At the end of August, the "Future Energy Lab" initiated by the federal government was launched, which is pursuing various projects that deal with digital technologies for the future of the energy transition. The city of Giessen and Stadtwerke Giessen are also part of this pilot and networking lab: together with other partners, they are pursuing the goal of publicly mapping CO2 emissions using a virtual map.
The city of Giessen is to become climate-neutral by 2035 - according to a resolution passed by the city council in autumn 2019. Stadtwerke Giessen (SWG) and the city of Giessen have been working on climate protection issues together with numerous other stakeholders for many years. In future, a new project could support this current, ambitious target: the Future Energy Lab launched by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and organised by the German Energy Agency (dena). Various partners from the energy and digital economy are testing and trialling innovative digital technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data for specific applications.
"Together with seven other cities - including Bottrop, Dortmund and Chemnitz - we are participating in the 'CO2 data demonstrator' sub-project. The idea behind this is to visualise publicly on a virtual map where climate-damaging CO2 is produced in the city," explains Matthias Funk, Chief Technical Officer at SWG. The aim is to raise citizens' awareness of climate protection at municipal level and to test the concept of an energy data platform in real life.
First results in one year
SWG has been working with data on CO2 emissions in Giessen for many years - for example, because it is included in the city's regular energy report. Matthias Funk adds: "When we heard about the dena Future Energy Lab, it made sense for us and the city council's climate protection manager Jonas Rentrop to take part and test innovative digital technologies in real-life applications. After all, the success of the energy transition depends on it - including in the municipal sector."
The kick-off for the Future Energy Lab and thus also the first sub-project CO2 data demonstrator took place on 25 August. The first results should be available in the next twelve months. In the meantime, participants will be able to exchange ideas on an online platform, and several workshops will also focus on the procurement and analysis of emissions data. "We are still at the very beginning, but I am very excited about the new findings. Especially when it comes to creating a uniform basis for calculating the visualised data so that it is truly comparable. Ultimately, this will also strengthen the credibility of the future online platform among the population," says Martin Zielke, project manager from the heat supply/energy management department at SWG, listing his expectations.
Networking for the energy transition
Working together to develop digital solutions for the integrated energy transition - this is the idea behind the Future Energy Lab, which dena describes as a pilot and networking laboratory. Originating from the German government's blockchain strategy, various large companies from the energy and digital economy - from DAX-listed companies to start-ups - as well as local authorities are involved in the network. More are to follow. In addition to digitally supported CO2 mapping, a second project is currently working on an identity register for the energy industry based on blockchain, while a third project will be working on the Smart Contract Register, which deals with the topic of digital contractual relationships, from the end of 2020.
More information on dena's Future Energy Lab can be found at: www.dena.de/future-energy-lab