Fossil Energy Prices Research Articles

Von der Umwelttechnik zur umweltverträglichen Technologie: Eine neue technologische Revolution steht bevor

From Environmental Technology to Sustainable Technologies – A Sweeping Technological Revolution Ahead. Environmental technology was established as a new branch of the modern economy. Half a million jobs are offered in this domain in Germany alone. Under the global criteria of sustainability, however, environmental technology is just not enough. Taking the Climate Convention seriously will force the North to fundamentally change the direction of technological progress, from the increase of labor productivity towards an increase of energy productivity. For this to happen, market signals are a more powerful tool than bureaucratic regulations. Prices should tell the ecological truth. A revenue-neutral ecological tax reform, gradually raising fossil and nuclear energy prices by 5 percent per annum (in constant dollars) would lead within some 40 years to a dramatic increase in both energy productivity and renewables, at the expense of fossil and nuclear energy. A far-reaching technological transformation would ensue. New high-efficiency “sunrise” technologies are bound to emerge. Complex services would gain ground. It is assumed that not all problems can be solved by ecologizing professional labor. Eventually, professional labor may shrink without loss of well-being.

Substratspezifische Stoff‐Führung bei anaeroben Verfahren zur Methan‐Gewinnung

AbstractPrinciples of material flow in anaerobic methane production processes. Rising prices of fossil energy are upgrading the importance of processes for generating fuels from organic wastes and from renewable biomass. Anaerobic digestion is a suitable approach for the production of fuel gas rich in methane from wet or liquid organic feedstock. Depending upon the biochemical characteristics of the digestion process and upon the physical conditions for an optimal mass transport, specific technical solutions have been found for treating typical substrates differing in chemical composition, digestability, and fluid mechanical behaviour; such substrates are waste water, sludges, and organic solids with a high liquid content. A survey is given on the principal systems now used for conducting material to be digested through the whole process and in particular through the bioreactor.