The aim of this thesis is to objectify the discussion regarding the availability of technologies related to the German energy transition. This work describes the state of development of relevant technologies on the basis of Technology Readiness Levels. Further, it points out development potentials and limits as well as the necessary power capacities needed for a certain energy system design that is mainly based on electricity. Thus, the scope is set to renewable energy sources suited to provide electricity in Germany, technologies that convert primary electricity for other energy sectors (heating and mobility) and storage technologies. Additionally, non-conventional technologies for electricity supply and grid technologies are examined. The underlying Technology Readiness Assessment is a method used to determine the maturity of these systems or their essential components. The major criteria for assessment are scale, system fidelity and environment. In order to estimate the relevant magnitudes for certain energy technologies regarding power and storage capacities, a comprehensible simulation model is drafted and implemented. It allows the calculation of a renewable, volatile power supply based on historic data and the display of load and storage characteristics. As a result, the Technology Readiness Level of the different systems examined varies widely. For every step in the direct or indirect usage of renewable intermittent energy sources technologies on megawatt scale are commercially available. The necessary scale for the energy storage capacity is in terawatt hours. Based on the examined storage technologies, only chemical storages potentially provide this magnitude. Further, the required total power capacities for complementary conversion technologies lay in the two-digit gigawatt range.:Abstract 2 Contents 3 1. Introduction 7 2. General remarks on the current state of the German energy system 12 3. Method of Technology Readiness Assessment 16 3.1. Fundamentals of the method 16 3.2. Drawbacks of TRA 19 3.3. Extended Readiness Levels 20 3.4. Conducting the Technology Readiness Assessment 21 3.5. Expert interviews 23 3.6. References 24 4. Preliminary remarks on the TRL assessment 25 4.1. Mission and environment 25 4.2. Simplifications and neglected aspects 26 4.3. References 26 5. Wind power 27 5.1. Technology description 27 5.2. Estimation of potential 32 5.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 37 5.4. TRL assessment 39 5.5. References 40 6. Solar energy 44 6.1. Technology description 44 6.2. Solar thermal energy 44 6.3. Photovoltaic technologies 45 6.4. Estimation of potential 48 6.5. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 52 6.6. TRL assessment 53 6.7. References 54 7. Geothermal energy 56 7.1. Technology description 56 7.2. Estimation of potential 59 7.3. Description of the current level of expansion 62 7.4. TRL assessment 63 7.5. References 64 8. Hydropower 66 8.1. Technology description 66 8.2. Estimation of potential 68 8.3. Description of the current level of development 70 8.4. TRL assessment 71 8.5. References 72 9. Biomass 73 9.1. Technology description 73 9.2. Estimation of potential 75 9.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 79 9.4. TRL assessment 81 9.5. References 82 10. Transmission and distribution grids 84 10.1. Technology description 84 10.2. Estimation of potential 90 10.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 94 10.4. TRL assessment 95 10.5. References 96 11. Power-to-heat 100 11.1. Technology description 100 11.2. Estimation of potential 104 11.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 107 11.4. TRL assessment 108 11.5. References 109 12. Power-to-cold 111 12.1. Technology description 111 12.2. Estimation of potential 114 12.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 117 12.4. TRL assessment 118 12.5. References 120 13. Power-to-chemicals 122 13.1. Technology description 122 13.2. Estimation of potential 134 13.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 137 13.4. TRL assessment 138 13.5. Manufacturer overview for electrolysis systems 140 13.6. References 142 14. Mechanical storage 146 14.1. Technology description 146 14.2. Estimation of potential 148 14.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 155 14.4. TRL assessment 155 14.5. References 158 15. Thermal storage 160 15.1. Technology description 160 15.2. Estimation of potential 164 15.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 169 15.4. TRL assessment 170 15.5. References 172 16. Chemical storage systems 175 16.1. Technology description 175 16.2. Estimation of potential 180 16.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 185 16.4. TRL assessment 186 16.5. References 188 17. Electro-chemical storage systems 191 17.1. Technology description 191 17.2. Estimation of potential 198 17.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 202 17.4. TRL assessment 202 17.5. References 204 18. Gas engines/gas turbines for hydrogen combustion 207 18.1. Technology description 207 18.2. Estimation of potential 208 18.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 211 18.4. TRL assessment 211 18.5. References 213 19. Chemicals-to-Power – Fuel cells 214 19.1. Technology description 214 19.2. Estimation of potential 218 19.3. Representation of the achieved state of expansion 221 19.4. TRL assessment 223 19.5. References 225 20. Interim conclusion for TRA 227 21. Evaluation of system integration 230 21.1. Modelling approach 230 21.2. Scenarios for a renewable energy supply 238 21.3. Results of the simulation 238 21.4. Consequences 244 21.5. References 245 22. Summary and Outlook 247 23. Abbreviations and symbols 249 24. Indices 254 25. List of Figures 255 26. List of Tables 258 27. Appendix 260 27.1. DOE TRL definition and description 260 27.2. Visualized summary of TRLs 262

