EV projects proves. They know they have the skills and knowledge to have the confidence to take risks with the long term in mind.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-5597367753995911252012-10-17T08:17:00.000-07:002012-11-28T04:53:01.093-08:00Sunday 14th of October 2012<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Mark Summerfield - Burnley College</b></h3>
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The trip was focused on renewables and energy generation, looking at best practice examples in the Sudthuringen (South Thuringen) region of what was formerly East Germany.
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<b>The group: </b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9-M9prebQFfvF52PNsa1_BdDvOnT-CdgeetPrsnCfWs2B-UAGhMUA0QUFht1nC-Z-GHCV2hqIwJFq_qCBjFZEZSVs90M4likCWFqhaMI3ZfLdi2qfzQucFO4bWtL6xuluFpOx4DQl7M/s1600/CIMG5895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9-M9prebQFfvF52PNsa1_BdDvOnT-CdgeetPrsnCfWs2B-UAGhMUA0QUFht1nC-Z-GHCV2hqIwJFq_qCBjFZEZSVs90M4likCWFqhaMI3ZfLdi2qfzQucFO4bWtL6xuluFpOx4DQl7M/s320/CIMG5895.jpg" width="320" /></a>The group included delegates from a variety of backgrounds: Burnley College was represented by Jonathan Lund, Mark Summerfield, David Bridge and John Upton, Clare Chapman is the energy efficiency and renewables officer for Scottish Power, Damian Tow and Will Cottrell are the director and founder of Brighton energy Co-operative, who specialise in community projects, Owen Humphries is a Company Director for WYG who specialise in waste management and energy recovery, Mohammed Yousuf is an energy and renewables consultant, Rowan Langley is the renewables engineer for Bermondsey Buddhist Centre and Dirk Bischoff is the Embrace co-ordinator and organiser of the trip he acted as guide, interpreter and manager of the trip.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHpYvdxZEKF65cMPcvClNRpiJEQ4bv0kIpFuYDOzqUdIIzp_tPVO6M_LTpQXnd42Wo6avyO9dXEA61kkxomrGgYhy8efUrl-NhknODDlyDA9gujG2FK64_f86lXofDQi4qyq-k7siqaA/s1600/zella.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHpYvdxZEKF65cMPcvClNRpiJEQ4bv0kIpFuYDOzqUdIIzp_tPVO6M_LTpQXnd42Wo6avyO9dXEA61kkxomrGgYhy8efUrl-NhknODDlyDA9gujG2FK64_f86lXofDQi4qyq-k7siqaA/s320/zella.png" width="217" /></a>We flew out to Germany at 7.05 am on Sunday the 14th of October, necessitating a 2.30 am start. The flight was uneventful, and we landed in Frankfurt at around 10.00 a.m. We then waited at the airport for the rest of the group to arrive at around 1.00pm. then set off for Sudthringen which is in the Mittledeuschland area of Germany, a very beautiful forested and mountainous region of the former GDR, which was in all its autumn glory, the forests turning into a carpet of red green, gold and brown. Since reunification significant investment has taken place to update the infrastructure and housing stock in the region which becomes a mecca for skiing enthusiasts in the winter. The villages and towns we passed were very picturesque, with many examples of half timber houses and quaint streets. Renewable technologies were very much in evidence with large Photovoltaic (PV) arrays on factory roofs, houses and ground based systems.
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On arrival at the accommodation I was somewhat dismayed to find the rooms were on the 3rd floor of the building and no lift was available. Dirk offered to find me alternative accommodation, but I decided it would be more beneficial to remain with the group.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="separator" style="margin-left: 60px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsAGx3tCaMJmDaLN2rKcJ0Q5kAqtVCLmuUabnLUjIkzqHgysrMfRdQ781q-_4hFC2smJVg-KyiEsIiyt5FyfDs3aexvbWMHTlc6eHpWP2aXgusoDYDJJPsnWt2CK_2nboUabGR3Bc5QA/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-11-22+at+15.06.54.png"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsAGx3tCaMJmDaLN2rKcJ0Q5kAqtVCLmuUabnLUjIkzqHgysrMfRdQ781q-_4hFC2smJVg-KyiEsIiyt5FyfDs3aexvbWMHTlc6eHpWP2aXgusoDYDJJPsnWt2CK_2nboUabGR3Bc5QA/s200/Screen+shot+2012-11-22+at+15.06.54.png" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GDQhmm_KCf-bASeMHMEZ5hV3KU0tfYuzFdeNq1-yGzundNoSdyIH4dDWZWT85xm7MxH_2eMiPOVdJ5b1nkZqI_YCaf0ZQ-1iYjQpxT5392VmxcB3av30lNlDAeM9pyBMXiSIY2EO50g/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-11-22+at+14.59.49.png"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6GDQhmm_KCf-bASeMHMEZ5hV3KU0tfYuzFdeNq1-yGzundNoSdyIH4dDWZWT85xm7MxH_2eMiPOVdJ5b1nkZqI_YCaf0ZQ-1iYjQpxT5392VmxcB3av30lNlDAeM9pyBMXiSIY2EO50g/s200/Screen+shot+2012-11-22+at+14.59.49.png" width="200" /></a></td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_he8v32_EWslK3pCYG0GL3VMji7KnQGyo0PxLkfvSr9i1BuIfPkqE01hlJwzEsawBaXNxVF9aeOLK_0OjBgiC7OU5O8NLH_ht3IzHY3xkkxo6aJFsUwihVA0nJp_omRAKE6cbx_gn1Q/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-11-22+at+14.59.12.png"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_he8v32_EWslK3pCYG0GL3VMji7KnQGyo0PxLkfvSr9i1BuIfPkqE01hlJwzEsawBaXNxVF9aeOLK_0OjBgiC7OU5O8NLH_ht3IzHY3xkkxo6aJFsUwihVA0nJp_omRAKE6cbx_gn1Q/s200/Screen+shot+2012-11-22+at+14.59.12.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workshops</td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Offices</td>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Accommodation</td></tr>
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I had a short sleep whilst some of the group went out exploring and had a walk into the nearby town, on their return we had a light buffet style meal then adjourned to the bar next door to take advantage of the wi-fi network, have a couple of pints of the local beer and broaden our experience of German culture.
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<b>Rowan Langley - Funky Renewables</b></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBrfmSaaD2seldna_FAWC242MeIN5gF3dYw_UvKH7LDIvIQKh8TUKnVtQ9gEgJ7CeuWFx4kANZclCqxrsiE-137WI-oQyAAkBO4YHOnmNe9G0rDvCVq3-FNR2qMvB5yidxqjBxqXiFGo/s1600/7.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBrfmSaaD2seldna_FAWC242MeIN5gF3dYw_UvKH7LDIvIQKh8TUKnVtQ9gEgJ7CeuWFx4kANZclCqxrsiE-137WI-oQyAAkBO4YHOnmNe9G0rDvCVq3-FNR2qMvB5yidxqjBxqXiFGo/s320/7.png" width="320" /></a>Ten delegates, with varied relevant backgrounds. We have lecturers from a technical college, training the next generation of electricians, plumbers, roofers and some of those will become installers of renewable technology. We have two directors of a local energy co-operative venture and a a member of the renewables' team of a large water undertaking, who use the hydro potential in the rivers and reservoirs which are part of the water infrastructure to generate at a medium scale, up to 500 KW to offset the significant electrical energy consumption incurred in water abstraction purification and distribution, we have a partner from an architects firm, a director of a renewable energy installation firm and we have the same firm's electrical sub contractor.
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As a group we are not short on experience. We have between us installed successful systems, run successful courses, survived long discussions with distribution network operators.
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We were all struck by the number and size of rooftop solar installations as we took a walk around the town in the afternoon and on the long road journey from the airport. Solar capacity has reached the point where on one day this year half the daytime power consumption of Germany was being generated on rooftop PV systems, and from this year onwards a requirement has been added for new PV installations to incorporate switching under the distribution network operators control to allow the output of the system to be turned off to prevent excessive energy being fed into the network in times of low demand.</div>
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<b>Claire Chapman - Scottish Water</b></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUAcIFi5RlIVA8aBNLI3U7etNNX46vkI7oEkCwWdMb6CikWqbXMcNMEH2ptZZCNv5Y1zdkLdB7_6xaT7XP_-_QAfwD4bJYeMh0wCiqhL4Jb2JnC4czceSxr0zJnyyU8krseC4cfS28yQ/s1600/CIMG5861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUAcIFi5RlIVA8aBNLI3U7etNNX46vkI7oEkCwWdMb6CikWqbXMcNMEH2ptZZCNv5Y1zdkLdB7_6xaT7XP_-_QAfwD4bJYeMh0wCiqhL4Jb2JnC4czceSxr0zJnyyU8krseC4cfS28yQ/s400/CIMG5861.JPG" width="400" /></a>Well here we are in the little town of Zella-Mehlis around 300 km from Frankfurt airport, where we landed at lunchtime. The town is in the state of Thuringia, which is in the old East Germany, and was heavily industrialised prior to re-unification. Subsequently, a lot of investment has been spent on transferring the skills to Renewables, which is why of course we are here.
We spent the afternoon wandering around. Our hostel is right in industrial land, so not much to look at, and I’m having to type this from McDonalds (the only internet connection around!) – some of my vegan sandal-wearing colleagues here are having to swallow their convictions for the week!
The town centre is rather lovely, and there are forested hills all around. We passed some ski hire stalls on our walk, but just one small pile of snow. Temperature is still a mild 9oC.</div>
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We start our visits tomorrow, so hopefully something to report tomorrow night.
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-51703289815594979412012-10-16T03:19:00.000-07:002012-11-23T03:55:53.931-08:00Monday 15th of October 2012<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Mark Summerfield - Burnley College</b></h3>
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After an early breakfast we visited our host company BCS and were warmly welcomed by Herr Gerlach, Director of BCS, who also has a renewables design and installation company.
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BCS is a not for profit organisation which has been providing vocational training since 1956. Originally the company specialised in Electrotechnical training and had as many as 3,000 electrotechnical trainees in the Sudthuringen region and a further 15,000 in the GDR overall. Since reunification the company now covers a wider variety of vocational training including metal engineering, plastics engineering, administration, hospitality and electrotechnical. Trainees generally do a 3-4 year apprenticeship, which is generally considered to be 50% vocational technical and 50% vocational practical. BCS focuses on the practical training and new entrants often do 1 year off the job with them before going to an employer.
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Recent demographic changes in the region, including a migration of young people to western parts of Germany, the company have diversified and now offer commercial courses in areas such as Renewables, CAD, CNC, hydraulics and pneumatics as upskill courses for mature learners. They also have a reputation as a specialist provider of training for students with support needs, particularly in the hospitality sector. Students come from a variety of regions, and can stay in the accommodation owned by the company.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jVbv4-ZoQ977crYGmrrlAOQq2gY0oWWKFyCmW8AG0XCydpTkRN749PR1M2GWlIeV4DzZVoR-dmY52nN6L061c-eUevd9A_yHfyYKdR_6sh-To-lQ9A2VI1YIlCGBEDLNn9HOrM9UAhc/s1600/DSCF1280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jVbv4-ZoQ977crYGmrrlAOQq2gY0oWWKFyCmW8AG0XCydpTkRN749PR1M2GWlIeV4DzZVoR-dmY52nN6L061c-eUevd9A_yHfyYKdR_6sh-To-lQ9A2VI1YIlCGBEDLNn9HOrM9UAhc/s400/DSCF1280.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
The company is accredited as an FE Academy to run around 60 vocational courses to allow adult students referred by the job centre to retrain in a new industry to increase employment prospects. The centre is located in an industrial area in Sudthuringen and can provide local companies with catering facilities. The company are becoming increasingly commercial in their outlook and are very creative in finding new business opportunities.
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Herr Gerlach emphasised the importance of employer and business relationships, his active membership of local forums, chamber of commerce and community groups helps him better keep in touch with employers and understand their training and business needs. He was a founder member of the Association of Energy Users.
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In Germany 20% of energy is generated by renewable sources, Energie Wende is the term used to describe the turnaround of thinking in energy generation towards renewable technologies, this is leading to a more decentralised supply system in parts of Germany.
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The importance of energy efficiency was emphasised, particularly as energy prices are on the increase, as is the case in the UK. Surprisingly, some PV companies are currently struggling since the market is getting close to saturation for PV. Electricity prices are traded on the German Energy Market, and prices can fluctuate on a daily basis, e.g. if it is sunny, the price will drop.
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An interesting point on subsidy was raised by the group – discussion took place on subsidies for renewables technologies, but it was pointed out that nuclear and fossil fuel options also receive subsidies and have done so for many years.
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<b>SOLAK</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU0z0akUqdDCdG4JTaUM6q3IhXHTIxiWwmamp_W4K3JRgo8jHRcqyDsbFx_Qhj4eExU_STujnEOzhQ9F0CY-oWWfyBr2Y7mGPD9UTM6nCOdjOCI88DFR8Ke8ZOdvhj45xzkTCV6ho76Y/s1600/DSCF1279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU0z0akUqdDCdG4JTaUM6q3IhXHTIxiWwmamp_W4K3JRgo8jHRcqyDsbFx_Qhj4eExU_STujnEOzhQ9F0CY-oWWfyBr2Y7mGPD9UTM6nCOdjOCI88DFR8Ke8ZOdvhj45xzkTCV6ho76Y/s400/DSCF1279.JPG" width="400" /></a>The next stop was the mobile renewables bus which visits schools and vocational academies to introduce the concepts behind renewable technologies using hands-on experiments to engage and enthuse students using kits which each have a workbook and components allowing experiments to be carried out. The experiments cover PV, heatpumps, solar thermal, wind energy, and CHP. The bus had 7 stations for students working in pairs, and caters for 3 groups of up to 14 students per day and charges 520 Euros per day.
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The bus provides excellent facilities in an interesting and active way. It was funded by the job centre with work on the bus being carried out by unemployed workers on the 1 euro per hour scheme. The bus is now self funding and travels throughout the Sudthuringen region.
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The bus was parked at the BCS Vocational training centre which is equipped with two PV arrays generating a total of 38kW peak. This provides around a third of the electricity consumption for the centre. The maintenance regime consists of an annual clean and monitoring of output.
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<b>Viernau Solar Park </b></div>
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After lunch we went to Viernau passing through the forest regions; the sight of three wild deer running through a clearing at the edge of the forest was a reminder that the region is famous for its wildlife and also for hunting. At Viernau we met the Mayor, Herr Hellmann, who gave us an introduction to the Solar Park community project, which is the first solar community scheme in the former East Germany. He also gave an overview of renewables provision in the province.
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We then visited a pico hydro installation in the town, where the owner Herr Munt, demonstrated the water turbine which was installed by his great grandfather in 1933. Although it has been recently been renovated, the Francis Turbine is the original turbine fitted back in 1933. The generator has a maximum capacity of 11kW and was producing 1kW on the day we visited even though the flow was very much reduced. His informative discussion was partly drowned out by the Christmas geese who took offence at our visit.
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A short journey later we arrived at the solar farm; a community generation project, which produces up to 990kW using 3960 Sharp 250W PV modules connected in strings through dc junction boxes to a large enclosure which contained the inverters. The land for the solar farm was a former landfill site which has been rented from the local council for a period of 30 years. The project took just 12 months from conception, through design, planning and development to the completed project we visited.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxY_LE4NQTPjkJfcVZ0W7GA8TdbKnUW702UqLwrB8JOjk6xmHi1PmaDp9ulIn7Wgl5Da8q1moo84NHcvKLoqZTdPFQx7ZVjbVscJiCikV3IgQZy66pc9sXVkFDriPSgkmq74Te78-v90/s1600/DSCF1284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxY_LE4NQTPjkJfcVZ0W7GA8TdbKnUW702UqLwrB8JOjk6xmHi1PmaDp9ulIn7Wgl5Da8q1moo84NHcvKLoqZTdPFQx7ZVjbVscJiCikV3IgQZy66pc9sXVkFDriPSgkmq74Te78-v90/s400/DSCF1284.JPG" width="400" /></a>The project cost 1.4 million euro. The finance for this was provided by a bank loan and a community partnership arrangement which raised 400,000 euro. The partnership has 43 members including businesses and the local council. Minimum investment was 500 euro and maximum was 30,000 euro. Each shareholder has 1 vote in the partnership no matter what the size of their investment is. The remaining 1 million euro was provided by a low interest (2.95%) loan from a local bank and will be repaid within 13 years. Investors will receive a 6-8% return on their investment over the 20 year period that the feed in tariffs are guaranteed for.
