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German village inspires USC students
Germany’s first bio-energy village has inspired a group of University of the Sunshine Coast students.
“It was so progressive,” said Megan Marks, a 38-year-old USC Bachelor of Science student majoring in Environmental Management.
“I thought renewable energies were experimental but now I’ve seen the future in action. This is what can happen with government funding and the support of the people.”
The seven USC students visited Juehnde, a German village of 800 people who produce their own energy using crops and animal manure.
Juehnde residents and the University of Gottingen developed a bio-refinery that creates electricity by fermenting liquid manure and energy crops which are produced and sold to the village by local farmers.
Located about 100km from Hannover, Juehnde’s electricity production has exceeded expectations and surplus power has been sold back to the grid.
Ms Marks said Germany’s advancement gave her hope for Australia’s sustainable future.
“There are wind turbines everywhere and solar panels on roofs. If Germany can do it, with so little sun compared to us, then the Sunshine Coast can too.”
Fellow USC participant Adam Cilento, who is studying a Bachelor of Regional and Urban Planning, took note of the different landscape.
“Juehnde was an amazing sight,” he said. “We walked through a tiny, snow-covered village and suddenly saw two domes, like they were straight out of Star Wars.
“We learnt the domes were just rubber roofs inflated by the gases produced.”
The visit was part of a three-week course at the University of Kassel in January, organised through USC’s Global Opportunities program.
Three USC students attended environmental engineering classes and four studied German culture. The subjects will contribute to their USC degrees.
GO Program Coordinator Sarah Macdonald said the short course was among a variety of overseas programs offered to USC students to broaden their learning experience.