Renewable Energies
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RENEWABLE ENERGIES Educational and information materials Note: This material was originally published in German and was designed for lessons for 12-16 year old pupils in Germany. It may therefore be necessary in some cases to adapt the worksheets to the situation in the countries where the material is to be used. To this end, the material is available for download free-of-charge on the Federal Environment Ministry’s website at www.bmu.de/bildungsservice. IMPRINT Published by: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) Public Relations Division · 11055 Berlin · Germany E-mail: [email protected] · Website: www.bmu.de/english Text: Peter Wiedemann, Sabine Preußer, Annette Jensen Editors: Dr. Korinna Schack, Achim Schreier, Referat ZG II 1 (BMU) Frank J. Richter, Zeitbild Verlag und Agentur für Kommunikation GmbH Academic Advisers: Prof. Dr. Gerhard de Haan, Free University of Berlin, Department of Educational Science and Psychology, Educational Future Science Section Dr.-Ing. Joachim Nitsch, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Technical Thermodynamics Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research Design: Zeitbild Verlag und Agentur für Kommunikation GmbH, Berlin Printing: Bonifatius GmbH, Paderborn Illustrations: Zeitbild / Oedekoven, Zitromat Date: June 2008 First Print: 2.000 copies RENEWABLE ENERGIES EDUCATION AND INFORMATION MATERIALS Contents JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE 3 THE RENEWABLE ENERGY 71 FOUR TEENAGERS DISCOVER THE ENERGY SUPERSTARS SUPPLY SCENARIO OF THE FUTURE WHO HAS VISIONS FOR THE FUTURE? • The renewable energy superstars THE JOURNEY INTO THE RENEWABLE • The sunshine pioneer ENERGY FUTURE • Perpetual motion Four teenagers SUPERSTARS • Biomass: always hot stuff discover the energy supply Who has visions for scenario of the future the future? • Plus energy house • We are energy • The earlier the better ENERGY FROM THE FUTURE 17 GREEN POWER 79 RENEWABLE ENERGIES AT A GLANCE ECO-ELECTRICITY AT THE SOCKET ENERGY • Energy from the future • Green power FROM THE GREEN FUTURE • Solar heat POWER • Don’t give CO2 a chance Renewable Eco-electricit y energies • Electricity from the sun at the socket • How green is green really? at a glance • Wind energy • Tightening the power belt • Hydro-power • Green power quiz • Biomass • Press cuttings • Geothermal heat ENERGY RESEARCH 31 A TANK FULL OF SUN? 87 EXPERIMENTS WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES FUELS OF THE FUTURE • Energy research • A tank full of sun – fuels of the future • Absorption and emission of thermal radiation • Fill her up please – but keep it clean • The solar cooker • Hydrogen in the tank • Photovoltaic sytems and solar cells • Assessment of alternatives ENERGY • Drying wood A TANK FULL • Latest news RESEARCH • Wood gasification OF SUN? • Links Experiments with Fuels of the future renewable energy sources • Solar chimney power plant – wind from sun • Experiment: heat insulation WHAT IS FAIR? 49 LEARNING / COMPETENCE CHECK 97 LIFESTYLE AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION ARE YOU AND YOUR PUPILS • What is fair? FIT FOR PISA? • The chair game • Exercises • Personal energy consumption and CO2 balance • Learning/Competence check • But surely i don’t use that much energy! • Answers WHAT IS • A comparison of countries FAIR? LEARNING / Lifestyle and COMPETENCE CHECK energy consumption Fit for Pisa? ENERGY NETWORK OF THE FUTURE 61 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 107 BACKGROUND ENERGY NETWORK RENEWABLE ENERGIES WORLDWIDE INFORMATION FOR FOR TEACHERS OF THE TEACHERS FUTURE • Energy network of the future • Suggested approach Renewable • Our world • Answers to the worksheet exercises energies worldwide • Biomass and helpful hints • Geothermal power • Fit for the future – • Wind energy acquiring “Gestaltungskompetenz“ • Hydro-power • Points of contact with the syllabus • Solar thermal power • Learning goals • Energy consumption • Education “Standards“ JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE Four teenagers discover the energy supply scenario of the future JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE The story page 1/12 THE INVITATION Viona is green with envy. “You’re starting your holidays five days early. And you’re missing three boring lessons with Dozy. You’re doing all right!” “Well, you’ll soon be swimming in the sea, and I’ll probably have to spend most of my time looking at wind parks and things,” says Felix, trying to calm down his cousin. After all, he doesn’t need to tell her that he has a sinking feel- ing in his stomach when he thinks of the journey ahead. Six weeks ago, his mother received a strange invitation at work. “Dear Mrs. Sunwind, We have heard from well-informed circles that you are one of