Additional Information

From 26 september topics and application instructions will be published here in the document "WS2022_23-PropEEE_Topic_description.pdf". Please pick one of the subjects and follow the application instructions writen there. The supervisors will be in contact with you.

Interdisciplinary Project Internship Concept Development of a Renewable Energy System in a Developing Country ()

Lecturer (assistant)
Duration4 SWS
TermWintersemester 2022/23
Language of instructionEnglish
DatesSee TUMonline

Objectives

After participating in the project, students should be able to: - Obtain a holistic overview of the food supply chain in a developing country. - Assess the environmental impacts of food production systems by implementing LCA techniques. - Understand the progression of the renewable energy system in a developing country through interdisciplinary collaboration with students from different fields of study. - Evaluate and compare different possible frameworks (in terms of technological, economic, and sociocultural conditions) of a planned energy system in a developing country. - Evaluate the possibility of developing an adequate energy concept for a defined location in accordance with its potential, requirements, and implementation feasibility. - Apply study knowledge to implementation concepts. - Present and manage the progress of the project in group meetings. - Present convincingly their extended concepts in a final presentation. - Write the final project report academically by including the agricultural product's supply chain and the alternative energy choices while considering the potentialities, implementation feasibility, and environmental impacts. - Highlight the relevant technological, financial, and sociocultural framework conditions of a planned energy system for a certain agricultural product in a developing country.

Description

During the study project, several teams constituting of interdisciplinary students will learn how to quantify the environmental impacts of the food supply chain in a developing country focusing on conventional rural farming methods. Accordingly, each group should develop an alternative concept for integrating renewable energy in the product system of an agricultural product. Considering site specifications, several energy systems, among others, are selected for further evaluation. Afterward, the selected alternatives are assessed and compared with each other based on different criteria including on-site technological criteria and socio-cultural impacts. Subsequently, a business concept will be proposed by taking its financial feasibility and stakeholder interest into consideration. At the end of this project, it is expected that the key performance factors will be derived and presented in the form of a written and oral report.

Prerequisites

- Bachelor‘s degree in a relevant field. - Interest in life cycle assessment, sustainable development, and environmental footprint of products. - Interest in energy systems and their potential/application in developing countries. - Interest in interdisciplinary works which may differ from the student’s field of studies, but it would be essential for the holistic understanding of their own curriculum. - Interest in team-based project work.

Teaching and learning methods

- Quantifying the environmental impacts by LCA methodology - Modelling LCA scenarios by LCA software - Developing knowledge about the implementation of renewable energy systems considering the regional impacts - Identification of potential for usage renewable energies

Examination

The grade consists of: Milestone meetings: - Preparation of a work and progress diary - Active participation in the organized meetings (notes, handouts, short presentations) - Regular communication with the supervisor/tutor and team members during the meetings Project report: - Quality of the developed concept: Identification of the problems, framework conditions, and solutions adequacy - Description of the concept´s implementation - Argumentation for the chosen concept versus other options - Inclusion of technical, financial, and socio-cultural framework conditions Final presentation: - The logic of the presentation, focus on relevant points, appealing and topic-specific visualization - Presentation technique - Addressing the subsequent doubts and questions

Recommended literature

Scripts being handed out during the project

Links