International Network for Sustainable Energy
INFORSE - PROJECT: DISTANCE INTERNET EDUCATION ON RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES - DIERET

The English course was offered by INFORSE-Europe, mainly for European NGOs until 2010.
It is stopped because lack of funding to manage the course. We plan to update the material. If you know any funding opportunity we would be happy to make the update and start again the course.

The English text material is still availbale free, but you cannot make the course any more.

The material is in English, and translations are available in Slovak, Russian and Albanian.

Project manager was:
Foundation for Alternative Energy (FAE),
att. Emil Bedi, INFORSE-Europe Coordinator

- About the Russian version:
Contact: INFORSE member REA in Ukraine,
att. Andrei Konechenkov,
http://www.rea.org.ua/

About the Albanian version:
Contact: INFORSE Member, Albanian Ecological Club, Att. Ali Eltari

About the Slovak version:
Contact: INFORSE member Foundation for Alternative Energy (FAE), att. Emil Bedi
The material is online in Slovak language:
www.inforse.org/europe/fae

WHAT IS DIERET ?
Distant Internet Education on Renewable Energy Technology (DIERET) was a free educational course offered to INFORSE members and the general public to upgrade knowledge on renewable energy technology.
The course was prepared in the framework of the INFORSE North-South co-operation.
In 2003, it was translated to Russian and Albanian with support from the Danish Outdoor Council Small Grant Fund. In the period of 2004-2010, it was supported by the EU DG Environment Civil Society grant to INFORSE-Europe.

WHY DIERET ?
Education on sustainable energy is an INFORSE priority.
The main goal of DIERET was to supply students with knowledge that is not usually covered by ordinary educational institutions (including universities.)
The students who were completing the course obtained basic knowledge about renewable energy technologies and their use in different parts of the world.
For students from NGOs, this meant the acquisition of reliable arguments in campaigns and lobbying for sustainable energy development.
Students from developing counties could use the course as their starting point for promotion of renewable energy in rural areas.
Students were equipped also with the abilities to design simple systems utilising renewable energy technologies and thus provide technically backed answers to the renewable energy technology related problems.
The maximum time available for completion of the DIERET course was set for 4 months.

ENROLLMENT OF STUDENTS
Not available any more since 2011.

STUDY MATERIALS
DIERET study materials still available free. It consists of five modules and examination tests. The study material consist of about 300 pages and 450 illustrations.The material is divided to the following chapters :
- 1. Why Renewables?
- 2. Biomass Energy
- 3. Solar Energy
- 4. Hydro Power
- 5. Wind Energy
- 6. Alternative Fuels for Transportation (New in 2006)
- Annexes on Organising and Policy Making for
- Renewable Energy, Cases. Units

The text in each module include introduction, history, technology, applications, guides etc.
When you enroll to the cource you will receive the the study material and the questions. You can also download the text material from the internet or buy a CD which include the material.

At each chapter there are approx. 20 questions, which have to be answered by the student. Questions are set not to be difficult and can be answered without any technical background knowledge.

EVALUATION OF EXAMINATION TESTS - CRITERIA FOR PASSING THE COURSE
Note: Not available since 2011 !

It was proposed that students had to answer correctly at least 75 % of all answers in each module to pass the examination. All questions had equal weight meaning that e.g. at least 15 of 20 questions had to be answered correctly in each module. Students were informed about their results.

DIERET CERTIFICATE
All succesful students received a Certificate isssued by the INFORSE Secretariat and signed by the project leader, co-ordinators and head of INFORSE Secretariat. Despite the fact that INFORSE is not recognised as the educational institution we are certain that this Certificate and knowledge helped many in their future.

CONTENT OF THE STUDY MATERIAL

1. WHY DO WE NEED RENEWABLES ?
- ENERGY TODAY
- ENERGY CONSUMPTION - SUSTAINABILITY PROBLEM
- ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF ENERGY USE
- SOCIAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO ENERGY USE
- RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
- LITERATURE

2. SOLAR ENERGY
- INTRODUCTION
- POTENTIALS
- SOLAR ENERGY UTILISATION
- PASSIVE SOLAR ENERGY USE
- SOLAR COLLECTORS
- SOLAR THERMAL POWER PRODUCTION
- PHOTOVOLTAICS
- GUIDELINES FOR ESTIMATION OF SOLAR POTENTIALS, BARRIERS AND EFFECS
- LITERATURE - SOLAR ENERGY

3.BIOMASS
- INTRODUCTION
- ENERGY VALUE
- BENEFITS OF BIOMASS AS ENERGY SOURCE
- ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
- BIOMASS FUELS
- BIOMASS FUELS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
- METHODS OF GENERATING ENERGY FROM BIOMASS
- TECHNOLOGY EXAMPLES
- LOW-COST PRACTICAL DESIGNS OF BIOGAS TECHNOLGY
- CONVERSION OF BIOMASS INTO ELECTRICITY
- GUIDELINE FOR ESTIMATION OF BIOMASS
POTENTIALS, BARRIERS AND EFFECTS
- LITERATURE - BIOMASS

4.WIND ENERGY
- INTRODUCTION
- ENERGY IN THE WIND TECHNOLOGY
- APPLICATION OF WIND TURBINES
- ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF WIND POWER PLANTS
- GUIDELINES FOR WIND POWER APPLICATIONS
- LITERATURE - WIND POWER

5. HYDRO POWER
- INTRODUCTION
- HYDRO POWER PLANTS
- TECHNOLOGY
- BIG OR SMALL HYDRO ?
- BIG HYDROPOWER
- SMALL HYDROPOWER
- OCEAN POWER

6. ALTERNATIVE FUELS FOR TRANSPORTATION

ANNEX:
- ORGANISING and POLICIES
- UNITS.