Uploaded on 2015-11-04 by NMarzian

-------------------------------------------------------- - Oil: 135.5 Mtoe - Coal: 80 Mtoe - Gas: 70.5 Mtoe Where are the dominant fossil fuels mainly used for in Germany? -------------------------------------------------------------------- **Energy: 84.7 Mtoe** - Oil: 1.7 Mtoe - Coal: 66 Mtoe - Gas: 17 Mtoe **Other (mainly residential, commerce and public): 51.9 Mtoe** - Oil: 20.4 Mtoe - Coal: 0.8 Mtoe - Gas: 30.7 Mtoe - Electricity: 24.7 Mtoe **Transport: 49.2 Mtoe** - Oil: 48.7 Mtoe - Gas: 0.5 Mtoe - Electricity: 1.0 Mtoe **Industry: 28.3 Mtoe** - Oil: 3.2 Mtoe - Coal: 6.0 Mtoe - Gas: 19.1 Mtoe - Electricity: 19.5 Mtoe Create a new policy in order to improve the environmental friendly and sustainable sources and consumption of energy of Germany. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Energy** A major factor for the consumption of fossil fuels would be electricity generation, of which a big part goes into residential, commercial or public areas, and another into the German industry. With the so called "Energiewende" (Energy Transition) first big steps have been undertaken to make much more use of regenerative energies. I would put even more emphasis on this policy. But therefore the infrastructure had to be improved immensely. On the one hand the electric grid needed more capacity, then there is an urgent need for advanced energy saving solutions to store generated power – especially during production peaks (strong winds or sunshine) – and make use of it during production lows as well as shortages due to consumption highs. Finding new ways to sustainably and securely make use of nuclear power (while also solving the problem of radioactive waste) and research on fusion technologies would be another big topic to look at. **Transportation** In combination with the transition to regenerative energies and more efficient energy utilisation, transportation should make a general shift from fossil-fueled combustion engines towards electric mobility. New kinds of streets should provide inductive charging, battery technology must be improved to grant larger cruising ranges of vehicles, more research should try to investigate how fuel cell and related technologies might be improved, so that e.g. the cost of producing hydrogen and the risk of fueling a car with it would be lower. Making traffic more efficient and mobility infrastructure together with urban areas and cities smarter would be inevitable. When transport systems were less prone to human errors – for example with the help of intelligent assisting systems up to autonomous driving – much of the now wasted energy could be saved. Also the ability of a smart city and smart traffic infrastructure to anticipate needs and to send vehicles to places of demand and always communicate with the whole system to optimise the process, would take much pressure from the human habitat. ![Seamless Mobility on Demand][1] ![Seamless Mobility on Demand][2] **Industry** Industries are highly dependent on electricity especially. Besides making use of more and more regenerative forms of it, also here energy processes needed to be made more efficient. Less energy should be lost e.g. due to thermal radiation. Many processes could be closed to use process heat, water, and agents do drive more cycles. As much of the energy bound in products comes from transporting them over long distances, often one or several times around the globe before they reach their destination, decentralised and on-demand production should be a major solution for reducing energy consumption. I would make it part of my policy to work on that. **Interconnected Habitats** Human habitats, and most of them cities, provide a large variety of ecosystem services, and all of them are interrelating, often directly, even more often indirectly. A good policy needed to take that interconnectedness into account much more to build cities that are also deeply interconnected with all its parts, services and underlying infrastructures going hand in hand. This way more could be achieved with the available resources, while reducing the harm for the environment and discomfort for a city's inhabitants. ![Smart and Interconnected City][3] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14465670189422967.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14465670619636134.jpg [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14465670979365281.jpg