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This community scheme is very similar to the set up by Will and Damien of the Brighton energy Co-operative, structure, contribution levels, voting rights, income and loan percentage are all comparable albeit on a smaller scale for the Brighton community project. Having such a wide variety of backgrounds and interest in the group has been very useful and interesting as it gives an alternative perspective to the issues surrounding the implementation and development of renewable and energy efficiency resources.
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As we returned from the solar park we detoured to view a smaller scale installation which had been installed on some agricultural building roofs, the arrived back at the Town Hall where the group were able to ask further questions about funding the project and the structure and arrangements of the community partnership, which Herr Hellman explained very clearly, clarifying any issues which arose. Dirk was an excellent interpreter and he explained the sometimes complex relationships of the various bodies which went to making the project such a success.
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On our return to the accommodation the group agreed it had been a very useful day with everyone benefiting from some aspect of the day’s activities. After a light meal we then adjourned once again to the local bar to avail ourselves of the wi-fi facilities and send our first report to the blog.</div>
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<b>Rowan Langley - Funky Renewables</b></h3>
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Introduction to our host institution, BCS and a more formal introductory session for our backgrounds and areas of expertise. Our host institution was established in 1955 when this part of Germany was the DDR, and undertook the practical technical training for many of the large state concerns of the DDR. The institution gives training for a number of “Vocations”, electrical and electronic, Construction, office administration, and hospitality.</div>
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Over the last two decades a shift in thinking has been taking place in Germany over energy, a movement our host described by the term “Energiewende – Energy Change” There has been a move away from the model of energy production in a small number of large scale centralised plants. The model is much more decentralised, possibly in future one might see a whole village or borough deciding to go off-grid. Renewable energy facilitates such a move. The events of 11th September in the USA indicated to many thinkers that centralised energy generation creates a vulnerability – damage to only a small number of installations can create widespread effects. The recent nuclear accidents at Fukashima in Japan have moved opinion firmly against nuclear generation. The problem of waste is not solved, one delegate described the UK approach as like “Hotel “ charges, to store the waste products where they could at least be retrieved in emergency.</div>
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Against this must be noted the significant size of the four major energy companies in the nation (a number of these concerns also own generation in the UK). It has been claimed that the large scale penetration of Renewables into the German energy grid is forcing up prices by around 7%. The reverse is actually the case as far as wholesale prices are concerned. The spot price on the Leipzig energy market (the electricity trading mechanism in the German energy market) now can be used to track the sun – on days or hours where sunlight levels are high there is a corresponding drop in the wholesale electricity price. </div>
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Renewable content of the German grid since 2012 has been reported at up to 20%.
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The second event of the morning was SolarAkadamie bus, a mobile educational facility dedicated to low impact and renewable technologies. The bus, donated by the local brewery, was re-fitted by the German Job centres under the 1 Euro job scheme to form a mobile classroom and teaching laboratory. While the school curriculum covers the core disciplines of physics etc, there is no specific focus on renewables, and the bus is able to fill that gap. It has proved far more useful for schools to pay the EUR500 day rate for the bus to visit, during which time three groups can use it, than to buy the various experiment and demonstration kits used in the bus for the school.
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The kits themselves are comprehensive demonstrations of the various technologies; solar thermal, solar voltaic, one kit allowing a PV, wind and water demonstration system to be demonstrated, a heat pump, Stirling engine and a reversible fuel cell.
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The training centre has two PV arrays on its roof, one at 10 KW and one just shy of 30 KW. Our last seminar of the morning was an overview of the systems combined with a review of the German Feed in tariff system over the last 5 years.
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Both Germany and the UK have seen significant reductions in the financial incentives payable, the UK more so than Germany. The German system is more comprehensive in types of installations. The German model has different categories ranging from fitted on buildings or noise screening walls, free standing systems, and also different rates depending on whether the system exports or is used by the site to meet a proportion of its energy needs. The more the site can meet its own needs the greater the amount paid for each unit consumed. </div>
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In recent years Free standing systems on Agricultural land lost eligibility for feed in tariff. This has been a deliberate policy to safeguard agricultural land – the overall desire is to be self reliant in both food and energy.</div>
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Germany has a greater range of banks compared to the UK, and some banks with a special environmental focus. One example cited was the KFW group. In the UK, the Green – Deal about to be introduced also attempts to make loan finance available, with re-payment met by the financial savings brought about by whatever project is funded. One very successful German project was
one where all old buildings in the former east Berlin were brought to current standards for insulation and energy efficiency during a two year period.</div>
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Following lunch we visited the next town, or “Kommune” as such an area is known, as guests of the Mayor to visit a 960 KW community owned PV system before a presentation and question and answer session. The system itself had been constructed on a former landfill site, and operated by a organisation constituted as a Genossenshaft. This seems similar to a Co-operative in the UK. Members invested between EUR500 and EUR30,000. 64 members had invested, together with a loan for EUR 1,000,000 from the local bank which also took a stake of EUR30,000. Each share has one vote, rather than voting being proportional to the financial stake. The council itself is not involved, there being a conflict of interest in that the views of the majority (conservative) councillors holding different views on the desirability of such measures. The council retains a stake as the landowner of the site, and receives a rent of EUR2000 over the 30 year term of the lease.</div>
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During the visit we learned of the position of Hydro power in Germany. Rivers now enjoy very strict environmental protection legislation. The result is that while a former mill or disused hydro installation can be brought back into use, it is not permitted to construct a new small scale hydro in a water course. </div>
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The system is expected to return around EUR150,000 to the Kommune over the 20 year term through local taxes and rent for the site. Following this it is anticipated that it may be able to benefit the community by being able to offer electricity at a lower price than the market price from the usual energy suppliers.</div>
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<b>Claire Chapman - Scottish Water</b></h3>
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This morning, we headed out to the BCS (Buldung Center, SudThuringen), which is the Renewable Training Centre. It existing pre-unification, with around 3 500 students, studying electrical-technical work. Nowadays, there is a lot less demand, with demographics having shifted heavily (the youth appear to have moved West in search of the high life) and it now focusses on engineering in metal, plastic and electro-technical.</div>
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I hadn’t realised how much international events would influence local issues; the Fukushima disaster in Japan has had a massive impact on German energy production. Nuclear is no longer being progressed, and as a result there is a big gap for renewables, which already have a 20 % share of the Energy pie here. The college stressed that Energy production is only one side of the story, with energy saving the other key element that government policies are looking to drive home.
In this heavily wooded, hilly area, there are no wind farms, and solar and CHP / biogas are the main areas of Renewables.</div>
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We visited a Renewable Training bus, that was beautifully refitted, to go around schools, training children on various alternative energy sources (see the pics below. The experiments are really clever, and I had fun playing with a mini-heat pump.
The bus was originally funded by the job-centre, and now runs as a private enterprise, to plug a gap in the school education curriculum.</div>
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After lunch, we visited an old mill, with the original Francis turbine from 1930, still operating beautifully. The only improvement made since then, was the addition of a generator in 1994, so the mill now operates off electricity, as opposed to being connected directly.</div>
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We visited a 950 kVA solar farm, in a nearby village of Viernau. It was a truly impressive site, built on an old landfill site, that had been landscaped. Return on investment: 6-8%.</div>
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And finally we saw a very neat piece of roofing work, an integrated roof system, where the entire side of a roof had been replaced with solar hot water systems. It looked very smart.</div>
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I was then lured into the local shop this evening, to come out loaded down with Stollen, which weigh a ton, and I’m not sure how I will get them home through easyjet!</div>
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<b>Damien Tow - Brighton Energy Co-op</b></h3>
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An early (for me) start to the day and after breakfast a warm welcome at BCS from Herr Gerlach and his team. It was very interesting to hear the history of the FiTs and the state of the renewable sector in Germany and appreciate that in many ways the argument has largely been won on renewables here, although the Conservative Government are now significantly cutting solar PV FiTs. What is still open to debate and being lobbied against in the UK is much more mainstream in Germany ie. global warming, peak oil, the 'unsustainability' of nuclear, endless economic growth being impossible in a resource constrained world.</div>
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Seeing the Solar Bus which acts as a mobile education centre touring the region was very useful too and generated lots of ideas of how we could do similar marketing and communications in the UK. This is particularly necessary when the general public perceives solar to no longer be cost effective.</div>
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The afternoon visit to Viernau's solar park was a great eye opener for us from a community energy project as we could see what a much larger scale (7 times ours) array looked like and more importantly the cost, technology and timescales it took to be completed.</div>
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The mayor of Viernau was very open and frank about the costs and finances of the project and their organisational structure, which was very welcome and useful to hear! Already ideas about bringing a delegation of community energy professionals over from the UK for knowledge sharing are being developed….</div>
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<b>Dirk Bischof - Embrace Cooperation</b></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6IO9EzAgyDt9AKvsNiwvNOCgyecj30n92qDIaQpzUMVoigPOB3J7JvQLD0jwx9PxzFdK51gldvgAS43uAEdIX-Ihy7BTgiG1Ru1Bi1Lo24BWSyjL1vZnUNYo-uBuDLv_zSqqzmkCumo/s1600/Untitled1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6IO9EzAgyDt9AKvsNiwvNOCgyecj30n92qDIaQpzUMVoigPOB3J7JvQLD0jwx9PxzFdK51gldvgAS43uAEdIX-Ihy7BTgiG1Ru1Bi1Lo24BWSyjL1vZnUNYo-uBuDLv_zSqqzmkCumo/s400/Untitled1.png" width="400" /></a>The day started after a good rest in the BCS Guesthouse (<a href="http://www.bcs-gaestehaus.de/">http://www.bcs-gaestehaus.de</a>). We started the day with an introduction to BCS and the management. This was done by Mr Gerlach, BCS director and solar pioneer in this region of South Thuringia.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPNKxjPkd3r16Vo_nO7P86ztojiEYizNs1vTLrIpGOHVXXuUSIgC2cBKThmqQmCDiKqrRA478S-KM9R6O2-lx00IAI4OgQrq3ilClAdCs2BO5H9zzhV_NL7tArxr2-6hFb5cnH6bCCMow/s1600/Untitled2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPNKxjPkd3r16Vo_nO7P86ztojiEYizNs1vTLrIpGOHVXXuUSIgC2cBKThmqQmCDiKqrRA478S-KM9R6O2-lx00IAI4OgQrq3ilClAdCs2BO5H9zzhV_NL7tArxr2-6hFb5cnH6bCCMow/s400/Untitled2.png" width="400" /></a>We then started our first day by some facts and figures for Germany & the local region. Germany aims for a share of renewables of around 35% by 2020 and 50% by 2030 and a reduction in CO2 by 40% and 55% respectively.</div>
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Development of energy costs for a 3-person household:</div>
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green: petrol; orange: heating oil; blue electricity; violet: renewables (EEE)</div>
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<b>Household electricity price (2012)</b></div>
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<b>New vocabulary/ concepts for the day:</b></div>
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<b>“Biergenossenschaft”</b> – a temporary collective of people writing their Blog in the pub
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<b>“The veggie surprise”</b> – ordering vegetarian food, only to find out that the sauce has been well exposed to Speck, a local variety of bacon –people here wouldn’t think its not vegetarian…</div>
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<b>Websites:</b>
<a href="http://www.dgs.de/">http://www.dgs.de</a> - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie e.V (German Association for Sunenergy e.V)
<a href="http://www.ises.org/index.html">http://www.ises.org/index.html</a> - Association of cooperatives</div>
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Well fancy this happening in England – following a meeting at the local town hall in some sleepy mountain top village in central Germany, 65 locals agree to set up a registered company complete with Board of Directors; commit €400k of personnel finance into a project pot, then use this to raise a further €1M from the bank, and then proceed to convert the local closed landfill site into a 1.0 MWe solar farm – dealing with planning, EIA, environmental permitting, technical, legal and financial affairs, and just about whatever other EU Directives stood in their way, along their path – and getting the scheme successfully accredited and energised all within one year!
As “Wolfie” from BBC’s Citizen Smith used to shout from his Tooting South London tower block – “Power to the people!!”</div>
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This achievement clearly demonstrates the old adage that where’s there a Will, there’s a Way! The German’s used to consider themselves to be the dogmatic nation of old Europe…forever wrapping itself up in bureaucracy, and always aspiring to be pragmatists like us Brits…20 years on in new Europe, these labels have certainly be switched…and perhaps for on the basis of sound reasoning!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-59269388489398204242012-10-16T02:20:00.000-07:002012-11-23T07:56:34.402-08:00Tuesday 16th of October 2012<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Rhor is the location for the BTZ Rohr-Kloster Vocational Technical Centre which is located in a former monastery just outside the picturesque town of Ruhr. The centre is owned by the Chamber of Crafts, who accredit the qualifications, provide the training and represent industry at a regional and national level. The chamber of commerce also provides a similar service, but is an alternative provider.</div>
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BTZ Rohr-Kloster covers a wide variety of vocational training, and are in the final stages of completing the fit out of a new centre which will specialise in energy efficiency measures for existing housing stock refurbishment, and new build Passive Haus demonstration and training, including pressure testing.</div>
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The concept behind the new centre is little short of inspirational – within the workshop environment they are building examples of the 7 local building methods and types which will be shown in cross section to allow training in insulation and energy efficiency techniques. Each property will also have a touch screen fault finding display which will require students to identify inbuilt faults and see the effect of energy performance changes. </div>
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The Centre also includes classroom space, a lecture theatre, and an example of a traditional timber medieval oak frames building to demonstrate traditional building techniques. </div>
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The cost of the build was 3 million euro, which was funded by 500,000 supplied by the centre, ESF funding contributing 2.3 million and the remainder being contributed by the local chamber of crafts.</div>
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The centre offers a course for energy assessors, similar in concept to the current Green Deal Advisors course, but the content and duration of the German course was much greater at 240 Guided learning hours and covers a wide range of topics in great depth. It may be a possibility for some UK delegates to come over and do a version of this course.</div>
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Following a delicious lunch provided by our hosts, we then visited a nearby 9th century church. The pastor came out to greet us and was delighted to show us around the church giving details of the history of the church and its role in the history of the region, a very enjoyable and informative trip.<br />
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Back at the BTZ Rohr-Kloster Vocational Technical Centre, we discussed the day and exchanged ideas on what we had learned. Certainly there was good practice to be shared in the concept and layout of the new energy efficiency centre. It also highlighted to us the importance of having the knowledge and contacts of European funding opportunities.</div>
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Monday’s visit in Zeller Muhl to the BCS a private training organisation for renewable energies (and more) was impressive. The Solar bus was innovative and motivational. The active political support and transparent disclosure of the challenges involved by Mayor Herman for the 1MW community PV scheme was also much admired and informative.
