“ReNEWable Energy for US!”
The climate schools project was launched under this title in June 2022, which enabled an optimal lead time and perfect coordination with all participating schools. Things really got underway in fall 2022! You can find out more about the kick-off and the kick-off of the project
There were also suggestions to change this in small areas (>>LINK<<). The HAK Bruck/Leitha produced a video and took some photos. Take a look for yourself:
>>LINK Website<<, >>LINK to the video<<
The second workshop on renewable energy took place in December. Sonja Wirgler from Energiepark Bruck/Leitha organized this workshop and inspired the students with content about wind power, which is so important for the region, and provided information about the biogas plant in Bruck/Leitha and about hydropower, biomass and photovoltaics. HAK Bruck/Leitha also produced a video about this and provides information on its homepage:
Photovoltaics was the topic of the third workshop in spring 2023. Julia Jüly from Energiepark Bruck/L. brought an experiment kit and various experiments to the classes. Using a simulation model, the theoretical construction of a PV system on the respective school roof was simulated and the students learned many relevant terms such as system orientation, output, number of modules, inverters, determination of the degree of self-sufficiency, annual course, profitability analysis, amortization period… in a playful way. The topic of solar thermal energy was not neglected either. In the theoretical part of the workshop, energy consumption and electricity prices in Austria were vividly analyzed. The current electricity prices and their development inspired the students to engage in intensive discussions. The content learned was again presented by the third-year students in another video and on the HAK Bruck/Leitha homepage:
>>LINK Website<<, >>LINK to the video<<
The fourth and final workshop was dedicated to the topic of energy detectives at school and in private households and prompted the pupils to look for potential savings in the areas of heat and electricity. In the active part, the young people examined the electricity and energy consumption in the school building, determined these values on site in the basement of the building and then looked for possible savings and calculated these using examples. The groups’ respective findings were presented graphically on posters to their classmates. In the area of private households, two fictitious “first homes” were compared, one energy-efficient and one inefficient, and the monthly savings in energy costs were compared. The theoretical part also included various practical elements: various insulation materials were brought along and the advantages and disadvantages of the individual insulation materials were explained. The video and the HAK Bruck/Leitha homepage link can be found at:
>>LINK Homepage<<, >>LINK Video<<
The excursions of the pupils to the energy highlights of the region were the crowning glory: the wind turbine with viewing platform, the Sonnenfeld Bruck/Leitha agri-PV plant and the Bruck/Leitha biogas plant in June 2023. “Everything that you grasp with all your senses is much easier to learn than in the classroom,” KEM manager Irene Schrenk is convinced. Do PV panels get hot in strong sunlight? Do potatoes grow better or worse in the shade of the PV system than in strong sunlight? Are wind turbines being built higher today than ten or twenty years ago and if so, why? The young people can now not only answer these and many more questions, but also understand the background to them. Photos of the HAK Bruck/Leitha as well as the homepage article and another great video can be found here:
>>LINK Homepage<<, >>LINK Video<<
Finally, we would like to thank all those involved in the implementation of this project, above all the three mayors of KEM Energie³, Gerhard Weil (Bruck/L.), Franz Glock (Göttlesbrunn-Arbesthal) and Otto Auer (Höflein) for the opportunity to implement such a project, as well as the Climate and Energy Fund and KPC as funding bodies. Irene Schrenk, KEM Manager of KEM Energie³ is already looking forward to further projects in this KEM and to transferring the successfully prepared documents to the neighboring KEM Ebreichsdorf.
