Generation In Germany Research Articles

Integration of large-scale renewable energy sources: Challenges to thermal generation in Germany

AbstractIn Germany up to 100 GW of intermittent wind and solar power feed-in is expected until 2020. The network load probably will be between 45 GW and 85 GW. Therefore the influence of renewable power production especially onto thermal power generation is investigated by this paper in detail.An adjusted mixed-integer optimization model using the CPLEX solver 11.2 is used to calculate power plant schedules for the thermal generation system with up to 160 single thermal power plants (TPPs). Inter-temporal constraints like minimum up and down times, time depending startup costs, maximum power transients and a detailed allocation of spinning reserve power for primary and secondary control are considered. The load covered by fossil and nuclear power plants is determined considering the currently projected power from offshore wind farms, solar panels, combined heat and power in combination with the German pumped storage power stations (PSPSs) in 2020. The paper includes several scenarios to illustrate the heavy influence and show the results of the used model and time series.

Development of Cogeneration in Germany: A Dynamic Portfolio Analysis Based on the New Regulatory Framework

The Integrated Energy and Climate Protection Program of the German government includes the political target to double the share of combined heat and power generation (CHP) in Germany from currently about 12% to 25% in 2020. In order to reach this goal a new CHP law was enacted to improve the framework conditions for CHP generation. In this paper we tackle the political CHP target stipulated by the German government, and aim at identifying which CHP technologies are most likely to be installed in the near future. By applying Mean-Variance Portfolio (MVP) theory, we consider return- and risk-related aspects. In our model we pay tribute to specific characteristics of CHP generation, like promotion via feed-in tariffs, additional revenues from heat sales, specific operational features and specifics concerning allocation of CO2 allowances. The investigation is carried out on the basis of four generic standard CHP technologies currently available on a commercial basis. These technologies are: large coal-fired CHP plants, combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT-CHP), engine-CHP and micro-turbine CHP. The portfolio investigation includes a projection of fuel cost and prices for heat and power according to the BMU Leitstudie 2008. As selection criteria for the portfolio performance we take, independently from each other, the Net Present Value (NPV) of investment in CHP and the expected annual portfolio return, and compare the results obtained from both approaches with each other. Irrespective of the chosen selection criteria the analysis shows that CCGT-CHP and engine-CHP are the most attractive CHP technologies from a return perspective. A diversification of the portfolio with other kinds of CHP technologies can contribute to stabilize portfolio returns. The application of the results obtained on the further development of CHP generation in Germany leads to the conclusion that a large portion of additional new CHP capacity will probably be built in the industrial sector. We conclude further that the ambitious political target of 25% CHP generation in 2020 is not realistic under the given framework.

Max Weber and Music History

The essay in this issue of the Musical Quarterly by James Wierzbicki is a refreshing and long overdue foray into a troubled and complex subject. Considerations of Max Weber’s influence on and relationship to the historical and sociological study of music, as well as his own attitude to music, have been relegated primarily to discussions of his relatively short exploration of the sociology of music, published posthumously first in 1921 and then again in 1925 as an appendix to the second edition of Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Economy and Society). Professor Wierzbicki does a brilliant job of outlining the origins of this publication on music and placing this essentially unfinished and minor work of Weber’s in its proper biographical context. He puts the last nail in the proverbial coffin of the utility of Weber’s essay as an aid to our understanding of the history of music in the West. However, Wierzbicki’s elucidation and graceful demolition of Weber’s attempt to place the history of music into the context of a historical process of “rationalization” in the West has the unintended consequence of forcing us to consider a somewhat related but different thought experiment. It runs along the following lines: If Weber had never written explicitly about music, might there still be something in his work as historian and sociologist that merits the attention of music historians? The answer to that question does not have to lead us in the direction of the work of Paul Honigsheim, a protege of Weber who worked explicitly on music as a subject. Nor does it require us to take into account Weber’s biography or his own affection for and involvement with music, a subject dealt with by Wierzbicki and on which Honigsheim himself probably remains the most reliable witness. After all, in comparative biographical terms, Weber’s connection to music was entirely typical of intellectuals of his generation in Germany. For better or for worse, Wilhelmine culture represented the apex of amateurism and enthusiasm for music. The centrality of Wagner and

