Information Service
Information about developments in the confusing Renewable Energies’ Markets: This information service, designed specifically for interested readers and professionals draws insiders from around the world - since all dedicated and professional engineers usual only know their own field. Lots of new inventions flood the markets. Often one cheaper than the next. Please consider that our offerings in the information service are only a selection of backstage information and publicly availabe sources.
As to our knowledge in November 2019 this is one of the most independent and most short overviews about Renewable Energies. Please do know, that it is not easy to get the right information in Germany – owed to big industries. It seems that young persons do my work in an appropriate manner and do have a lot of knowledge! To make conservation of natural resources a key pillar in our customers’ & partners’ sustainability teams and programmes readers will find useful information: Contents without links are from specialised engineers, insiders and / or company owners in Renewable Energies’ field. Links are – in most cases - from specialised journalists.
Royal Network & Production information system works in an alphabetical order - from the latest selected news to Information Archive since 2015. We are delighted to welcome as readers of this information service - besides the engineers and interested persons - “clean” businessmen and businesswomen, helping us to be better neighbors to our nature and environment and to benefit our world.
in alphabetical Order
Wind turbines even exploded since world climate change with heavy storms caused fires. Like every technology, wind energy sources technology is not entirely safe.
2015-06-03 http://www.nordkurier.de/templin/windrad-steht-in-flammen-0315284106.html#
2011-09-14 http://www.lr-online.de/regionen/elbe-elster/herzberg/Windkraftanlage-bei-Beyern-steht-in-Flammen;art1056,3493082you tube film 01.02.2016 wind turbines even exploded :https://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=eqfNBVuSe9cdangerous for birds see after 3 minutes https://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=zkbU1tS_UQc
windmill desaster https://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=-YJuFvjtM0s
Smaller wind turbines & more compact wind turbines are safer, when they do have a vertical spindle and blades directly connected to it.
The big wind-turbines of course produce much Megawatt, especially for industry. But the power has to be brought by power lines to the other counties.
New developments concentrate (backstage-information) on small wind turbines based on other technical approach. The latter planned to be built at the place were the energy is used. In the future decentralised energy systems will increase, as widely achieved already in solar systems on the roofs or close and make power lines superfluous. Some wind power generation technologies could be suitable for decentralisation – such as Slavonius Rotors, which do not kill birds or bats. However much research is a needed, to develop wind energy systems, which do not harm to our biodiversity (birds and bats).
(please read also our information in Information Archive in letter R about Renewable Energy Sources/Wind/Big Wind Turbines/Eco Audit and Renewable Energy Sources/Wind/Big Wind Turbines/Future?: Summary: Big wind turbines can be of enormous damage to bats and birds, especially to raptors – if built at the wrong place. The problem is the industrialists’ wind lobby, which tries to ignore this impact on the biodiversity of the planet. An engineer involved in industries close to the wind turbines branch writes, to invest in scrapping might be an advice.
07 May 2017: Backstage information: As it seems some politicians seem to consider, how to further support wind energy, especially the “green” party. “To support” means here to support with money, given from the government. Since big companies are said to pay no taxation, the money for subsidies is paid by mid market companies, who work unbelievable hard to survive – and often do not have any time to inform themselves about the risks etc. of this Renewable energy source.
10 May 2017: The wind power industry unfortunately in the past years has been able to eliminate stork and eagles/bird of prey, with the complete trees. So the birds “vanish” – as if not have existed - and the industry does not to have take care for any distance prescribed by law to the nests. It is difficult to prove this in individual cases, but in many cases there have already been findings to remove nests in connection with planned wind power plants. The nature conservation authorities/state bird protection authorities react, that in the case of a removed nest, the wind power operators also do have to observe the radii/distances – because the birds might build a new nest nearby to the removed nest. And this prescription lasts for some years - thus they hope to counteract the strategy of the wind power industry.
17 May 2017, Magazin Uckermarkkurier/Templin, “Adler das Nest unter den Federn weggeschlagen”: Today the rent someone gets for a large wind turbine on his field is 80,000.- (eightythousand Euros!) . For this large sum of money, criminal deeds are also committed, such as the elimination of a sea eagle nest by tree felling. As is written below the article, the nests of this rare type of bird are very secret.