However, Tuesdays venture to the idyllic mountain-set BTZ facilities in Rohr on the grounds of historical converted Monastery buildings was at another scale. The Monastery is one of the earliest in Germany. This BTZ initiative funded from multiple sources including in part itself, the Thüringen state and Chamber of Craftsmen as well as the EU is a truly world class collocated set of interdisciplinary training centres. It is inspiring for its users and not only for us visitors.</div>
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The scale and nature of the facilities is truly impressive. The comprehensive approach to the applied skills training for renewable will render itself to providing world-leading practitioners in the fields. The coverage of practical (and theoretical) courses and range of users at the BTZ facility is extensive. It is setup to cater for school pupils, apprentices, adults and organisations a range of craftsmen. The courses range from full-time to part-time for a range of associated energy related activities form specific technologies to construction related in an integrated manner. A 6MW private solar energy farm at Rohr can be viewed in the not so far distance from the BTZ park.</div>
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The visit to BTZ accompanied a trip to the adjacent village to St. Michaels Church where lies the earliest crypt in Germany and anointed by German royalty regularly in the past as well as Martin Luther. However, the biggest surprise came at the end of our day from our exceedingly generous hosts at BTZ. Whilst entering the converted church on site, we were encountered by a two lane bowling alley on the ground floor and recreation centre! Our already stunned delegation were bowled out by this ‘strike’ of amazement.</div>
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Dan & Adam Ltd is an engineering consultancy specialising in renewable energy technologies and smart networks. Dan & Adam is focused on Smart Grids and Smart Cities. Our Smart Cities projects also include within their scope Smart Grids. We scope our projects to include Smart Buildings with particular attention being paid to the EU 2020 initiative for Net Zero Carbon construction projects and PassivHaus building standards. The BTZ facilities are designed to capitalise upon the Smart Buildings sector and in particular the challenging aspects of retrofitting buildings – as well as new establishments. </div>
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This approach from the BTZ and other similar training provides Germany with a competitive advantage in this sector that the UK should well consider replicating. This visit is already beginning to deliver its objectives of best practice exchanges and information on different approaches within the UK and Germany.</div>
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<b>Owen Humphries - WYG Group</b></h3>
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Breakfast - cheese sandwiches. Today was spent exploring the Chambers of Craftsmen’s regional PTZ technical college; Rohr – a regional centre of excellence for training trade-persons wishing to aspire towards establishing their own businesses; and which presently caters for over a 150 different trades – from bricklaying to Hairdressing. However it’s more then simply providing students with a certificate of technical competence – in plumbing, carpentry etc - but also includes for providing a sound grounding in all the administrative skill sets and business tools needed for running an SME - sustainably, legally and successfully.</div>
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After a brief introduction and cheese sandwich we toured the new renewable energy and sustainable building enterprise department; courtesy of a substantial grant from the ESF – a cool €3M. Once completed and formally inaugurated over the next few weeks, this department will essentially focus on bringing the array of trade-persons engaged within the renewable energy and building efficiency sector up to speed with current renewables technologies and Building Standards best practices – and as such will cover everything from retrofitting old building stock to current best building practices with respects to energy efficiency (i.e. building insulation) and renewables (i.e. biomass, biogas, ground and solar heating/cooling systems).</div>
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The department will also aspire towards demonstrating the construction techniques and renewables equipment needed to build the ideal “future house” – i.e. energy consumption…by my reckoning my house is presently some 2-3 times behind this target – but what with my new cavity wall and loft insulation going in next week courtesy of the Local Authority energy deal, and my new solar PV roof mount – it be interesting to see how close my 1970’s build get to this idealised Germanic “star Trek” house of the future!!</div>
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Regardless of this - depending what best whets your appetite; whether it be traditional log or wood pellet biomass boilers, or state of the art grid gas powered smart micro CHP, ground or solar heat pumps; there’s plenty of sexy looking proven technology at very affordable prices out there available on the market to select from – all of which comes with a commercially realistic pay pack time – reducing your energy bills and saving you money in the long run…which obviously comes on top of the savings you can by make by simply ensuring that your home is adequately insulated in the first place … Dirk – if there’s any money left over from this trip, please ask the PTZ to send some students over to my place with one of those nice looking blue biomass boilers as part of Leo’s international best practice exchange arrangements. I can provide the cheese sandwiches!</div>
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Renewables to one side – this technical college is about equipping the guys with the right skill sets to succeed in business – not just making them good craftmen – but equipping them to run their own businesses – successfully. Have we got this formal structure back home – it’s debateable?</div>
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When my wife phones me at work to inform me that the washing machine is leaking, or the vacuum cleaner is block and then proceeds to casually inform me that its however all Okay, and I don’t need to rush home as she’s called the “engineer” out on an emergency call-out – I generally cringe - not because this potential 2 minute “Jim’ll fix it” (oops! has he yet officially fallen from grace!!) call out is going to cost me £75 as a starter for ten, but because in England our “better halves” and those “who shall always be obeyed” have the audacity to call these largely ill-educated, poorly trained, illiterate bunch of Chancers - “engineers”…and not a proper formal qualification between them! If we put them all through the same paces as the BTZ, Chambers of Craftsmen, then those surviving the ordeal, would in my mind certainly be worthy of the title “engineer”.</div>
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All said and done and so as to bring back a bit of balance we do have some good guys… Mark Coburn of Ferny Hurst Avenue, Rownhams, Southampton; City and Guilds qualified plumber and lone trades man for these past 20 years has done a fantastic job at stripping out and modernising my bathroom to includes for all trades – demolition, blockwork, plastering, electrics, tiling, painting and decorating…and ho yes…a new plumbed in bathroom suite with walk-in shower room…since moving to the estate some 15 years ago, and solely by word of mouth advertising on past performance, he’s renovated half the kitchens and bathrooms on our 1970’s estate – quietly knocking them out at a stress free rate of 10-15 a year depending upon complexity!</div>
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However with injury time to play – on Day 2 it’s still nevertheless;</div>
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Germany 2 – England 0</div>
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(Mark Coburn’s attempt at goal narrowly passing the wrong side of the cross bar)!!</div>
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Back to the new building being raised by BTZ….</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSGob7Yj-4M59Zq-26zl5i-4WwIFvsNLg1VCbaZ7LBgjDaLOejZj0SYP9JYRrL8uLqRVVpcbin2T3V_POq02kkNipshf2hLvfGBW6Zk650kKxlO4PKHuLOLgN5ckTtLvZH0Dprr1mJck/s1600/5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSGob7Yj-4M59Zq-26zl5i-4WwIFvsNLg1VCbaZ7LBgjDaLOejZj0SYP9JYRrL8uLqRVVpcbin2T3V_POq02kkNipshf2hLvfGBW6Zk650kKxlO4PKHuLOLgN5ckTtLvZH0Dprr1mJck/s320/5.png" width="320" /></a>In the 1990’s a well known Japanese car manufacture sent it’s CEO 10,000 miles to England to find out why its new 5000 vehicle/month production factory construction project was running late; potentially losing the firm £50M a month turnover if opening was seriously delayed. The boss of the construction company unwittingly said that it was due to heavy autumn rains, delaying the various trades, both working internally and externally. The CEO paused and pondered…and after what seemed like an agonisingly long silence for the construction boss quietly replied…yes in Japan we have something called seasons, perhaps just like yours – one is very dry and warm; one is very cold and snowy; and the other two are generally just plain dull and wet! – so we are likewise familiar with this concept. The meeting was promptly, but politely, concluded, and the construction boss although relieved, but somewhat surprised for not receiving a “good proper” kicking, thought he’d pulled a flanker on his client and took his team down the pub to rightly celebrate a small victory…24 hours later the CEO’s lawyers then proceeded to successfully sue the Contractor for failing to provide sufficient construction resources and make sufficient provision for seasonal weather events as “explicitly” spelt out within the agreed terms of contract. The contractor, relying on his past excellent reputation to service several Japanese companies starting up within the UK promptly went bust as Orders were rescinded one after the other. Ironically the CEO would have paid over the odds to safeguard the completion of his project to his quality satisfaction and programme…if only told in advance!!</div>
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What’s this to do with the German’s at BTZ – well just this – I’m no Architect, but they built the new department with a flat roof and promptly mounted £10’s of £’000 of solar PV on the flat roof – it is not uncommon for this region of Germany to receive an average 5-6’ snow fall over the 4 month winter weather window – all in all – meaning that this renewable energy array will be pretty much be buried for 4 months of the year when the winter sun might just be at it’s most productive! Sustainability comes in many guises - this arrangement cannot be counted as a sustainable roof construction design, unless the Architects are thinking of the German Government employment sustainability policy and banking on the college paying €1/hr to the local unemployed to “work when work is available” and shovel snow several hours a day so as to preserve their client’s solar PV income!</div>
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Final score on Day 2 after added injury time!!</div>
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Germany 2 England 1!</div>
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Own goal by the German chambers of Architects (or whatever association they are affiliated to) in injury time for lack of joined up proper sustainable thinking!! </div>
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Evening meal – Cheese burger!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKsjHdlwLQCNP-f188KHBFrs5670kR7iWulYpctOpFU4TPVvT2NibXiYxBja_zP31rJxeoumicq4lkxZrwft3MjjFKdwpwEg8em-zZS-wugh9L6tbAt5zrLT5jdrBIOUXmmOOExVMyLg/s1600/Rohr_kloster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKsjHdlwLQCNP-f188KHBFrs5670kR7iWulYpctOpFU4TPVvT2NibXiYxBja_zP31rJxeoumicq4lkxZrwft3MjjFKdwpwEg8em-zZS-wugh9L6tbAt5zrLT5jdrBIOUXmmOOExVMyLg/s320/Rohr_kloster.JPG" width="320" /></a>Today was our visit to the vocational training centre close to the town or Rohr. The site was a monastery between AD850 and AD1562, following the Reformation it has variously been the summer residence of German Kings, Otto 1,2 3, Heinrik 1, a sucession of private owners, the last one having to flee from Germany in 1932 owing ot the Persecution of Jewsish people by the nazi party. </div>
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We were introduced to the German system for regulation and support for trades, industry, commerce and trades. The Rohre Centre is operated by the Thuringe “Handwerkeskammer”. An approximate translation would be Chamber of Trades, or Chamber of Crafts. All businesses would register with the Kammer, from that registration fee training is funded, also legal advice to trades, financial advice, an Arbitration service, knowledge transfer, quality initiative and so forth. In the case of the Thuringe Handwerkeskammer, the a great many members would be between 1 and 5 employees.</div>
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Germany is spared the UK situation where anyone can put their card in the newsagents window or an add in the local paper and call themselves an electrician or a plumber. Until a person has completed both their two years training and the third year to obtain the degree of Master craftsman they are not allowed to start up in business.
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My own memory of having been educated in the Academic stream leading to A-level qualification is that the system would seem to actively discourage young people from the trades. Not so for our hosts. Whichever of the three streams of secondary education one follows, the Handverkekammer organises numerous initiatives from age 13 onwards to introduce the Krafts to students, students have opportunities to undertake day or block release placements during their educations to sample the trades and to discover if they have a calling towards a particular trade. During our tour through the campus our hosts talked on the many summer camps organised in the school vacations. The Eskimos have about 300 different words for snow, in Germany there are 300 different words for the Trades.</div>
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At this centre trainees, students, appendices, whatever title one would use undergo the training in the theory of their trade. On our tour of the nearly completed building training centre we saw the demonstration houses starting to take shape in the first of the large halls. These represented the seven common building methods students would encounter, built as a cutaway model, and with each one having a number of deliberate mistakes included, which students would find during practical works as they made inspections tests, experiential measurements and so forth.</div>
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The second large hall will house the demonstration passive house. A passive house is one with extremely low external energy demand. The term “Passive” has a very strict definition, it must consume no more than 15 KWH per year for each square metre of floor area.</div>
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Such a building demands high standards of thermal insulation, ventilation, draft proofing, and generally would look to some sustainable energy input to meet that target.</div>
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In the hall section, even the plant room had been laid out in a way to make it an accessible educational resource.</div>
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The demonstration of low impact technology at the centre is long standing. We were shown with some pride a wall mounted solar-PV system installed in 1992, still working, using panels with a Thin Film technology which was a research material of the time.
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Heating is usually the major energy consumer of a building. The building methods leading to the Passive house, or the next stage where the house can be a net contributor reduce the heat demands to the point where use of renewable and sustainable energy is viable. The Heating demonstration facility incorporated four technologies : Wood pellet, Whole wood, air sourced heat pump and a gas fired Combined heat and power generator. Nothing is wasted; the heat generated as the students carry out their practical assessments is captured in a 80 cu metre water tank, along with energy from the demonstration solar-thermal installation to provided a store of heat from which building heating can be drawn .
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Our final call of the morning was the facility where energy assessors are trained. Here again the differences between the UK and German approaches were evident. UK legislation had intended to impose on house vendors the requirement to produce an information pack including energy efficiency assessments, gas and electrical inspections as well as the information a prospective purchaser would previously obtain by local authority searches. Is was seen by many as a moneymaking exercise as this is something which a house owner would have to carry out. Subsequent changes have abolished the information packs and the expected work of domestic assessors, leaving the only requirements for energy efficiency reports being upon landlords for a new let and as part of the requirements for which feed in tarrifs operate.
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The German model holds the assessor as a key player in achieving the Energiewende. The entry requirements include the applicant being already qualified to the level of Master craftsman. Thye training is thorough,four months at 2 days a week, and to much greater depth than a typical five day course under the present UK model. The thick course manuals were on display, along with a selection of the tools and test equipment for either the practical assessment work or to illustrate the renewable technologies so that the assessor has a full understanding of their characteristics, strengths and limitations.
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Following lunch we undertook one of the excursions to the nearby church of St Michael in the village itself, built in 852AD by the monks to be a subsidiary house, housing Nuns of the order.</div>
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<b>Claire Chapman - Scottish Water</b></h3>
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Today, we headed to the Mediaeval town of Rohr, once favoured summer residence of the ancient German kings. We were hosted by the regional vocational training centre, BTZ. Its remit is focussing on trade / craft skills for new build construction and refurbishment of existing buildings, and we were particularly looking at energy efficiency training skills. </div>
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It is a beautiful setting, having once been a monastery (the oldest in Germany), which closed 100 years back, and subsequently has been an education centre, in the middle of wonderful deciduous woodland on rolling hills, all splendid in their autumnal colours.
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Ours hosts once again emphasised to us the change in demographics in the area, and the impact it has had on local education facilities. This centre had 11 000 students just after unification of Germany. It is now down to 3 500 students. The campus is world-class, with 30 different workshops on site, for training of different crafts, from metal-working to thermal heat imaging.
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We toured the new buildings for Energy Efficiency, which are still being completed at a cost of 4 million Euros. Inside the building shell, various different building styles are being demonstrated, to allow students to practice energy efficiency on refurbishments.
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The highest energy efficiency standard is a passive house, which uses 15 kWh/m2/annum (effectively no energy usage). If you can then install renewables on top of a passive house, it then becomes active, i.e. it can produce more energy than it needs.
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We inspected a small New Zealand manufactured CHP unit, which produce 8 kW heat and 1 kW energy. It’s still too expensive to be mainstream, but I suspect it won’t be long before it replaces the condensate boiler as the standard domestic boiler in many homes!
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And finally, we were allowed to test out some very expensive thermal heat imaging cameras (around 30 000 Euros a pop!), which the Energy Assessors are trained on. Before a domestic dwelling in Germany can obtain bank financing, they must have a visit from an Energy Assessor, to ensure that their home is not leaking Energy from poor insulation (i.e. it’s a good investment!).
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This afternoon, we visited the Lutheran church of St Michael’s, which is one of the oldest buildings in the area (815 AD). The pastor very kindly took us down to the ancient crypt underneath the church. I noticed the blankets in all the pews, and he said there was no heating whatsoever in the building! Because so much of this ancient church is wood, it would not be good for it to be heated up. I have to say, it must keep the pastor’s sermons brief and to the point.
