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Michael Sladek

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Michael Sladek (2010)

Michael Sladek (1 October 1946 – 24 September 2024) was a German physician and environmental activist for distributed mini power plants of green power.

Life and career

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Sladek became famous by realising a grid-independent system for producing electricity,[1][2] by distributed little power plants. For this he was awarded 1996 by the German magazine Capital with the Capital/ WWF - Umweltpreis. In 1999 he and his wife Ursula Sladek were awarded the Nuclear-Free Future Award. In January 2004, the Sladek couple was awarded the highest order in Germany, the Federal Cross of Merit, for their great engagement for the environment.[3]

After the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986, he became known for his idea of a system independent of nuclear power plants for generating electric power through distributed mini power plants. With his system that combines an efficiency-strategy with a power saving strategy it became possible to satisfy the power consumption of the community Schönau in the Black-Forest.[4][5] Following his engagement supported by his wife and many friends the first German green power-provider came into existence, the EWS Schönau. The community of Schönau was the first community in a Western country that became independent of the national power grid and could decide how the power would be produced.

Sladek died on 17 September 2024, at the age of 77.[6]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ Eckardt, Andy (May 20, 2011). "World Blog - German couple make greenbacks in anti-nuke battle". MSN. Archived from the original on 2 June 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Peaceful Rebels". The Atlantic Times. November 2008. Archived from the original on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  3. ^ "energieverbraucher.de | Rebellen bekommen Bundesverdienstkreuz". www.energieverbraucher.de. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  4. ^ "Community Energy Cooperative: Schönau, Germany". Centre For Public Impact (CPI). Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  5. ^ Mistiaen, Veronique (2011-05-20). "Ursula Sladek: Power behind a green revolution". the Guardian. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  6. ^ Wir trauern um Michael Sladek (in German)
  7. ^ "energieverbraucher.de | Rebellen bekommen Bundesverdienstkreuz". www.energieverbraucher.de (in German). 2004-01-15. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  8. ^ Colell, Arwen (2021). Alternating Current - Social Innovation in Community Energy. Berlin: Springer. p. 245.
  9. ^ Janzing, Bernward (2014-06-29). "Rebellenwechsel in Schönau". klimaretter.info (in German). Retrieved 2021-07-21.