THE HEAT from Aufgeheizt on Vimeo.

Project Aufgeheizt (“heated-up”) brought together scientists and animation film experts with around 30 young people in Berlin aged 12 – 18  to make short films explaining the impacts of climate change. On 2nd June 2012, as part of the programme for “Der L ange Nacht der Wissenschaft” (The Long Night of Science) at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, seven films were premiered in a klimakino (“climate -cinema”) and the following films were honoured in a prize giving ceremony:

• Geoengineering – overall best film
• “Aufgeheizt und weggespült” for the best/funniest storyline
• “Hilfe, Wasser!” for the most original set design
• “The Heat” – for the best special effects
• “Weniger Regen? Von wegen!” for the best character development
• “Eisschelf – De-iced” for die best dramatisation
• “Nordatlantische Strömungen” for the best cut and symbolic representation

Aufgeheizt is a pilot project funded by VW Stiftung to help scientists improve their communication about climate change with the general public. Organisations wishing to find out about future projects should contact Katie Griggs: k.griggs@aufgeheizt.org (EN or DE)

The plant started working a few days ago after a six-month trial period and build-up. It’s based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital and largest city. The facility is almost five football pitches (36.000 m²) big and doubles the size of the former chart-topper in Denmark. With the new solar power plant, it’s now possible to produce enough energy to heat water for 40.000 students at the Princess Noura bint AbdulRahman University, the largest women-only university in the world. The campus consits of 15 academic faculty buildings, various labs and a 700-bed hospital. The $14m plant was manufactured by Austrian research institute GREENoneTEC company and constructed by Jordanian engineering company Millennium Energy Industries. The plant operates via 36,305m2 of solar panels. And based on the lifespan of these panels, the facility could save about 52 million liters of heating oil and 125 million kilograms of CO2.