Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 18 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Sehr geehrte Frau Bundeskanzlerin,
sehr geehrte Frau Lübbe, sehr geehrte Frau Reisch, sehr geehrte Frau Schreurs, sehr geehrter Herr Töpfer, sehr geehrter Herr Kleiner, sehr geehrter Herr Beck, sehr geehrter Herr von Dohnanyi, sehr geehrter Herr Fischer, sehr geehrter Herr Glück, sehr geehrter Herr Hacker, sehr geehrter Herr Hambrecht, sehr geehrter Herr Hauff, sehr geehrter Herr Hirsche, sehr geehrter Herr Hüttl, sehr geehrter Herr Marx, sehr geehrter Herr Renn, sehr geehrter Herr Vassiliadis!

Sie sollen: “.vor dem Hintergrund der Ereignisse in Japan die Risiken der Kernenergie neu bewerten. Es geht um eine nationale Energiestrategie, die von der gesamten Gesellschaft als Leitlinie für die nächsten Jahrzehnte akzeptiert wird…”. So lautet Ihr Auftrag, der Ihnen am 4. April 2011 von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel erteilt wurde. Ein hoher Anspruch.

Bitte erlauben Sie mir, Sie ein wenig bei Ihrer Arbeit zu unterstützen. Dazu sind einige Zahlen vielleicht hilfreich (siehe nachfolgende Angaben). Sie mögen zwar bekannt sein, enthalten aber ein hohes Verbesserungs-Potenzial. Das Potenzial ist immens. Der Vorteil ist, dass damit sofort begonnen werden kann. Erstaunlicherweise werden diese Zahlen, Daten Fakten weder in so genannten Expertenkreisen noch in den Medien beachtet oder gar diskutiert. Das sollte nicht so bleiben, dafür sind sie zu wichtig.

Eine neue Energiestrategie, die Sie jetzt schaffen sollen, und die als Leitlinie für die nächsten Jahrzehnte gelten soll, ist in der Tat dringend erforderlich. Sie kann allerdings nur auf Grundlage einer sauberen Analyse des Ist-Zustandes erfolgen. Nach Angaben des BDEW, Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft e.V. Berlin*, vom 22. März 2010 ist das deutsche Stromnetz unglaubliche 1 783 209 Kilometer lang. Diese Strecke entspricht viermal der Entfernung von der Erde zum Mond. Zusätzlich werden in Deutschland mehr als 550 000 Transformatoren (Umspannwerke) benötigt, um dieses Netz am Laufen zu halten und nur um Elektrizität vom Ort der Erzeugung (meist immer noch Kohlekraftwerke) zu den Verbrauchern in Industrie, Haushalt und KMU zu bringen. Hier bitte ich um eine Beurteilung durch Sie nach “.gesundem Menschenverstand”, ob das jemals sinnvoll war oder gar durch einen weiteren Netzausbau zukünftig gefördert werden sollte. Hier sollten Sie bitte zunächst einmal hinterfragen: Wem nutzt das?

Laut der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Energiebilanzen e.V. betrugen die Umwandlungsverluste bei der Stromerzeugung (Verbrauch und Verluste im Umwandlungsbereich, Fackel- und Leitungsverluste) im Jahr 2008 (neuere Zahlen sind leider nicht verfügbar) 141,6 Mio. t Steinkohleneinheiten (1 Mio. t SKE = 29,308 Petajoule). Diese Zahl allein sagt noch nicht viel. Die gesamten Energienutzungen in allen deutschen Haushalten betragen 87,3 Mio. t SKE. Dazu kommen in Gewerbe, Handel, Dienstleistungen und übrige Verbraucher zusammen weitere 49,2 Mio. t SKE, das entspricht total einer Summe 136,5 Mio. t. SKE. Alle Verbraucher dieser Gruppen benötigen also weit weniger Energie, als die derzeitigen Verluste in der Elektrizitätswirtschaft betragen. Dies ist der aktuellen Energie-Infrastruktur geschuldet, die in ihren Grundzügen in den Jahren 1880-1890 festgelegt wurde. Und sich seither nicht mehr wirklich verbessert hat.

