A new collection of energy images

Roman Gorczyca and his partner Ilona Nowak are one of the few remaining people still living in the buildings at Zwirowa street. Despite legal restrictions, Gorczyca installed a small oven in their room to be able to prepare some food and heat the space that gets quickly cold in winter due to very bad thermal conditions of the building. Rybnik, Silesia, Poland, 15.12.2022

Ewa Pisarzowska worked for over 25 years in the coal mines salt extraction industry in Rybnik. She lost work during the pandemic and so did her partner, they soon could no longer afford to rent an appartment and for a few months lived at their friend's place. Recently they rented a studio apartment with central heating, but without furniture. They struggle to pay for food or electricity. Ewa sometimes helps at the Wspolny Stol center, she looks for food, still eatable but not apt for sale in dustbins near big grocery stores. To economies on electricity and still know what is happening in the world she often uses TV as the only source of light in the house. Rybnik, Silesia, Poland, 14.12.2022

Agnieszka Opalka and her husband chose a heat pump solution for the heating of the new house that they are building. They calculated the costs, efficiency and comfort of the solution, as Agnieszka says entering the room where the pump is located “a modern cave can only look like that”. However they admit paying much more than they predicted for the solution that is definitely for people from the upper financial classes of the Polish society. Ksiazenice, Silesia, Poland, 15.12.2022

Housing cooperative “Wroclaw Poludnie” was the first in Poland to install photovoltaic panels on the roofs of multi-story buildings on a large scale. The energy from the production is used to illuminate the common areas and the exterior of the buildings, for the operation of elevators and for pumps that maintain constant water pressure in the building regardless of the floor. The first installation was installed on the building at 65 Swieradowska Street in 2016. Since then, similar installations have been installed on 35 multi-story buildings, accounting for more than 90% of all such buildings of the cooperative. Wroclaw, Poland, 13th March 2023.

Radoslaw Gewlik shows data on energy production by photovoltaic panels installed on the roof of his house near Wroclaw. The application allows users to continuously monitor the operation of the installation, it also calculates how much CO2 emissions have been saved by using energy from renewable sources. Pruszowice, Poland, 13th March 2023.

An overview over the village of in Feldheim, Germany, on February 19, 2023. The village has about 130 inhabitants. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.

The solar park located outside the village of Feldheim, Germany on February 21, 2023. The amount of energy produced is sufficient to meet the yearly electricity demands of approximately 600 households consisting of four individuals each. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.

Sebastian Herbst, the managing director of Agrargenossenschaft "Fläming" eG poses for a portrait on the site of the biogas plant in Feldheim, Germany on February 21, 2023. The agricultural cooperative collaborated on a plan to produce also heat in addition to electricity in Feldheim. Since 2008, this has been supplied by a biogas plant with an integrated combined heat and power unit. The mixture of liquid manure, corn silage and grain meal needed to generate energy comes from local farmers. The plant is operated by the agricultural cooperative, now the largest employer in Feldheim with 30 employees. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.

An evening scene in Feldheim, Germany on February 21, 2023. Feldheim is the first village in Germany to be completely self-sufficient in energy. With the help of wind energy, photovoltaics, biogas, biomass, a regulating power plant and a local heating network, the village covers its own needs. The large amounts of surplus energy generated in the process are fed into the public grid.

Elke, 52, displays a banner of the social movement "Ich bin armutsbetroffen" (I am affected by poverty) with the slogan "Poverty is not sexy. Common good for all!" in her apartment in Berlin-Oberschöneweide, Germany on March 6, 2023. Elke, a single mother, completed an apprenticeship but fell ill with depression and has been unemployed ever since. To preserve her financial resources, she saves as much as possible, for example, by turning off the lights and collecting the water from showering in the bathtub to use for cleaning or flushing the toilet. For clothing, she and her daughter rely on the generosity of friends who have similar sizes. Elke's financial situation has always been tight, but the energy crisis has made her situation worse. Every now and then, her ex-husband helps out by shopping for her and their daughter. For almost a year, Elke has been politically active on the issue of poverty, organizing rallies under the slogan "I am affected by poverty" to raise society's awareness of the problem and fight against the stigmatization of those affected by poverty.

Visitors attend an open day at an Edwardian terraced house which has been retrofitted and insulated with Birmingham Green Doors, in Erdington, Birmingham, on May 4th 2023.

Home owner Maggie shows people the new heat pump underneath the stairs as visitors attend an open day at an Edwardian terraced house which has been retrofitted and insulated with Birmingham Green Doors, in Erdington, Birmingham, on May 4th 2023.