We spent the day at the Fraunhoffer Institute for Solar Energy. We saw presentations and demonstrations covering topics in photovoltaic electricity production, biomass conversion to generate syn gas and bio coal, and a hydrogen fueling station. The hydrogen fueling station generates electricity from PV cells and uses it to make hydrogen from water. We saw a new Mercedes B class powered by a fuel cell power plan and fueled by high pressure hydrogen.
Andi and I got up early and walked around a bit in the old city as they were setting up the market. We also rode the tram with this group for the first time today. After Fraunhoffer, a few of us went to climb the stairs of the church tower. We found a nice restaurant down by the river and met up with some of our students to have some dinner. We ran into some other students as we were headed in and they had the chance to try some Hanuta German cookies.
Fraunhoffer would not allow pictures in some areas due to their industrial research collaborations so there are fewer pictures today. We are looking into a way to put all of our photos online from the group together...
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Day 3 - Freiburg Tour
Today was very busy! We met our tour guide Steffan early near the university. First we went through some of the old town and learned about the history. We toured the church a bit, construction started on it around 1200. Amazingly, the church was not destroyed in WWII but the rest of Freiburg was. They were able to rebuild most of Freiburg in a traditional way.
Later we went to a solar tech school and saw a presentation with information about developments in Freiburg. Steffan led us over past our hotel and we all rented bikes for the afternoon. Everyone did very well on the bikes and we all seemed to have a good time biking across the German countryside.
After lunch at a nice Indian place, we toured a planned high-density community. From there, we headed out through a forest to our next location. The new location was a more-established community. Steffan described a variety of methods for designing and creating the environmentally conscious living environment, from grocery location to window blinds to community involvement. Later we walked up to the Heliotrope, a rotating house that generates electricity. On our way back we had to travel down a busy road and we had a few issues, but no wrecks. Later that night we went our separate ways for dinner. Andi and I ended up alone at Martins Brewery, the oldest Brewery in Freiburg. We had a great dinner, along with a terrific wheat beer and a good dark beer. The wheat was almost as good as my favorite, Konig Ludwig.
May 8, 2012 - Approximate Fitness Data
Walking and biking - tired!
Today we logged almost 10 miles of walking (>21000 steps,26 flights of stairs) and 25 km (15 miles) of biking...
Ed will give the details of today's adventure.
Today we logged almost 10 miles of walking (>21000 steps,26 flights of stairs) and 25 km (15 miles) of biking...
Ed will give the details of today's adventure.
Monday, May 7, 2012
May 7, 2012 - Approximate Fitness Data
Today some were up before our afternoon tour and managed to see Freiburg in the early morning as vendors prepared for the open-air market near the church. Ed and I logged ca. 4 miles and 9000 steps.
During the tour, we logged that many more miles and steps, and added 15 flights of stairs.
Everyone seems to be having a terrific time!
Tomorrow, we take off for a full-day biking tour...
PLEASE NOTE: my phone now works here and is a USA phone number: 803-468-3115.
During the tour, we logged that many more miles and steps, and added 15 flights of stairs.
Everyone seems to be having a terrific time!
Tomorrow, we take off for a full-day biking tour...
PLEASE NOTE: my phone now works here and is a USA phone number: 803-468-3115.
Day 2 - Freiburg: Region
Andi and I were up early then we went for a walk about town before the stores opened. They have a nice flower / fruit market next to the old church which really was amazing. We tried some fresh salami and the strawberries and asparagus (spargel) looked terrific.
We had a nice cup of coffee at a cafe near the river then went and bought a disposable phone. Later today, Andi's real phone started working. We met the students at noon as expected then went to meet our bus and tour guide for the day, Erhard Schulz.
Erhard took up about 15 miles up into the Black Forest. Our first stop was a farm where they make biogas by anerobically fermenting manure and biomass. They burn the gas in an engine then use waste heat to produce heating water for local homes and the school.
Next we went to a windmill owned by a private group. Erhard let us get into the tower of the 80m windmill. Then we went over to a 140m tower and we also went inside. They had climbing stairs and a little elevator inside the tower.
We stopped next at another farm. This farm used a heat exchanger to cool cow milk/heat house water. They also burn wood chips for heating and they have 100 kW of PV cells for power generation. They also make their own distilled spirits in house from local fruits; they were outstanding.
Finally we ended up at a working 200 year-old mill for a traditional dinner. All the foods were prepared on the farm, bread, apple juice, ham, bacon, cheese, liverwurst, blood sausage, butter, cherry spread, most. It was all terrific, but some folks were a bit nervous.
After returning to the hotel, most of us went to a biergarten near the main church then stopped for ice cream. Not a bad day overall!
We had a nice cup of coffee at a cafe near the river then went and bought a disposable phone. Later today, Andi's real phone started working. We met the students at noon as expected then went to meet our bus and tour guide for the day, Erhard Schulz.
Erhard took up about 15 miles up into the Black Forest. Our first stop was a farm where they make biogas by anerobically fermenting manure and biomass. They burn the gas in an engine then use waste heat to produce heating water for local homes and the school.
Next we went to a windmill owned by a private group. Erhard let us get into the tower of the 80m windmill. Then we went over to a 140m tower and we also went inside. They had climbing stairs and a little elevator inside the tower.
We stopped next at another farm. This farm used a heat exchanger to cool cow milk/heat house water. They also burn wood chips for heating and they have 100 kW of PV cells for power generation. They also make their own distilled spirits in house from local fruits; they were outstanding.
Finally we ended up at a working 200 year-old mill for a traditional dinner. All the foods were prepared on the farm, bread, apple juice, ham, bacon, cheese, liverwurst, blood sausage, butter, cherry spread, most. It was all terrific, but some folks were a bit nervous.
After returning to the hotel, most of us went to a biergarten near the main church then stopped for ice cream. Not a bad day overall!
Update: Link to pictures here
Phone Update
New Phone Number - Our two attempts to have working phones when we got to Germany so far have failed. They may be activated later today. We went ahead and activated a throw-away phone just in case of an emergency. Try 01603755272 and you may need the German Country code 49 in front. We just verified that that number works, so we may be in good shape.
Pictures, Day 1
I had some time to go through the pictures we took and select out the better ones. Of nearly 500 I picked out about 100 and uploaded them to Picasa. The files are public, but not openly so; you must have the link to access them. This means they should not be indexed / put on a search engine. Students will be able to grab all the photos on a USB if they desire.
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