06 Sept 2018 backstage information: Wind lobby seems to work in German websites to “protect the planet” in running “campaigns”. May be these widely announced & spread websites – by yellow press etc. - are only operating for interest groups in wind energy, to build more and more wind turbines. Owed to backstage information the wind lobby is extremely aggressive, threatening with lawyers etc. Even if they are allowed to build a big (for us bad) wind turbine, they want to avoid the laws imposed to them, i.e. shutdowns of wind turbines for protection of birds and bats. The topic in general was eventually not carefully planned in Germany. They argue that we have to build such huge wind turbines (more than 200 metres) to produce necessary current for all.
http://www.kitegen.com/en/ This website contains interesting diagrams. The kite flies in 1,500 metres height – higher than in the former systems. (Please read Information Archive below: Renewable Energy Sources/Wind/Wind Dragons). As I was informed, ships ate using this system when going with the wind.
https://www.allianz.com/de/presse/news/finanzen/beteiligungen/160208_allianz-und-bank-of-america-investieren-in-windparks/ Allianz and Bank of America invest in wind parks. Due to my personal experience Allianz assurances’ own product as travel guide Sri Lanka are not proven.
29 April 2016 Wind turbines further critical
http://www.wiwo.de/politik/deutschland/energiewende-windraeder-stehen-still-und-kosten-hunderte-millionen-euro/13515276.html. Operators of wind power plants in Germany receive money, also if they produce superfluous energy which can not be used in the grid, because there is already too much energy in the grid. The Wind power plants’ energy is wasted. This and other strange “things” in this theme caused not only a discussion about the wind turbines, especially in Schleswig-Holstein were the power plants originated, humans protest against these: http://green.wiwo.de/zukunft-der-windkraft-schwimmende-anlagen-und-schaufensterprojekte/
17 July 2017 backstage information of a scientist about the website http://cleantechchallenge.be/ which does not show safe Slavonius Rotors
“ I only can see ordinary wind turbines with an horizontal spindle and 3 rotor blades. These constructions are known to kill birds and bats, if erected in areas where these animals do live (which is quite often the case). The longer the blades are, the higher is the potential to harm birds and bats, due to the disc the blades are spinning. Very small turbines of this type with blades not longer then 3 meters may be quite safe for birds, but they also kill bats.
Slavonius Rotors have a vertical spindle and blades directly connected to it. There is not much known about their influence on birds or bats. Since Slavonius Rotors are normally small devices and compact, their impact should be very small. It can be assumed, that they are quite safe for birds and bats.” The website cheantechchallenge is in connection to Vito and McKinsey.
http://www.wiwo.de/politik/deutschland/energiewende-windraeder-stehen-still-und-kosten-hunderte-millionen-euro/13515276.html. Operators of wind power plants in Germany receive money, also if they produce superfluous energy which can not be used in the grid, because there is already too much energy in the grid. The Wind power plants’ energy is wasted. This and other strange “things” in this theme caused not only a discussion about the wind turbines, especially in Schleswig-Holstein were the power plants originated, humans protest against these: http://green.wiwo.de/zukunft-der-windkraft-schwimmende-anlagen-und-schaufensterprojekte/
24 Sept 2018: An article from www.spectrum.de mentions giant Redox-Flow-Batteries projects. Redox-Flow-Batteries are based on a fluid, were the electrical energy is stored in two electrolyte fluids. One is the “brine4power” project for stationary power storage, which wants to use as tanks for storage caves deep in the underground in Northern Germany Jemgum, close to the Netherlands. Thus, to store (wind) energy and to feed it into the grid if necessary might be possible. Planned is to store about 700 MWh of energy, i.e. as much as is needed in one hour in 1,8 million households (as for a city of the size of Berlin). The technology is in the laboratory state, might work at 2025. However, the Redox-Flow-Accumulators there are dependent on the expensive element Vanadium. It seems to be better than Lithium technology or Lithium based batteries for storage of current’s energy, the problem here is the high cost. A lithium battery was built from TESLA, the Hornsdale Power Reserve in Australia with 129 MWh or another is planned by Siemens in California with 400 MWh. Redox-Flow-Technology until now is proven only in Japan with 60 MWh. EWE uses in Jemgum already eight caves for storing of gas, and wants to use two of them later to store wind power energy. Another group of researchers (university of Jena and company JenaBatteries) presented the liquid salt polymer battery in a contribution to journal “Nature” in 2015. No metal salts anymore. Here the electrolyte is based on common salt, water and special polymers. Survive these plastics for 20 years of battery operation – as assumed under laboratory conditions - and can be produced below 50 Euro per KWh this seems the right way to help the redox-flow-technology to break through – as also RWTH Aachen’s Dirk Uwe Sauer is cited. The membrane is also inexpensive. It consists of material that is already produced in large quantities and is known from drinking water filtration and dialysis. How such a redox-flow-battery works please see:
https://jenabatteries.com/products/how-does-it-work/
11 Dec 2018: A new type of batteries that is supposed to be eight times better than Lithium-based batteries - at the same size - now works a room temperature, not only at temperatures above 150° Celsius. These are rechargeable batteries that use fluoride as a charge carrier. The decisive improvement is made by electrolytes, the conductive medium that transport the charge carriers between anode and cathode. The new type of batteries will need some few years to be launched at the markets.
