Archive News In Brief

In an official ceremony held in the Aachen City Ratskeller the Wilhelm Heinrich Sobbe Foundation prizes for the best final theses in raw materials engineering 2014 were awarded for the third time to the Raw Materials and Waste Disposal Technology Division at RWTH Aachen University. The award for the best Bachelor’s thesis went to Violetta Storoschewich for her work ‘Deep-sea ...

“We’ve just started researching ways in which mobile robots could be used in mining,” says Prof. Bernhard Jung from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at TU Bergakademie Freiberg – the University of Resources. “After all, the research mine here in Freiberg has been a hub of innovation for mining technology for decades,” he adds. The robot, which will ...

Almost 60 % of the German public accept coal-fired power plants as a bridging technology to guarantee secure energy prices and supply. Over 40 % feel that the plants are also crucial to Germany’s electricity supply in the longer term. This high level of public approval was identified in a survey that the German research institute EMNID conducted at the end of ...

In its paper on raw materials policy in the 21st century, the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Berlin, points out that, as an industrialised country and centre of high technology, Germany is especially reliant on a secure supply of energy resources and non-energy raw materials. In particular, the country can only achieve its climate policy objectives – above all the ...

The World Coal Association (WCA), London, called for greater investment in cleaner coal technologies, in order to meet growing global energy demand and reduce CO2 emissions. Coal plays a vital role in society by providing over 40 % of global electricity and as an indispensable ingredient in modern infrastructure. The International Energy Agency’s (IEA), Paris, forecasts show that coal use is ...

In January Dr. Christian Ehler MEP and Prof. Jerzy Buzek MEP hosted the first European Round Table on Coal of the new EU-Parliament. MEPs from across the Union came along to better understand coal and the contribution it makes to a secure and reliable energy supply: 28 % of the EU’s electricity is produced from coal. Prof. Buzek expressed his pleasure ...

Germany’s geothermal energy industry is coming together to form a single large federal association. Members of the Wirtschaftsforum Geothermie e.V. (WFG) and the Bundesverband Geothermie e.V. (BVG) decided on 5 March 2015 to form a joint association. The members of both organisations voted unanimously in favour of the merger at the 2015 GeoTHERM expo & congress. “From 2016 onwards, the ...

The 15th E-world energy& water, which was held at Messe Essen, attracted a record number of participants. A total of 640 exhibitors – more than ever before – from 25 countries presented their products and services in the fields of generation, efficiency, trade, transport, storage, smart energy and green technologies. They provided the some 24,000 visitors from 80 countries with ...

Last year’s mild weather caused energy consumption in Germany to fall significantly. The Working Group on Energy Balances (AGEB) published its report on energy consumption in 2014, and the findings confirm the forecast made at the end of last year: compared to 2013, overall domestic energy consumption in Germany fell by 4.7 % to 13,077 PJ, or 446.2 million tonnes of ...

The planned link-up of the district heating networks in the Rhine and Ruhr regions should deliver an efficient, innovative and environmentally friendly heat supply, and security of supply for the Ruhr area. The project reached a key milestone on 5 March 2015, when representatives of the participating district heating firms – STEAG Fernwärme GmbH (SFW), Energieversorgung Oberhausen AG (evo) and ...