Germany’s Historic Exit from Nuclear Energy
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Rolf Katzenbach, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Series: Topical Seminars
Location:
Engineering Quadrangle B205
Date/Time: Thursday, April 12, 2012, 4:30 p.m.
- 5:30 p.m.
Department Seminar
Abstract:
Following the fatal disaster at Fukushima, Japan, of March 2011 and a preceding debate lasting for decades, the federal parliament of Germany voted by a large majority for shutting down all 17 nuclear power stations by 2022 as previously announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel in a complete policy reversal. At the same time, Germany as an industrialized nation is both a large producer and consumer of energy and electric power in particular, is firmly embedded in the European energy markets. In those circumstances, politics, economy and the society as a whole are facing major challenges.
TU Darmstadt Energy Center takes up these challenges and archives the scientific and technological foundations for an integral and sustainable future energy supply. Interdisciplinary activities in research and teaching focus on the needs of industry and government for the creation of the societal, economic and legal framework conditions for solutions to complex energy questions. This talk overviews the theory, experiments, and applications carried out at TU Darmstadt’s Energy Center.
Biography:
Professor Rolf Katzenbach is the Director of the Multidisciplinary Energy Center and the Director of the Institute and Laboratory of Geotechnology at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, where he has been a Profefessor since 1993. Starting in 1970s, Professor Katzenbach has been involved in developing models for many skyscrappers in Germany, Russia, and China, including the Reichstag, the Sony Center in Berlin, the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt. He has conducted extensive research in energy-saving piles, the user of geothermal energy, and seasonal energy storage and management. Since 2007, Professor Katzenbach has been the director the TUD Energy Center, which advances studies in all fields related to energy, from architecture and engineering to law and business.