Energy from wind energy is planned to be transformed to gas: 16 Oct 2018
Tennet, Gasunie and Thyssengas, these grid operators want to convert wind energy into gas in hydrogen or methane gas, which is easy to be stored and transported with the existing grids. For this Power-to-Gas-technology they want to build a 100 MWh plant. AUDI already has its own power-to-gas-plant in Germany (Emsland close to Werlte), to produce energy for around 1,500 cars to drive emissions’ free. (In Germany there are already around 36 projects known to produce fuel on the basis of green electricity.) In the moment there are many ideas that all seek for research funding.
Energy from wind energy is planned to be transformed to gas: 16 Oct 2018 https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/green/oekostrom-soll-zu-gas-werden-netzbetreiber-planen-100-megawatt-anlage-in-ostfriesland/23191104.html. Tennet, Gasunie and Thyssengas, these grid operators want to convert wind energy into gas in hydrogen or methane gas, which is easy to be stored and transported with the existing grids. For this Power-to-Gas-technology they want to build a 100 MWh plant. AUDI already has its own power-to-gas-plant in Germany (Emsland close to Werlte), to produce energy for around 1,500 cars to drive emissions’ free. (In Germany there are already around 36 projects known to produce fuel on the basis of green electricity.) In the moment there are many ideas that all seek for research funding.
19 Oct 2018 Backstage information for more clarity from an insider: The problem of wind and sun plants in central European countries is, that these plants only produce a lot of energy if wind blows or sun shines. Therefore, other power plants must be present to jump in if wind does not blow or sun does not shine. Wind energy also requires many power lines to dissipate the huge amount of electricity produced – when wind is blowing. At the moment wind turbines even have to be switched off because the power grids are overloaded. The problem could be solved if the current of wind and sun could be stored – and that at reasonable costs. In Norway, surplus energy pumps water into reservoirs high up in the mountains and then uses the water flowing down to produce energy – at the time when energy is needed. These water pump plants however can be built at few places and are not free of damaging the environment. Since years researchers seek to develop usable batteries or develop other power storage solutions as hydrogen (see fuel cell car). Or gases in power-to-gas-technology.
May 2017, backstage information: Storage is also a problem of definition. How is it defined? As with 15 July 2017 was not able to do more research.
Furhermore: Without storage to get energy from or to store energy to most of the renewable energy sources would not be usable. It is a simple expectation only that energy storage will be a major business in the years to come. Technically there are several ways of storing energy, besides the most obvious way: Batteries. There is much research done in the area of batteries and chemicals, most of it focused on the needs for electric driving and smart phones/tablets/laptops. The requirements for energy storage for the grid differ in one utmost point, that is the size and weight, which is not really important. If a storage system is bigger and heavier while cheaper or more reliable, than it is the one chosen. Besides LiIon (LithiumIons) there are redox batteries ore even old style lead acid batteries (seldom), a different example is LiFePo/Lithium Iron Phosphate. Storage without Lithium of course is possible, there are already pilot projects, please read our other information under batteries or storage etc.. If now in the laboratory, very soon the new batteries might be implemented. As to me it is often very important, if the university to develop is an elite university or not! However this does not count in leadership of GLs of big groups!!! And we have a lot of scientists who submit scientific projects, thus here it is very important that those who select have a great experience and knowledge.