Patterns of War Reconciliation in Japan and Germany. A Comparison

War reconciliation and cultures of memory themes continue to receive high attention but despite the long list of newly released books praising Germany which has been thought to be more prone to experience guilt and from it ensuing war responsibility for its past than the Japanese nation in the aftermath of World War Two [46], the long shadows of the past are still prevailing in both countries. Even if Germany scores better then Japan from a comparative perspective this does not mean that Germany has internally resolved the problems related to its past once and for all. Yet, the slave labor compensation legislation in Germany which was meant to definitely settle the accounts with the past has shown that lasting war reconciliation is possible. The unwillingness of Japanese Government officials to admit past wrongdoings, to apologize for coerced war prostitution and to refuse to compensate former slave laborers has put Japan on the frontline of international criticism. The claim that Japan as a nation has not learned from history is critically re-assessed against the backdrop of bottom up NGO reconciliation activities and lawmaker efforts to enact legislation aimed at resolving the comfort women issue. In contrast to conventional explanations it is argued that different circumstances, influenced by distinct historical and political factors in each country, resulted in different approaches. In Germany the social protest movements led to the institutional birth of the Green Party. The Greens initiated the reconciliation process for former slave laborers and changed the political landscape from the bottom. In Japan the social protest movements did not succeed to settle as a novel political force. Thoughtlessness, ignorance, conspiracy of silence, “double victimization” stigma, “negative pacifism” and the reluctance to address the war guilt issue prevented a public discussion. It is then sought to answer the question: Why do people repress or deny past wrongdoings despite knowing the facts? It is looked at how consecutive generations in Germany and Japan have coped with guilt and shame feelings in different ways. The article concludes that war reconciliation similar to restorative justice is an ongoing, never-ending process. The emotional part of reconciliation which goes far beyond words of apology, judicial punishment or monetary compensation and does not necessarily lead always to positive outcomes is given particular attention. Ways of civil society bottom-up reconciliation in Germany and Japan are explored.

Development of Cogeneration in Germany: A Dynamic Portfolio Analysis Based on the New Regulatory Framework

The Integrated Energy and Climate Protection Program of the German government includes the political target of doubling the share of combined heat and power generation (CHP) in Germany from currently about 12% to 25% by 2020. In order to reach this goal, a new CHP law was enacted to improve the framework conditions for CHP generation. In this paper, we tackle the political CHP target stipulated by the German government, and aim at identifying which CHP technologies are most likely to be installed in the near future. By applying Mean-Variance Portfolio (MVP) theory, we consider return- and risk-related aspects. In our model, we pay tribute to specific characteristics of CHP generation, such as promotion via feed-in tariffs, additional revenues from heat sales, specific operational features, and specifics concerning allocation of CO2 allowances. The investigation is carried out on the basis of four generic standard CHP technologies currently available on a commercial basis. These technologies are: large coal-fired CHP plants, combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT-CHP), engine-CHP and micro-turbine CHP. The portfolio investigation includes a projection of fuel cost and prices for heat and power according to the BMU Leitstudie 2008. As selection criteria for the portfolio performance we take, independently from each other, the net present value (NPV) of investment in CHP and the expected annual portfolio return, and compare the results obtained from both approaches with each other. Irrespective of the chosen selection criteria, the analysis shows that CCGT-CHP and engine-CHP are the most attractive CHP technologies from a return perspective. A diversification of the portfolio with other kinds of CHP technologies can contribute to stabilizing portfolio returns. The application of the results obtained on the further development of CHP generation in Germany leads to the conclusion that a large portion of additional new CHP capacity will probably be built in the industrial sector. We conclude further that the ambitious political target of 25% CHP generation by 2020 is not realistic under the given framework.

Charles Darwin's Reception in Germany and What Followed

Charles Darwin's Reception in Germany and What Followed

Impacts of the German Support for Renewable Energy on Electricity Prices, Emissions, and Firms

Most models that are used to analyze support policies for renewable electricity neglect important market features like oligopolistic behavior, emission trading, and restricted cross-border transmission capacities. We use a quantitative electricity market model that accounts for these aspects and decompose the impact of the German Feed-in tariff (FIT) into two frequently counteracting effects: a substitution effect and a permit price effect. We find that the total effect of the policy increases the German consumer price slightly by three percent, while the producer price decreases by eight percent. In addition, emissions from electricity generation in Germany are reduced by eleven percent but are hardly altered on the European scale. Finally, it turns out that price-cost margins of almost all firms are increased by the FIT, while nonetheless, the profits of firms are significantly lowered unless the firms combine relatively carbon-intensive production with a weak connection to the German grid.

