Technologies also help us protect the environment and slow Climate Change . These questions and much more this week on dw science show. Welcome to tomorrow. Today, the 2 months on top of the same speed as i go to work at the institute for ecological Economy Research in berlin. We meet them at the Cities Museum of technology, which is home to an exhibition called the network about the history of modern communication. Analog systems theyve given way to digital once the birth of the internet drove digitalization forward at a frenetic pace, and thats impacted the environment. Thank you. Tennessee will photos of toys utilize ation already accounts to 2 to 4 percent of global c. O. 2 emissions on about 10 percent of the global electricity consumption. And my Research Group once can i could i did that if the incident where a country it would rank stood worldwide and electricity demand after china on the us. Thats because the net is much more than just a cloud of ones and zeros. In effect, detecting that to bottom line is that behind all these digital applications behind the data streams, theyre also very concrete material. Infrastructure is data centers, cables and of course all the devices and to get a to which are growing a number by the day. Take smartphones, the majority of people have one these days and the average user buys a new phone every 3 years or so. And were in general buying more and more devices that are meant to make our lives more intelligent, like those integrated into what are called smart homes. But just how Climate Friendly are those homes actually . Data from sun, thatd be great just to kind of show it in a connected home is with Heating Energy and the smoke control certainly can count the amount of energy use sites. English bought them by automatically reducing the temperature in unused rooms for instance. Or if the heating unit communicates with the windows but even so overall smart homes are still under performing when it comes to saving energy until beams and fly in the one major problem is the launch number of additional pat. Just devices that arent designed to save energy, like surveillance cameras or smart tvs and speakers and this stuff hands the once you add them to the equation, the impact is no longer positive and independence mishma positive. You but also the main problem with over equipping with digital devices is that a piece of hardware is the ecological footprint is mostly dictated by its production rather than its use of positive. More Conscious Consumption would help. We should try to buy fewer devices, use them for longer and pay more attention to whether they were designed with recycling in mind. But few of us do. You can switch this on to my devices, most sustainable. Its crucial to use them longer. That means them having to be built to be more robust. Above all, with the modular unrepairable design. Some companies have to both offer Software Updates and provide spare parts over the long term tyler titan. Some Campaign Groups have called for a statutory right to repair an issue. The European Union is looking into despite drawbacks and criticism. Some applications really are helping us to live more sustainably like mobility. Yeah, thats that help you get from a to be in a Climate Friendly way for those that enable you to trade items or buy used products instead of always purchasing new ones. Streaming videos for hours on end however, is problematic. An estimated 3 and a half 1000000000 people now regularly watch videos online. Thats almost half of the worlds population. Streaming streaming already account. So 60 to 70 percent of the global data. Yvonne, you can transfer williams hours. One way to make streaming a bit more sustainable list to turn down the resolution, especially on smaller display, fewer pixels means less power consumed in the data centers that drive the network world. And i guess im off for duke Energy Consumption for things like Cloud Computing data centers. A Network Infrastructure is old rising rapidly in the front foot region. For example, in the cities international, apple is no longer the top consumer of energy. Hes up to date to send us off with infant, according to estimates they are now responsible for around 20 percent of the cities total power consumption to mine missing today to send his budget need to because um, surely climate neutral. Busy so sourcing electricity from Renewable Energy sources and not just selling indulgences to compensations. Yeah. And to show up last time plus funded son needed to ensure more chopping of waste heat from data centers and what stood servers warm up as they were and have to be cold. But the resulting waste heat could itself be used according to the association of the internet industry by 2030. The waste heat from all of frank for its data centers would be enough to in series heat the entire city. But in practice, its potential has barely been tapped so far. The infrastructure is usually lacking. But there are a pilot projects in the works and the future waste heat from one of the citys Largest Data Centers will be siphoned off the heat. A new housing developments. Now thats a really smart use of digitalization. Another smart idea is heating with water. For millennia, people have used the power of moving water to grind green and fuel gate fields. Nowadays, we also generate electricity with hydro power plants. And one river in central germany is now being harnessed directly to heat homes. The wide else, the river, and the german state of julian has energy, good law hidden in its waters. And not just the kind thats able to keep the wheels of this meal running. Engineer ingle miller has installed a Heat Exchanger in the channel running through the mail. The river water is used to warm up a mixture