ehub - Energy Hub
By Empa-TV
Summary
## Key takeaways - **Buildings and mobility consume 75% of Swiss energy**: Together buildings and mobility consume around three-quarters of the final energy in Switzerland. [00:00], [00:20] - **ehub optimizes street-level energy flows**: Intelligent energy management at street level enables the energy flows between these two sectors to be optimized. Empa established the demonstration platform ehub, short for energy hub. [00:11], [00:34] - **NEST: Vertical district living lab**: NEST offers a vertical district as a test environment, a living lab and innovation platform where modules with different uses are installed and dismantled again. People live and work in these units while new materials and technologies are tested. [00:55], [01:30] - **Bidirectional grids shift heat seasonally**: The units are connected to various electricity, heat and gas grids that all allow energy flows in both directions. This enables heat to be conducted away from places where it is too hot and towards places where it is too cold; seasonal storage systems like ice storage and geothermal probes store summer heat for winter. [01:19], [02:16] - **Excess summer PV to hydrogen and methane**: Thanks to efficient photovoltaic systems more electrical energy is produced in the summer than consumed locally; it can be converted into hydrogen or methane at the mobility demonstrator move. Hydrogen is produced from excess electricity via electrolysis and can power fuel cell vehicles or be converted back into electricity and heat; with CO2 it becomes synthetic methane for the gas grid. [02:08], [03:12] - **Open platform for energy research partners**: ehub combines all of these technologies as a research platform that responds flexibly to current energy issues in the building and mobility sector. The intelligent energy district on Empa's campus is open to partners from research, industry and the public sector. [03:02], [03:45]
Topics Covered
- Buildings and Mobility Eat 75% of Energy
- EE-Hub Orchestrates Energy Harvesting
- NEST Tests Energy-Independent Vertical Districts
- Redirect Heat from Hot to Cold Zones
- Excess Summer Power Becomes Hydrogen Fuel
Full Transcript
together buildings and mobility consume around three-quarters of the final energy in Switzerland intelligent energy management at street level enables the
energy flows between these two sectors to be optimized with this in mind M / established the demonstration platform EE hub short for energy hub a hub is
comprised of a large number of components capable of harvesting storing converting and releasing energy they are connected via an intelligent control
system and additional technologies can easily be added depending on the research topic at hand the components are operated individually or in different combinations which enables
researchers to study the interplay between a vast range of technologies under real conditions neste offers a hub
a vertical district as a test environment a living lab and innovation platform where modules with different uses are installed and dismantled again
people live and work in these units while new materials and technologies are tested for a hub the units are energy independent buildings stacked into a
district the units are connected to various electricity heat and gas grids they all allow energy flows in both directions
this enables heat to be conducted away from places where it is currently too hot and towards places where it is too cold for instance if more heat
accumulates in the summer months than required within nest seasonal storage systems come into play a hub has an ice storage and geothermal probes for such
instances the heat stored can then be conducted back into nest in the wintertime thanks to efficient photovoltaic systems more electrical energy is produced in
the summer than consumed locally batteries can store this energy in the short-term to store the electricity in the long run however it can be converted
into hydrogen or methane this takes place at the mobility demonstrator moves on the m / campus hydrogen is produced
from excess electricity via electrolysis and stored in special tanks the hydrogen can be used to power fuel cell vehicles or channeled back into the building
where it is converted back into electricity and heat moreover using co2 from the atmosphere the hydrogen can be
converted into synthetic methane which can be fed into the gas grid or used directly for gas vehicles as a central
energy hub hub combines all of these technologies it is a research platform that responds flexibly to current energy issues in the building and mobility sector
the insights it yields are important to design Switzerland's future energy system the intelligent energy district on MPUs campus is open to our partners
from research industry and the public sector who are invited to capitalize on the advantages of a hub for their own purposes
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