Geothermal Energy and Power Generation in Germany

The EU is the world's largest energy importer, relying on imports for 50 % of its energy needs. With an energy demand forecast likely to grow by 1-2 % a year, that figure will over the coming 20-30 years rise to 70 %.The Geothermie is an inexhaustible energy source. With the supplies, which are stored in our planet, in principle the world-wide power requirement could be covered. The Geothermie, or terrestrial heat, is the warmth stored in the upper (accessible) part of the earth's crust. It covers the energy, as far as it can be extracted and used, stored in the earth, and ranks among the regenerative energies. It can be used both directly, approximately for heating and cooling in the heating market, and for the production by electric current or in a force heat coupling.Production of heat using geothermal energy can be obtained in two very distinct ways. The first consists of directly exploiting subterranean water tables whose temperatures are included between 30 °C and 150 °C (so-called medium and low temperature applications). The second makes use of geothermal heat pumps that come under the heading of so-called very low temperature applications.

CCS for Germany: Policy, R&D and demonstration activities

Abstract While the share of renewables has been growing rapidly since the 1990s, at present electricity generation in Germany is still based on coal and nuclear energy, with nuclear power and lignite covering almost the whole base load electricity generation, and hard coal serving as the main energy carrier for medium-load generation. However, both coal and nuclear energy are facing major challenges. The future of coal in Germany is uncertain against the background of strong climate policy regulations and issues of public acceptance. In line with current legislation, nuclear power is being phased out. In its strategy for CO2 emissions reduction, the German government has identified the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies as one of the options. Major government papers highlight the importance of further research and development (R&D) in the field of CCS technologies. German industry supports R&D activities on CCS by participating in the work of public–private partnerships (PPP), e.g. the COORETEC initiative, the GEOTECHNOLOGIEN programme, as well as by implementing CCS demonstration projects. In view of the difficulties coal has been facing with regard to public acceptance in Germany, the public acceptance of CCS technologies is recognised as an important precondition for their large-scale deployment. Thus, research on public acceptance of CCS is one of the priorities accompanying R&D on these technologies. Besides the strategy of fostering national R&D activities on CCS, Germany is actively participating in international networks and organisations dealing with the CCS issues.

How to Write and Illustrate a Scientific Paper ‐ by Björn Gustavii and Successful Scientific Writing. A Step‐by‐step Guide for the Biological and Medical Sciences ‐ by Janice R. Matthews and Robert W. Matthews

How to Write and Illustrate a Scientific Paper ‐ by Björn Gustavii and Successful Scientific Writing. A Step‐by‐step Guide for the Biological and Medical Sciences ‐ by Janice R. Matthews and Robert W. Matthews

The educational attainment of the second generation in Germany

A B S T R AC T Using the German Microcensus, we study second-generation immigrants' educational attainment in Germany, focusing on the descendants of classic labour migrants. Our results show that educational outcomes in terms of attending or completing the highest schooling track leading to the Abitur vary considerably among different ethnic groups. Second-generation young adults, in particular Turks and Italians, experience pronounced disadvantages in comparison to their German peers. The central question in this context is to what extent ethnic stratification in the German school system is related to educational and social background. Our findings suggest that ethnic disadvantages primarily result from social rather than from specific ethnic inequalities, since initial differences in the chances of attaining the Abitur disappear after considering educational and social origin, the only exception being Italian young adults.

Enhanced regional forecasting considering single wind farm distribution for upscaling

With increasing wind power penetration the need for more accurate wind power forecasts increases to raise the market value of wind power. State-of-the-art wind power forecasting tools are considered either statistical or physical. Fundamentally new techniques are rare, thus it is tried to establish a new approach. The spatial decomposition of wind power generation in Germany can be done with principle component analysis to extract the main pattern of variability. They have a physical meaning when linked with typical weather situation. The first four eigenvectors explain about 94 % of the observed variance. The time-evolving principle components are linked with the total wind power feed-in in Germany and are used for its estimation. A new wind power forecasting model has been implemented with this approach and shows very good results that are comparable with state-of-the-art commercial wind power forecast models. The day-ahead forecast error for a common intercomparison period Jan-Jul 2006 is 4.4 %. The suggested approach offers wide ranges for future developments (e.g. several NWP models), because it is computationally very cheap to run.