Ein großer “Denkfehler” unserer heutigen Energie-Infrastruktur ist, unter anderem, die Tatsache, das Elektrizität aus erneuerbaren Energien in der Stromwirtschaft seit ihrer Einführung im Jahre 1891 (erstes Wasserkraftwerk ) bzw. in den siebziger Jahren des vorherigen Jahrhunderts (erste Windkraftwerke) stets wie normale Kraftwerke behandelt werden. Das machte schon immer physikalisch wenig Sinn. Da hilft auch ein smartes Netz nicht wirklich weiter.

Was also tun? Was wir benötigen – und diese Chance haben Sie, liebe Mitglieder der Ethikkommission “Sichere Energieversorgung” jetzt noch – ist ein klares, offizielles Bekenntnis zu einem wirklich echten, dezentralen, zweckbestimmten und kleinflächigen Energiesystem. Damit meine ich, dass die Energie dort umgewandelt wird, wo sie gebraucht wird. Wir benötigen dazu weder Kernkraft-, noch Kohle-, noch Gaskraftwerke. Das schaffen wirklich sinnvoll eingesetzte erneuerbare Energien alles allein. Allerdings nur, wenn sie systembedingt und “ihrer Natur” entsprechend eingesetzt werden. Und zwar je nach lokal vorhandenen erneuerbaren Primärenergien, die dann für eine lokale Nutzung in einem Umkreis von maximal 15 Kilometer umgewandelt werden. Dann benötigen sie auch nur geringe Speicherkapazitäten und können damit auch sämtliche noch benötigte Transportleistung ebenfalls damit abdecken. Die dafür erforderlichen Anlagen sollten jeweils lokal genutzt, betrieben und vor allem auch von den Leuten, welche die Energie umwandeln und beziehen, besessen werden. Dadurch ändert sich das Verbraucherverhalten, auch in der Industrie, automatisch in die richtige Richtung.

Durch all diese Maßnahmen ließen sich die heutigen Energieverluste ebenso reduzieren wie die zunehmend unsicheren Primärenergie-Importe. Mit einer neuen Infrastruktur können wir mehr Energie einsparen, als es unsere gemeinsame Vorstellungskraft es uns vielleicht erlaubt zu glauben. Allerdings setzt dies ein so genanntes Out of the Box-Denken voraus. Außerdem die Bereitschaft, sich objektiv und sachlich mit den vorhandenen Systemkonstellationen auseinanderzusetzten. Als nächsten Schritt benötigen wir dann starke und verantwortlich handelnde Persönlichkeiten, die es verstehen, diese Zusammenhänge unserer Bevölkerung nahezubringen und sie mit ihnen zu diskutieren. Darauf aufbauend, kann man dann die Konzepte zeitnah und lokal umzusetzen. Alle dafür erforderlichen Komponenten und Verfahrensweisen sind z.T. seit Jahren bekannt und bereits vorhanden. Es geht eigentlich “nur noch” um ihre sinnvolle Verbindung Sie alle, liebe Mitglieder der Ethikkommission “Sichere Energieversorgung” haben hier und heute noch die einmalige historische Chance, diesen Quantensprung in unserer Energiewirtschaft einzuleiten. Dazu fehlte es den Verantwortlichen in der Vergangenheit offensichtlich an Durchblick, Mut und vielleicht auch an Zivilcourage. Mögen Sie die Kraft haben, in der Ihnen zur Verfügung stehenden Zeit zu einem vorzeigewürdigen Ergebnis zu kommen. Viele nachfolgende Generationen werden Ihnen dafür dann zu Recht dankbar sein. Bis Ende Mai ist es nicht mehr allzu lange hin. Mit den Energie-Strategie-Weichen, die jetzt, auch von Ihnen, gestellt werden, müssen wir alle wieder lange leben. Vielen Dank für Ihren persönlichen Einsatz in dieser Sache.

