Energy Experts and Mathematicians Discuss Design of Future Energy Networks

How to best design and operate Germany’s future energy supply is the focus of the “Energy Systems of the Future” initiative, which is intended to serve as the scientific arm of the energy revolution process. Within the framework of this initiative, co-executed by the acatech and Leopoldina academies as well as the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, a challenge workshop will be held May 7–8, 2013 on “Mathematical Modelling and Optimisation of Future Energy Networks” at Heidelberg University. The event, to take place in the Heidelberg International Science Forum, is the first of its kind to bring together experts on energy and working groups from the field of mathematics. Their goal is to identify new mathematical methods that are needed to define an efficient migration path to a new system of energy supply.

“On the mathematics side, Germany possesses unique expertise where the modelling, simulation and optimisation of highly complex processes are concerned. Hence mathematical methods can be pivotal in future energy supply. They will be a major contributor to the development of solution and decision strategies,” stress Heidelberg scientists Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wolfrum and Prof. Dr. Hans Georg Bock, in extending an invitation to the workshop. Already in the 1980s the working group led by Hans Georg Bock was able to demonstrate how mathematical methods could be used to achieve considerable energy savings in the operation of underground railways. At that time the researchers calculated that the New York subway could be run with one-third less energy, yielding a savings of approx. 35 million dollars a year.

Prof. Bock and Prof. Wolfrum are currently active in the Committee for Mathematical Modelling, Simulation and Optimisation (KoMSO). The aim of this national strategy commission is to embed mathematics as a new field of technology in business and science and raise its visibility with the public as an engine of innovation. “The triad of mathematical modelling, simulation and optimisation is a key technology for the country’s high-tech strategy,” maintain the scientists. The coordination office of KoMSO is located at the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) of Heidelberg University.

The “Mathematical Modelling and Optimisation of Future Energy Networks” challenge workshop will provide a forum for researchers from Heidelberg and experts in the energy industry and applied mathematics to discuss different types of networks and energy sources. Participants will consider planning and management models and explore the issues involved in the rational transition to a new energy system. For information on KoMSO and the workshop, see www.komso.org.

The “Energy Systems of the Future” initiative is a collaboration of the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), the German National Academy of the Sciences Leopoldina and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities.

Note to news desks:
The “Mathematical Modelling and Optimisation of Future Energy Networks” will be held May 7–8, 2013 in the Heidelberg International Science Forum. Members of the media are cordially invited with prior notification.

Contact and registration:
Sabine Kluge
Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing
KoMSO Coordination Office
Phone: +49 6221 54-8854
sabine.kluge@iwr.uni-heidelberg.de

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