Der Kinder- und Jugendgesundheitssurvey (KiGGS): Ein Überblick über Planung, Durchführung und Ergebnisse unter Berücksichtigung von Aspekten eines Qualitätsmanagements

The aim of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) was to improve the information available on the health of the up-and- coming generation in Germany and to fill gaps in knowledge. This was to be done using a nationwide representative investigation and survey of children and adolescents aged 0 to 17. From May 2003 to May 2006, 17,641 girls and boys took part in the study at 167 locations in Germany; along with their parents' input they provided a unique pool of information. From the point of view of quality management, there is a description of the planning, structures, efficient use of funding, implementation and planned evaluation of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). In this description, the quality achieved is evaluated by comparing what was actually achieved with the targets set. In this manner, a comprehensive overview can be provided of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS): what it concerns, its modular structure, the co-operation partners involved, institutions financing it, regulatory processes accompanying it and strategies for evaluation. At the same time, it is shown how the individual publications in the journal for public health, health research and health protection (Bundesgesundheitsblatt) special issue no. 5/6 2007 connect to one another and to the issue as a whole.

Contaminated Generativity: Holocaust Survivors and Their Children in Germany

This paper addresses the trauma transfer from survivors of the Shoah to the Second Generation in Germany. What does it mean for both generations to beget children after Auschwitz? This necessarily entails perceiving non-Jewish Germans and their way of dealing with history. Survivors cannot live without their memory, nor is it possible for them to conceive of a life unencumbered by this constant "contaminant". It is not possible to integrate the persecution experiences. On the contrary, decades after liberation, dissociated elements of traumatic memories penetrate everyday experiences, thought, affect and imagination as contaminants. Occasionally, these fragments of persecution experiences, like "encapsulated memories" hidden in crypts suddenly break open and frighten the survivors themselves and even more so the people around them.

Multi-objective optimization of an advanced combined cycle power plant including CO 2 separation options

This paper illustrates a methodology developed to facilitate the analysis of complex systems characterized by a large number of technical, economical and environmental parameters. Thermo-economic modeling of a natural gas combined cycle including CO 2 separation options has been coupled within a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to characterize the economic and environmental performances of such complex systems within various contexts. The method has been applied to a case of power generation in Germany. The optimum options for system integration under different boundary conditions are revealed by the Pareto Optimal Frontiers. Results show the influence of the configuration and technical parameters on the electrical efficiencies of the Pareto optimal plants and their sub-systems. The results provide information on the relationship between power generation cost and CO 2 emissions, and allow sensitivity analyses of important economical parameters like natural gas and electricity prices. Such a tool is of interest for power generation technology suppliers, for utility owners or for project investors, and for policy makers in the context of CO 2 mitigation schemes including emission trading.

The Making of chancellor Merkel

As a woman and an East German, Angela Merkel beat long political odds to become chancellor of Germany in November 2005. In addition, she overcame her party's poor electoral performance, out-manoeuvring political rivals in negotiations for a ‘grand coalition’. Merkel's rise to power can be divided into three phases. Like many other female political leaders of her generation in Germany, she was initially apolitical. She only became politically active during the dying days of the German Democratic Republic. The second phase was her apparently unremarkable political ascent as ‘Kohl's Mädchen’ (girl), when she had little independent standing of her own. The final phase began when a major finance scandal propelled her to the top of party ranks. She benefited from a gendered stereotype as a Trümmerfrau who could rebuild the conservative's moral standing out of the affair's ruins. But her continued success had much to do with successful political learning of how to turn critics' attacks against themselves.

Shoah in Israeli Writing, with an Emphasis on Hebrew Poetry: Editor's Introduction

