Getting the grid prepared for the increased use of renewable energy sources is the goal of the Helmholtz Energy Alliance “Technologies for the Future Power Grid”coordinated by KIT. Helmholtz researchers are developing solutions for a flexible and reliable grid which manages the fluctuating power supply from renewable energy sources in cooperation with university partners and utilities. Another focus of the research activities is the interconnection of the electric power grid with the existing gas distribution network in order to use gas distribution networks as energy storages. The Helmholtz Association will subsidise the Energy Alliance with 3.2 million Euros from its Initiative and Networking Fund in 2013 and 2014.
The energy turnaround and the therefore increased use of renewable energy sources requires a conversion of the power grid. Due to the increased electric power generated by wind and photovoltaic power plants and the emerging electric mobility, it is foreseeable that today’s power grid will not be able to meet future requirements. “The expansion and alteration of the grid is of very high importance if one wants to ensure reliable and affordable future energy supplies,” explains Professor Thomas Leibfried, head of KIT’s Institute of Electric Energy Systems and High-Voltage Technology (Institut für Elektroenergiesysteme und Hochspannungstechnik – IEH). Together with Professor Mathias Noe, head of KIT’s Institute for Technical Physics, Leibfried acts as scientific spokesperson of the alliance. “Such alteration,” Leibfried says “is not only important from the point of view of Germany but also from the European perspective: Since today’s 400 kV grid is being operated throughout Europe, issues of grid stability cannot be solved in purely regional or purely national contexts.”
Institutes of the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Technische Universität Dortmund, and RWTH Aachen complete the skills and capabilities contributed by KIT as partners in the alliance. Forschungszentrum Jülich and the utilities EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, MAINOVA AG, and Stadtwerke Karlsruhe Netze GmbH act as associated partners.
Battery recycling: 70 percent of lithium recovered
Recover up to 70 percent of lithium from battery waste without the need for corrosive chemicals, high temperatures, or prior sorting of materials: This is made possible by a recycling method developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) that combines mechanical processes and chem ... more
Blind spots in the monitoring of plastic waste
Whether in drinking water, food or even in the air: plastic is a global problem - and the full extent of this pollution may go beyond of what we know yet. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), together with partners from the Netherlands and Australia, have reviewed con ... more
Joining forces: fast-as-lightning 3D microprinting with two lasers
Printing objects from plastic precisely, quickly, and inexpensively is the goal of many 3D printing processes. However, speed and high resolution remain a technological challenge. A research team from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Heidelberg University, and the Queensland Uni ... more
Institut für Funktionelle Grenzflächen (IFG) am Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
The objective of the research at the Institute of Functional Interfaces is the study of molecular interactions on surfaces of solid matter which are in contact with natural and technical systems. Our approach in this field of research is based on investigating basic principles behind proces ... more
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a public corporation and state institution of Baden-Württemberg. It fulfills the mission of a university and the mission of a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT focuses on a knowledge triangle that links the tasks of researc ... more
Natural CO2 reduction implemented faster and with less risk than high-tech approaches
Carbon dioxide can be removed from the atmosphere by natural or technical means. Natural sinks such as peatlands can be restored, and innovative technologies already exist to extract carbon from the air. Researchers from the Helmholtz Climate Initiative's Net Zero 2050 Cluster have identifi ... more
Molecules that self-assemble into monolayers for efficient perovskite solar cells
A team at the HZB has discovered a new method for producing efficient contact layers in perovskite solar cells. It is based on molecules that organise themselves into a monolayer. In recent years, solar cells based on metal halide perovskites have achieved an exceptional increase in efficie ... more
Antiferromagnetic dysprosium reveals magnetic switching with less energy
HZB scientists have identified a mechanism with which it may be possible to develop a form of magnetic storage that is faster and more energy-efficient. They compared how different forms of magnetic ordering in the rare-earth metal named dysprosium react to a short laser pulse. They discove ... more
Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren e.V.
The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving major challenges facing society, science and industry with top scientific achievements in six research areas: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Structure of Matter, Transport and Space. With 30,000 employees in 16 resea ... more
Something as simple as the motion of water drops on surfaces should actually be understood - one would think. In fact there are still numerous unanswered questions about the forces acting on a sliding droplet. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in colla ... more
Deeper insight thanks to neutrons from a laser source
A team led by the Technical University of Darmstadt has for the first time made laser-generated neutrons usable for an industrial application. The researchers showed that neutrons generated compactly with lasers can be used in non-destructive material testing. As electrically neutral partic ... more
An open question with great relevance for industrial production processes. Researchers at TU Graz and TU Darmstadt have now found an explanation. It is a puzzle long known among experts and very relevant in many industrial production processes: a jump discontinuity in the rise velocity of g ... more
Factory of the future: Dr. Thomas Bieringer to become new INVITE Managing Director
Dr. Thomas Bieringer (43) has been appointed Managing Director of INVITE GmbH, effective July 1, 2011. The research company works on new production concepts for the “Factory of the Future”. The PhD physicist succeeds Michael Lorenz (47), who had been responsible as Managing Director for the ... more
Bayer Technology Services (BTS) and the Technical University of Dortmund (TU Dortmund) have established the INVITE GmbH research company, which will operate a new research center at Chempark Leverkusen, Germany. Flexible and efficient production concepts that help to conserve resources will ... more
Nanoscopic gold spheres can be reversibly bound to DNA strands reversibly bound to DNA strands
How can individual components be assembled into larger functional units? And how can robot arms, for example, be made to "grab" specific nano-objects-and to release them at the right moment? The field of biotechnology presents interesting approaches to these problems. Researchers at the U ... more
Before their approval, pharmaceuticals not only have to be tested for their effectiveness and safety, but also for their stability, since they are usually stored in pharmacies and private households for years and are not allowed to change. To test their stability, a process is needed that d ... more
Near perfect particle-hole symmetry in graphene quantum dots
Researchers at RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich have uncovered important characteristics of double quantum dots in bilayer graphene, an increasingly promising material for possible applications in quantum technologies. The team has demonstrated near-perfect particle-hole ... more
Battery Market Study: Efficiency and Sustainability are the Most Important Trends
In the coming years, the global battery market will be shaped primarily by the factors of sustainability, the availability of raw materials, the growing number of electric cars, and the desire for ever more powerful batteries. Because demand is unbroken, manufacturers are constantly expandi ... more
Near perfect particle-hole symmetry in graphene quantum dots
Researchers at RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich have uncovered important characteristics of double quantum dots in bilayer graphene, an increasingly promising material for possible applications in quantum technologies. The team has demonstrated near-perfect particle-hole ... more
Researchers Test Novel Titanium-Air Battery
Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich have developed and successfully lab-tested a novel titanium-air battery in cooperation with researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. This is the first time that experimental results of such a battery have been published in ... more
How fine bubbles lead to more efficient catalysts
Catalysts are of utmost relevance for the production of chemicals and energy storage with hydrogen. Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN) and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have now discovered that the formation of bu ... more
Forschungszentrum Jülich pursues cutting-edge interdisciplinary research on solving the grand challenges facing society in the fields of health, energy and the environment, and also information technologies. In combination with its two key competencies – physics and supercomputing – work at ... more
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Projektträger Jülich
Supporting the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Economics and Technology (BMWA), Environment (BMU) and several Federal States in funding of research. more
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
With some six million customers, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG with headquarters in Karlsruhe is the third-largest energy company in Germany. In 2007, EnBW generated annual revenue in excess of € 14 billion with more than 20,000 employees. Our core activities focus on the segments elect ... more
