High energy astroparticle physics for high school students

The questions about the origin and type of cosmic particles are not only fascinating for scientists in astrophysics, but also for young enthusiastic high school students. To familiarize them with research in astroparticle physics, the Pierre Auger Collaboration agreed to make 1% of its data publicly available. The Pierre Auger Observatory investigates cosmic rays at the highest energies and consists of more than 1600 water Cherenkov detectors, located near Malarg\"{u}e, Argentina. With publicly available data from the experiment, students can perform their own hands-on analysis. In the framework of a so-called Astroparticle Masterclass organized alongside the context of the German outreach network Netzwerk Teilchenwelt, students get a valuable insight into cosmic ray physics and scientific research concepts. We present the project and experiences with students.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands, PoS(ICRC2015)30

Aviation fuels of the future − A techno-economic assessment of distribution, fueling and utilizing electricity-based LH2, LCH4 and kerosene (SAF)

This paper investigates the techno-economic implications on air travel when fossil-based kerosene is phased out of the market, specifically focusing on the comparison between liquid hydrogen, liquid methane and renewable kerosene for ten exemplary flight routes to estimate the cost of air travel per passenger and 100 km distance travelled for every fuel type. By considering the entire supply chain, including hydrogen production from renewable sources, synthesis, oversea transport, domestic distribution, and utilization, this study addresses the overarching question of whether it is more economical to change the fuel source or the fuel itself to reduce fossil kerosene usage in the aviation industry. It is demonstrated that aircraft acquisition costs play a minor role compared to fuel supply costs and specific fuel demand. The study shows that for electricity-based fuels, liquid hydrogen is the most economic option, even with a potential energy penalty, followed by liquid methane and renewable kerosene. The results for an aircraft with a capacity 180 passengers are 3.08, 4.57 and 5.11 € per 100 passenger kilometers for liquid hydrogen, liquid methane and renewable kerosene, respectively. Challenges regarding storage and isolation requirements for cryogenic fuels in aviation are discussed, with assumptions made that these obstacles can be overcome to realize economic benefits. Additionally, the study suggests potential shifts in aircraft size selection by airlines to mitigate rising fuel prices in the future. The study advocates for the aviation industry's openness to new fuels like liquid hydrogen and liquid methane to alleviate the cost increase associated with phasing out fossil kerosene

PtX opportunities and challenges for aviation and beyond - Technical, economic and ecologic evaluation from aviation point of view

Conclusions: PtX opportunities and challenges for aviation and beyond? Opportunity 1: Promised enormous increase in renewable energy generation • German coalition agreement (government): +300 - 350 TWh renewable electricity by 2030 • New RE capacity implementation: 35 - 40 TWh p.a.? • 10 % for aviation: 3.5 – 4.0 TWh -> +100 - 200 kt/a SAF addition each year? Opportunity 2: Promised short term SAF pull (aviation industry) and push (expected deployment policies) • Immediate utilization of >: e.g. stop burning industrial H2, explore cheap green carbon Challenge 1: underdeveloped European SAF industry (compared to GWP saving request) • Mandatory: reliable, permanent market for SAF – e.g., year-on-year growth rate of blending until 2030? • Investor certainty crucial Promise 100 % SAF within 3 decades? - Fair share: 33 % supply in this decade

TECHNICAL, ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF EUROPEAN SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUELS (SAF) PRODUCTION

Ergebnisse der standardisierten techno-ökonomisch-ökologischen Analyse der Bewertung alternativer Kraftstoffe werden am Beispiel von Fischer-Tropsch Luftfahrttreibstoffen aus Biomasse, Strom und CO2 gezeigt. Für die europäische Luftfahrtindustrie wurde eine Road-map erarbeitet, um unter Einsatz weitestgehend nachhaltiger Einsatzstoffe signifikante Mengen von SAF zu erzeugen. Produktionskosten und Treibhausgaspotenzial der Kraftstoffe werden regional ermittelt

Can e-fuels replace fossil fuels for a future global sustainable transport?

The use of synthetic fuels is an attractive solution to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions where electrification proves to be challenging or too cost intensive. Combining the use of renewable electricity to produce electrolytic hydrogen and sustainable carbon (e.g. from non-crop-based biomass) offers a promising route for large-scale, low carbon power-to-X-products (PtX). While the process technology is pretty mature, the energy efficiency, the production costs, the GHG savings and the possible production capacity is a part of the political debate. Rigorous chemical process simulation using standard software like Aspen Plus with experimentally validated unit performance data is the basis to get an exact representation of the entire process. Chemical engineering cost estimation is applied to predict net production costs (NPC) of PtX-products for transport fuels. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed with the open source framework Brightway2 using the same data set of rigorous process simulation. Costs and GWP where calculated using the in-house tool Techno-Economic Process Evaluation Tool (TEPET)