Educational and Technological Approaches to Renewable Energy

Book Preface

The search for the means to promote renewable energy is a matter of great international concern, not only due to the high prices of conventional fossil fuels, but also because of the negative impacts of CO2 emissions on the world’s climate. Even though the theme “renewable energy” has been treated as a matter of marginal relevance in the past, it is a key issue in the present and a matter whose relevance is likely to increase in the future. The reasons for this are twofold.

Firstly, as the world population reaches the 7 billion mark, energy demands are expected to rise. Based on the forecasts on energy production, which seem to indicate that conventional fossil fuels will become less and less available, and – due to their progressive limitation – prices are likely to increase, there is a pressing need to look for alternatives to meet current and future energy needs,

Secondly, if we are to find alternatives to fossil fuels, we need to find effective means to produce energy from biomass, from the sun and wind. In this context, research on the one hand, but also concrete applications on the other, are greatly needed.

According to the International Energy Agency (EIA), the world energy consumption is projected to grow by 50 percent between 2005 and 2030. Due to the fact that less fossil fuels will be available to meet such needs, there seems inevitable that renewable energy sources will be used, to meet at least part of the growing demands for energy.

Against this background, HAW Hamburg has created a Competence Centre on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CC4E) and a Technology Transfer Centre on Renewable Energy, whose goals are to undertake research and projects aimed at fostering the cause of renewable energy, and use technology transfer as a tool to helping developing countries to meet their needs. And since there is a paucity of publications which specifically address matters related to renewable energy in developing countries, we thought a book on educational and technological would be a timely contribution to the international debate on the topic.

This book therefore documents and disseminates a number of educational and technological approaches to renewable energy, with a special emphasis to European and Latin American experiences, but also with experiences from other parts of the world. It was prepared as part of the project JELARE (Joint European- Latin American Universities Renewable Energy Project), undertaken as part of in Latin America (e.g. Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala) and in Europe (Germany and Latvia). Thanks to its approach and structure, this book will prove useful to all those active in the development of the renewable energy sector, especially those concerned with the problems posed by lack of expertise and lack of training in this important field.

A word of thanks goes to all authors who have contributed to this volume, as well as to all JELARE project partners, who made the project such a great success. It is hoped that this book will catalyse the development of further educational approaches in the field of renewable energy, and encourage their use in implementing new technologies. Enjoy your reading.