Jewish literature on the Shoah recounts the horrors of the Nazi treatment of Europe's Jews in the historical context of deep-rooted prejudices and ethno-centric behavior. A number of these works indict antisemitism, anti-Judaism, hypocritical humanism, and the inactivity of influential leaders as contributing factors in the murder of innocents, including six million Jews. Many writers and poets maintain that the Shoah is truly sui generis. Nothing can compare to the enactment of the human suffering and the historical evil that plagued the Jewish people and other minorities during the 1930s and the 1940s. In his review of the TV mini-series Holocaust presented on NBC television in April 1978, Elie Wiesel wrote: witness feels here duty bound to declare: What you have seen on your screen is not what happened there. You may think you know how the victims lived and died, but you do not. Auschwitz cannot be explained nor can it be visualized. Whether culmination or aberration of history, the Holocaust transcends history. Everything about it inspires fear and leads to despair: the dead are in possession of a secret that we, the living, are neither worthy or capable of recovering.(1) In The Oath (translated from French, and published by Random House, 1973), Wiesel talks about Moshe, mad survivor of a pogrom, who has taken an oath never to tell of his ordeal. He is bound to silence as a testimony on behalf of all humanity to lie against death, to sanity against madness, and to the God of Torah against all lapses into paganism. To scream about radical dehumanization raises the possibility that the world is not listening or doesn't care, and this is a victory for absolute evil. Within the Jewish tradition humanity is made in the image of God and must imitate God. God's silence during epochs of Jewish pogroms may be interpreted as God's presence in suffering.(2) If so, then what is the message to the Jews living in this Suffering Servant-like stance? What comfort to the Chosen People when its of Hosts appears to be the Lord of Fires?(3) Further, does not silence convey the survivors' most dreadful fear: Shoah happened: is anyone listening, does anyone care? One survivor's loyalty to the dead becomes another survivor's query, how to live in the silence of memory? This is the position taken by the famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in The Sunflower.(4) In a sensitive and provocative story, Wiesenthal tells the account of a Nazi soldier, a participant in the slaughter of innocents, terrified of dying with a burden of guilt, asking forgiveness from a concentration camp Jew (Wiesenthal), one who knows well the meaning of the Jewish moral millennium, a period ushered in when victim-survivor shakes hands and makes peace with the enslaver-destroyer. The Jew listens with horror and feeling to the German's deathbed wish, and walks quietly out of his presence without giving absolution. But Wiesenthal is haunted by this memory and invites a distinguished group of respondents to tell what they would have done in his place. The contributors (Jews and non-Jews) reflect a wide variety of behavior and belief, discipline and experience. Their writing is a reciprocal tool: it reveals and at the same time it is revealing. That is, not only do they tackle a moral question from Auschwitz but they also explain and define themselves within and without that world. Though all agree that one cannot forget, there is a divide between commentators whether to forgive. And this speaks of many things: Can one forgive and not forget? Can the living forgive for the murdered dead? Does forgiveness perpetuate the very evil it wants to make easier to bear? Is following orders the same as giving them? Is it right to impose Nazi crimes on a postwar generation in Germany? Can forgiveness confront, not close, the cycle of pain? If forgiveness is not possible, can reconciliation be? And so forth.(5) The questions are agonizing, the answers are blasphemous, possibly because the Shoah is the ultimate paradox. …

Investigation of milk traits of same Simmental bulls' daughters in Germany and Serbia

More important milk traits of Fl generation daughters of German Simmental bulls, in production conditions in Germany and Serbia are investigated in this paper. Progeny testing in conditions in Serbia included in average 26 daughters and in Germany considerably more - 1122. Based on compared results considerably greater absolute difference in quantity of produced milk was determined in Fl generation in Germany (1057kg) with level of significance of (p<0,05*). Statistically highly significant difference (p<0,01**) was established for quantity of milk fat and content of milk fat. Daughters investigated in Germany have realized higher production.

Long-Term Costs of Electricity Generation in Germany: Optimising the Inclusion of Wind Power

Due to the expected installed capacity of wind power in Germany in combination with the fade out of conventional electricity generation within the next years, the overall German power plant capability can be changed to be cost effective and to meet CO2-emission targets. A new energy-economical model called WEsER has been developed to investigate the new situation. This optimizes the conventional power plant generation during one year at hourly resolution, so including wind energy characteristics. The main objective year is 2020. Proposed structures and operation timetables for power plants are calculated. Consequently, WEsER results suggest a new structure of electricity generation mix with large amounts of wind energy. The energy generation share of today's “base load” power stations will decrease, while gas and hard coal complete the generation mix with wind. Economic analysis shows that the additional costs of wind energy are a minimum when emission reduction targets are met.

The Second Generation in Germany: Between School and Labor Market

The German “mode of integration” after World War II has been to include migrants and their offspring into general societal institutions. This can be stated despite differences between federal states in some aspects of migrant integration {e.g., the educational sector). Migrant children normally attend the same schools and classes as their German age peers, they participate in the dual system of vocational training, and there are only a few limitations in labor market access. The second generation in Germany consists mainly of children of the “guestworkers” recruited in southern and southeastern European countries from the 1950s onwards. It is not easy to obtain information about their numbers and their socioeconomic position, as most statistical data distinguish only between foreigners and Germans. The achieved integration status of the second generation varies between areas: obvious problems in the educational system go along with considerable progress in the vocational training system and in the labor market. Children of Turkish migrants are the most disadvantaged group among the second generation.