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We drove home via the town of Suhl, famous for gun making, in particular the Walter PPK (used by 007). This evening, three of us went out to explore the woods for a run. It was particularly hard-core and very steep. I can see why this is such a popular area for skiing- very hilly! Tomorrow we are going to visit a pump-storage facility, so more of that tomorrow. But the good news now is that we have found a wireless connection in a local pub, so I am able to move out of McDonalds to enjoy a local beer whilst uploading this!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-67266102996864859122012-10-16T01:28:00.000-07:002013-01-25T02:54:39.362-08:00Wednesday 17th of October 2012<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Mark Summerfield - Burnley College </b></h3>
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We had a slightly disappointing start to the day, having only been allowed access to the information centre at the Goldisthal pumped energy storage hydro plant, apparently it is necessary to book ahead to view the turbine hall and speak to the information officers since it is a popular attraction with school parties. It was also difficult access to view the reservoir which feeds the system. </div>
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A very good lunch made up for the disappointing start, with a lot of good discussion within the group which identified potential opportunities for the college in related fields.</div>
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We then visited the nearby construction site for the high speed rail link, this was a unique opportunity to see a 10 Billion euro project whilst it is still in progress. The Thuringen section of the railway will cost around 3 billion euro, 50% of which is spent on the construction and the remainder is spent on track, signalling power, landscaping etc. The scale and accuracy required for the high speed trains is staggering. Our guide, Helmut, was an architect who had worked in Ireland, so his English was very good, and his enthusiasm for the project was infectious. All in all it was agreed that the visit had been very worthwhile. </div>
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<b>Muhammad Yousuf - Dan & Adam </b></h3>
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Today's visit to the Vattenfall Hydroelectric power station at Goldistahl was almost touristic in nature in mountainous landscapes 800 meters above sea level. Set high in the Thuringen forests along windy tracks, the windswept location for us was covered in sunshine.</div>
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Although the mountainous artificial 'loch' used for pump storage reminded of my native Scotland, the facility of 1.06GW is at a scale that is beyond the one similar scheme there. The benefits of hydroelectric power are well-known for their environmentally friendly outcomes if deployed appropriately. The environmental impact has been carefully designed within the scheme.</div>
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The village of Goldistahl is also along the route of a 10 billion euro project for a high speed rail link connecting the east of Germany directly with the south. 22 Tunnels and 27 bridges are being constructed. The majority of the tunnels and the highest element of the cost will be spent o nthe third of the route going through the Thuringen forest. Herman, our well informed, well-spoken and genuinely empathetic Deutsche Bahn Customer Relations Manager took us on a guided tour of some of the construction sites of bridges and tunnels of this magnificent engineering feats where hundreds of individuals are showing German engineering to the world. We were appropriately dressed for the occasion by our hosts in orange flak jackets, hard hats (with flashing 'head' lights) and yellow 'wellies'.</div>
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It was genuinely exciting seeing the fantastic engineering feats being conducted to deliver very detailed, innovative and demanding specifications of Deutsche Bahn where resilience, security and access to the bridges and tunnels must be maintained for all eventualities and allow the trains to operate without interruptions. The design of the tunnels, the innovative design of the concrete cast tracks, the handcraft involved in tailoring the frames for the concrete setting, the 1mm tolerance of the railtrack concrete blocks, the single span nature of some of the bridges, the bespoke bridge and tunnel designs, the materials efficiency, the environmental landscaping through the waste materials are only some of the factors of consideration to note.</div>
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<b>Rowan Langley - Funky Renewables</b></h3>
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A day to view to large scale projects, in construction or recently built. First off a Pumped Storage Power station then the high speed railway presently under construction.</div>
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The pumped storage installation is entirely a storage driven station, with negligible catchment as far as energy production is concerned. feeding the upper reservoir which is constructed more or less on above the summit line of the ridge of the hills. It ooerates in the usual manner of such installations absorbing excess generation overnight from Base load stations running on coal of nuclear where a daily shut down and startup is not feasible, and releasing the energy (less eficiency losses from the pumping and generation operations) to cover the daily peak periods.</div>
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One significant item of information from the visitors' centre's displays was the difference in daily load profiles between the UK and Germanny. The Sample day, from February showed a flat extended peak period with a slight dip in the afternoon; the corresponding profile from the UK shows a pronounced mid day peak but a significantly larger peak between 1700 gmt and 2000 gmt, which in mid winter can reach 62 GW. An argument starting to be heard in the UK which would address this peak in consumption would be to implement daylight saving times in the winter, with time one hour ahead of gmt which apart from the very middle of the winter would separate the end lighting load drawn by commerce from the beginning of the rise in domestic demand as householders returned from work.</div>
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The railway construction site we viewed in the afternoon is the culmination of a20 year planning period for high speed rail links generally and a special focus on the former DDR where post WW2 transport investment had been East West while the demand post re-unification has been for North South Links, leading to overloading of both road and rail routes through the centre. Once completed the route (line speed around 160mph ) offered journey times comparable with air travel with the train offering much greater passenger capacity in one movement, lower overall energy requirements, and a requirement which could come from electricity rather than oil.</div>
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We were appreciative guests of the Deutsche-Bahn information centre in the village on the route, and were shown the works by an enthusiastic architect employed by DB to maintain good relations between the construction operations and local residents and present the whole project to visitors. </div>
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The line chosen is not the optimum line for a Munchen – Berlin high speed railway; that would have repeated the situation of many UK trunk rail lines failing to serve significant intermediate towns. The political system in Germany appears to grant greater influence to more local and regional politics over such major works, and the line eventually chosen serves a number of important regional centres. The influence is also apparent in the way the line has been engineered. While for most of the hills a summit cutting is a feasible (and inexpensive) option, this was not deemed acceptable politically in an areas of such natural beauty, and summits are crossed by a series of tunnels, while valleys are crossed by bridges rather than embankments. Spoil from the tunnels which might have been disposed of by way of creating embankments instead is used to rasie and sculpt the hilltops into pasture land. </div>
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The arch bridge had been chosen as the standard structure for bridges after tests simulating the imposed load of a train on the bridge making an emergency brake application from full line speed. The arch was found to distribute the vertical and significant longitudinal stresses through the structure in the best manner. Ne structure we viewed close to completion is a new development. By use of thin vertical members, and the means of joining the cast sections, the structure has been designed to accommodate expansion and contraction without use o any bearings, hinges or expansion joints. The concrete sections flex in a controlled manner to absorb any bridge movements. The design was not only an elegant structure but made a significant savings in material costs.</div>
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The majority of the structures appeared to be more conventional box girder construvtions, the deck being a cantilever from a central box girder spine supported by concrete upright from the main arch. Access was created to the internal spaces in all the uprights, arch and deck for inspection and repairs, and all services connected with power, signals and telecommunications used the deck box girder, allowing access to such services in safety while trains were running.</div>
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As part of the same safety case, the tunnels are built to generous dimensions giving generous overhead clearance for overhead line, and a cess which appears wide enough to accommodate a vehicle. The cess incorporates generous provision of ducts for lineside wiring and ducts to the trackbed and to the tunnel wall. </div>
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The tunnelling operations depend on a process patented in 1910, rock bolting. A long threaded reinforcing bar is driven several metres into the rock from the wall of the tunnel, the re-inforcing mesh and re-bar of the tunnel lining is in turn secured to the rock bolt before concrete is sprayed the tunnel to protect the worksite. A further layer of concrete is added to line the tunnel. </div>
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We felt very privileged to be given access to the site and and to see some of the work close to. Our guide spoke extremely highly of the the workforce, and in particular of the foremen who would take the engineers drawings in two dimensions and direct there teams to create the whole three dimensional structure. The principle are in fact mediaeval. First a frame or scaffold, then the carpenters build the shuttering and formwork and only at this point do the modern materials of steel and concrete come into play, but here again the principles are even older. The Romans built in mass concrete, while wattle and daub is a composite material not unlike concrete and steel reinforcement.</div>
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<b>Claire Chapman - Scottish Water</b></h3>
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This morning we drove for an hour east, very close to the Czech border, where we paid a visit to the Goldisthal Vattenfall pump storage system. This was commissioned in 2003, and has a capacity of 1060 MW from four Francis pump turbines, with an average annual output of 8 500 MWh. I was interested to see that the site had capitalised on an existing lower reservoir, so only had to install the upper one. We walked up to the edge of the dam wall of the top reservoir, to admire the view, on this glorious autumnal day, with the Turingin forests stretching in every direction. There is a drop of 234 m to the lower reservoir, and a 100 m3/s flow. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yh7qyiopU8tQGXLCUx2UDYEPFWtAFEBiX1ptmH69qBG4EDfax7fTFRcDNv-KK_GILGeY_zJtqRGWQa48NK01WfeVLiZkNvwyxVYTbCcSA8dySXVDuqOQeXGorw9xMUd2QuenYsCJxIU/s1600/CIMG5902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yh7qyiopU8tQGXLCUx2UDYEPFWtAFEBiX1ptmH69qBG4EDfax7fTFRcDNv-KK_GILGeY_zJtqRGWQa48NK01WfeVLiZkNvwyxVYTbCcSA8dySXVDuqOQeXGorw9xMUd2QuenYsCJxIU/s400/CIMG5902.JPG" width="400" /></a>We ate lunch at a local bistro, which served local trout (always with kartoffel / potatoes it seems!), and then visited the most incredible construction project – a €10 billion high speed rail European Transport project, due to be completed in 2015. The scale of it was mind-blowing; just in this Turingia section (a cool €3 million) a total of 29 bridges and 22 tunnels are being built. We visited an excellent information centre and then a very well-spoken Herr Kramer got us to kit up and drove us up to some of the bridges to inspect them. Because the area is so mountainous and forested, the bridges and tunnels are very necessary, and they have been able to pioneer a new style of bridge, which is built as a single unit (i.e. no gaps between the concrete) – apparently saving a large amount of raw materials. The typical bridge height was 60 m, and would be a bungi-jumper’s dream. I wrote down another random statistic: they are using 1 000 m3 of concrete every day! The construction area was a model site, in such a sensitive and beautiful environment, it was spotless and yet again, an impressive display of Germany engineering skills at their best.</div>
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Tonight we got back too late to go for a run, which is perhaps just as well, after last night’s efforts. Hopefully there will be time for some exercise tomorrow. </div>
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<b>Damien Tow - Brighton Energy Co-op</b></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtJWqMT7RB2ghotxX-9UCMgawfTo48eoV-e0xJSF3lOmFP0Yo8R5Dnmqj7RGwqVQykczDlwdLG8_p_Ub1ScUekKLnBNvyi7ccr-EZVrfx6wxZB25u-AuUe5TrSrDpO7hqrZocTHsw-ao/s1600/CIMG5910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtJWqMT7RB2ghotxX-9UCMgawfTo48eoV-e0xJSF3lOmFP0Yo8R5Dnmqj7RGwqVQykczDlwdLG8_p_Ub1ScUekKLnBNvyi7ccr-EZVrfx6wxZB25u-AuUe5TrSrDpO7hqrZocTHsw-ao/s400/CIMG5910.JPG" width="400" /></a>An interesting day with a 1 hour drive to the highest point of the Thuringien forest near to the Czech border. Here there is the largest pumped storage plant in Germany and one of the newest in Europe. We took advantage of the displays in the visitor centre to understand the history and construction of the upper and lower lakes and the pipelines linking them, and then drove up to the upper lake to view its somewhat unusual construction. Effectively it is a large basin built up on the top of an 850m high hill, rather like an enormous ‘bird bath’. When the grid has excess electricity it pumps water up to this lake and the water is released, and spins turbines immediately, when there is a power shortage. </div>
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After a delicious lunch of local trout we took a tour of the construction of the latest link in Germany’s low carbon travel infrastructure, the high speed rail link which will join Berlin and Munich, and Italy beyond. This section rises up to 650m above sea level and constitutes a series of bridges and tunnels to cross the hill Thuringien Wald terrain. An unusual opportunity to see such a large scale infrastructure development at first hand and I look forward to the chance to travel the line one day!
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-91689187148948157322012-10-16T00:30:00.000-07:002013-01-25T02:54:48.827-08:00Thursday the 18th of October 2012<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Owen Humphries - WYG Group</b></h3>
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Solar PV, wind, biogas and other renewable energy sources reduce consumption of fossil fuels but also pose challenges to the electrical grid because their power generation fluctuates, heightening the need for better battery technology to store their energy until it's needed to feed the grid.
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Undoubtedly, storing energy produced from a 50 MWe wind farm, or even a 5 MWe solar farm in a neat compact form still remains a long-term objective. Whilst this can be practically achieved; for example by means of using surplus off peak energy generation to pump water to a high level storage reservoir for release during peak energy demands via a hydroelectric scheme; such a civil engineering feat is disproportionately expensive and not without it socio-political problems - likewise the mechanical and process engineering feat associated with the large-scale hydrolysis of water into hydrogen for re-combustion via a gas turbine. However energy storage generated by modest renewable energy arrays is becoming feasible.
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However such technological advancement is pointless without application; and any such application needs to be one that captures popular and widespread acceptance.
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After much discussion and debate centered around smart grids, and their potential application, across numerous EU nations, in particular Germany; Suhl town administration - Thüringen Region; Germany - decided to innovate and pioneer its own bespoke smart grid. Completed earlier this year this is reported to be one of the first sizeable demonstrations of smart grid applications in Germany, and potentially the EU.
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The scheme devised by Suhl town administration was simplistic in its concept, design and final application.
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The scheme was focused upon a small community hospital. The facility was largely an administration centre with limited patient beds; i.e. a base for the dispatch of “district nurses” to visit patients across the community. As such the facility had a much lower energy requirement than more traditional hospitals. Following consultation and initial design concept, the scheme comprised<b>:</b>
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<li>c150 kWe roof mounted Solar PV </li>
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<li>three electric cars with car charging facilities</li>
<li>built environment energy saving efficiency measure
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The initial phase was installed for c€500,000 and basically works as follows.
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By day, solar PV is used to provide up to 100% of the facility’s electrical energy requirements, with surplus electrical energy being diverted for storage within a large battery array. The staff use the electric vehicles to carry out their assignments around the district – typical vehicle range 150km, typical daily requirement 50km. By night, the battery array, being charged, is used to provide up to 100% of the facility’s out of hours electrical energy and, more importantly, recharge the fleet of electric vehicles.
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This scheme, which was implemented with a roll-out of energy efficiency and energy saving measures across the building, has proved popular amongst the administration’s employees – albeit despite some initial concern of using the electric vehicles on long journeys. However, the town Mayor, keen to engage with its residents has since rolled out the weekend use of the electric vehicles to the town’s residents at a nominal hire rate.
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Given the success of the scheme a second stage is now currently being planned. This will include installing smart vertical axle wind turbines to increase generating capacity to enable the DC battery bank to be extended and the entire vehicle fleet converted to electric.
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Since the installation of the first phase, the town Mayor noted that the cost they paid for phase 1 was high – perhaps the cost of being a pioneer! Unit prices for solar PV, battery packs, and electric vehicle have all significantly dropped – up to 25% reduction for the electric vehicles – and significantly more for solar PV. Despite this Phase 1 is estimated to commercially pay back within a 7-8 year period.
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It should also be noted that interestingly, owing to its altitude, the region of Thüringen is situated in a position which would approximately be equivalent to Manchester – a place not necessarily renowned for its long sunny days!
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Having visited this facility and observed the practicalities of such a scheme at first hand – and indeed its simplicity - we see no reason why such concepts should not be actively promoted to UK public and private sector who might likewise benefit from the long term commercial advantages of a small scale smart grid.
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<b>Mark Summerfield - Burnley College</b></h3>
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On our last full day of the trip we were visited the local town hall at Zella-Mehlis where we were invited to meet the mayor who spoke excellent English and gave us a passionate presentation on the highly innovative solar based project LSIM. The Mayor and his team have converted a former city hospital into a facility which incorporates retirement homes, doctors’ offices and health facilities in a sustainable and energy efficient way, incorporating the latest in Smart meter technology and energy generation and storage facilities. </div>
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The aim of the project was to make the facility as close to independent from the grid as possible; to this end they have installed 140kW of solar modules which have generated 50,000 euro in feed in tariff income in the 9 months since they were commissioned. In addition, 3 electric vehicles were purchased, together with charging stations which are fed from the solar modules and backed up with a 64kW battery capability to further reduce reliance on the grid.</div>
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Funding for the project, which cost a total of 500,000 euro, was raised from 200,000 coming from council surplus, 200,000 from a bank loan and the remaining 100,000 from a state grant. Part of the reason for purchasing the electric cars was in a bid to change hearts and minds of the public by giving them an opportunity to hire the electric vehicles a rate of just 11.49 euro per day. The vehicles are also used as pool cars for the council employees to be used in their daily duties.</div>
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The group was given the opportunity to drive the vehicles which were very impressive in performance. Range of the vehicles is around 120km per charge, and the majority of the charge is obtained free from the solar panels, if the cars were to be charged using mains electricity the cost would be around 3-4 euro per charge. The vehicles are free from road tax and can reach speeds of around 130km/hr (about 80 mph). </div>
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The council had constructed a car port to increase available roof space to mount the PV modules onto. The project prompted discussions within the Burnley College delegates - would it be possible for the college to implement a similar scheme? Would this give us the opportunity to create our own solar farm? Could the college purchase a small pool of electric vehicles for the use of TDOs and college staff for use when on college business?