Introduction: Since the start of the digital age back in the 70s, digital technology has become a main tool for us humans to work, communicate, and enjoy ourselves on a day-to-day basis. The major push that set this new chapter of human life was due to the first military-manufactured computers of the time. The usage and development since then have grown exponentially all across our lives, affecting everything from hospital visits in Hong Kong to a late-night shopping experience in Stockholm. This leads us to today, where businesses are taking technological advances every day to keep their customers happy and satisfied, but also setting the bar higher and higher between their competitors. Some store owners have even figured out that physical human presence is not even needed in physical stores. The benefit is that the upkeep costs drop and almost no employees are needed; this is beneficial for small store locations in sparsely populated areas. In Sweden, it has become a huge problem that small towns and villages slowly die due to high upkeep costs for store owners. With these unmanned stores, the trend could change to the possessive. However, it is also pressured by the very technology-demanding Generation Z. Setting pressure on this retail sector to keep up and find the right way to proceed with their businesses in a way that fits Generation Z’s demand long term.  Purpose: This specific study will try to explain how different enhancers and inhibitors affect consumer acceptance according to Generation Z for this store concept in Sweden. The researchers of this thesis believe that this study is needed because of the vast growth of unmanned stores and the lack of research it has, especially in Scandinavia. Methodology: In order to answer the research question, nine different hypotheses were created with different inhibitors and enhancers derived from previous research. Furthermore, a combination of online and face-to-face questionnaires was conducted, whereby 133 valid respondents were collected. The data was then analyzed with the help of a multiple regression analysis. Conclusion:  From this research, it can be concluded that for the investigated enhancers: high levels of technology readiness, usefulness, and enjoyment were all factors affecting Gen Z´s acceptance of unmanned convenience stores. Furthermore, that lack of human interaction affects Gen Z´s resistance towards unmanned convenience stores. These results can be used for future research and for companies targeting Gen Z to shop at unmanned convenience stores.

Thesis (Ph.D. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023 / Technology use is gaining momentum the world over, including South Africa. Therefore, technology use presupposes technology integration, and educators appear better positioned to ensure its integration. As a result, the integration of technology by English First Additional Language (EFAL) educators is of significant importance to learners’ academic development. The purpose of this research study was to investigate South African rural public schools EFAL educators’ readiness to integrate technology into EFAL content. The study was underpinned by a combination of two theoretical frameworks, the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The study followed a quali-quantitative approach and an exploratory research design. The triangulation data collection method employed questionnaires, interviews and equipment checklists. Findings indicated that EFAL educators in rural public schools are not ready to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and lack relevant and adequate infrastructure to integrate technology. Findings further revealed that EFAL educators need proper training in technology skills and technical support in order to be ready to integrate technology into EFAL. Pertinent intervention strategies should include the collaboration of all stakeholders to improve the Information Communication Technology (ICT) context in rural public schools. Additionally, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has to bridge the gap between rural and urban schools in SA by providing adequate technology support to rural public EFAL educators.

