Volkswagen quietly has been developing what it calls the “SchwarmStrom” project. It went public with the effort at the Frankfurt auto show this week. As reported by Paul Lester in gizmag.com, the project has the modest goal of replacing Germany’s nuclear and coal power stations with 100,000 home-based power units.
What’s a “SchwarmStrom”? Lester says it translates as “swarm power.” Volkswagen is working with another German company, Lichtblick, which makes regenerative-power systems. If the companies can pull it off, they say it “would allow Germany to abandon the use of nuclear and coal power stations and provide adequate backup to renewable energy sources, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 60%.”
The idea is to install small, gas-fired turbines in German homes. These small, super-efficient turbines are already in use the world over, mostly in commercial buildings. The VW plan is that, in aggregate, thousands of these units could make the equivalent of the electricity produced annually by two nuclear reactors. In homes, the gas turbines would make heat, hot water and electricity. The trick is that the unit’s excess power would be directed into the local grid.
But these units aren’t cheap. Estimates place cost per household at more than $7,000. Still, it would represent a creative use of off-the-shelf technology to address global warming.
“SchwarmStrom … clears the way for more renewable energy and an exit from power from nuclear and coal,” according to a statement from VW and Lichtblick. ”The home power plants together form a huge, invisible power station that doesn’t make the countryside ugly or require additional infrastructure.”
The success of the project, Lester said, lies in VW convincing German householders to swap out existing gas-fired furnaces and boilers with more expensive turbines. With sufficient government incentives, such as those available for solar and wind applications, it may just work.
Photo courtesy Lichtblick and VW AG