ifeu life cycle assessment of electric cars

Published 27. January 2017

In contrast to combustion engines, the amount of energy required to manufacture the batteries plays a greater role in electric cars. According to the Heidelberg IFEU Institute, one kWh of battery capacity can save around 125 kg of CO₂-emissions. The production of an electricity storage system with 24 kWh therefore produces around three tonnes of CO₂ emissions. In contrast, the emissions produced when building an electric motor are lower. As a result, the e-car has to reduce its driving emissions by around 2.74 tonnes of CO₂ offset. This means that if we concentrate too much on the emission of greenhouse gases, we could end up reducing CO₂-The overall balance of a product should not be lost sight of. The latest, most economical model is not always the best choice and the frugal use of an existing product is the better way. In short, a vehicle should not be purchased as long as the CO₂-backpack has not been emptied.

Link:
www.ifeu.de/...elektromobilitaet
www.emobil-umwelt.de

Keywords: Renewable, Research, Climate protection, Mobility, Resource efficiency, Environmental policy, eMobility, Life cycle assessment, Ecology

Published 19 October 2019

Freiburg launches timber construction offensive

With the timber construction promotion programme, the city wants to promote concrete timber buildings, especially in residential construction

Timber construction guide presents 29 realised and pioneering timber construction projects in Freiburg

More climate protection with the renewable raw material wood. Timber construction in Freiburg is an important instrument in climate protection and indispensable for achieving the city's ambitious climate protection targets. Timber construction can make an effective contribution to reducing CO2 emissions.

For this reason, Environment Mayor Gerda Stuchlik and Building Mayor Martin Haag are today presenting the new timber construction guide and the planned timber construction funding programme, which will be presented to the municipal council for approval at its meeting on 22 October. "18 years after the introduction of the successful "Energy-conscious refurbishment" funding programme, the city is launching another municipal funding programme for more climate protection and sustainability in the building sector with the timber construction funding programme," explains Environment Mayor Gerda Stuchlik. And Building Mayor Martin Haag: "Timber buildings are not only traditional buildings, but also innovative buildings that harbour great potential. For this reason, I am certain that our timber construction funding programme will provide a massive boost, especially in Freiburg's residential construction sector."
The wood that grows and is harvested in the city forest and also in the region can be used in many ways in the construction sector. Wood can easily be used instead of energy and resource-intensive materials such as concrete, steel or aluminium.

Freiburg's municipal forest and the utilisation and use of its wood reduce the carbon footprint by binding, storing and avoiding carbon dioxide. This means that a total of over 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide can be stored or avoided by 2050. For this reason, the city council wants to further promote the use of wood in the construction sector. In 2017, the municipal council commissioned the administration to launch a municipal timber construction promotion programme and to create a timber construction guide, which presents already completed and pioneering timber construction projects in the city district.

Both building blocks are now available, the new timber construction guide and the planned timber construction support programme

The new timber construction guide presents 29 already realised and pioneering timber construction projects in Freiburg. The innovative buildings are intended to inspire and convince interested clients, project organisers, architects, planners and students to take a closer look at timber construction and discover its aesthetics, cost-effectiveness and potential for climate protection and ultimately implement it in their own projects.

pdf-Download Timber Construction Guide (10 MB)

The projects for the timber construction guide were selected by a jury of representatives from the Chamber of Architects, the Architecture Forum, a timber construction engineer, the forestry office and proHolz Schwarzwald. The variety of projects, from the canteen of the Loretto School to the extension of the Breisacher Hof in the city centre, shows how great the potential of timber construction is. From the summit of Schauinsland, where the observation tower and the radionuclide station are two pioneering timber construction projects for their time, to the residential homes in modular timber construction in Merzhauser Strasse and Höllentalstrasse, the projects spread across Freiburg show that even extremely demanding structural challenges can be solved using timber construction.

The timber construction guide not only explains technical details, but in addition to planners and builders, the residents and users of the selected buildings were also asked about their experiences. The timber construction guide was produced in collaboration with proHolz Schwarzwald.

"It is an important signal that the city of Freiburg, with its pioneering role in climate protection and sustainability, is increasingly focusing on timber construction and setting up a municipal funding programme. This strengthens craftsmanship and the timber construction industry in the region as well as sustainable forest management and thus climate protection and regional value creation beyond the city limits," explains Michael Hafner from proHolz Schwarzwald.