<p>From having relied on its employees in the interaction with customers, the service industry now move towards an increased adoption of technology to enhance the value of the service</p><p>offering to the customer. This development has also reached the public transport sector which is traditionally seen as low-tech.</p><p>In this study we investigate how the customers experience the use of high-tech supporting services within a low-tech context. The case that is used is the city-bus transport provider Karlstadsbuss who provide a high-tech supporting service called Live, which delivers realtime information on bus departures through a website, a WAPsite, and electronic boards at certain bus stops.</p><p>Focused group interviews were used to get in-dept information from commuters of how they perceive Live. Results show that respondents do not use Live website or WAPsite because the information is not worth the effort of use. Commuters question the service because many</p><p>buses do not run according to the Live-schedule. Still the commuters say they benefit from Live because it contributes alternative ways of finding departure times, and it presents an overview of departure options. However, if the information is in real-time or not is of</p><p>secondary importance.</p>

From having relied on its employees in the interaction with customers, the service industry now move towards an increased adoption of technology to enhance the value of the service offering to the customer. This development has also reached the public transport sector which is traditionally seen as low-tech. In this study we investigate how the customers experience the use of high-tech supporting services within a low-tech context. The case that is used is the city-bus transport provider Karlstadsbuss who provide a high-tech supporting service called Live, which delivers realtime information on bus departures through a website, a WAPsite, and electronic boards at certain bus stops. Focused group interviews were used to get in-dept information from commuters of how they perceive Live. Results show that respondents do not use Live website or WAPsite because the information is not worth the effort of use. Commuters question the service because many buses do not run according to the Live-schedule. Still the commuters say they benefit from Live because it contributes alternative ways of finding departure times, and it presents an overview of departure options. However, if the information is in real-time or not is of secondary importance.

With continuous development, businesses cannot restrict to only one country or area. Establishing operation or production centers across the sea is the most important factor for businesses to live permanently. Thus, many large-scale companies become multinational corporations to integrate global resources and create the most powerful synergy. With this change, those corporations also strengthen their competitiveness in the market. It is the most obvious phenomenon after the 20th century that multinational or multi-national corporations rapidly expand by the work of value chain of their oversea subsidiary companies. Many researches show that enterprises benefited a lot from successfully practice Knowledge Management (KM). KM does not success in the enterprise just only spending a fortune, purchasing and using KM software; it also depends on coordinating enterprise¡¦s culture and resources, carrying out the KM plan systematically and progressively to establish a climate of KM among all employers. Many companies practice ISO quality management system (the ISO) before KM. The ISO makes all explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge into formal papers and documents and easy to arrange. Thus, the ISO lays a conceptual and systematic foundation KM and makes the enterprise practice KM more easily. This research to discuss the relation between KM activities and global disposition strategies of MNCs. It contents analysis of KM topics by the view of technology mature degree, the relation between the ISO and KM, the relation between roles of Human Resources Management and the activities of value chain of its oversea subsidiary companies under different Knowledge Innovation strategies, and the relation between KM and strategies of global resources disposition under different technology mature degree. Following are the conclusions of this research: 1. Companies belong to low degree of technology maturity should use dispersal strategies of global resources disposition). 2. All companies should emphasize ¡¨sharing¡¨ no matter they belong to which degree of technology maturity. 3. Knowledge processing should match the company¡¦s KM system. 4. High response knowledge innovation strategy benefits the activities of value chain of oversea subsidiary companies. 5. Coordinate and control roles of Human Resource Management is more and more important when the company uses local for local innovation strategy of knowledge innovation. 6. Companies practice the ISO benefit to knowledge transfer. According to the conclusions above, there are some suggestions to businesses: 1. To build up the Software System of KM that meets the company¡¦s needs. 2. To develop professional KM manager. 3. To set up the concept of ¡¨employees¡¦ knowledge is a big fortune¡¨. 4. To establish the culture of ¡§sharing¡¨. 5. To make good use of the ISO. 6. To integrate strategies of global resources disposition and KM. 7. To play different roles of Human Resource Management when come across different KM activities.

