New technology

The festival’s energy and technologies

Most of the festival’s energy was based on biomass (in raw form wood, straw etc.) Or refined into biofuel (ethanol, rapeseed oil, etc.). The festival got most of its energy from: a Stirling engine, "Viking"-gasifier, rapeseed oil generator, second generation bioethanol generators, bicycles and solar energy.
By making the festival energyefficient the consumption was reduced to half. The energy consumption was met by renewable sources, that made the festival CO2 neutral. The energy from renewables was connected to the grid, which stabilizes and optimizes the energy supply.

Stirling Denmark’s Stirling engine

In a basement at DTU stands a two tonnes bright green engine. In September it will provide power to CO2PENHAGEN. In the future it will provide schools, hospitals, villages, and island communities with cheap, carbon-neutral energy.

‘Every major building with heating needs is a potential customer,’ says Lars Jagd, CEO of the company Stirling DK who has made the engine. ‘We make clients independent of fossil fuels and enable them to be self-sufficient’.

The Stirling engine is powered by wood chips, which come from the area around the DTU and which would otherwise have been thrown out: quite ordinary garden waste. The incineration does not happen in the engine itself, like in a normal engine, but outside in the fuel chamber. This means that the energy in biofuels can be used.

With the Stirling engine, the flexibilty is bigger than with a normal engine. All forms of biomass, including organic waste, can be used in the engine. Using almost any local, organic source of energy, it is possible to produce energy for an entire building or even a small community.

The Biofuel that keeps the Stirling motor running is carbon neutral because the fuel comes from what Lars Jagd calls ‘natural growth’:

‘When you burn a branch of wood it will emit CO2. But the new branch which grows out will suck a similar quantity of CO2 to itself. In this way, the technology is CO2 neutral’.

When trees and plants grow, they absorb CO2. CO2 molecules are again released when wood is burned. It is part of a natural balance. If you can use energy from biofuels such as wood, straw or coconut shells, it is actually possible to generate power without adding more greenhouse gases.

According to the EU biomass will one day be able to cover half of Europe’s energy consumption. Lars Jagd believes that biomass is the most effective renewable energy source:

‘Unfortunately, there has been too little focus on biofuels. But now that is changing. Biomass has great potential.’ 

Rapeseed generator

Rapeseed oil is much less damaging to the environment than the fossil fuels that we use today to keep the engine running. This is because the CO2 that is released into the air when the rapeseed oil is burned in the diesel engine is absorbed from the atmosphere when the rapeseed was growing. As such, it is CO2-neutral – quite the contrary to the fossil fuel, diesel.

Althought the rapeseed oil has a more viscous substance than diesel, it is possible to make the liquid thinner using the car engine’s cooling system to heat up the rapeseed oil.

At CO2PENHAGEN, the rapeseed oil generator was used for producing energy for the Lounge and the Explore zone. This happens in a fairly normal way since the generator is provided with power outlets where plugs can go in and get power.

Absorption cooling

In the Music Zone, drinks were cooled using absorption cooling, meaning that cooling will be done using excess heat generated by the local rapeseed powerplants, that the festival was using. 

With absorption cooling, cooling is driven on heath. Usually, cooling amounts to 2/3 of the energy consumption at a traditional festival.

At CO2PENHAGEN, the energy consumption is employed more efficiently by using excess heating generated by the rapeseed generators. 

Clear your conscience with a cold beer at the bar!

eTenzor bikes

The eTenzor bicycle is a brand new concept that allows exercising to benefit more than your body. By bicycling, energy is created and goes into a battery, which can be hooked up to let out elsewhere, using an adapter.

The E-core Transverse Flux Machine (ETFM) is a new mechanical design of the Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM). The new design is develop and patented in corporation with Aalborg University, Institute of Energy Technology in Denmark.

The ETFM can be built-in small dimensions (diameter/width). It produces a very precise and reproducible resistance and maintains a high torque down to low speed, and is therefore a unique design for fitness applications.

The ETFM and eTenzor bike is designed by AWS Technology, which you can read more about at www.awstechnology.dk 

DTU Viking gasifier

For daily use at DTU the Viking gasifier produces electricity from wood chips. But during the festival also the festival guests’ garbage was used as an adjunct, so their waste actually contributed to energy production – and so to say, turned into rock music! The gasifier produced approx. 10-15 kilowatts per hour, which was exploited in the festival’s venues, bars and food stalls. At CO2penhagen the gasifier supplied 22 percent of the festival’s energy.

At DTU the gasification plant has been an ongoing project for more than 20 years. The specificity of DTU’s gasifier is that it produces a mixed and exceptionally clean gas, that can be used for burning and does not emit CO2.

The energy wasted on the way, are being exploited as district heating.