Für weitere Auskünfte stehe ich Ihnen gern zur Verfügung.

Mit freundlichem Gruß,
Arno A. Evers

Arno A. Evers FAIR-PR
Achheimstrasse 3, 82319 Starnberg
tel.: +49 (0) 8151 998923, fax: +49 (0) 3212 9989243
e-mail: arno@hydrogenambassadors.com
www.hydrogenambassadors.com

Gründer des Gemeinschaftsstandes Wasserstoff und Brennstoffzellen (ab 1995)
auf der jährlichen HANNOVER MESSE
Mehr über Evers neues Buch hier:
The Hydrogen Society…more than just a Vision?
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/order/order.php

Hintergrund-Informationen:
Die Ethikkommission “Sichere Energieversorgung” wird vom früheren Bundesumweltminister und derzeitiger Gründungsdirektor (seit 2.2. 2009) des Instituts für Klimawandel, Erdsysteme und Nachhaltigkeit mit Sitz in Potsdam, Klaus Töpfer und vom Präsidenten der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, Matthias Kleiner geleitet. Als weitere Mitglieder berief Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel:

Ulrich Beck, ehemaliger Soziologieprofessor an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Klaus von Dohnanyi (SPD), früherer Bundesbildungsminister
Ulrich Fischer, Landesbischof der Evangelischen Landeskirche in Baden
Alois Glück (CSU), Präsident des Zentralkomitees deutscher Katholiken
Jörg Hacker, Präsident der Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina
Jürgen Hambrecht, Vorstandsvorsitzender der BASF
Volker Hauff (SPD), ehemaliger Bundesminister für Forschung und Technologie
Walter Hirche (FDP), Präsident der Deutschen UNESCO-Kommission
Reinhard Hüttl, Vorstandsvorsitzender des Deutschen GeoForschungsZentrums Potsdam und Präsident der Deutschen Akademie der Technikwissenschaften
Weyma Lübbe, Philosophin, Mitglied im Deutschen Ethikrat
Reinhard Marx, Erzbischof von München und Freising
Lucia Reisch, Wirtschaftswissenschaftlerin, Professorin an der Copenhagen Business School, Mitglied im Rat für Nachhaltige Entwicklung
Ortwin Renn, Risikoforscher, Soziologieprofessor, Vorsitzender des Nachhaltigkeitsbeirats von Baden-Württemberg
Miranda Schreurs, US-amerikanische Politikwissenschaftlerin, Leiterin des Forschungszentrums für Umweltpolitik an der Freien Universität Berlin
Michael Vassiliadis, Vorsitzender der IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie

* Der hier zitierte Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft e.V. (BDEW), Berlin, wird seit Oktober 2008 von der Vorsitzenden der Hauptgeschäftsführung, Hildegard Müller, geleitet. Frau Müller ist mit dem Bundeskanzleramt gut verdrahtet, war sie doch von 2005 bis 2008 Staatsministerin bei der Bundeskanzlerin und verantwortete die Bund-Länder-Koordination der Bundesregierung.

Der BDEW vertritt rund 1800 Unternehmen. Das Spektrum der Mitglieder reicht von lokalen und kommunalen über regionale bis hin zu überregionalen Unternehmen. Sie repräsentieren rund 90 Prozent des Stromabsatzes, gut 60 Prozent des Nah- und Fernwärmeabsatzes, 90 Prozent des Erdgasabsatzes sowie 80 Prozent der Trinkwasser-Förderung und rund ein Drittel der Abwasser-Entsorgung in Deutschland.