of brian and water flowing through pipes to provide heating. Does the brian water mix front of the heat pump that flows through these pipes or sometimes minus 2 degrees . When it arrives . As it moves through the Heat Exchangers warmed up to one degree ink. And that temperature difference enables us to produce up to 60 degrees in just as i said, cause a quarter till like in geothermal heating. The brian with a mixture thats been boned by the rid of water is vaporized, then transported in case useful to a high efficiency heat pump. These guys flies to squeeze this vapor, and this generate t t like with a bicycle layer pump. So at the front, it warms up when you pump, it looks well for the system to look the reasonable to con, dry, up on the white, l sta, an upstream down guarantees a minimum flow even in dry summers. The device now installed in the river hates the mill, and the accompanying house. Oh no, ill punch down that isnt worried about his neck stating bill it is fine, house is really cozy. Now, if i were to heat with oil or down, the causes would be astronomical for me. I couldnt afford it. Condition is beside currently, almost everyone in this community heats with fossil fuels, but not set to change. Move or the Heat Exchange has already been planned for municipal buildings since thats where you put it right here with this is a really suitable spot like this is. The goal is for the river to one day provide Renewable Energy for the entire town. And because most of the homeowners here on tuesday ask about the idea to the coughing we by creating a hydrogen and canada and then ship it over the ocean. We have everything we need right here and start with some poll is heating with river water, a sound sustainable alternative. We ask an independent energy expert. So such good. This is part of it has some potential though it has the geographical limit as you need, rivers and lakes and consumers close to those rivers and lakes. But we need to use every available option of use like you to look at. So not really a game changer maybe not put in a town 40 kilometers down stream. The technology is being applied on a larger scale, some 1200 apartments here it will soon be heated with river water. The setup is different. The concept behind the system remains the same emission, the muscle is the vice and its the we want to take water from the river and pump pits to the power plant that will collect it so that we have a continuous water supply. And the power plant will, she goes through the heat pump and it can be used for heating heights looks okay. The pump from the river to the power plant will be 250 meters long. The district hating 5 to the 1st, each of the house will stretch another 300 meters, place this and just let us know whole story that connected piping network. We can then supply many different residential units and bundled and move together and its been didnt go into minutes. That process is designed to minimize interference in the river. How they taught. The water was returned to the river after bonuses extracted by the heat pump. There are no chemicals added and no impact on existing waterway infrastructure. In theory, that makes the Heating Technology an option in conservation on flood protected areas to but does it make economic sense . Divide the mind vickers, a greater distance from the water, means higher engineering cause, but more customers also sign up and its definitely worth developing the river associates. It will supply 650 house phones alone. And this Housing Cooperative built in the 19 sixtys the 1st pipes have already been laid to connect the homes to the future. We have a water heating plant. Lets see, lets. This is the last remaining gap from our 1st phase of construction, district eating pipes of already being late. And the hot water will then arrive here from the plant and be distributed through the piles of 4 tires. For the rooms like this still use gas bonus but theyll simbie equipped with small connection stations for calculating data and hating needs for individual households. Do you guys have pods on the central gas using systems or installed in the mid 1990 . Its august and so it was clear that we needed to think about a new medium term solution. But then given the size of our cooperative, a solution for the entire district was of course, the most effective. The engineers are also thinking ahead in the future, they want to integrate waste heat into the system and to the is to bring more and more renewables into the heat map. So the system we want to implement next is a good one. We have a sewage plan next to the rivers and sewage plants generate warm from the waste heat that accumulates the end of this. We can use it for heating and by feeding it into the network via the heat bottles. Are you, what do you but im a pull, but that includes heights. The tanks, price on one moment its removed from over heated rivers. They cooled down slightly. So in an era of Climate Change, the plants and animals that live in them could also benefit. Let us read why i want to learn more about technologies that could be used to protect the environment or do you have a science question of your own then send it in as a video, text or voice mail. If we answer you on here, well send you a little surprise as a thank you. This weeks question comes from our been in panama, warsaw, condensation trails. The con trails artificial clouts that form from exhaust admission by jets. They appear as long streaks in the sky when app planes fly to set an altitude. The perfect control forming zone is around 10 kilometers up in the lowest layer of the atmosphere. Right most via comprises 5 layers. The know, the lowest is the troposphere, which stretches 7 total matches up at the pulse. And 17 jerome, which