the leading engineers of your time for renewable energy sys- tems. That is why we are sending you an invitation. Come to the year 2030 and visit us. We would like to show you our modern energy supply sys- tems. And by all means bring your son Felix too. Yours sincerely, Dr. Brownsmith Future PLC” First Felix wondered how this Brownsmith man knew his name. And the next thing he won- dered was how it would work: travelling into the future. And even now, he was not much the wiser. They would be collected early in the morning, the company had told them. “I wonder if you’ll get anything decent to eat,” muses Viona. “Maybe they live on genetically modified vegetables, and they’ve got rid of all cows and hens.” “And they’ve brought the dinosaurs back to life,” suggests Aysche. “Why don’t you bring us back an ultra-modern mobile phone?” asks Manuel. “Yes, and be sure to find out what kind of music they like in the future. So we can form a group and be a real hit,” urges Aysche. “You’ll be getting a bit past it by then, won’t you? Just think: by 2030 you’ll be nearly 40!” replies Felix. He’s suddenly in a hurry to get home and pack his things. What should he take with him? He suddenly realises that his coolest jeans are likely to be pretty unfashion- able by 2030. 2008 Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Conservation and Nuclear Ministry the2008 Federal Nature for Environment, © 4 4 JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE The story page 2/12 SARANCHIMEG Fortunately their teacher Dozy is busy drawing a complicated dia- gram on the board. Viona waves her arms wildly at Manuel and Aysche to attract their attention. She holds up her mobile phone, makes a panic-stricken face and mouths the word: “Felix”. Aysche points to the door. Their eyes meet. Then all three of them run out. Dozy looks up in confusion. “You can’t do that. Sit down again immediately,” he shouts, and adds something about an entry in the class register. But the three are already out of sight. Viona is so excited she can hardly speak. She thrusts the mobile into Manuel’s hand. “Being fol- lowed. PLEASE come and help. Make sure you’re alone and shut yourselves into one room. Dial my number, followed by Jhklw-2385240:)ghwRH3“ “Where shall we go?” asks Aysche. “The gym is bound to be free. Miss Hopper broke her leg vaulting”, suggests Manuel. Jhklw-2385240:)ghwRH3 ... and then ... The three friends look around uncertainly. “Are we really in the future?” whispers Aysche. “I definitely feel a bit strange,” breathes Viona. In the far corner there is a multi-tier stage with unusual columns of light. In front of it, a girl is balancing on a ladder and fixing something like a floodlight to the ceiling. Suddenly she sees the three of them. “Where did you come from? I never noticed you come in.” “And what are you doing?” asks Aysche, who is the first to find her voice again. “Don’t you know? The day after tomorrow is the start of the international school band event,” the girl explains in a voice that makes it clear she thinks they’re completely out of touch. “We’re from the Energy Society and we’re doing the lighting. We’re running late because the construction group designed such a complicated stage and took much longer than planned,” she says. Suddenly a group of young people in glittering overalls rushes in. “Get moving. We’ve collected so much sun that we can run the lighting tonight,” calls a boy with his hair dyed in squares. 2008 Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Conservation and Nuclear Ministry the2008 Federal Nature for Environment, © 5 5 JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE The story page 3/12 “Are you the delegation from Green- land?” he asks. “Er, no.” The friends don’t know quite “Can you tell us what date it is today?” Viona asks shyly. “I think it’s the 27th of June,” answers the boy with the multicoloured hair, focusing his attention on a switchboard in the corner. “And what year?” “2030. Have you already forgotten all the fuss about the decade celebra- tions?” The friends’ explanation of how they got there is met with incredulous amazement. “That’s really splashy,” comments the girl with the hose. “OK, I’m Saranchimeg and that’s Ser- gio. We’re both from the Energy Society, and in the last few weeks we’ve been working hard to get this zeroed." “What does that mean – zeroed?” “Well, zero bottom line – we’re not allowed to use more energy for the festival than we can produce ourselves. But now we have a geothermal plant in the city,” Sergio announces proudly. “A geo what?” asks Aysche. “Heat from inside the Earth. Every 100 metres closer to the centre of the Earth, it gets three degrees hotter – and three thousand metres down you can theoretically boil an egg!” “That’s a bit of a bother, isn’t it?” says Manuel. Above all, he can’t see what it has to do with the gym.