Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar

An increase in the world-wide utilisation of resource-conserving, renewable forms of energy is necessary to continue achieving sustainable global economic growth in the future, while at the same time avoiding (or at least restricting) a further rise in global warming. Germany is today already an international pioneer in encouraging and using renewable energy. With its energy-related policies, the German government will in future continue to set ambitious goals in this field. For instance, by 2020 it is planned to produce over 30% of the country's electrical power and 14% of its generated heat from renewable sources - double the figures for 2009.

The generation of renewable energy is subject to significantly stronger fluctuations than conventional methods that are in use today. Wind and sunshine hours can only be planned for to a limited degree and also vary from region to region. All future energy concepts must face this challenge. Every such concept incorporates a combination of innovative approaches in the areas of energy storage, energy transport and load management. The aim of these concepts is to ensure a general ideal economic footing and a sustained balance between requirements and the availability of energy. In Germany, special efforts are now being supported in the field of information/communication technologies in energy networks with the E-Energy initiative from BMWI and BMU. One project at European level is Web2Energy. A main focus of ongoing developments is on cost-effective, long-life stationary energy storage systems.
Global action is needed to provide around 2 billion people without access to energy networks with a stable supply of energy, or to replace local means of generating energy (e.g. by using diesel generators) with more environmentally friendly solutions.

Enterprises and institutes of higher education from the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region and neighbouring regions are working together on designing innovative solutions for energy concepts of the future. Some of these efforts, such as projects including LIB2015, Web2Energy or the  MOMA and MeRegio E-Energy projects, also receive public funding. An outstanding strength of the region lies in covering all the sub-functions of an intelligent energy network. Chemicals groups like BASF, Freudenberg, Chemetall, Schott or SGL Carbon have long been working on systems for storing electricity and warmth or supply components for such systems. ABB is an international leader in the equipment and controlling of large-scale energy networks. Younicos develops storage systems and network solutions for supplying electricity from regenerative energy sources. SAP and T-Systems are ensuring that data is recorded, transmitted and processed reliably and securely, for example with so-called "smart meters" or accounting systems. On the operator side, energy suppliers from the municipal utilities in Speyer, through to regional suppliers like MVV or HSE and national suppliers such as ENBW, are participating on these initiatives with pilot projects. Fischer Architekten has for years been implementing innovative energy concepts in the plans it realises for buildings and entire town districts. These developments are also receiving scientific support from a host of cutting-edge science establishments including Mannheim College, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Darmstadt Technical University or the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology in Pfinztal. The KIT in particular has established itself as a centre of energy research as part of the Helmholtz Community and on the European stage.