"Cast off" is the motto for the wind energy exhibit from ForWind, the centre for wind energy research at the universities of Oldenburg, Hanover and Bremen. The model of a wind turbine can be seen on the MS Wissenschaft, the exhibition ship of "Science in Dialogue", which set sail from Berlin on 18 May. The ForWind exhibit is the only one representing the wind energy sector and can be viewed in a total of 34 cities in Germany and Austria until 7 October.
MS Wissenschaft is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It communicates the future topic of "energy" through a travelling exhibition and lecture evenings on board. "With ForWind, we are supporting the concept of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and showing how important wind energy and its research is for an environmentally friendly and resource-conserving energy supply in the future," explains Prof Dr Martin Kühn, endowed professor for "Wind Energy Systems" at the University of Oldenburg. Wind is an important resource, especially in northern Germany, which is why he is delighted that the ForWind exhibit was selected by "Science in Dialogue", adds Dr Stephan Barth, Managing Director of ForWind.
The exhibit shows a typical wind turbine that supplies around 2,000 households with electrical energy over the course of a year. A wind speed of 12 km/h must prevail in order to start generating electricity. This corresponds to wind force 3. The ForWind exhibit illustrates this process: visitors can use a hand crank to "make wind" with a large fan, which hits the wind turbine directly. The more wind is generated, the more energy can be "harvested" from the wind turbine. The power available in the wind and therefore the usable power increases to the third power of the wind speed. A doubling of the wind speed therefore means eight times as much power. The model shows how high the electrical power is that results from the current wind speed and at what wind speed the wind turbine switches off to avoid overloading. 26 to 28 July, the MS Wissenschaft will be anchored in Oldenburg (Alter Stadthafen, Hafenpromenade).