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The delegates from the Brighton Energy co-operative were similarly inspired, the mayor was invited to visit their scheme and a commitment was made to share the output statistics for the two schemes via the internet so that a comparison of performance could be made over the coming years. The mayor also committed to attend the renewables event in Brighton in 2013.</div>
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Following lunch the group was given the opportunity to visit the winter sport centre at Oberhof where a large solar thermal system is installed as part of the building fascia, this multi stage system was providing stored hot water in a series of 500 litre tanks.
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Unfortunately circumstances prevented the planned visit to view the Electricity and heat generation plant in Zella-Mehlis, however this gave us time to complete our final blog entries and get ready for a nearby acoustic guitar concert later that evening.
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<b>Rowan Langley - Funky Renewables</b></h3>
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The main item of business this morning was a presentation by the Mayor of Zella-Mehlis on the municipal electric Car Hire Scheme. The scheme showed off best practices in technology and methods of local and regional financing, and also best practice in demonstrating a novel technology and gaining public acceptance.</div>
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The base fot the project is the former miunicipal hospital site, which has been redevoloped into a number of Doctors surgeries, the ambulance station and an old peoples' home. Roof space on the site, together with a new cover for a length of parking bays has been used to mount a 140 KWp solar PV array. A mix of thin film and polycrytaline panels was chose, thin film being used on structures unable to take a high additional load. The panels feed a DC power bus linking the PV panels, an option for on site wind ( a number of vertical axis wind machines are presently under consideration) and an option for feed in from a Combined Heat and power installation which would provide heat for both the hospital site and the adjacent town hall. A battery bank of some 64KWh capacity is the final item on the DC power bus which serves to regulate the load and keep the system available on days of poor sun.</div>
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From the DC bus an inverter-charger unit links to the AC output of the substation for the former site and to electric vehicle charging points in the first thre bays under the canopy. The intention of the design is that as much energy as possible from the solar array is absorbed through charging the three electric vehicles, rather than to feed into the local grid. This energy would then subsequently be used to meet local transport requirements.</div>
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The majority of car journeys made on municipal business are around 60 Kilometres of less, while the range of current electric vehicles is around 120 Km or so, meaning that the majority of the cities car journeys are well within the capability of a electric car. While confidence was initially lacking, this was address in two ways. First of all a policy decision was made in council department that journeys within this range were 1, to be made by using the pool cars, and 2, the electric car was to be used. Secondly, an open day was hosted showing both the three electric cars in use together with a range of electric vehicles borrowed for the event.</div>
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The performance of the three cars is such that once they have been driven, the driver become great enthusiasts for them. Acceleration is better than a conventional car – in a contest with a Porsche, the first five metres or so belong to the electric car. The car is silent. They have adaptors, so in one case when the driver was anxious about running out of charge on a trip to the next town, they were able to ask to plug in at a garage (to a standard 220v mains socket) and enjoy a coffee in the shop while topping up the battery.</div>
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The scheme has been running since July 2011, so just over a years experience has been gained, through all seasons. It has been found on the typical journeys made the cars only need to be re-charged avery 3 days. Some different considerations apply in wintoer – one trades range for warmth as any car heating is using battery energy which cannot then be used for travel. A typical full charge costs around EUR3.</div>
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Three vehicles are in use, one a commercial offering from Mitsubishi, and the other two from a company in Leipzig which has taken two lightweight city cars, removed the engine, any power hungry systems such as power steering, electric heating etc, and fitted an electric power plant in the engine bay. The one unit retains the gearbox and clutch between engine and transmission, to give a high torque low speed for starting and reduced torque and higher speed for normal running. This has a side effect of making adjustment to electric driving easier for a driver used to a conventional car. As an aid to comfort, however, the experimental cars incorporate a small Webasto type oil burning heater for use in very cold weather.</div>
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The scheme is operated by a city run company. The present mayor, a councillor of some 20 years standing, was a prime mover in establishing the scheme, and recently stood down as the director of the company's board of management. Under German law, the Mayor must be a member of the second board, the governing board of such a company.</div>
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The scheme had been financed in the following ways. There is rent received from the re-used buildings on the hospital site. The closure of the hospital and redevelopment of the site made a sum of EUR 400,000 available, to which was added finance of EUR200,000 from the local bank, and a sum of EUR100,000 from the state completes the finance (in this contect the “State” being an administrative region of Germany. The final part of the finance package was the slowest to realise, one year or more into the scheme the payment of the EUR100,000 is due to be made in the near future.</div>
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As a pilot and demonstration scheme, it has been possible to have some equipment like the experimental cars at a reduced cost – the scheme provides a testing ground for the design for the manufacturer and showcases the product.</div>
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In return , the city gains the service of a fleet of three pool cars for use on municipal business. In addition the city gains this service free of the fuel costs associated with conventional petrol or diesel cars. The city gains a service for the inhabitants of cars which are available for hire if not being used on municipal business – the rate of EUR11.44 per day is significantly less than hire of a conventional car, and again the user does not incur fuel costs unless they top up the battery at home. Hirers are oten advised to drive past the petrol station and look t the prices and to note that for their journey the prices on the forecourt are meaningless. </div>
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The scheme benefits from the Feed-In Tariff system. In addition to the tariff per unit generated the system will receive a generous payment for each unit it consumes within itself. These units are considered especially valuable since they replace the us of a fossil or nuclear fuel for that same purpose without placing on the grid the problem of coping with unpredictable surpluses of energy which can become increasingly difficult to absorb safely as connected renewable generation continues to increase across the whole country. This income proves useful for the purpose of meeting repayments and interest on the bank loan..</div>
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The mayor explained that one way the system gained the necessary support was that it could be presented as a practical project which would benefit the city rather than one tied to one particular political or philosophical viewpoint. With the electric cars available it was possible to allow people to discover some of the advantages for themselves.</div>
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<b>Claire Chapman - Scottish Water</b></h3>
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Today we were the guests of Herr Rossel, the mayor of Zella-Mehlis. He played an integral part in a local renewable company start-up, called LSIM (Local Solar Innovative Mobile). The city converted an old hospital, with a €500 000 investment, to set up a smart grid concept. This initial investment got them 140 kW of photovoltaics (PV), a 64 kW set of batteries and 2 electric smart cars. The roofs of the buildings are covered in PV, which are used to charge the batteries. These are then used to charge the electric cars, which are then available for the community to rent out at €11.99/day (this compares favourably with normal car rental of €25/day; plus of course the huge saving of no fuel). The mayor’s concept is to educate the townsfolk, and so hopefully they will embrace the ideas. </div>
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The downside is that the electric cars are still pretty pricey (€35 000 each) but coming down in price all the time. Also their range is a limiting factor, 120 km.
The PV gave a 12 % return on investment, with a 7 year payback. The grid hook-up for the cars was priced at €5 000 per hook-up, so that is also quite a hefty investment to factor in, particularly as they aren’t too common yet. </div>
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This afternoon we were tourists, and our hosts were keen to show us why normal folk come to this part of Germany (apparently not many tourists come to see boilers and electric hook-ups…). We drove up from the valley of Zella-Mehlis to the plateau and visited the ski town of Oberhof. This is winter sport country (although it was gloriously sunny today) and we saw several absolutely enormous ski jumps; truly terrifying. I had no idea they would be so big. There was also a very fancy looking luge run, winter biathlon arena and many cross-country / langlaufski tracks. Some of us did a hike along one of the historic luge routes, and I’m amazed more folk didn’t kill themselves on the route – very steep, so many pine trees waiting to hit them, and sharp corners…</div>
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Tonight we are going big on local culture, and going to a guitar concert- I’m keeping an open mind!
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-4372857152543649162012-10-16T00:00:00.000-07:002013-01-25T02:55:23.605-08:00Friday 19th October 2012<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Mark Summerfield - Burnley College</b></h3>
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An early start on the final day of the trip saw us visiting the original district heating and gas fired energy generation plant for Zella Mehlis. The plant is currently on standby, and is now be used as a back-up in case of shutdown of the adjacent recycling/incinerator facility which has been supplying heat and energy for the town since 2007. The plant is used to supply heat and energy when the recycling plant is shut down for maintenance, and in times of peak demand such as the depths of winter. </div>
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The district heating scheme supplies public buildings, schools, hotels, etc. and heating for 150,000 people, with a maximum output of 30MW of heat and 13.5MW of electricity, using up to 1400 m3 of gas per hour. There are 35km of pipework installed and the system has a 5000m3 of water storage. The systems pumps up to 800 m3 per hour at a temperature of 125oC. The pressure leavers the plant at 10 bar and rises to 20-22 bar in the town. There is a further back up facility whereby the system can also run on Heating oil.
The electricity is generated at 10kV and distributed through the grid via a 30kV star/delta and delta/delta transformer system.</div>
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Following a debriefing session back at BCS the group thanked Herr Gerlach and the team from BCS and Dirk Bischoff from Embrace for their hospitality, and generosity during the exchange visit. All delegates had gained from the experience, and felt the trip had been very worthwhile, with examples of best practice being taken back to the UK. </div>
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It has been a thoroughly engrossing week. At least 9 out of 10 for the usefulness of the week in terms of knowledge exchange, connections, friendships and use of time.
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There have been many standout points from the week; </div>
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<li>These include the generous nature of the hosts in terms of time and commitment to the visit.
A striking feature has been the genuine emphasis - from all involved in the week - on involving youngsters in the renewables sector, informing youngsters, training youngsters, inspiring youngsters. </li>
<li>Additionally also from an integrity perspective, it is clear that all the politicians and business leaders met have a genuine personal interest and desire to promote the renewables industry. This leadership is in contrast to the UK where renewables is clearly a political football in many parts of the UK. </li>
<li>The visit on the last day to the district heating system in Zeller Mehlis and its capability to deliver sizeable capacity of heat and electricity > 100 MW when fully operational (storage also released) when required showed the seriousness of adopting as much renewables sourcing for heat and power as possible. It was not even necessary to turn it on fully due to the recycling plant incinerator feeding into the system.</li>
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All in all, well worth the visit.</div>
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<b>Rowan Langley - Funky Renewables</b></h3>
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This day had a very early start, and began with a visit to the gas fired heat and electricity generating station on the boundary between Zeller-Mehlis and Stuhl. Built in the 1960s and re-fitted between 1995 and 1998 the installation generates around 13 MW of electrical power which is connected to the local distribution networrk at 10 and 30 KV, and around 30 Kilowatts of heat for District heating in Stuhl and parts of Zelle-Mehlis close to the boundary with Stuhl. Superheated water, at temperatures between 95 and 130C is piped under pressure (between 5 and 10 bar) to calorifiers in public buildings and some of the former social housing blocks of flats where heat ois abstracted via heat metres.</div>
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Since 2007 however, the majority of the local and heat generation has been provided by the recycling station and incinerator complex adjacent to the Autobahn exit for Stuhl and Zella-Mehlis, which serves the South Thuringen region. The facility feeds power and heat to the generating station, which houses the electrical and heat control room for the system. One of the two 18 KW gas boilers runs boosting the heat input from the incineration plant ready for distribution, and the gas turbines are kept in standby to deal with the winter periods of very high heat demand.</div>
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These installation demonstrate a feature of utility provision not found historically in the UK, which has been a retention of local generating facilities. The UK electricity undertakings were historically charged with providing electrical energy at lowest cost, leading to power stations of large size located close to coal reserves, and the efficiency requirements for low cost electricity production resulted in heat being emitted at too low a temperature to be useful for district heating and the station to remote to make heat mains workable.</div>
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Our final session was hosted back at the BCS centre, consisting of a tour of both training facilities and the small injection moulding company spun off from the BCS utilising staff who would othersie have faced redundancy, making moulds and moulded items to order and for profit, and able to draw on the expertise within the BCS and also be able to give some training placement opportunities.</div>
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Following our tour, we re-grouped in the conference room which had housed our first session to both complete the evaluation paperwork for the sponsoring organisations – Embrace Co-operations and the Da-Vinci Funds of the European Union, and also give a report back to each other and our hosts on what we had learned during our week. I confess a great pleasure in having re-gained enough proficiency to be able to report back in German rather than English. The Solar-Bus and the Rohr Training centre had given me useful names of manufacturers and suppliers of the educational kits iused there, which would prove useful for the Eco-Cabin educational facility under construction in the solar (and in future solar and wind) power classroom at the Buddhist centre's parent institution in Scotland. The car scheme had led my thoughts towards implementing a battery storge system at the Buddhist centre in London to be able to use some of the summer surplus from the solar PV installation to be able to power 24 hr loads such as corridor and WC lighting and the IT systems during night-time hours, in the process providing a high spec. UPS system.</div>
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<b>Claire Chapman - Scottish Water</b></h3>
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Today was our last day of site visits, and we started early with a trip to the local Stadwerke (power station). It is gas fired and is now primarily used as a backup to the local incinerator (commissioned in 2007) which can produce 30 MW of heat and 13 MW of electricity. As landfill is now banned in Germany this plant is always run in preference to any other.</div>
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We finished the morning with a visit to the Building Center SudThuringen (BCS) Training College, going into some of their training workshops, and admiring their impressive arrays of metal working equipment. And then it was times for goodbyes, and thank yous for an interesting week of site visits. Herr Gerlach (Director of BCS and host coordinator of our trip) left us by saying that the key focus is to educate the youth; making sure they realise the need to develop Renewables. From what we have seen this week, I think Germany has led the way in this, and can be congratulated on such a focus and drive on Renewable awareness.</div>
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<b>Damien Tow - Brighton Energy Co-op</b></h3>