is above the tropics. The temperature drops by about 6 degrees celsius, every kilometer of altitude, not the upper edge of the troposphere. It can get as cold as minus 60 degrees, ideal conditions for control as to form. When an across fence fuel it admits Carbon Dioxide and tiny particles of other compounds, but also large quantities of water vapor. H 2 a. These motion molecule is attached to the particles and to meet at a freeze in the cold to form ice crystals. The is humidity is also very high in the area. The condensation trails form hes in foster and remain visible for longer. The composition of con trails is very similar to this of natural cirrus clouds. Those have made up device crystals and on to favorable conditions they can just keep on growing. And some situations they can create streaks of clouds that have several comb inches wide. Cool and con, Trail Service cloud stays can temporarily cover up to 10 percent of the sky. And the regions that see heavy Traffic Research teams from various space agencies have spent is studying the effects of con trails on the climate. On the one hand clouds cool the surface by reflecting some of the suns rays, but at the same time they prevent teach absorbed by the surface from radiation back into space. The Research Indicates the 2nd defect is stronger. So con trails also saw the heat pump. The atmosphere, the over half the worlds population now lives in cities by 2050. That proportion could be as high as 80 percent. But in climate terms, most cities get poor marks. Theres precious little greenery on their crowded streets, which are packed with cars, exhaust fumes from vehicles, together with air conditioners and heating units pollute the air. Cities have an insatiable hunger for energy. Could Digital Technologies make city smarter and in the process more Energy Efficient . There are many places around the world seeking to become smart cities. Digital innovations could help make Energy Supply transport and administration more efficient and cities as a whole, more livable. But that doesnt automatically mean theyd be more climate friend. Like a study looking at the danish capital, copenhagen reveals that most smart city innovations bring negligible benefits. One technology, however, clearly makes environmental sense. Smart grids, Climate Friendly power, infrastructures that will have to cope with many future challenges. What are the biggest, is that solar and wind energy are subject to natural fluctuations . Were missing these nadine, we have to be able to manage these energy use it in it. That means using these energy has, which we generate a different time when theyre available in dawson and reducing consumption when theyre not available in these. And again, its perfect, but this is where digitalization can really come into its own. But how exactly the smart grid allows heston and the germantown of load on mark is looking at the issue and go get on mean heads up. The project in the Energy Network of the future will feature many new components. If the company, lunchroom ability will be involved along with heat pumps. So well have to integrate imagine new consumers into the gradient. Battery storage has grown increasingly important tests we seek to make Energy Available around the clock. And as the ways we generate power change with more and more sources feeding into the grid, these centralized systems need intelligent control, especially when energy is tight. Thats probably missy. Its been isolated talking to the problem now when we have the bitterly cold days like nice in the winter in horse, i know is that heat pumps will be running an Old Buildings for all just the entire street. Also including electric cars, wants to charge up symbol tenuously that is put then theyll be problems with degrades difficulties because the amount of electricity that has to be provided is too high for them to manage that reduction. It, it does into the internet. So in the future, smart grids could make sure that the cause of roll charged sometime during the night when the electricity is available for them from the state and us out to achieve goals like this. Local network stations and sub stations will have to become smarter, for example, by using Digital Technology to measure and evaluate voltage data. The does is as its the move down the modem kind of local good station. The busy behind we need if we want to see an Energy Transition and a truly Sustainable FutureEnergy Supplies on the path to a sustainable society. Digitalization poses some major challenges, but it can help us reach goals if we use it wisely and dont expect it to solve every problem. Todays city escapes have been made possible by an incredibly versatile material concrete. Back in the ancient world, the romans used it to create majestic works of architecture. Now our reinforce to structure stretch high into the sky. The concrete is contributing to Climate Change because its production release has lots of Carbon Dioxide kind of a new technique involving ultrasound help reduce its impact expos. This the power train in the eastern gym and city of compass developing a special process to produce concrete in a Climate Friendly fashion. Yeah, but we bombard concrete with ultrasound, ultrasound. Sounds like a weird idea. The one that is develop a site will help cuts 30 percent of c o 2 emissions in concrete production. Heres how it works. Concrete is made of sand, gravel and water bound together by cement and cement is very bad for the climate. Thats because a Chemical Reaction occurs during cement production to create lots of Carbon Dioxide according to the World Wide Fund for nature. So manufacturers globally release around 3000000000. 00 metric tons of the Greenhouse Gas every year. Thats a whopping 8