The internet has changed the way that consumers interact with each other and with companies. Social media appear as a new communication channel for business and enabling closer interaction between enterprises and consumers. The literature explains that the social media has a vital role in the promotion mix and companies can interact with consumers through online platforms (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and others). Therefore, companies can no ignore the phenomena of social media, because it have become a tool for consumers expose their perception of products and services. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the emotional response to advertising on social media (Facebook) and the evaluation of the Coca-Cola brand, under the influence of technology readiness and consumers trust. The methodological procedures used to obtain answers to the objectives that guided this study followed the steps of the survey method, by surveying a cross-sectional, exploratory and descriptive study. To assess the relationship between different variables, we used the technique of structural equation modeling. The population was composed of all Brazilians, social media users, subscribers on Facebook. We obtained a total of 1,196 respondents, and of these, 1,037 are valid questionnaires. The choice of brand Coca-Cola gave up because is considered the most valuable in the world for 13 consecutive years and the most followed brand on Facebook worldwide and the second most followed in Brazil. The confirmation of the properties of unidimensionality, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs permitted to propose and validate an integrated model, considered as hybrid. The hybrid model tested 48 variables and 118 estimated parameters. The results show that: (1) the emotional reaction to advertising on social media has a positive and direct influence on the Coca-Cola brand evaluation; (2) consumer trust exercised direct and positive influence on brand evaluation and emotional reaction to advertising on social media; and (3) the technology readiness has not a significant influence on the emotional reaction to advertising on social media. We concluded that it is possible to determine consumer trust as the most important variable to a positive emotional reaction to advertising on social media and a positive brand evaluation. / A internet tem alterado a maneira como os consumidores interagem entre si e com as empresas. As mídias sociais aparecem como um novo canal de comunicação para os negócios permitindo maior proximidade e interação das empresas com os consumidores. A literatura explica que as mídias sociais tem um papel vital dentro do mix de promoção, sendo que as empresas podem interagir com os consumidores por meio de plataformas online (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace e outros). Assim as empresas não podem mais ignorar o fenômeno das mídias sociais, porque elas se tornaram a ferramenta para os consumidores exporem sua percepção sobre produtos e serviços. Este estudo objetivou avaliar a relação entre a reação emocional à propaganda em mídias sociais (Facebook) e a avaliação da marca Coca-Cola, sob a influência da prontidão à tecnologia e da confiança do consumidores. Os procedimentos metodológicos utilizados para obter respostas aos objetivos que orientaram este estudo, seguiram as etapas do método survey, por meio de levantamento de corte transversal, por um estudo de natureza exploratória e descritiva. Para avaliação da relação entre variáveis distintas, utilizou-se a técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais. O universo do estudo foi composto por todos brasileiros, usuários de mídias sociais, inscritos no Facebook. Obteve-se um total de 1.196 respondentes, sendo destes, 1.037 questionários válidos. A escolha da marca Coca-Cola deu-se por esta ter sido a mais valiosa do mundo por 13 anos consecutivos e a marca mais seguida no Facebook em nível mundial e a segunda mais seguida no Brasil. A confirmação das propriedades de unidimensionalidade, confiabilidade, validade convergente e discriminante dos construtos permitiu propor e validar um modelo integrado, considerado híbrido. O modelo híbrido testado, apresentou 48 variáveis e 118 parâmetros estimados. Os resultados evidenciam que: (1) a reação emocional à propaganda em mídias sociais exerceu influência positiva e direta sobre avaliação da marca Coca-Cola; (2) a confiança do consumidor exerceu influência positiva e direta sobre a avaliação da marca e a reação emocional à propaganda em mídias sociais; (3) a prontidão à tecnologia exerceu influência positiva sobre a reação emocional à propaganda em mídias sociais em nível não significante. Conclui-se que é possível determinar a confiança do consumidor como a variável chave para uma reação emocional à propaganda em mídias sociais e avaliação da marca positiva.