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Our final day and another early start. It was funny to see a picture of our group over breakfast in the local paper meeting with the Mayor and seeing the solar ‘car port’. We were soon whisked off first to the controlling station of the local district heat network and found out about how that network was managed. With plans for district heating in place in Brighton it was useful to understand the scale and infrastructure required. We then went on a tour of the facilities of BCS for technical metal and plastic engineering training, a comprehensive range of equipment and capabilities from my layman’s perspective! I think there are great opportunities for further knowledge sharing and twinning with BCS, and doubtless our colleagues from Burnley College will be considering that already. The day completed with an early lunch, saying our goodbyes and the journey to Frankfurt airport, at speed on the German autobahns. An excellent and informative trip and many further opportunities for collaboration have been seeded. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-23811164506866697412011-03-23T08:35:00.000-07:002011-04-01T08:15:00.813-07:00Sunday, 20th of March 2011We left London at the crack of dawn on Sunday and arrived to sunny Legenfeld early in the afternoon after trains, planes and buses. On route we passed many wind turbines and photovoltaic installations. Legenfeld is located in the Flolkland region of East Germany. The accommodation is an old rustic German Gaststaette (lodge) set high about the town. Timo, our German host from the institute, gave us a warm welcome and give us our timetables for the week. With the rest of the afternoon free, some of us went walking in the surrounding forests before a hearty traditional meal. The education exchange already started over dinner. The group got to know each other and it is amazing the range and experience of the participants. Looking forward to starting in the morning.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-14760517375404170832011-03-23T08:34:00.000-07:002011-03-31T03:14:05.695-07:00Monday, 21st of March 2011<span style="font-weight: bold;">Fergal </span><br />We learnt the theory of heat transfer and difficulties of installing ground and air source heat pumps. The training center facilities are set up to teach in a practical manor - they have all types of renewable energy products.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Will</span><br />The lecturer presentations on air source heat pumps were very informative.<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5357.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5357.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pritpal</span><br />The institute has good demonstration exhibits that complement the lectures.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span><br />The new members of this group have a varied background within the renewable energy sector and hungry for information by the end of the week we will see?<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5350.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5350.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dan</span><br />Very impressed with the quality of the facilities and lecturing; great start to the program.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve</span><br />Impressive facilities and a real eye opener for someone of my background.<br />Renewable energy is most definitely a part of my future.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Murdo</span><br />Got plenty to think about after today! Lectures informative and filled with invaluable practical experience. More tomorrow…<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shaun</span><br />The facilities are extremely impressive, the tutoring and learning material is very informative and detailed, although sometimes it is hard to follow but everyone is encouraged to contribute and help each other as we are all here to learn.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kelvin</span><br />Glad to be back to complete the Solarteur course. Different people have added a fresh dynamic from the November course with additional opportunities to network and discuss alternative approaches to the renewable market back in the UK.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Craig</span><br />Meeting up with like-minded individuals is always inspiring ;). Introduction into Heat Pump ‘principles’ was not only interesting but also challenging.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jamie </span><br />Really impressed with the facilities, and the level of expertise. A lot to take in from the tutorial but it is presented well. Good mixing of minds.<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5329.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5329.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oliver</span><br />Very informative and very useful renewable learning material to go through.<br />Can wait to get more, the way the lecturing goes is very good and the facilities are perfect. People in the group are from different areas and you get the chance to get some ideas from it. Very good<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Colin</span><br />Great training atmosphere and facilities. Great bunch of colleagues and after dinner conversations debate on heat pumps is entertaining. Looking forward to day 2.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-63538372660911151942011-03-23T08:32:00.005-07:002011-03-31T03:13:08.432-07:00Tuesday, 22nd of March 2011<span style="font-weight: bold;">Fergal </span><br />Day 2 and it already feels like a week. The classes are going well and we showed the Dimplex German design facilities available on their website. This will tie in with the visit to there manufacturing plant later in the week. Our hosts brought us to a shooting range in the evening to unwind and we were treated to a traditional local meal.<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5375.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5375.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Will</span><br />A full day of classroom based learning and there were many concepts of Heat Pump technology that needed to be understood. We learnt a lot about the requirements of correct design. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pritpal</span><br />So much to learn about heat pumps and we are cracking on. The course is intense and I am learning a lot. They are de-mistifying heat pumps and looking at practical applications of commercial installations is very useful.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span><br />Today the group was hit with the design aspects of ground and air source heat pumps, This has opened a few eyes and they now know it is not an easy subject to grasp but all managed well lets keep it up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dan</span><br />We had a great day of in-depth heat pump design and finished the day with a bang.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve</span><br />Much more in depth today and found the sizing of the pumps very interesting. The lecturing was very impressive by both Fergal and Graham. Really looking forward to tomorrow, big thumbs up for today.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Murdo</span><br />Day 2 goes off with a bang! Looked at the installation considerations of ground source lots of information and lots of questions left for tomorrow. Looking forward to the practical tomorrow.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shaun</span><br />The teaching today was extremely technical at first but after time all aspects tied in together making what seemed conflicting and complicated to be quite interesting and made me look at it very differently with an enriched excitement towards tomorrows learning.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kelvin</span><br />Another interesting and very informative day. The exchange programme is well structured and today we looked at German installations. From seeing how they have been using heat pumps in Germany it is clear that they are a well established technology that can be used in the UK.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Craig</span><br />Another in-depth day of learning and classroom discussion centering on the importance of critically designing heat pump systems in order to get the best from them. Challenging, an understatement, but then to expect to learn in one day…… Confident that ‘foggy’ aspects will clear up over the next few days <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jamie </span><br />Alot of theory to take in today, some quite confusing at first but towards the end all seemed to fall into place, good to finally have a real grasp of the process. Also we looked at the future of heat pumps and the benefits of their relationship with various fire-arms.<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5374.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5374.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oliver</span><br />Today was a very tough day, a lot of technical information.<br />But with Grahams and Fergals way of lecturing, it cleared a lot of the questions afterwards. I strongly believe that Heat Pump Technology will catch up UKs Energy demand.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Colin</span><br />Another great day with Heat Pump theory bringing together what we learnt yesterday. It is becoming clearer how this renewable technology can be integrated into a complete renewable solution with other technologies complementing eachUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-50918399723560871172011-03-23T08:31:00.000-07:002011-03-31T03:14:19.773-07:00Wednesday, 23rd of March 2011<span style="font-weight: bold;">Fergal </span><br />Day three and we finished the heat pump theory. We and compared the theory of installations to the current UK market with the renewable heat incentive coming in. For the people were hear before we did a welding test as part of the solar tour certificate. The rest of the group got to learn metal brazing. All in all a great intense day rewarded with a bar b q by our hosts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Will </span><br />Another full day of learning with the wide experiences and skills of other course participants bringing added value to the course. We are not only learning about heat pump technology, we are learning about further aspects to consider within a building. Many of us are now thinking about how different trades can and should be working together. <br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5549.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5549.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span><br />At last I have finished ground and air source heat pump only the test left (that will keep the crew out of trouble) only the solartur tests left good luck to all.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dan</span><br />I have been so impressed with the quality and content of the lectures. The facilities have been second to none and we all had the chance to improve our brazing skills. Not only that, the great hospitality at our guesthaus has been so warm; we’ve all enjoyed an evening of bratwurst and Schwarz biere.<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5578.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5578.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Steve</span><br />Another intense day of Heat pump knowledge is really starting to make me think of the future. Calculations are much more clear and leave me hungry for more. Graham and Fergal get straight to the point and make sense of problems/problem solving. Looking forward to the examination.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Murdo</span><br />Another full day! In the morning we were taken for a brazing practical under the expert guidance of a master craftsman. The afternoon brought our heat pump knowledge into context of the current UK market with showing the possibilities for to take this technology into the future. Excellent!<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5580.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5580.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shaun</span><br />All the aspects that have been confusing and complicated have come together to make the individual systems and the training as a whole become clear and has made the course even more interesting than I had imagined.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kelvin</span><br />Solarteur practical brazing examination went well, really good to do some hands on in the workshop, light relief from the HEAT PUMP lecture schedule – although the course content has again been concise, precise and well delivered by Graham and Fergal.<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5587.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5587.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-7511911743143081482011-03-23T08:30:00.000-07:002011-04-01T08:15:33.864-07:00Thursday, 24th of March 2011<a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5713.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5713.jpg" width="400" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fergal </span><br />Another highly informative day. We visited the main factory of Dimplex where they produce all their heat pumps for the European market. Their range covers over 250 different heat pumps and each is assembled by hand. All joints are braised together by a highly skilled operative. When you see the level of care and quality control put into the manufacturing process you start to understand why heat pumps cost so much more than gas boilers. We were treated to the whole manufacturing process and rewarded with a Bavarian beer before heading back.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Will</span><br />An invaluable and educational trip to the Dimplex factory where we were able to see how they put their Heat Pumps together. Seeing all the components at each stage of the construction line gave a new perspective on how the technology works. The tour also gave an insight to how the Heat Pump manufacturing market works. A great day which would not be possible in the UK.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Graham</span><br />Dimplex today to see how the work in the class room is put into practice, all found the visit of interest, test in the morning full solarteur for part of the group wish us luck all.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dan</span><br />Was great to have a look round the Dimplex factory today. A large range of products are produced at the factory often in very small batches. All the heat pumps and refrigeration units rely heavily on skilled brazer and all the assembly is done by hand which was really interesting to see. An impressive set up and a great look at the manufacturing process.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Murdo</span><br />After spending the week learning about heat pumps, it was brilliant to have the opportunity to have a look round a fully functioning manufacturing heat pump factory. We had a comprehensive tour of each stage of the heat pump assembly from the brazing to the final insulation and testing. Very interesting.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shaun</span><br />Our visit to the Glen Dimplex factory in Kulmbach was extremely interesting. It allowed us to see what components and manufacturing processes are involved in the production of a variety of Dimplex products, including heat pumps of all types and sizes and storage heaters for the Japanese markets.<br />The sheer scale of hand manufacture we saw today gives valid reason for the cost of Dimplex units.<br />This gave me a sense of the quality level that can be achieved, but also puts into question the quality of other manufacturers that provide substantially cheaper products.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oliver</span><br />Today the excursion to Glen Dimplex was very interesting and informative. We were introduced to the production and factory plant potential of the Dimplex group. We were then taken on a guided tour, through the whole production and assembly process of Dimplex.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Colin</span><br />In the previous days in class we learnt about all the different parts that make up the heat pumps. Today we were treated to a visit to Dimplex Factory. Our full tour of the plant was very informative. We were able to see the real thing starting from raw copper tube, through the engineering process, final assembly lines and the finished product ready to ship to site. It really consolidated the taught lessons.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reuben</span><br />The visit to Dimplex started with an introduction by the Production Manager of the company and the related products manufactured at the Kulmbach one of the many factories of the Dimplex Group. We were then taken on a guided tour of the factory starting with the sheet metal work for their cabinets. Dimplex has machinery that is able to produce high volume cabinets for their products with easy switchover to different products dependent on customer demand. We were then taken through their braising section and then through their final assembly fortunate to witness the assembly of some of their larger , charging with refrigerant and testing the performance of the system. Dimplex have managed to reduce the time taken for assembly and testing of a unit down to around an impressive 20 minutes per unit.<br /><br /><a href="http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/?action=view&current=IMG_5701.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/akembrace/Renewable%20energy/building%20and%20sustaining/IMG_5701.jpg" border="0" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Craig</span><br />A great day out to the Dimplex factory. There never is a substitute for seeing hardware (let alone how they are made and assembled). Such visits are in my opinion invaluable in the understanding of new technologies and as such, have instilled within each learner an appreciation of how effective they are as a viable alternative to fossil fuels.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jamie </span><br />Trip to Dimplex factory was very useful, gave a good insight into the volume of heat pumps produced and the process involved. Seeing different components helps make sense of the diagrams in the tutorial.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-41529760251251585002010-10-08T07:22:00.000-07:002010-10-13T02:53:43.718-07:00Sunday, 10th of October 2010 (Arrival)Caught Bedford – Kings Cross approx 8:00 am. Uneventful trip to Heathrow Airport, probably first to arrive and checked in.<br />
- 9 people in all: Dave Pridmore (Bedford College), Dirk Bischof, Matthew Dean, Steven Edwards, Nick Rousseau, Martin Roach, Fergal McEntee, Martin Abraham & myself.<br />
- Flight delayed on runway by about 45 mins. Pleasant and flight. Due to the delays we had very little time to get from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in Dresden to catch our connecting train<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhital4MDyUX2vClOUQHccYCO2IIeTHxx-FEfh5wlawe0JfYbLVTWI2za2sHYd8sxywR6Z8RYSzTzyU4RLm5M7IEQXjV4KYv-DYEd1ClGyBZf-h_Bk6YlzqsK_XmSmc2adrfxX1VaqPXlIi/s1600/IMG_0211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhital4MDyUX2vClOUQHccYCO2IIeTHxx-FEfh5wlawe0JfYbLVTWI2za2sHYd8sxywR6Z8RYSzTzyU4RLm5M7IEQXjV4KYv-DYEd1ClGyBZf-h_Bk6YlzqsK_XmSmc2adrfxX1VaqPXlIi/s400/IMG_0211.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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- We took a group taxi and a regular one from Dresden airport to the train station, we caught the train just in time (4 min to spare). Changed at Zwickau with approx 30 mins wait. Arrived in Lengenfeld (Voigtland) and at Pakrkgaststatte Hotel approx 7:30 pm.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy-rTi_q7CH_ytK3y8LFKXh4pW2jr3TkqdcCuTZMv7aLRjLU9lA9DcOSPmKAZrKXxJEgPKsXGkhgwCiEo5P7SIn6scmQuhAVEtjgTmqixnUpDtXUbnUuAgnj438YsKkRfXpz1eWNewn1M/s1600/SDC10043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMy-rTi_q7CH_ytK3y8LFKXh4pW2jr3TkqdcCuTZMv7aLRjLU9lA9DcOSPmKAZrKXxJEgPKsXGkhgwCiEo5P7SIn6scmQuhAVEtjgTmqixnUpDtXUbnUuAgnj438YsKkRfXpz1eWNewn1M/s320/SDC10043.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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- Very pleasant welcome, intro to hotel. Approx 30 mins to freshen-up and get ready for evening dinner.<br />
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- Excellent white beer on tap. Evening meal was just perfect, got to know our fellow members more. 10:30 ish bedtime.<br />
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All-in-all, a long but stress-free day. Looking forward to the rest of the week.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Wahid Khan</b> (Bedford College)</div>Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-69259181864091670912010-10-07T07:23:00.000-07:002010-10-13T02:37:44.328-07:00Monday, 11th of October 2010<b>Day 2: Introducing the ‘Solar Valley’</b><br />
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- Hotel room, good sized, clean, cosy and well equipped.- Good night sleep.<br />
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AM – Pscherer gGmbh (FE College)<br />
- Lovely crisp autumn morning. Beautiful walk through a very sleepy town to the College. Approx 25 min walk.<br />
- Introduction by Herbert Pscherer about training college, it’s relationship within the German economic/social/education sector.<br />
- An introductory talk on members expectations from the week ahead. Some very diverse and useful expectations were noted.<br />
