Climate Protection and Energy

Alumni of the programme Grid-Connected Wind Energy Converters. Copyright Inwent gGmbH/Ariel Javellana

On the 60th anniversary of its founding in April 2008, the World Health Organisation (WHO) again called attention to the fact that climate change is no longer simply forecast for the future: It is already in full swing. According to the WHO, today 150,000 people are dying annually as a result of global warming. Climate change, responsible for extreme weather such as storms, floods, drought and heat waves, is hitting developing countries the hardest. Entire harvests are destroyed, diseases such as cholera, malaria, meningitis or pollen allergies are spreading rapidly. Five million cases of illness worldwide can be attributed to global warming, the WHO reports. Annually.

Greenhouse gasses are primarily responsible, with carbon dioxide (CO2) leading the pack. It is predominantly released by combustion processes, and the massive use of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil in production industries and to produce electricity is a major contributing factor. CO2 also enters the atmosphere from automobile exhaust and private households release large amounts of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses as well. Industrialised nations are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy is a basic precondition of both social and economic development. Without energy, production in developing countries also shuts down, and hospitals and schools cannot be run. Not even food can be prepared without energy. If we are to reach the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, estimates predict that developing counties will have to more than double their energy input. If this is accomplished using fossil fuels, then climate change will be impossible to halt. Protecting the climate and energy production are therefore important topics of international cooperation in Germany as well. Inwent uses capacity building to develop know-how in industrialised, developing and transition countries for ways of dealing with climate change. The development of renewable energy sources and the more efficient use of energy are the two key elements here.

In cooperation with the Educational Centre for Renewable Energy Source (BZEE) in Husum, Inwent offers energy experts from the USA a one-week study trip where they gather information on advanced training opportunities in wind energy. The research trip includes tours of companies such as SolarWorld or SMA Technology AG who tell the young soon-to-be process engineers everything they need to know about solar energy. At the University of Kassel the "Regenerative energy sources and energy efficiency" overview course describes the curriculum range of academic study options in the area of renewable energy sources. Finally participants visit the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety where they learn about governmental subsidies such as those set out in the Renewable Energy Source Act (EEG).

Inwent promotes renewable energy sources in developing and transition countries by supporting political decision-makers there in developing sustainable energy supply concepts. Programme participants learn the skills needed to increase energy efficiency in their countries and to use existing energy sources more economically. Together with the Cologne Energiebau Solartromsysteme GmbH, Inwent has developed a project on climate-friendly energy supplies in developing countries based on renewable energy sources. The key element here is to supply rural regions with inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy and as such to promote their development. These regions often lack a sufficient energy supply; people either have no electricity and energy at all, or rely on diesel generators that are expensive and destructive to the environment. Inwent and Energiebau focus on solar energy and agrofuels, both completely renewable sources of energy. In Tanzania, Ghana and Mali, the two partners have already successfully put innovation into practice.

The "Using wind energy in China" programme also promotes renewable energy sources. The energy needed by rising economic powers, among these China, will increase drastically over the next few years. The Chinese government has declared its intention to fulfil at least part of this demand using renewable energy sources. The amount of wind energy, for example, is scheduled to increase over the next five years from 750 megawatts per year to around 4,000 megawatts. Inwent is involved in this programme to promote environmentally friendly energies. Since 2000 we have offered practice-oriented courses on using wind energy in cooperation with the North Western Polytechnical University in Xi’an. Development engineers who participate in the seminars are trained as trainers and consultants.

D+C online: Energy for rural Africa External Link: Page opens in a new window!