Weiterführende Links:

Dr. Klaus Töpfer auf der Hannover Messe 2003:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm03/vips/toepfer.php
Interview mit Dr. Klaus Töpfer auf der Hannover Messe 2003:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm03/movies/vip5.mpg
Dr. Angela Merkel auf der Hannover Messe 2006:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm06/vips/merkel.php
Video mit Dr. Angela Merkel auf der Hannover Messe 2006:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm06/images/movies/240406_Dr_Angela_Merkel.mpg
Informationen über das deutsche Hochspannungsnetz:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/deutsches-hochspannungsnetz.php Informationen über die Energiebilanz in Deutschland 2003 im Vergleich zu 2007:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/energiefluss-deutschland-2003.php

Dear Frau Chancellor Merkel, dear Ms. Lübbe, dear Ms. Reisch, dear Ms. Schreurs, dear Mr. Toepfer, dear Mr. Beck, dear Mr. von Dohnanyi, dear Mr. Fischer, dear Mr. Glueck, dear Mr. Hacker , dear Mr. Hambrecht, dear Mr. Hauff, dear Mr. Hirsche, dear Mr. Huettl, dear Mr. Marx, dear Mr. Renn, dear Mr. Vassiliadis!

“In the light of the events in Japan, it is imperative that the risks of nuclear energy be re-evaluated. The task is, to establish a national energy strategy that will have to be accepted by the entire society as a guideline for the next decade…” This challenge has been handed over to you by the German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel as members of the German Ethics Commission “Save Energy Supply”.

Please allow me to support your work a little by providing a few figures which may already be known but contain high potential for immediate improvements. Surprisingly, these facts and figures are neither questioned nor discussed by so-called expert groups. Also media representatives and other groups are quite disheartening in considering their immense significance.

This should not stay as it is, due to the fact of the importance of the topic.

A new energy strategy, which you are now being asked to create, is urgently needed. However, it can only be done based on a clean state analysis of the actual status of the existing energy infrastructure. According to the BDEW*, the German electricity grid as of March 22, 2010 is an incredible 1.783.209 Kilometers (more than 1.000.000 miles) long. This length corresponds to four times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.In addition, more than 550,000 transformers (substations) are needed to keep this grid-network running in order to transfer electricity from the source of production (still mostly coal-fired power plants) to the consumers in industrial, domestic and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME`s). Here, I would like to ask you for your judgment by “common sense”. This inefficient archaic system, which was set up in the 1890s, has only been even marginally improved since then, it should not further be supported by additional network expansion. Please ask yourself the question, who will benefit from any modifications to make this grid smart.

Additionally, according to the German Working Group on Energy Balances (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Energiebilanzen e.V.), the conversion losses (consumption and losses in the converting sector, flare and cable losses in the grid) in the German electricity generation in 2008 (newer figures not available) was 141.6 million tons of hard coal units (1million tons of Coal Equivalents (CE) = 29.308 Petajoules). That number alone does not offer much insight. The total energy use in all German households amounted to 87.3 million tons CE. In addition, in trade, commerce, services and other industries, additional 49.2 million tons of CE were used. The total energy consumption of all these consumer groups put together amounts to 136.5 million tons CE, which is far less energy than the losses in the German power generation and transmission process.

One of the major “flaws” of our current energy infrastructure among other things, is the fact that electricity from renewable energies in Germany (hydroelectric since 1891 and wind power since 1870s) in the electricity industry has always been treated like electricity from normal power plants by feeding it into the inefficient grid. This has always made little or no sense physically. Also, the so-called smart network doesn’t really help. We need many more intelligent solutions. And they are there.

What you now have, dear members of the Ethics Committee is the wonderful opportunity to put forth a truly genuine, decentralized, dedicated and small-scale energy system. With this, I mean that the energy is only to be converted where it is actually needed. Not even a single (old or new) nuclear, coal or gas power plant would be needed to supply the energy actually required in Germany. But all this is achievable only if the sources are used “by their nature”, depending on local existing renewable sources of energy. They have to be used locally within a maximum radius of 15 kilometers. Requiring only small storage capacity, these autonomous units can therefore also be utilized to cover all transportation services in Germany, too. The necessary facilities should in each case be used and operated locally and above all, they have be owned by the consumers. This changes the consumer behavior in households, SME`s industry and transport automatically in the right direction. The savings will be based on the close relationship of converting and using power independently.