- A very instructive tour of the training facilities and demonstration rooms/equipment. This lead me to be shocked at how well equipped the place is, how expensive some of the kits are but also excited about the prospect of what can be achieved with the right approach and partnerships.<br />
- Brief lunch break, small but pleasant cafeteria. (I think the word pleasant is going to become a cliché if it hasn’t already – sorry).<br />
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PM – Pscherer gGmbh (FE College)- Doris Wildgrube (Certified Energy Assessor), ably assisted by Dirk (translator).<br />
- Brief overview of historical prospective on how the renewables movement started and took hold of the German psyche.<br />
- pleasantly surprised to see the Germans embracing the agenda very early on. The Oil Crisis of the early 1970’s was a major catalyst.<br />
- Looked at and went into some details about what legislation (federal and regional) were introduced to push the agenda forward.<br />
- Looked at some of the standards and incentives introduced.<br />
- A good summary of the feed-in tariffs and how they were introduced and implemented.<br />
- Looked at how the Heating Incentives are being phased in.<br />
- Surprised to find that the general public a little resentful of having this ‘imposed’ on them by the state. However, as stated by Doris, when the Germans decide to do something, they do it right. To the best of their ability at least. This can only be a good thing for the rest of the world. If it’s got any chance of succeeding, here is as good as any and the rest will have a positive role model to follow rather than a negative one that the saboteurs of this agenda would love to use.<br />
- Though the subject matter seemed dry, I for one found it very instructive and from the number of questions generated during and at the end of the presentation I can only say there was a wealth of useful information and insight to be gleaned from there.<br />
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If the rest of the week is as useful as I’ve found the first, it’s going to be a real treat. Hospitality shown throughout the two days so far has been exemplary – my heart-felt thanks to all concerned<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Wahid Khan</b></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7VL6tz4Wj3hIGOBvaqZmWMVaxi_6-nDatrtJRivKQmCQD3Od5XUpy0iIXYB0zZUiCaPD2zqXtFpWAcBTYyDfaU5CvlxqkOUVKcZ7xOJCvOWU2oxEiVXtoOlwGMfq54uJ3JeTzSVmD-aUW/s1600/IMG_0217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7VL6tz4Wj3hIGOBvaqZmWMVaxi_6-nDatrtJRivKQmCQD3Od5XUpy0iIXYB0zZUiCaPD2zqXtFpWAcBTYyDfaU5CvlxqkOUVKcZ7xOJCvOWU2oxEiVXtoOlwGMfq54uJ3JeTzSVmD-aUW/s400/IMG_0217.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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Today has been a good start to the week ahead. In the morning we had an introduction to the Pscherer gGmbH, our host. Considering that I saw some most of it already last year some of the equipment had changed and was updated, notably the heat pumps and boilers. We were shown around by Dr. Matthias Delling who explained how the equipment is being used as well as how they managed to secure such high-tech facilities.<br />
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In the afternoon we had a session on renewable energy legislation surrounding renewable energy in Germany, its roots in the 1970s oil crisis as well as early concerns by scientists and economists that we’ll run out of stuff if we continue to consume without regard for the limited nature of the earth’s resources. Again, I heard this/ translated this presentation before but since then so many small nuances in the laws and regulations had been updated to reflect the continued support by the EU, German government as well as regional interpretation of these laws. The key differences were the changes in the feed-in tariffs (length of payment, amounts paid out) and the possible combinations of renewables and the increase in funding combining solar thermal technologies (i.e. Solar Termal plus pellet boiler). The most interesting was also the final statement being made by Mrs Wildgrube on the question: “What do you think is the best renewable energy technology”, followed by the answer “There is no single best technology; it is the mix of all of them. Each technology has its application with a specific local/ regional focus.”<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Dirk Bischof</b></div><br />
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I enjoyed the morning session and the tour of the facilities. The training rooms were excellent and offer a very wide range of training facilities. The afternoon session was very informative with a great deal of information shared with the group on the approach Germany is taking to support the introduction of renewable technologies with financial aid. I am looking forward to going back on Friday to the practical facilities.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>David Pridmore</b></div><br />
It was very interesting to hear about all the legislation the Germans have introduced to try to manage the market for renewable energy and create the right incentive structure to achieve a good level of take-up. It highlighted that this is far from easy and that any approach you take will have serious repercussions and needs very careful thought. The most useful thing to think about what the importance of the role of energy assessors who can genuinely help people to identify the best renewable energy solution for them – but that this requires considerable expertise and depth as well as breadth of knowledge – both of technologies and of legislation, etc..<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Nick Rousseau</b></div><br />
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The training facilities were excellent and demonstrate the advantages of sustained investment and continuity in policy. The afternoon session provided a comprehensive analysis of the development of renewable energy policy in Germany. An important insight was the dangers of over regulation as a deterrent to adoption of policies which would provide tangible benefits.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Matt Dean</b></div><br />
I also found the rigs used for the PV training and the heat source pump equipment very interesting and will seek to try to replicate some of the rigs that I have seen at Lambeth College. The range of building materials used for insulation was very comprehensive and show how much more can be done in the construction of energy efficient homes in the UK. <br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Martin Roach</b></div><br />
The day demonstrated the need for a coherent national policy for renewable energy. The session provoked lots of ideas on how community action could be used to boost the renewable sector in the UK. It was clear from the presentations that no single approach is the solution. A mix of technologies and strategies is likely to be the best option for the development of renewables in the UK.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Martin Abraham</b></div><br />
First day and have already learned so much from our kind friendly hosts. The training centre is World class and years ahead of any UK technical training facility that I have attended . The training centre has been going since 1990 and they reinvest yearly to improve on the courses and actual renewable equipment. We had a highly experienced energy assessor explain the German legislation in detail. I found this interesting as we can compare directly to the UK Government policies. Asked what technology she favoured, her response was ‘you need a holistic approach. Not one technology but an integration of different technologies depending on the site and energy reduction measures is the minimum needed’. We can learn a lot here and hope to bring back some fresh ideas.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Fergal McEntee</b></div>Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-66535694171363068862010-10-07T06:56:00.000-07:002010-10-13T02:36:46.616-07:00Tuesday, 12th of October 2010<b>Day 3 "Feed-in tarrifs UK/ Germany & Solarteur Training"</b><br />
<br />
AM – Pscherer gGmbh (FE College)<br />
- Sylvia Radisch-Siebert on renewables, especially PV and Fits (Feed-in tariffs) in Germany and UK. Looked at how this effected uptake.<br />
- Emphasised importance of training and at a very young age.<br />
- Shared experiences with young school kids on how to make a solar powered car from version 1 to evolve into a sophisticated model that had lights. This helped raise awareness and instil a renewable approach at a very early and formative years. These in turn affect their parents thinking and priorities.<br />
- Brief look at some useful IT tools (internet and stand alone)<br />
- Looked ant SunPower’s panels (currently the best on the market in efficiency terms).<br />
- Was shocked at the wide and very technical details she looked at when judging a ‘good’ PV panel<br />
- Carried a useful calculation to show how cheapest does not always mean best value for money over long term (look photo from today)<br />
- www.sunnyportal.de & pvgis (PV Geographical Information System) were 2 very good starting points. This was a real eye opener for me. I consider myself fairly well educated and experience, not afraid of DIY and found that the holistic discipline approach is really required to provide sound assessment, advice and installation specifications. This ca easily be exploited by cowboys and the ‘honest’ incompetent installer.<br />
<br />
PM – Group discussion<br />
<br />
- Everybody introduced themselves and their current roles and what they wanted out of the week.<br />
- Stared well but quickly descended into a group discussion about UK’s current plight and how Germany’s model may be applied.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Dr. Matthias Delling </b>(Solarteur School)<br />
- Started in Germany and model has spread as far as Palestine and Nova Scotia (amazing, there’s hope for humanity yet)<br />
- 6 basic modules with 6 exams but require min 80% attendance (can’t learn to swim from a book – have to do it!)<br />
- Pass mark 4 (1 excellent – 6 fail). Self vetting and most teachers are practicing technicians within their respective industry/area of expertise.<br />
- Shocking amount of initial investment (£250k min) but not without it’s rewards, however the Solarteur’s profile will have to be raised soon and high for the kudos effect to kick-in.<br />
- How model can be adapted to dove-tail to UK framework will be a challenge.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Wahid Khan </b></div><br />
We started today with a morning lecture from a local PV installer who has been installing PV systems for 10 years. She totally believes in educating young children about renewable technology and volunteers time to running solar workshops with children in local schools. Engage the children as they have big impact on the future and shape how we view energy use. She shared knowledge of how the feed in tariffs influenced huge development in the market and warned about future pitfalls that may occur in the new UK renewable market. Learning from people that have years of hands on experience was enlightening and sparked a long debate amongst us of how UK should address these issues now. Education in renewables is going to be a major issue and proper training facilities are needed. I look forward to the field day tomorrow to look at installations.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Fergal McEntee</b></div><br />
Today’s session provoked an interesting debate on how the Solarteur training system could be integrated into the UK further education system. Most of us could see the benefits of a rigorous renewable training programme but wondered how it would be funded. There was a general consensus that the Solarteur model would be a vast improvement on some of the privately run training establishments. The option of a blended learning package would make it cost effective for a number of learning institution.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Martin Abraham</b></div><br />
The most interesting thing for me was how fast information changes and how much information about a particular piece of information is available in other EU countries in their native language. For example, today we had a very knowledgeable teacher/ trainer and Solar PV specialist and she prepared a comparison of the UK and German feed-in tariffs. Sounds straight forward? Maybe. She prepared a well structured PowerPoint presentation but the information on the UK feed-in tariffs was already out-of date as it only related to installations over 5Megawatt (MW), or in other words large scale installations covering (30 acres/ 12 ha) – huge. The thing is, these renewable obligations (ROs) are still in place but they are really only for large corporation/ energy producers. The actual feed-in tariffs relate to installations smaller than 5MW (the smallest installation will usually be from 1.1Kilowatt, but usually start at 2.2KW). She found the information on the ROs and then combined them with the available information on the feed-in tariffs. So, she wasn’t wrong but a confusion entered the room which was quickly diffused by some of the UK professionals who know their Kilowatts from the Kilovolts.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Dirk Bischof</b></div>Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-78651734661963922292010-10-06T06:57:00.000-07:002010-10-14T01:33:59.213-07:00Wednesday, 13th of October 2010<b>Day 3: Plauen Swimming Pool, M&S Environmental Ltd, Space Exhibition</b><br />
<br />
AM – Plauen swimming Pool (1h)<br />
- A very interesting tour of the swimming pool at Plauen.<br />
- This consisted of an old pool (refurbished) with a new modern all purpose pool fit for the 21<sup>st</sup> Century.<br />
- Work was started around 2007 and completed by 2009 (sauna was the last). A number of renewable technologies were used and showcased including; ground source heat pump, CHP, traditional gas boiler (for top-up and back-up), solar air thermal (on flat roof space) and PV on side of building.<br />
- The basement was a wonderment – a cross between Das Boot and the Star Ship Enterprise. All gleaming pipes with not a single drop of water (leak).<br />
- I think everybody on the tour was impressed by the whole thing from concept to execution and operation.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDu-zBoRhFJhkFO0KrnufUr5bGWgxR6W1a7ti5AcCYN4Gs-1l6IavoLX_3dhnnc8H9YEwLuRNZpbceJ0KYBuddooP8RqyyQk_8go70gxiUxIqvIbrcNHer9u89E0qKrgiEE9bx4jxXNh0/s1600/StarTrek.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDu-zBoRhFJhkFO0KrnufUr5bGWgxR6W1a7ti5AcCYN4Gs-1l6IavoLX_3dhnnc8H9YEwLuRNZpbceJ0KYBuddooP8RqyyQk_8go70gxiUxIqvIbrcNHer9u89E0qKrgiEE9bx4jxXNh0/s400/StarTrek.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmgh5hZppVJKk1Bw9ICl4ocWUyHoxVaeuU7g7fyqsuKBTu0jp5kjqc_1UNCC0fmYOj2kBl_JtV1mYXe6O20vR8Y4lH1mQ0eQOoBaCyvdE_ziUu3YBTRbk_IODvJ04tdVvuQnzoVCpDAWA/s1600/Group.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmgh5hZppVJKk1Bw9ICl4ocWUyHoxVaeuU7g7fyqsuKBTu0jp5kjqc_1UNCC0fmYOj2kBl_JtV1mYXe6O20vR8Y4lH1mQ0eQOoBaCyvdE_ziUu3YBTRbk_IODvJ04tdVvuQnzoVCpDAWA/s400/Group.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
AM – Management of decentralised renewables solutions (1h)<br />
- 2 fine presentations by 2 people whose names I’ve sadly neglected to note – my apologies to both.<br />
- The first concentrated on how regional policy (Vogtlandkreis) is being influenced by well educated and trained regional renewable energy specialists who look for communal (regional) solutions to increase renewables as part of the overall energy mix. Their speciality is in testing of sites for suitability and advising on feasibility of projects.<br />
- An overview of the regions achievements to date as well as an analysis of where the region is lagging behind their scheduled target. Renewables make up 25% of total energy supply in the region which has an energy need of €400 Million/ pa (for their 250,000 inhabitants). The renewables mix is largely comprised of bio gas with about 50% (from local farms)and another large proportion of wood heat (local woods) and a variety of Solar PV/ Thermal.<br />
AM – M&S Renewables GmbH (Ltd) (20min)<br />
- 2<sup>nd</sup> presentation was brief due to time constraints and showed how their building was constructed included a technology that I wasn’t familiar with – using active concrete core as a heat reservoir (heat sink). Very interesting….<br />
- The building was built within a year featuring a variety of renewables such as heatpumps, Solar PV, rain water harvesting (for toilets) and the house is nearly carbon neutral<br />
Lunch was at a wonderful place called Schoeneck (at the Ifa Sports Hotel). Had an excellent salmon dish. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhLVLh69Ch-voxYlL7vh08AFuQHQpNjKrwQqtKSvFWDBYrlgpS5bLjrTETBQhPdrxCQFvaSbkUYvvqFh4er1aiPylYrL33n7pyB6kM14qGlb3oLHVlwt0rGLhaKzQiDh3V6qDeqpuIEgI/s1600/Fergal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhLVLh69Ch-voxYlL7vh08AFuQHQpNjKrwQqtKSvFWDBYrlgpS5bLjrTETBQhPdrxCQFvaSbkUYvvqFh4er1aiPylYrL33n7pyB6kM14qGlb3oLHVlwt0rGLhaKzQiDh3V6qDeqpuIEgI/s400/Fergal.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
PM – A Space Exhibition at Morgenroethe-Rautenkranz - Very interesting break from the usual business. Time to relax and have a little wind-down except for Nick R who had to get some work done.<br />
- Excellent guided tour round the centre by a female employee, very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Wahid Khan</b></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLTQ_B22ps02dymmrXGgFl_U5ihLWY5tDTpNcp_CbGNMEbwDCbJyaMxeBC4fGdns9Hl3mh22NbI83cWou63ahaAN4oUKUwiiAFM-lRxrtbIFQ0CIIFdCEWzdqS_nSrSOotsNMSGYIukW3/s1600/Space.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLTQ_B22ps02dymmrXGgFl_U5ihLWY5tDTpNcp_CbGNMEbwDCbJyaMxeBC4fGdns9Hl3mh22NbI83cWou63ahaAN4oUKUwiiAFM-lRxrtbIFQ0CIIFdCEWzdqS_nSrSOotsNMSGYIukW3/s400/Space.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
Today was a very practical out-door experience of renewables in various settings, communal swimming pool, commercial building and then the group got to see the space exhibition featuring the exhibition documents of the first experimental flights and rockets. The exhibition covers a wide spectrum encompassing the initial man-made satellites orbiting round the earth, the first Soviets and Americans in space, the moon landing programme, satellites and probes, either close to planet earth or travelling to distant galaxies, and the space stations from the early days to the new International Space Station. It was interesting to see what coordinate effort, a grand vision and the necessary finance, skills and determination can achieve. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the space exhibition as we had to do some work on structuring the next training which will happen in Germany from 1st - 26th November where we will train 10 British professionals on renewables here at Pscherer gGmbH.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Dirk Bischof</b></div>Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-24883103319850171422010-10-05T06:58:00.000-07:002010-10-15T02:35:34.549-07:00Thursday, 14th of October 2010<b>Day 4: Solar World AG (Freiberg) & Dresden City</b><br />
<br />
AM – David Munster PR man at Solar World (Freiberg)<br />
- Early start and approx 1 hr 30.ins drive to plant on the outskirts of Freiberg<br />
- Started off with a good presentation by David (in English). This summarised the company’s short but meteoric rise to a major player on the world’s stage in wafer, cell and panel manufacturing. In 10 short years we have a company that starts with a sheep in an empty field to supplying 20% of the world’s wafer demand.<br />
- David was very warm and positive and I don’t think that it was all a PR front – he seems genuinely excited and so he should be – working for such an enterprise invites, almost demands, a feel-good effect.<br />
- Though we were not allowed to take photos at the production plant the tour was very interesting and quite frankly astounding at some levels. Numbers that spring to mind apart from those mentioned above; 40% of materials used are re-cycles leading to a 30% cost reduction. Panels working in the range of 200-240 W per panel guaranteed at 82% performance after 25 years.<br />
- The whole experience was extremely rewarding and the hospitality shown by our host was fantastic. My heart felt thanks for all those involved from arranging to actually hosting.<br />
