3:42 min, 9.2019
Project Info: http://sdg21.eu/db/muenchen-riem
CO2-Emissions should be reduced by 65 percent over the next ten years compared to 1990 in order to achieve climate neutrality - Energy system must be converted to 100 percent renewable energies by 2040 - Investment of 3,000 billion euros required to meet European Green Deal and Paris climate targets - German EU Council Presidency can ensure that Corona aid packages link economic stimulus with climate protection
The European Green Deal sets the bar very high: Europe is to become climate neutral by 2050. However, these targets can only be achieved if CO2-emissions by 2030 not only by 40 percent compared to 1990, but by 65 percent. To achieve this, energy production would have to be completely converted to renewable energies by 2040. The necessary investments are high, but they will pay off. These are the most important results of a new study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). On the occasion of the German EU Council Presidency, the economists from DIW Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin involved in the study have calculated under which circumstances the goals of the European Green Deal could be achieved and what costs this would entail. "So far, the EU Commission has assumed a CO2-reduction target of 40 percent. But this will not make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, as our calculations show. The targets must be much more ambitious," says study author Claudia Kemfert.
The authors have therefore compared a baseline scenario of 40 percent with a climate protection scenario that assumes a CO2-reduction of 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990, as demanded by some groups in the EU Parliament. In fact, the calculations show that under these circumstances, the climate neutrality targeted in the Green Deal could be achieved. "However, this is only possible if we switch our energy system to 100 percent renewables - and do so already by 2040," says study author Karlo Hainsch. Even with a complete switch to renewables, the energy supply would remain secure, as the study's hourly calculations show - even for countries that still rely heavily on fossil or nuclear energy, such as Poland and France.
"The German EU presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection." Christian von Hirschhausen
Such a scenario would save around 60 billion tonnes of CO2. "However, a switch to 100 percent renewable energy cannot be had for free. Extensive investments will have to be made," says study author Leonard Göke. According to the calculations, the investment required for renewable energies amounts to around 3000 billion euros. This is an enormous amount, but it is offset by savings of almost 2000 billion euros alone, which would no longer have to be spent on importing fossil fuels. Since both the EU and most national governments in Europe have put together extensive aid packages because of the Corona crisis, these could form a good basis for supporting the necessary investments.
"The German EU Presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection," says study author Christian von Hirschhausen. "To do so, it must ensure that the extensive stimulus packages under the European Green Deal are used for investments in renewable energies and energy efficiency." In addition, there is still the Just Transition Fund, which the EU has set up to provide financial support for structural change in the regions of Europe that are affected very differently by the measures. "Particular care must be taken to ensure that the funds are channelled into sustainable climate-neutral projects and not used for the de facto stabilisation of fossil fuel development paths," warns study author Pao-Yu Oei. The current economic crisis, which is setting new parameters worldwide and across sectors, could now be used to decisively tackle the necessary measures towards climate neutrality.
Source: DIW press release of July 8, 2020
Keywords:
Renewable, Funding, Climate protection, Mobility, Sustainable management, News Blog Europe (without DE), Resource efficiency, Transition Town, Environmental policy
Since April 2020, the Öko-Institut has been conducting research into how urban neighbourhoods can be sustainably transformed, using two neighbourhoods in the swarming city of Darmstadt as examples, in the project Transformative Strategies for Integrated Neighbourhood Development (TRASIQ 2). The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the project, which is led by the Öko-Institut and involves the City of Darmstadt, the Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research (ILS) and the "Team Ewen" agency.
The project focuses on the research topics of mobility, heat supply and efficient use of living space. Heat supply is an important key to climate-friendly living. How and where, for example, can district heating be expanded in existing properties? How can we increase the share of renewable energies in the heat supply? The size of the living space also contributes to how environmentally friendly a person lives. What needs to be done to ensure that people have the living space they need in their particular phase of life through intelligent apartment swaps? How can neighbourhoods be redesigned so that residents can organise their mobility ecologically?
In September 2020, the project partners with stakeholders from the Urban Planning Office, the Office of Economic and Urban Development and the Mobility Office of the City of Darmstadt, the Urban and Transport Planning Department, HEAG mobilo, Bauverein AG, GHW Wohnungsgesellschaft Hessen, the Tenants' Association and the Office of the Ombudsman, developed and exchanged initial ideas for the two neighbourhoods as part of TRASIQ 2 at a workshop.
Citizens are involved at an early stage. The instrument of the planning forums makes it possible to select citizens with different perspectives and interests - from the residents, from the city as a whole and from those wishing to move in.
The aim of the project is to transfer the results from the TRASIQ 1 project, which focused on a future quarter on a conversion site, to the transformation of two existing quarters. "The challenge here is that the successful implementation of transformation processes in existing neighbourhoods is more difficult than in new-build neighbourhoods. In existing neighbourhoods, the starting point is the urban planning conditions and the local people," says project leader Dr. Matthias Buchert from the Öko-Institut.
The existing neighbourhoods are Darmstadt's Martinsviertel and Kranichstein-Süd. That the measures and models that TRASIQ 2 will produce can be transferred to other neighborhoods and other cities is an overarching goal. "Darmstadt is a sought-after place to live and work. The pressure on the housing market is high. The sustainable design and further development of existing neighbourhoods is therefore an important and often underestimated component of a smart and balanced strategy for the Darmstadt of tomorrow," says the Lord Mayor of the City of Science Darmstadt, Jochen Partsch.