This system will be the most efficient and also the most secure energy supply system. It can propel Germany to the forefront of the Renewable Energy race in the coming years, alleviating today`s fears of dependence on uncertain foreign and expensive supplies of imported fossil fuels. With “Out of the Box” thinking and new infrastructures like the one mentioned here, we can save more energy than our collective imagination may allow us to believe.
As a next step, we will need strong and responsible individuals who understand how to transfer these ideas to our population, bringing them to discussions on open and unbiased forums. The concepts can then be implemented quickly and locally. All the necessary components and processes for this transition phase are in part known for years and already exist. What is needed is to provide “only” the meaningful connections to create a new and much better picture.

Dear members of the Ethics Commission “Secure Energy Supply”, please let make use of this unique historical chance to achieve a quantum leap in our energy economy. In the past, perhaps the officials lacked the courage to implement such drastic changes. The time has now come. However, I wish you to have the power to achieve these worthy results in the time available to you which will impact many subsequent generations to come. Many thanks for your personal efforts in this matter. Future generations will be thankful to you.

For further information, I am at your disposal.
Best Regards,

Arno A. Evers
Arno A. Evers FAIR-PR
Achheimstrasse 3, 82319 Starnberg
tel.: +49 (0) 8151 998923, fax: +49 (0) 3212 9989243
e-mail: arno@hydrogenambassadors.com
www.hydrogenambassadors.com

Founder of the Group Exhibit Hydrogen and Fuel Cells (in 1995)
at the annual Hannover Fair in Germany
More about Evers new book The Hydrogen Society…more than just a Vision?
here:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/order/order.php

Background information:

The Ethics Commission “Secure energy supply” is headed by former German Federal Environment Minister and current founding Director (since 2.2. 2009) of the Institute for Climate Change, Earth systems and sustainability, based in Potsdam, Klaus Toepfer and the President of the German Research Foundation, Matthias Kleiner. Chancellor Angela Merkel appointed as additional members:
Ulrich Beck, a former sociology professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
Klaus von Dohnanyi (SPD), former Federal Education Minister
Ulrich Fischer, Bishop of the Evangelical Church in Baden
Alois Glück (CSU), President of the Central Committee of German Catholics
Jörg Hacker, president of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Jürgen Hambrecht, CEO of BASF
Volker Hauff (SPD), former Federal Minister for Research and Technology
Walter Hirche (FDP), President of the German Commission for UNESCO
Reinhard Huettl, Chairman of the German GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam and President of the German Academy of Science and Engineering
Weyma Lübbe, Philosopher, member of the German Ethics Council
Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising
Lucia Reisch, Economist, Professor at the Copenhagen Business School, member of the Council for Sustainable Development
Ortwin Renn, Risk Research, Sociology Professor, Chairman of the Sustainability Advisory Board of Baden-Württemberg
Miranda Schreurs, American Political Scientist, head of the Research Centre for Environmental Policy at the Free University of Berlin
Michael Vassiliadis, Chairman of the Mining, Chemical and Energy

* The quoted Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) e.V., Berlin, is since October 2008 led by the Chairman of the Executive Board, Ms. Hildegard Mueller. Ms. Mueller is wired well with the Federal Chancellery; she was from 2005 to 2008 Minister of State in charge of the Federal Chancellor and the federal-state coordination of the federal government in Berlin, Germany.

The BDEW represents some 1,800 companies. The spectrum of members is ranging from local and municipal to regional to national companies. They represent about 90 percent of electricity sales, a good 60 percent of the local and district sales, 90 percent of natural gas sales and 80 percent of drinking water funding and about a third of the wastewater disposal in Germany.

