• Technology

• Health

• Environment

• Project Co-ordinator:
  Dr.-Ing. Bert Droste-Franke, Dipl.-Phys.

• Memorandum: B. Droste-Franke et al.: Brennstoffzellen und Virtuelle Kraftwerke. Energie-, umwelt- und technologiepolitische Aspekte einer effizienten Hausenergieversorgung. Springer 2009 (Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment, Vol. 36)

• Duration: 7/06–12/08

• Funding: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF): “Competition for interdisciplinary junior scientist groups within the framework of innovation and technology analysis”

• Further Information on “Energy”

The future sustainability of our society is greatly dependent upon a safe, efficient and sustainable energy supply. Fuel cell systems are effective, high-tech energy conversion systems. They perform well in terms of energy efficiency, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, and can therefore contribute to a sustainable development. In order to ensure a better exploitation and an energy supply guarantee even in situations of peak consumption which could not be covered by a single facility, individual fuel cell facilities can be coupled to virtual power plants. There are, however, barriers which will make the introduction of this technology to the market difficult, and which will hamper its concrete realisation, particularly on local and regional levels.
The aim of the project was to identify factors which interfere with the market introduction and implementation of this technology and to develop strategies of maintainable effort and acceptable consequences by which to change them. In order to reach this aim, the project team first analysed the innovation potentials of fuel cell and virtual power plants and their potential contribution to a sustainable development relatively to competing alternatives, before the general conditions concerning their impact as innovation barriers were investigated. Based on these analyses, strategies for removing the identified barriers were elaborated.

Energy