Other ways for energy storage include water pump systems where water is pumped uphill to store energy and downhill to get the energy back. There are similar approaches with more or less complete hills discussed in research, but not yet implemented.
Also there are pilot projects (AUDI) using the energy from wind or solar to create LPG/natural gaz or similar over several steps and store it in the grid. LPG/natural gas is available at gas stations for e-vehicles. However as with July 2017 was not able to do more research.
09 Aug 2016 http://www.wiwo.de/technologie/green/tech/kraftwerk-unter-der-erde-schweizer-wollen-druckluftspeicher-rentabel-machen/13982886.html: Even when RWE (former Energy giant in Gemany) with project “Adele” and Alstom Power Switzerland failed, a new company from Switzerland Alacaes. This spin-off of Airlight Energy to use renewable energies in Biasca improved a compressed air storage system in a former tunnel.
31 Oct 2016 http://www.wiwo.de/technologie/green/tech/alte-speichertechnologie-start-up-entdeckt-das-schwungrad-wieder/14754416.html. A German start-up uses an old system, the flywheels, to store energy. Flywheels work with weight, the new flywheels replace weight by faster turns.
12 April 2016: Despite other sources for batteries for e-vehicles and other devices are in R & D the price for lithium has increased fivefold! http://www.focus.de/finanzen/boerse/elektroauto-boom-preis-verfuenffacht-um-diesen-rohstoff-reisst-sich-die-welt_id_5427728.html
21 June 2016 storage of produced energy as methan gases from ecological waste and wind energy http://www.wiwo.de/technologie/green/tech/energiespeicherung-methan-aus-bioabfall-und-windstrom/13766452.html
As to an oral information to me it is necessary for companies to have access to more current energy, because they need that much current. Which companies are those? Instead we produce in Germany too much current and deliver the overproduction abroad. We even pay the receivers, that these please might be so kind and take our overproduction. But storage is possible, already now. Is this is the end of a political system of “leaders” who are not interested in the needs of citizens? Here in Wirtschaftswoche we can read that scientists want to produce Biomethan from superfluous current energy, to be implemented into the earth gaz-grid.
Instead famous University in Zurich / Switzerland made an invention, how gases at the production of oil in the gulf or other regions can be used, instead of burning, i.e. to make the whole process more efficient. If we need oil for chemistry and pharmacy – than in an efficient way of being produced.
17 Feb 2017 AW: http://www.wiwo.de/riesiger-energiespeicher-der-strom-kommt-aus-dem-tank/19408566.html
Huge Redox-flow-storage based on vanadium, close to Karlsruhe in Germany, to work after March 2017. 19 millions Euro used by Fraunhofer Institut for Chemical Technology. Due to the leader of the project, Peter Fischer, they try to make the storage more reasonable in the future. He claims this storage might supply an entire village with energy for around 10 hours. (Dr. von Werz: I do live in a village, what does he mean with these words? My village has 185 adults… ). When they wanted to build up a big wind energy tower close to the project, during the transport one of the big parts had a crash with a bridge.
http://www.wiwo.de/technologie/green/tech/stromspeicher-weltweit-groesstes-off-grid-batteriesystem-entsteht-in-ruanda/13817014.html : Company Tesvolt from Germany is about to built the world’s largest off grid battery system with containers in Ruanda. http://www.royal-alliance.net/archive/89-storage-batteries-batteries-for-stationary-storage-and-e-vehicles-e-mobility.
25 April 2016 For off-grid-places as construction sites a „green“ battery based on Lithium can be used, in case normal grid has a brown-out, i.e. the grid does not work. http://green.wiwo.de/solarstrom-to-go-neue-generatoren-arbeiten-ohne-diesel/#comment-175510
23 Aug 2016 Alevo is said to be closer to the commercial market. Alevo “a battery manufacturing aspirant”, a company with a mysterious huge funding produces batteries with sulfur-based inorganic lithium-ion electrolyte chemistry. http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Alevo-Moves-Closer-to-Commercial-Deployment-of-Its-Big-Battery
Start up Alevo from Switzerland claimed having been developed batteries with 10tmes longer lifespan than other batteries. Furthermore the batteries are said to be very robust and not-flammable.
