Physics café shows how to calculate the potential of renewable energy sources
Using simple examples that can be included in physics lessons in secondary and primary schools, physicists are able to estimate realistic values for renewable energy potential. To do this, they need to know the starting parameters, such as the efficiency of the processes. Everything else is just a matter of knowing and being able to apply the laws of physics correctly. The Physics Café, which was held for the 150th time, presented concrete examples. More about the programme here.
The Physics Café on the current topic of the Green Deal according to which the EU wants to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the near future and become climate neutral by 2050, was led by the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University, Zdeněk Bochníček. "Using several examples, we tried to estimate the realistic values of the potential of renewable sources and showed why it is not feasible to store energy from renewable sources for the winter," said Bochníček, who is also head of the Department of Didactics of Physics.
The Physics Café is intended mainly for physics teachers in secondary and primary schools, but also for the general public who are interested in physics and physics education. It is regularly organized by the Institute of Physical Electronics of the Faculty of Science of MU in cooperation with the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists. Discussions can be held on physics discoveries and technical innovations, but also on issues of physics education, teaching methodology, high school textbooks or physics laboratory equipment.