Additional Links:
Dr. Klaus Toepfer at the Hannover Fair 2003:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm03/vips/toepfer.php
Interview with Dr. Klaus Toepfer at the Hannover Fair 2003:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm03/movies/vip5.mpg
Dr. Angela Merkel at the Hannover Fair 2006:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm06/vips/merkel.php
Video with Dr. Angela Merkel at the Hannover Fair 2006:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm06/images/movies/240406_Dr_Angela_Merkel.mpg
Information regarding the German electricity grid:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/german-high-voltage-network.php
Information regarding the energy balance in Germany 2003 in comparison with 2007:
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/energy-balance-germany-2003.php

My sincere thanks for helping with the translation go to:
Srikanth Honavara-Prasad, MS in Mechanical Engineering, San Fransico, USA,
Robert (Robbie) Mackay, Managing Director at VeMarine Ltd Thurso, United Kingdom
Juan Martínez-Vázquez, Energy Ambassador, Paris, France and:
Peter Kindzierski, Managing Director at ISCEER, Malaga, Spain
Thanks also to:
Heinz Sturm, Europaen CompetenceCenter for Energy & Environmental Transfer, Bonn, Germany

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Minty-Fresh™.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 4 times

In 2010, there were 13 new posts, not bad for the first year! There was 1 picture uploaded, taking a total of 3mb.

The busiest day of the year was July 27th with 37 views. The most popular post that day was Q & A`s from concerned citizens (Vol. 3).

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were hydrogenambassadors.com, linkedin.com, lmodules.com, statistics.bestproceed.com, and mfadhly.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for utm fuel cell car wins shell eco-marathon weigl, joerg weigl, shell eco marathon, utm fuel cell, and utm fuel cell vehicle.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Q & A`s from concerned citizens (Vol. 3) July 2010

Shell Eco-marathon 2010 Asia July 2010

The GE ecomagination Challenge … July 2010

The Google’s of tomorrow July 2010

Energy Policy Appeal – German Ad Campaign in Favour of Nuclear Power and Coal August 2010

The signatories of the appeal include the heads of the four companies that operate German nuclear plants, i.e. E.ON AG, RWE AG, EnBW AG and Vattenfall, as well as the chief executives of Germany’s biggest bank, Deutsche Bank AG, national railway Deutsche Bahn AG, BASF AG and Bayer AG, retailer Metro AG and the heads of Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (Umbrella Organization of German Industry – BDI).  Oliver Bierhoff, Germany’s national football team manager, is also among the signatories, as well as a number of members of the ruling Christian Democrats.

If those persons, who signed the advert, or rather their organizations would have made their homework properly, campaigns like this would not be necessary at all. Also the political debate about this topic would have ruled out itself. The background legislative situation is clear: The last red-green government under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder enacted a law, by which the  German utilities were forced to shut down their nuclear power plants according to their life-span one after the other.  Now, as the life-spam of more and more of those German power plants come to an end, utilities (there are four left in my homecountry) are combining forces with German heavy industry and start crying for help. Which they think should be political again…

As said, this situation did not at all come by surprise.

Good, that we documented the international conference at the annual Hannover Fair 2000 on the topic:

>>>Winding down nuclear energy - where to begin?<<<

was organized by my company, together with Deutsche Messe AG in Hannover.

Among the keynote speakers was also Amory B. Lovins,  at that time Vice President and Head of Research at Rocky Mountain Institute, Colorado, USA.

This was the summary of the conference in 2000, ten years ago from now:

Winding down nuclear energy – the declared political goal of the German federal government – as well as deregulation of the electricity market are the two major issues preoccupying the energy sector at present. The consequences of these political decisions for the German electricity industry and its competitors particularly the European ones, deserve closer analysis.

Both economic and technological issues are at the core of the debate.

The pivotal importance of elictrical energy to welfare and economic growth in all sectors of the world will also be a central issue.

Please check the link for further information and wonder, that not much happended in this respect since ten years.

More:

http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/h2fair/e/h2tech/programm2.html

On August 19, the chancellor visited the European Energy Exchange (EEX) in Leipzig. The following week’s stops will include a nuclear power station and several renewable energy plants, as well as a house designed to minimise energy consumption. According to official sources in Berlin, this trip is designed for Merkel to form a personal view of the resources, needs and challenges of the different energy sectors. Angla Merkel is a studied physicist.