13 Oct 2016 http://www.wiwo.de/technologie/green/tech/ultra-caps-batteriehersteller-skeleton-fertigt-kuenftig-in-sachsen/14616228.html the article is about Ultra-caps, i.e. capacitors that can store a lot of current. The new technology seems convincing. The technology is developed in cooperation with scientists of Monash university and a company which was founded in 2014 only, named Ionic Industries – both from Melbourne. They developed an electrode of nanoporous grapheme. These very fast batteries soon will be built near German city Dresden. In contrary to other systems it can load and charge in seconds. Nevertheless they can not replace batteries, the latter having a far higher capacity. Their importance seems to increases.
30 Oct 2016: The Qatar Airways Group has made conservation of natural resources a key pillar in its sustainability programme. Hamad International Airport’s waste water treatment plant allows 95 per cent of captured water to be re-used in irrigation. Facilities such as aircraft and vehicle washing incorporate water recycling-systems to further support Qatar Airways Group’s efforts to conserve natural resources
please see Renewable Energy Sources/Wind/Wind Parks
26th of July 2023. Wind power is a hot topic at the moment, so Berlin has to have a wind power priority area of 445 hectares (as of April 2023). The following article was published at 21th of July 2023: German Newspaper Focus, https://www.msn.com/de-de/finanzen/top-stories/vattenfall-stoppt-bau-von-meereswindpark/ar-AA1e71hJ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=466e191299004a25bd5aad31fe0fb081&ei=79. Swedish energy supplier Vattenfall has halted its 1.4 gigawatt Norfolk Boreas wind turbine project off the UK coast. The main reason for this are cost increases of up to 40 percent, the group board said. “Vattenfall secured the contract for Norfolk Boreas at an auction last year at a fixed price of £37.35 per megawatt hour.” The wind farm should supply electricity for 1.5 million households. Other proposed projects - Vanguard Est and Vanguard West - are also under review. All three wind farms together would have an energy output of 4.2 gigawatts. High inflation and rising capital costs make the planned energy turnaround on the high seas more expensive. Vattenfall is now taking the consequences.
Vattenfall certainly calculated this very precisely - but the prices targeted in an assured price guarantee are probably not feasible without subsidies for offshore wind farms. The complex foundation of the towers, the complex maintenance of the systems and the rapid wear and tear due to salt water are particularly difficult and expensive. This also applies to other countries as Germany: “ Last week, corporations paid money for the right to build wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic Sea for the first time in a bidding process. The sale by the Federal Network Agency brought in 12.6 billion euros. Two of the North Sea areas went to subsidiaries of the oil multinational BP, the other two areas to Total Energies companies. Companies from the wind power industry went away empty-handed. Industry representatives fear that the oil companies have secured the land for a lot of money but will ultimately not build anything there.”.
12 December 2022: When burning wood pellets, very harmful CO2 escapes into the atmosphere very quickly https://www.br.de/nachrichten/wissen/schlechte-klima-bilanz-fuer-holzpellets,Rh2umI1
12 December 2022. Experts warn of high dust pollution and the poor climate balance ...
Translated from German by Google: “But the real problem is not the long period of time until a stove can be put into operation for the first time, but ecological and health aspects. There is an enormous demand, of all things, for a form of heating energy that the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) advise against harmful nitrogen and sulfur compounds, carbon monoxide and also large amounts of fine dust. According to UBA, the share of wood combustion in the total fine dust emissions in Germany is ten percent over the entire year. In winter, however, the proportion is up to 20 percent.” The article is from 12 of December 2022 – >From 1 ARD, German Television.
16 Dec 2018: United World Climate Conference in Poland / Katowice 2018:
It seems that the politicians are not really aware of the development of the warming of the world, which happens. As for me and many others in Germany, also young peoples and animals the very hot summer in this country was very hard to bear, it was a survival summer. Many persons died here.
is an NGO with huge fundings.