The planned timber construction funding programme, for which around 300,000 euros in funding will be available in 2020, which will be partly financed from climate protection funds from the concession fee, is intended to realise even more timber buildings in the future, especially in residential construction in Freiburg.

Builders and planners are currently increasingly discovering the possibilities and designing pioneering timber buildings or timber hybrid buildings. With the amendment to the state building regulations that came into force on 1 August 2019, the state government has made a further contribution to facilitating the use of wood and putting wood on an equal footing with other building materials in Baden-Württemberg.

However, the city wants to promote the use of wood not only for design reasons, but above all for ecological reasons. The city's timber construction programme consists of three components: The financial promotion of timber construction, the timber construction prize and the promotion and support through advice, networking and advertising of timber construction. The city has already created an additional half-time architect position for this purpose, which is based at the Building Law Office and starts work on 1 December.

The city wants to promote specific timber construction projects with the planned timber construction funding programme. The aim is to bind as much CO2 as possible in the long term in order to counteract climate change. The new programme is also intended to promote residential construction projects with four or more residential units as well as additional living space in existing buildings through extensions. The funding programme has easy-to-understand criteria so that there is as much time as possible to advise those wishing to build. Funding is based on the mass of the building.

The second component of the timber construction programme is the awarding of a timber construction prize. The aim of the prize is to highlight individual buildings in Freiburg and thus present building with wood to a wider public. The city's timber construction prize will be awarded for the first time in early 2021 for buildings completed in 2019 and 2020.

In addition to the new funding programme and the future timber construction prize, the timber construction funding office in the Building Law Office will advise interested parties and organise consultations in future.

Keywords:
Building materials / Construction, DE-News, Funding, Wood construction, Climate protection, Communities, NaWaRohs, Sustainable management, News Blog Baden-Württemberg, Quarters, Settlements, Housing, Housing policy, Life cycle assessment, Ecology

Published 11 November 2020

Greenpeace study: Reduction of climate-damaging subsidies can relieve federal budget by 46 billion euros annually

*Neurath coal-fired power plant near Grevenbroich in the Rhenish lignite mining region. Steam rises from cooling towers. © Photo: Bernd Lauter / Greenpeace*

Hamburg, 11. 11. 2020 - By phasing out ten particularly climate-damaging subsidies in the energy, transport and agricultural sectors, Germany can generate up to 46 billion euros in revenue annually.

This is the result of a new study by the "Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft" on behalf of Greenpeace. (Study "Ten climate-damaging subsidies in focus" online at: https://bit.ly/2JVu3tq).

A total of almost 100 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents would be saved annually compared to today if the subsidies under consideration were reformed. This is roughly equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from passenger car traffic in Germany. The study appears in the run-up to the publication of the tax estimate by Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced for Thursday. It shows how the federal government can simultaneously reduce the immense new debt caused by the Corona crisis and make progress on climate protection. "Now the German government can kill two birds with one stone by reducing climate-damaging subsidies: lower CO2 emissions and relieve the budget by billions. In doing so, it eliminates significant disadvantages for climate-friendly industries and can accelerate the shift towards a sustainable, ecologically oriented economy," says Bastian Neuwirth, climate expert at Greenpeace.

A ranking examines the phase-out of ten particularly climate-damaging subsidies in Germany and sorts them according to where the most tax money and CO2 can be saved. The abolition of the tax exemption for kerosene, the withdrawal of tax concessions for electricity generation and the reduction of electricity price exemptions for industry prove to be particularly effective for climate protection and budget restructuring. In arithmetical terms, the German government could save around 73 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents and 18 billion euros of taxpayers' money each year with these measures alone. In the middle of the ranking are the VAT exemption for international flights, the distance allowance, the diesel privilege and the reduced VAT rate on animal products. "Continuing to hand out extra money for climate-damaging economic activity is completely out of step with the times. Each of these climate-damaging subsidies must be overturned as soon as possible," says Neuwirth.

Reduction of subsidies makes German 2030 climate target achievable

The gradual dismantling of the ten subsidies that are particularly harmful to the climate can shorten the Federal Government's delay in achieving its own climate targets: according to the Federal Environment Agency, Germany will emit around 71 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents too much in 2030 with the measures it has adopted so far to achieve the 2030 climate target. A rapid reduction in subsidies can therefore help to remedy this situation. At the international level, Germany and the G7 countries already committed in 2016 to reducing climate-damaging subsidies by 2025.