In the year 2006, the Chanelor also was visiting the Group Exhibit Hydrogen and Fuell Cells at the annual Hannover Fair in Germany, which I founded and organized in from 1995.

This is in so far unusual, as the Hannover Fair has between 2.500 to 4.000 international commercial exhibitors, who all want this “..picture with the Chancellor!” However, here it is, we had it at that time:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Hannover Fair 2006:

http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/hm06/vips/merkel.php

According to a recent survey, originated by the German Green Party in Berlin, German electricity customers are going to pay about Euro 1 billion (approx USD 1.250.000.000) too much to their utilities. The reason: The procurement costs for the utilities went down by 30 to 40 pc since 2008, however, these savings have not been forwarded to the customers. Quite the contrary is happening. The utilities raise the prices for one kilowatt hour (kWh) almost every year; in 2010 up to 6 pc!

With total sales in Germany of around 131 billion kWh this will amount to a sum of Euro 1 billion, which would be deprived of the consumers. According to Verivox, a German consumer protecting agency, the price for electricity in Germany breaks down as follows: Value added tax: 16 pc; Electricity tax: 8,9 pc; concession fee: 7,3 pc; Feed-in-tariff-substitute: 9,5 pc (has to be paid by ALL electricity customers in Germany, according to their individual consumption); Production and sales cost: 34,1 pc and last but not least: Fee for using the grid: 24,2 pc.

So where to safe?

Should we one day have a real decentralized, sustainable electricity supply, we could safe the following positions: Feed-in-tariff-substitute, Production and sales cost and the fee for using the grid. This can happen as soon as we start with implementing a different energy infrastructure, following the slogan: Power to the people. The total saving would amount to more than 40 pc of today`s electricity cost, even if you leave the taxes at their existing level.

The components to achieve this are all there, what it needs now is vision and strong people, who are able to power a new power paradigma!

http://polls.linkedin.com/p/97738/tdzby

A discussion in the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Network group of LinkedIn has
been started yesterday in which a member asked IdaTech for their margin in
selling, installing and maintaining remote back up power systems for
telecom transmitting station. Making generalizations is principally
difficult, but in my opinion, how much margin IdaTech is gaining with its
remote back up power systems is soley their business. And we should leave
it to the discretion of the IdaTech shareholders and the individual
engagement of the IdaTech personnel, who are performing a pioneering job
not only for the fuel cell industry, but for all of us.


This should be applauded and not be criticized.

Who of us would have asked Nokia for their profit in the sales of their
first cellular phones in 1985? At that time the company was making
most of their revenue on rubber boots. Hardly anyone is familiar with this kind of fact.
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/nokia-mobile-phone-sales.php

And who of us would have asked Google for their profit on their first
search engine in 1998? The New York Times ran a story in 2002 whose
headline preserved the prevalent view that Google is still short of ideas
to make money: "Googles Toughest Search Is for a Business Model".
Good for those, who had invested in the Google Inc., only a small company at that time.

The IdaTech`s of today, luckily there are a handful of additional innovative fuel cell system
companies around, are the Google`s of tomorrow.
If we only let them do their pioneering work, which is hard enough and
which I highly appreciated. 

Background information:

Base stations for mobile telephony

Mobile telephony is commonplace around the world. This wireless technology relies upon an extensive network of fixed antennas, or base stations, relaying information with radiofrequency (RF) signals. According to the latest available figures (2006) from World Health Organisation, over 1.4 million base stations exist worldwide and the number is increasing significantly with the introduction of third generation technology. Their back up power systems are normally diesel engines, driving AC or DC generators to charge batteries.

IdaTech plc (AIM: IDA), headquarter: Bend, Oregon, USA

Founded in 1996, IdaTech designs, develops, and manufactures extended run backup power fuel cell products for telecommunications and other critical applications. These field proven systems are clean, reliable, low maintenance solutions that are deployed worldwide, providing critical backup power to grid-connected and remote sites.