Roadmaps" are to be created in the process. The idea is based on the existing renovation roadmaps for residential buildings. In these, building owners are shown the steps of an energetic refurbishment up to a climate-neutral building. "This idea is being developed further here. On the one hand, it will be transferred to neighbourhoods, and on the other hand, other sustainability aspects beyond the energy perspective, such as land use, mobility, resource use and greenhouse gases, can be addressed," says Sebastian Eichhorn from the Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research.
The new neighbourhood from TRASIQ 1, from whose planning an online assessment tool has emerged, is the Ludwigshöhviertel in Darmstadt. The online tool can serve as an additional source of information for the municipal administration - in this case, specifically Darmstadt - interested citizens, investors and decision-makers. "In the planning forums, these target groups were included in the evaluation and solution of possible conflicts of objectives of sustainable neighbourhood development," says Dr. Christoph Ewen, who accompanied the project for Team Ewen and is involved in TRASIQ 2 accordingly.
The starting point for TRASIQ 1 was that specialist administrations, future investors, but also suppliers, service providers and future residents each have their own ideas and goals for a neighbourhood. Often, plans are drawn up without coordinating with each other and without knowing the effects on sustainability. Building a sustainable neighbourhood, on the other hand, requires such a joint overview and assessment.
Further information on the TRASIQ 1 and TRASIQ 2 website
Source: PM of Öko-Institut e.V. from 9.10.2020
Keywords:
Stock, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Mobility, New books and studies, News Blog Hesse, Quarters, Recycling, Resource efficiency, Tools
A research project conducted by natureplus in conjunction with IFEU compares insulation materials with regard to their environmental impact throughout their entire life cycle, including recovery and recycling.
Which insulation material is the best? This question is extremely popular in the construction industry and can ultimately only be answered in the context of the respective construction. In particular, there has so far been a lack of a holistic overview that enables builders and planners to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the various insulation material alternatives in terms of their life cycle assessment, without having to disregard subsequent disposal. Such a study was presented by ifeu (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg) and natureplus e.V. at the end of 2019. Their research project "Holistic Evaluation of Different Insulation Alternatives" was funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (dbu) and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment. It is to be presented for the first time on 21 February as part of the Vienna BauZ! congress.
From the cradle to the grave
With this study, a comprehensive ecological evaluation of insulation material alternatives was carried out, especially with regard to possible future disposal paths of the insulation materials (from the "cradle to the grave"). The most common types of insulation materials based on mineral, renewable and synthetic raw materials were evaluated, and their application in different building components to meet specified requirements for thermal and cold protection was compared. The life cycle assessment data of the insulation materials for the manufacturing phase were taken from the natureplus partner IBO Vienna after researching various databases. Subsequently, the waste life cycle assessments were prepared by ifeu, in which, in addition to the processing loads, the respective benefits from the secondary products or energy recovery were quantified and included in the balance. For each insulation material, the most favourable disposal option from an ecological point of view was determined. These disposal options were included in the product life cycle assessments and the final disposal of the insulation material was also taken into account.
Material recycling hardly takes place
The waste life cycle assessments of all insulation materials show in most cases the specific advantages of material recycling and thus the sense of returning the waste masses to the economic cycle. The processed waste masses from the insulating materials can be further processed into (other) products or also returned to the original production as raw material. In particular, the recycling of synthetic and some mineral insulating materials significantly reduces the ecological rucksack that these products bring with them from the production phase. Material recycling also makes sense in the case of products made from renewable raw materials, although their use as substitute fuel in cement works is currently still more advantageous from the point of view of climate protection as long as hard coal is burned there instead. In practice, however, the recycling of insulation materials is only practised in isolated cases or for research purposes. The report therefore concludes that research and development of possible material recycling should be promoted in industry and in the field of waste disposal.
In the result Advantages for insulating materials from renewable raw materials
If material recycling takes place at the end of the product's life - contrary to current practice - blow-in insulation materials and flexible mats based on hemp or jute perform best, provided that all insulation types can be used, followed by polystyrene EPS boards and wood fibre mats. Where, as for example on the exterior wall, only board-type insulation materials can be used, EPS performs best, provided that the EPS is recycled in such a way that EPS beads are saved in a subsequent application.
If end-of-life disposal is as in the status quo and the energy benefit is included in waste incineration, the above-mentioned products made from renewable raw materials remain in the lead, but polystyrene deteriorates and dry-process wood-fibre insulation boards improve, even moving into first place on the exterior wall. Without taking into account the energy benefit, wood fibre boards and EPS insulation materials lose their advantages compared to other board and mat insulation materials.
Source: natureplus, press release, 21.1.2020
Keywords:
Building materials / Construction, Procurement, DE-News, Research, Climate protection, NaWaRohs, Sustainable management, New books and studies, Recycling, Resource efficiency, Thermal insulation, Life cycle assessment
Today, Thursday, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU officially announced their agreement on new EU rules for occupational pensions. Thanks to the persistence of Green shadow rapporteur Bas Eickhout, we were able to push through important demands in the final "Directive on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision". Currently, occupational pension funds across Europe manage [...]
Read the whole article on the website of Sven Giegold - Member of the Green Group in the European Parliament
Keywords:
Climate protection, News Blog Europe (without DE), Environmental policy, Economics
