Prof. Dr Rainer Buchwald

Topic: Hydrothermal carbonisation in Lower Saxony

Head: Prof. Dr Joachim Peinke(Institute of Physics, Univ. Oldenburg)

Collaborator: Michael Röhrdanz

Brief description: In the hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) process, moist biomass is converted into coal (lignite) in a liquid environment at temperatures between 180 and 250°C and corresponding pressure. Task of the IBU: Provision of landscape conservation material for carbonisation experiments, chemical analysis of soil, plant material (educt) and coal (product) as well as carrying out plant growth experiments with the HTC coal

Duration: 04.2011 to 10.2014

Financing: EU-EFRE

Topic: Energetic utilisation of landscape conservation material in solid matter fermentation (biogas)

Head: Prof. Dr Ing. Wilfried Stiller (Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts)

Collaborator: Michael Röhrdanz

Brief description: Landscape conservation material is fermented into biogas using the solid matter fermentation process. The biomass comes from the same source areas as in the HTC project (Nord-Oldenburg, Moorplacken). In addition to the biogas yields, the fermentation residues produced play an important role and are intended to serve as a starting substrate for the HTC. .

Duration: 11.2012 to 10.2014

Financing: EU-EFRE

Prof Dr Corinna Hößle

Topic: Education for a sustainable energy supply

Head: Appelrath, Hößle, Kaiser, Kaminiski, Komorek, Parchmann, Rebmann

Staff: none

Brief description: As part of the project, interdisciplinary didactic teaching and learning research was carried out on the subject of energy. In addition, teaching concepts were developed that were incorporated into teacher training and further education programmes.

Duration: 2008-2013

Financing: Future and Innovation Foundation of Lower Saxony

Dr Uwe Kröcher

Topic: Study on the potential of the north-west energy region

Head: Dr Uwe Kröcher (regioinstitut)

Cooperation partners: ARSU (Prof. Dr Ulrich Scheele), CIMA Regional Economy (Dr Arno Brandt)

Brief description: The aim of the potential study is to carry out a systematic and comparable survey of the current energy industry structures in the region. In detail, the study pursues the following objectives:

§ To record all relevant companies, research, education and training institutions in the energy industry in the region along the respective value chains,

§ Estimating their regional economic significance based on employment and turnover,

§ Estimation of the region's significance for the energy industry based on the energy output generated in and channelled through the region (keyword "energy hub"),

§ Analysing the key framework conditions as influencing factors for the future market opportunities of the regional energy industry,

§ Deriving and summarising the analytical results in the form of a SWOT analysis of the regional energy industry and deriving recommendations for further development.

Duration: February 2012 - January 2013

Financing: INTERREG IVb project via the district of Aurich and the Oldenburg Energy Cluster (OLEC)

Prof Dr Jannika Mattes

Topic: COMPOSITE - Comparaison des systèmes d'innovation territoriale énergétique en France et en Allemagne (Comparison of regional innovation systems in the energysector in France and Germany)

Head in Oldenburg: Prof Dr Jannika Mattes

Staff in Oldenburg: Jens-Ole Köhrsen

Project partners: LATTS, Paris (project leader) and EIFER, Karlsruhe

Summary: Both in Germany and in France, new renewable energy aims have recently been formulated and are now being put into practice. Thereby, the established relationships between energy suppliers, customers, political actors, scientific advisors and intermediaries are suddenly being questioned and may not any more appear adequate. In this project, we investigate the restructuration of regions as they try to meet these renewable energy aims in a comparative perspective. We will apply the approach of regional innovation systems to give a full account of all the involved bargaining processes and the entailed institutional change. Our empirical research focuses on Grenoble and Seine-et-Marne in France as well as on Bottrop and East Frisia (Ostfriesland) in Germany. Besides giving theoretical contributions, the research team in Oldenburg is primarily responsible for the case study in East Frisia.

Duration: 1 November 2011 - 31 December 2013

Financing: ADEME (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie), France

Prof Dr Martin Heidenreich and Prof Dr Jannika Mattes

Topic: COLLIN - Collaborative Innovations in Inter-firm Development Processes

Management: The research activities are coordinated by the Jean Monnet Centre for Europeanisation and Transnational Regulations Oldenburg (CETRO) and the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen (SOFI).

Staff in Oldenburg: Dr Andre Ortiz, Thomas Jackwerth

Project partners: University of Göttingen

Brief description: The COLLIN project analyses distributed innovation processes in the fields of renewable energies and information technologies. The project is based on the fundamental assumption that today's companies hardly have the necessary knowledge for the production of fundamental innovations internally, but can only develop it in collaboration with various socially distributed knowledge carriers such as suppliers, customers, competitors, customers and knowledge-intensive service providers. The innovativeness of today's companies - this is the central thesis of the project - therefore depends strongly on their ability to coordinate cooperation with external knowledge carriers by means of suitable contractual regulations and organisational mechanisms and to transform the newly acquired knowledge in internal work processes in such a way that it can be further used in innovation projects. The research therefore focuses on the question of how companies organise access to external knowledge (governance of cross-organisational collaboration) and how they incorporate knowledge gained from different external contexts into their own product development processes (recontextualisation of external knowledge).

Duration: 2013-2016

Financing: Volkswagen Foundation

Associate Prof. Dr Ulrich Scheele

Topic: Potential analysis of the north-west energy region

Management: Regio GmbH /ARSU GmbH/ Cima Institute for Regional Economics Hanover

Employees: 2

Brief description: Analysis of the regional economic significance of the energy industry in north-western Lower Saxony; literature analysis, company surveys, expert interviews

Duration: 2012-2013

Financing: Hansa EnergyCorridor

Topic: Integrated climate protection concept Regional Forum Bremerhaven

Management: ARSU GmbH/ RaUmConsult

Employees: 2

Brief description: Preparation of a climate protection concept for the municipalities and cities in the Lower Weser region; Co2 balancing, programmes of measures, participation

Duration: 2012-2013

Financing: Regional Forum Bremerhaven

Topic: Potential study for the north-west energy region

Head: Dr Uwe Kröcher (regioinstitut)

Cooperation partners: ARSU (Prof. Dr Ulrich Scheele), CIMA Regional Economy (Dr Arno Brandt)

Brief description: The aim of the potential study is to carry out a systematic and comparable survey of the current energy industry structures in the region. In detail, the study pursues the following objectives:

To record all relevant companies, research, education and training institutions in the energy industry in the region along the respective value chains,

Estimate their regional economic significance based on employment and turnover,

Estimation of the region's significance for the energy industry based on the energy output generated in the region and channelled through the region (keyword "energy hub"),

Analysing the key framework conditions as influencing factors for the future market opportunities of the regional energy industry,

Deriving and summarising the analytical results in the form of a SWOT analysis of the regional energy industry and deriving recommendations for further development.

Duration: February 2012 - January 2013

Financing: INTERREG IVb project via the district of Aurich and the Oldenburg Energy Cluster (OLEC)

Topic: Integrated climate protection concept Regional Forum Bremerhaven

Management: ARSU GmbH/ RaUmConsult

Employees: 2

Brief description: Creation of a climate protection concept for the municipalities and cities in the Lower Weser region; CO2 balancing, programmes of measures, participation, implementation of a mission statement process

Duration: 2012-2013

Financing: Regional Forum Bremerhaven