IdaTech’s Fuel Cell products utilize advanced proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology that can be fueled either by hydrogen directly or by generating hydrogen onsite and on demand from HydroPlus, a methanol and water liquid fuel, using IdaTech’s proprietary fuel reformer.

The company offers 250W, 3kW and 5kW fuel cell products that provide solutions for applications requiring 100W to 15kW of backup power generation. In addition to the wide range of power outputs, the systems provide clean, dependable power generation with minimal noise, vibrations and emissions.

Ida Tech`s slogan: Power For The Long Run

Ida Tech was exhibiting at the Hannover Fair from 2001 – 2008

Questions from concerned citizens about energy, hydrogen and fuel cells
answered by Hydrogenambassadors.com 
Vol. 4: From alternatives for H2 production to a short animation how a fuel cell works

Here you find answers to questions from concerned citizens
about sustainability, hydrogen and fuel cells. You are most welcome to
send in your own set of energy related questions.


13) What is your opinion of alternatives like nuclear and biomass for H2
production in the mean term?

Various projects have been initiated for hydrogen production from nuclear
energy and biomass over centuries. It is obvious that H2 production from
nuclear energy (via electrolyzer or nuclear-thermal energy) has no environmental
advantages whatsoever and thus is not to be considered as an alternative
method of hydrogen production. With biomass it is a bit different, though.
H2 can be produced via pyrolysis (thermochemical conversion) or anaerobic
digestion (fermentation) of biomass resources. Seen from my perspective,
the technology is still in an early stage of development and capable of
supplying only small amounts of hydrogen to feed worldwide energy demands.
As long as we use our “biomass waste” as energy source for hydrogen production
I see no contradiction in terms of our environment. But we should avoid using
biomass specifically grown for energy uses as it destructs our landscape and
increases the price of our food.
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/production-of-hydrogen-without-electricity-from-renewables.php

14) Have you explore the alternative for H2 production from the space?

Not yet. One day it might be possible to mine Jupiter which is made out of
90 percent hydrogen or even harvest our sun more directly. But first of all we
should start thinking about adequate methods to produce hydrogen here on Earth.
The sooner, the better.
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/earths-energy-balance.php

15) What application do you suggest for oil usage in a sustainable manner?

First of all we should stop using oil to fulfill our energy needs or to burn it to run our cars.
It is far too precious to spoil it in this way. New ideas and plans for a more sustainable
energy generation and supply chain are already
existing, so why not using them? All fossil fuel resources - be it oil, gas or
even coal - should be kept for future generations (in 100 years from now
we might know better, more economical ways to use and handle the fossil feedstock)
or for material production and medicine.
http://www.hydrogenambassadors.com/background/world-energy-balance-1973-2007.php

16) What renewable energy storage systems do you see in the future?

The conventional way to store electricity is in hydro dams, used successful
since many years. Big new installations are made in China and Brazil. To store
hydrogen environmental benign and ecological, additional scientific work is needed:
Currently used pressurized containers are not particularly energy dense and a
bit bulky to be used, e.g. as tanks in vehicles. Some metal hydrides absorb hydrogen
when exposed to the pressurized gas. Once they are heated or compressed,
the hydrogen is released. But the weight of the metals makes this storage system
quite heavy. In my opinion, the most profitable approach will come from nanoscale
engineering. Due to the large surface areas with relatively
small mass, some nanosize structures have the potential for high capacity
hydrogen storage. Theoretically, every atom within a nanotube could hold
on to one hydrogen atom until needed.

17)  Is there any idea about the recycle rate of the H2 storage systems?

Based on my research, there is currently no company working on this problem.
Still, it has to be coped with.

18) Do you have any didactical simulation of how FC's works?

A short animation and explanation how a fuel cell works can be found here:
http://www.bigs.de/BLH/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=92&Itemid=261