PM – Dresden (Cultural Tour)<br />
- After a nice meal at Solar World we were driven to Dresden for the afternoon tour/shopping trip.<br />
- We had a guided tour of the old central part of Dresden, specifically around the opera house, art/porcelain museums, church and palaces<br />
- The tour guide was called Michael ? (an art historian I think) and his general and local knowledge about the place was fantastic. It really brought into focus the building and their characteristics and the roles they played within local and general history of region.<br />
- It’s the first time I’ve every been a part of such a tour, where a local expert has explained the historical context of the buildings and scenery. So much more meaningful and ‘alive’. Everything was given an extra dimension rather than simply being a collection of nice buildings.<br />
- Last hour was spent shopping though Fergal, Dirk and I managed, through sheer accident, to find our selves drinking beer in a little market square. This did mean that the mini bus had to make an emergency stop to accommodate my bursting bladder on the way back… sorry boys.<br />
An excellent day, thoroughly enjoyable and well as educational and surprisingly cultural.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Wahid Khan</b></div><br />
The last 2 days have provided a very good overview of the connections between the creation, development and deployment of sustainable technology. Today, the visit to Solar World, was particularly interesting as it allowed us to follow the production of PV from sand to installation. The factory is truly state of the art and is extremely impressive both as a manufactory and as an advocate for an idea. Today complemented yesterday/s demonstration of how innovative thinking and practical support from regional and national government might lead to the realisation of sustainable projects of real benefit to communities. And, I got to see the cosmonaut museum which was, frankly, way cool.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Matt Dean</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWfpcoYR1ehbspBkJWrN9bD7IIA2l4igFDIaA2CWuz_pZpoe_qwfT4d7ONcigVfpQ2siO-Nfi31-6IEMKvM-mlKWGRyxifxq37EzhXeeOLp1rkWWnBNHRPtxMm3E69s-XCvzhytB6dQXRN/s1600/SDC10231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWfpcoYR1ehbspBkJWrN9bD7IIA2l4igFDIaA2CWuz_pZpoe_qwfT4d7ONcigVfpQ2siO-Nfi31-6IEMKvM-mlKWGRyxifxq37EzhXeeOLp1rkWWnBNHRPtxMm3E69s-XCvzhytB6dQXRN/s400/SDC10231.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">from silicone brick</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDEVSZYFeqNtGwA7TP-y7G3fRW1ootHntSc8W_ixBKBKtnp5PU-vMXY64wSXLYX-rLm_3B3wk8umC3BuIRVoaZ6FsOWjVLpZTofZ8jVwn3c0ZeveLlh2K-lx5wMDlCSJLEEEBf8froXN2/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDEVSZYFeqNtGwA7TP-y7G3fRW1ootHntSc8W_ixBKBKtnp5PU-vMXY64wSXLYX-rLm_3B3wk8umC3BuIRVoaZ6FsOWjVLpZTofZ8jVwn3c0ZeveLlh2K-lx5wMDlCSJLEEEBf8froXN2/s400/IMG_0012.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">to functioning solar cell (in 2 weeks) </div><br />
I have had a very interesting and informative two days. It was crucial to here from the regional development plan for renewable technologies, which puts the actions being taken in context. The trip to SolarWorld was fantastic, the new manufacturing plan was impressive <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHK_jFKN2AvrWquQWqnzyH-4xS4Rra095evCYXGIVhTK8hPJzB6LnGmhwhZz5sBaqCMbIw8PyE1vE5gjASCyMRqTocdDWk3nn5G0wkpTs9CFowlGGiGLe-cyE0-13mJhsfSOxYAiZPjLk/s1600/IMG_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHK_jFKN2AvrWquQWqnzyH-4xS4Rra095evCYXGIVhTK8hPJzB6LnGmhwhZz5sBaqCMbIw8PyE1vE5gjASCyMRqTocdDWk3nn5G0wkpTs9CFowlGGiGLe-cyE0-13mJhsfSOxYAiZPjLk/s400/IMG_0018.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Solar World AG, Freiburg (Germany) with 1200 employees </div><br />
Travelling to the SolarWorld was extremely informative. The organisation and efficiency of the production process made it easy to understand how they managed to produce such a high quality product. The explanation of how raw sand was transformed into silicon wafers and then into solar panels was eye opening. I learned that in purchasing a solar system, the buyer had to consider factors such as panel efficiency, integration with the inverter, longevity and how the system would be eventually decommissioned. An amazing trip – well worth it!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Martin Abraham</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsccNNPrOVMcczpMQMMgSfIui4RqT6h1K5EJC8z684lw7Wga9uoVwERXyJ3hnO_lIIopQ8NKt-WTJu_fQOoN02nDUBwykMnJPW3G1egMc4bljVZz0T4COdKf41ettZYKwvV6ycaav9FLH/s1600/SDC10274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsccNNPrOVMcczpMQMMgSfIui4RqT6h1K5EJC8z684lw7Wga9uoVwERXyJ3hnO_lIIopQ8NKt-WTJu_fQOoN02nDUBwykMnJPW3G1egMc4bljVZz0T4COdKf41ettZYKwvV6ycaav9FLH/s400/SDC10274.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The "Zwinger", pleasure palais of King August II </div><br />
Today I enjoyed our visit to SolarWorld’s most impressive new silicon wafer manufacturing facility in Frieburg. Presentation by David from marketing department who was extremely informative and generous with his time when answering our questions. Knowledge of the manufacturing process also impressed. I think we were all pleasantly surprised by the beautiful rebuilt city of Dresden, having only memories of its tragic past.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Steven Edwards</b></div><br />
Really useful to get the perspective of the solar module manufacturer and get their sense of how things are, locally and internationally and the forces that drive their business decisions. Also, very impressive facility which gives considerable confidence that the sector is high quality and the products will stand the test of time. I was particularly encouraged that they aim to recycle the maximum of the raw materials when units come to the end of their lives (3- 35 years) so that they industry can be as truly sustainable as possible. I would be interested in more diverse business models that would open up the option of having solar PV to a wider audience through, for example, them leasing out the units, replacing them when their efficiency drops, recycling them and providing upgrades.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Nick Rousseau</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAtM-_mOElDvWSh_9akm-FSgBWiyHvvzYhtgiCUC4xAiUlhbN8U-CPteAca5ALPawMn8a0Fqu9sV6cXSoTTMEksW8_IYbykLJh8VxoDTRp8iXUn02P_h9XO4L_JKOFzvMhYdpPV2euFlA/s1600/SDC10269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAtM-_mOElDvWSh_9akm-FSgBWiyHvvzYhtgiCUC4xAiUlhbN8U-CPteAca5ALPawMn8a0Fqu9sV6cXSoTTMEksW8_IYbykLJh8VxoDTRp8iXUn02P_h9XO4L_JKOFzvMhYdpPV2euFlA/s400/SDC10269.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It can be a bit daunting to imagine how the UK is going to ever catch up with countries that have been running incentive schemes for almost 20 years and that got their renewable energy sector to such a scale that it employs around 350,000 people in the various industries. Where do you start? What is the best way forward and how do we train a work force that act as educators for the general public, teachers/ trainers to install these technologies with complete confidence, whilst enabling a secure and predictable funding/ investment climate? Questions, questions.... We had very heated discussions today and seeing and understanding the processes and involved to produce solar panels triggered more questions than providing answers. Some shared that they found it hard to source solar panels in the UK because there aren't that many re-sellers available. Solar World (No 3 manufacturer of solar PV panels world wide) has not yet entered the market in the UK, neither have other German panel producers. Is it because they don't yet know whether there is a market? Are they cautious? They know that they would only enter the market if they can secure quality across the whole sales cycle (to the re-seller, the installers giving the warranties, and end-customers). They would need to invest in training people on their products (both sales people and installers) as they shared with us. This has not happened yet.<br />
<br />
....The late afternoon featured a tour of the city and was very much enjoyed due to the very knowledgeable tour guide. Everyone was tired and we arrived back in our accommodation at 6.30pm.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Dirk Bischof</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOT_VqMrcy8pJbX-3DvN9rMwtV41vcLwXKumCC3DjeNgK2wex0hMgY8LVJ8LqnyMgX1WGMzsLiKh2RHvjh04aNhCIdVs5YkSh7uCtPocQgmuq9GI5I86eN4FhcFZIdEozIwvPLAdB6k0Z_/s1600/SDC10276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOT_VqMrcy8pJbX-3DvN9rMwtV41vcLwXKumCC3DjeNgK2wex0hMgY8LVJ8LqnyMgX1WGMzsLiKh2RHvjh04aNhCIdVs5YkSh7uCtPocQgmuq9GI5I86eN4FhcFZIdEozIwvPLAdB6k0Z_/s400/SDC10276.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The "Nymph Bath"</div>Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180611563602281950.post-50512495059894988012010-10-04T06:58:00.000-07:002010-10-19T01:45:40.989-07:00Friday, 15th of October 2010<b> Friday: FINAL DAY</b><br />
AM – Hartmust sammler (Solar Thermal Expert)<br />
<br />
- Interesting introduction to the theory of Solar Thermal. Looked at two arrangements; first with a single cylinder and the second with two. A number of interesting facts emerged that I was previously aware of; the concept of a heat exchanger outside of the cylinder. Apparently something the size of a litre volume can have about 20msq surface area. This increased the efficiency and reliability of the system.<br />
- Another simple but highly effective surprise was the intake and out pipe being at an angle causing the hot water to stay in the cylinder thus reducing the loss to external environment – simple but very effective, blooming great.<br />
- We then had a look at some of the kit involved and two roof installations; the first was an older and now obsolete system on a slate roof, the second, a more modern one on manufactured (?) tiles.<br />
- Another brief theory session spelt out (in long German words – the winner a 30 letter behemoth) of the steps carried out to drain and refill an installation.<br />
- We then mainly watched and assisted in the most tenuous definition of the word in the above theory.<br />
- I found this last part particularly useful as we saw the step enacted and some of the trick of the trade. The draining rig was particularly cute and effective.<br />
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PM – Lunch followed by Evaluation & Feedback.<br />
<br />
- This was useful in summarising delegates’ feelings and views of what they got out of the week.<br />
- Key points for me were;<br />
- The diversity of the delegates (background, professions and experiences)<br />
- The general co-operation and complementation of the delegates.<br />
- The whole ‘German Experience’ and what the rest of Europe and indeed wider a field can learn from it.<br />
- The whole week seemed too long before I arrived but all seem to agree, having experienced it, that the time was useful as it allowed delegates to reflex and discuss key points from each day. So recommend to stick to the 1 week format.<br />
- The only minor, construction criticism was that one of the pr<br />
Would I recommend it – yes most certainly. Mapping UK courses to equivalents to European one, especially when they are superior in breadth and/or depth and improving them where necessary can only be a good thing.<br />
<br />
One little surprise – the German man or woman on the street is not too dissimilar that the Brit back home. They are not the eco-conscious warriors that some of us thought any more that their counterpart in the UK. The FiTs really is a driving and motivating factor as is peer pressure and the green status symbol. There’s hope for us in the UK after all.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Wahid Khan</b></div><br />
<br />
The trip has been very worthwhile. I have gained a great deal from a really well put together programme that has taken in the whole range of issues associated with the development and deployment of renewable energy. For me, the real benefit has been to understand how the differences in the way in which the federal and regional government has tailored its policies to the area in which they are implemented. Adopting this approach might yield real benefits in the UK if the same degree of research is funded and applied. I would also like to thank all those involved in putting the trip together, the organisation, speakers and programme have been excellent.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Matt Dean</b></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkl75CqnNQxxSiM130jEMHILafnZBuKlrBEPHk37cBIxZSsyqwrqCoqRrNU0xm2QtEM6djjU_lmCqFM-WoW5aZp1XaDMcNcx5Oje1P7UxvEhD_OkTGWU5ak9ULb6GlTO2np2UKmU9Lm3C/s1600/IMG_0034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhkl75CqnNQxxSiM130jEMHILafnZBuKlrBEPHk37cBIxZSsyqwrqCoqRrNU0xm2QtEM6djjU_lmCqFM-WoW5aZp1XaDMcNcx5Oje1P7UxvEhD_OkTGWU5ak9ULb6GlTO2np2UKmU9Lm3C/s400/IMG_0034.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Well we have reached the end of our week. Our week has been enhanced by such a diverse group, this has led to extremely interesting discussions that have assisted me in my understanding of the opportunities and challenges that climate change offers. Presentations and trips have been professionally delivered and enjoyable. I would thank all concerned all Embrace and Pscher Institute. I look forward to keeping in contact with all concern to follow as they apply knowledge gain.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Steven Edwards</b></div><br />
The end of a fantastic week! It was great to be part of such a diverse group of people. Each person’s contribution helped me to appreciate the issues facing the introduction of renewables in the UK. I came away with the knowledge that the public needs to have accurate and simple information on which to base their purchasing decisions. An excellent programme from Embrace! <br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Martin Abraham</b></div><br />
<br />
A really good summing up and joint commitment to act on what we have learnt. This will be vital and I feel we have a real collective enthusiasm to make something real happen as a result of what we have learnt. The mix we have seems to create the opportunity to bring a broad range of perspectives which will offer the potential to find solutions that could take something back to the UK!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Nick Rousseau</b></div><br />
Interesting final day, with the practical activity giving us a real insight into the role of the installation engineer and the technical competence required to install solar termal equipment. The review of the week identified that we all gained from meeting a wide of range of people with diverse roles and responsibilities. My personal thanks to the team who organised the trip and in particular to Dirk for his unstinting work as an interpreter and trip organiser. Thanks<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>David Pridmore</b></div><br />
My thanks to all involved in organising and delivering the event and also to my co-delegates for being fun people to be with. I hope to keep in contact with both sets for a long time to come (apologies if treat this postscript with dread).<br />
<br />
Last day today and to sum up the week we have all learnt and have many ideas to take back to the UK with. The renewable training facilities here are years ahead of the UK and many problems they encountered we are likely to encounter. By proper planning and policy we can mitigate some of these and come up with a working solution to them. We need to address the need for proper training or rather preparing the current workforce for the task of achieving the difficult UK co2 reduction targets. We need to have a closer look at funding issues, local policy that is needed to allow change and changing the public perception. Done properly this will lead to job creation, facilitate trades to retrain to new green technologies and help establish the UK as a major player in saving this fragile planet we share. Working together with our experienced neighbours we can learn and share this with developing countries. All in all this best exchange programme was exactly that. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Fergal McEntee</b></div><br />
<br />
The week has come to an end and the strangers that came together at Heathrow Airport are strangers no more. The journey through Europe, Germany and the Vogtland – the land of the Vögte (barons/ land owners) has focused us on the use of our energy. What should we spend our energy on? How shall we use the resources we are given to contribute to a prosperous, safe, secure and clean future for ourselves and for those coming after us?<br />
<br />
Well, the answers are not clear-cut and there is no one-size fit all solution. Especially when you look at the different starting positions that different countries are in with regards to their education system, general mix of energies currently used (dependencies on fossil fuel/ nuclear) and many other contributing factors. Its really puzzling. The more we saw and the more we talked to people the more we realised that all this development of renewables took a really long time to get to where we are now – almost 30 years really. If we are to replicate the success of the German renewable energy story in the UK then we have to take the specifics of the country into consideration and apply the lessons learned here and in other countries. This can only be done through a dialogue of scientists, investors, home-owners, communities (of interest/ place etc), teachers, trainers and people in the industry and finance. We started this journey a while ago but we are risking losing some of those who have less financial or economical power. If that was to happen the whole renewables movement will feel superimposed and people will start to lose interest or will not perform to their utmost, lowering the overall impact we can have.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Dirk Bischof</b></div><br />
Today’s presentation followed by a practical demonstration was very informative in terms of the way a solar thermal collector and a conventional German heating system is integrated. Although I am not a heating engineer I have some knowledge of conventional hot water systems used in the UK. The interconnection of the system was quite different to what I expected. The practical demonstration of the commissioning was very helpful and introduced the use of a refractometer a tool that I had not seen before. This was used to determine the minimum working temperature of the Glycol water mixture. Also several good pointers for effective installation of these systems were given and the reasons for using different types of collector, surface mounted or integral roof systems.<br />
<br />
Overall I have found the entire five day visit to be very inspiring. The information that we have been given certainly has informed me of the possibilities that exist. I feel very keen to explore ways that Lambeth College can engage with renewable energy technologies.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Martin Roach</b></div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFf1i3xs0_J_bC-ZLZw8Qe8u8IG9zQLeoKKpm5IjnB_edCp9JlZt19k4Q4LlEbQ400BLcQRs54fcAiQaRsh3lmSAdmMFibY7pJJsMp55k9dV_8pRi4uTs_wGEHvxlvNiGxBMDzZktAQMK/s1600/IMG_0038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFf1i3xs0_J_bC-ZLZw8Qe8u8IG9zQLeoKKpm5IjnB_edCp9JlZt19k4Q4LlEbQ400BLcQRs54fcAiQaRsh3lmSAdmMFibY7pJJsMp55k9dV_8pRi4uTs_wGEHvxlvNiGxBMDzZktAQMK/s400/IMG_0038.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Commissioning a Solar Thermal installation </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bxpe-oFCUXVNDdW_7zO2MakI1OqCRfZsXcB1n5cW3Pp-3UkaF2DuuMBrUTJJrQCx-xYsTweeM9NFyeBEa7SIz_ml6mkrb5Ovkwik78OCl3XTtGUGLAumgdwGYWkurvMhNhb7Ed_fe8rG/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bxpe-oFCUXVNDdW_7zO2MakI1OqCRfZsXcB1n5cW3Pp-3UkaF2DuuMBrUTJJrQCx-xYsTweeM9NFyeBEa7SIz_ml6mkrb5Ovkwik78OCl3XTtGUGLAumgdwGYWkurvMhNhb7Ed_fe8rG/s400/IMG_0049.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">How do you get a 5-pointed star from a 10-pointed star....</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Who could forget the ginger biscuits calling all rabits!</div><div style="text-align: center;">Over and out!</div>Dirk Bischofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08517041735267821375noreply@blogger.com