Sustainable lifestyles: New series of events at the University of Osnabrück!

Sustainable lifestyles: New series of events at the University of Osnabrück!

The University of Osnabrück is launching a series of events on October 29th that will address the challenges and solutions for a sustainable future. The free events are aimed at the public and include a series of lectures on current topics led by experts from various fields. Prof. Dr. Chadi Touma, who leads the series, emphasizes the importance of sustainable living and sharing knowledge to work together on solutions. The series begins with the opening event, which deals with the dangers of heavy rain at the local level and is hosted by Prof. Dr. Stefan Taeger and Malte Schünemann.

For the event location, the lecture hall 01/E01 at the University of Osnabrück, the doors open at 6:30 p.m., while the official start is at 7 p.m. Those interested can also follow the lectures online via a live stream or watch the video recordings on the S4F regional group's homepage. In the following weeks, other relevant topics will be covered, including battery storage, biogas and sustainable nutrition.

Planned topics and speakers

• 29. Oktober: „Starkregengefahren auf kommunaler Ebene“ – Prof. Dr. Stefan Taeger und Malte Schünemann.
• 12. November: „Zurück in die Zukunft – Mit Batteriespeichern ins neue Energiezeitalter“ – Dr. Andreas Piepenbrink.
• 26. November: „Biogas – Auslaufmodell oder unverzichtbarer Multiplayer für die Energiewende?“ – Prof. Dr. Sandra Rosenberger.
• 10. Dezember: „Politikberatung im Bereich des Biodiversitätsschutzes“ – Prof. Dr. Josef Settele.
• 7. Januar: „Futtern for Future – Ernährung und Lebensmittelauswahl im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit“ – Prof. Dr. med. Anja Kroke.
• 21. Januar: „Grüne Städte für die Zukunft: Biodiversität und Klimaresilienz fördern“ – Prof. Dr. Kathrin Kiehl.

This series comes at a time when awareness of the need for sustainable energy supplies and environmentally friendly practices is growing. A study by Fraunhofer ISE, published on November 20, 2024, finds that the efficient use of excess energy from sun and wind is fundamental to ensuring a stable and sustainable power supply. Storage technologies in particular, such as pumped storage, batteries and hydrogen, play a crucial role.

The integration of renewable energies into the power grid is required by weather-dependent fluctuations. Energy storage helps to balance out these fluctuations and ensure a stable energy supply. Pumped storage power plants offer an efficiency of up to 80%, while battery storage systems impress with their high flexibility and fast response times. These technologies could be instrumental in meeting energy infrastructure requirements by 2045, which will require over 700 GW of wind and photovoltaic capacity.

The importance of renewable energies is also illustrated by current developments in final energy consumption. The use of renewable sources for heat will be approximately 197 TWh in 2024, which represents a slight increase compared to the previous year. The share of renewable energies in final energy consumption for heating and cooling is 18.1%, above the previous year's value, while the transport sector has a share of 7.2%. This data highlights the importance of investing in sustainable technologies to achieve climate goals.

Overall, investments in renewable energies amounting to 32.0 billion euros in 2024 are a necessary prerequisite for Germany's future. At the same time, employment in the renewable energy sector, which covered over 406,000 people in 2023, is considered an excellent example of economic growth in this sector. The regular educational events at the University of Osnabrück should therefore not only contribute to raising awareness, but also to promoting innovative approaches to sustainability, such as uni-osnabrueck.de reported.

In summary, the need to combine different technologies to ensure a stable and sustainable energy supply is highlighted. The understanding of the integration of these technologies, as well as the awareness of the urgency, will be the focus of the upcoming events.