Sustainable transportation solutions are the goal for the future. With the technological shit happening in the transportation market towards electric vehicles, the electric road system (ERS) is a necessary technology required to reach the sustainability goals for the future. While many studies show the role of innovation in a socio-technical landscape, many neglect the diffusion process of the innovation which occurs to create a socio-technical change. The nature of this thesis is an exploratory case study with a qualitative approach. To address the study, a literature review for the diffusion of innovation, its characteristics, multi-level perspective, and technology readiness level (TRL) was presented in order to provide a better understanding and build a foundation for the research. A review of scientific articles regarding the electric road system was performed to provide insights and obtain information on the technology. The data from scientific articles were complemented by interviews from experts regarding electric road systems to obtain an understanding of technology if it was to be implemented in the future in Sweden. The empirics collected were analyzed using the literature framework and conclusions were drawn. Analyzing the data was required to find the factors hindering the technology and if there is a window of opportunity for the technology to exist in the Swedish market. Environmental sustainability has been the driving factor, but the rate of diffusion for the technology will depend on the complexity and the maturity of the technology to function as a whole working system. The study contributes to evaluating the implementation of an inductive electric road system in the Swedish context and if it could be a viable solution in the transportation market. The perspectives of the technology in the Swedish market and the motivation for the solution are discussed. An analytical contribution by evaluating if the technology could exist in the future and insights on the diffusion of the technology into the existing landscape.

Service delivery in the twenty-first generation is evolving into more digital forms expanding the consumers' experience and engaging in new forms of communications to consumers through these digital forms. Despite the initiation of self- service technology being widely accepted by consumers within the retail banking industry, the supermarket retail industry has yet to experience the same form of reception and implementation of the self- service technologies (SST). South Africa, being a developing country, any conventions that lead to the country’s progression should be embraced. Thus, the introduction of SST within retail is assumed to enhance consumer's experiences, these technologies open the prospects to generate possibilities for producing new services and enhancing efficiency.The study aimed at evaluating factors of perception through the employment of a conceptualized framework from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). An understanding of why SSTs in retail have not been widely implemented would respond to the challenges associated with the adoption of SSTs from a consumer’s perspective. The findings, from a questionnaire survey posed, revealed that there is a high expression on the intention of using the technologies should the opportunity presents itself. Most of the participants exhibited a high familiarity with the self-service technologies, online purchasing, and self- check- out services, thus the measure of intent resulted in a high margin.

Customers uses both offline and online channels before the final purchase, retailers that are operating and selling their products both online and offline can benefit from aligning the experiences on their channels by using an omni-channel strategy. The smartphone is becoming a natural part of our day-to-day life and keeping us connected, also when visiting abrick and mortar retailers. Mobile technology therefore possesses the opportunity to integrate in-store experience with the online world for creating value for customers. But many retailers are struggling in their integration efforts towards an omni-channel strategy due toall the possible technologies to invest. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the acceptance of mobile technologies in a brick and mortar retail setting, the chosen technologies are beacons and augmented reality.This research investigated the mediating effect of the four technology readiness dimensions:optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity, on the constructs of the technology acceptance model: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The research was carried out with a positivist research philosophy, inductive approach and lastly with an explanatory research design including a quantitative method. The data was collected through a survey, which got answered by 224 participants. The data was further statistically analyzed. The result showed that several of the dimensions of technology readiness had a significant effect on the constructs of technology acceptance model, especially the dimension: optimism. Thus, retailers that wants to introduce mobile technology into their stores should put emphasis on customizing their offerings towards the customers’ different level of technology readiness, especially optimism.