With efficiency, greater electrification and renewable energies, it is possible to organise completely greenhouse gas-neutral transport without having to accept restrictions on growth and quality of life. This is the result of scenarios developed by the Öko-Institut and presented today in Berlin by Parliamentary State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter. The scenarios for greenhouse gas-neutral transport were developed together with key players from business and society.
Schwarzelühr-Sutter: "The options are there, the opportunities for the economy, the environment and people are great. Renewbility shows us that climate protection in transport is possible! And without sacrificing growth and prosperity, but on the contrary with a better quality of life. Climate protection in transport is no longer a question of whether. It's about how we design climate-neutral transport in the long term."
The results show: Complete decarbonisation of the transport sector is possible - and there are various options for achieving this. To achieve this, the energy basis of transport must be switched to renewable energies. And: Efficient vehicles and modes of transport must be prioritised. The latter is particularly important for two reasons. Firstly, it saves a lot of costs if renewable energies are not wasted unnecessarily. And secondly, it drastically improves the quality of life if, in addition to an energy transition, more environmentally friendly modes of transport are used.
Until now, it was often assumed that environmentally friendly transport would ultimately have to restrict the mobility of many people or the economy. The results of Renewbility disprove this. The research project shows that, on the contrary, greenhouse gas-neutral transport can actually promote growth and improve mobility and quality of life. Numerous discussions with stakeholders from politics, business and civil society form the basis for looking to the future. Suggestions from these discussions have set the direction. The results brochure, key graphics and further information can be found at www.renewbility.de .
An overview of all BMUB mobility projects can be found here: www.mobil-wandel.de
Since September 2018, balcony PV modules may generally be connected in every apartment. Berlin has now greatly simplified the registration process. Berliners can thus become their own energy supplier with little effort and save cash.
Stromnetz Berlin GmbH has now greatly simplified the registration process. It now only requires an A4 sheet, which can be downloaded from the company's website. Various stakeholders from the ranks of Berlin's solar associations and companies collaborated on this simplification.
Balcony modules are already available for less than 300 euros and can recoup their initial costs through saved electricity costs after about four to six years. Due to manufacturer guarantees of up to 25 years for many of the devices, returns of up to 15 percent per year are possible. Before buying, it is essential to compare offers and prices.
market overviews, the DGS - German Society for Solar Energy offers the platform pvplug.com an. In addition, MachDeinenStrom.de is considered a reputable portal.
Berlin: On 4 May 2018, BUND presented a shutdown plan for nuclear power plants (NPPs) and coal-fired power plants. This analysis shows that the decommissioning of the most climate-damaging coal-fired power plants by 2020 and a significant acceleration of the nuclear phase-out in Germany are possible without jeopardising security of supply. "The shutdown plan is a call to action for the political actors to finally take action," explains BUND Chair Hubert Weiger at the presentation of the shutdown plan in Berlin.
In the shutdown plan, BUND has drawn up a concrete performance balance and names power plants as well as annual figures for the shutdown. The focus is on the years 2020 and 2023. This period is considered to be a particular challenge for supply security, since on the one hand it is the legal date for the phase-out of nuclear power. On the other hand, a good half of the coal-fired power plants must be taken off the grid in order to achieve the German climate target for 2020.
The BUND shutdown plan shows that this is possible and that significantly more coal-fired power plants can be taken off the grid in the short term than has been discussed so far, and that this can also be combined with a significant acceleration of the nuclear phase-out. As a result, the power surplus in Germany is declining, but the supply remains guaranteed even in hours without sun and with little wind. "In the first quarter of 2018, Germany exported on average the electricity production of five large power plants. Against this background alone, it is surprising that the new federal government has not agreed on the short-term decommissioning of the most climate-damaging coal-fired power plants," says the BUND chairman. "We want to show with our analysis that much more is possible if the political will is there."
The BUND shutdown plan shows that security of supply can be ensured if politicians do not continue to wait, but actively promote the energy transition in parallel to the shutdowns. The calculations of the power balance are mainly based on values from, for example, the Federal Network Agency or the transmission system operators. Deviations and other assumptions are justified. "With our analysis, we want to provide an important impetus for a transparent debate within the framework of the amendment to the Atomic Energy Act and the coal phase-out commission that is being constituted," explains Weiger.
In a shutdown list for coal-fired power plants, BUND proposes the units that would have to be taken off the grid first in order to achieve the 2020 climate target. It concerns all larger coal-fired power plants that were connected to the grid before 1990, in order to reduce the coal capacity on the electricity market to 20 gigawatts. As a new measure to enable a socially acceptable coal phase-out and to safeguard security of supply in extreme situations, the environmental association proposes the introduction of an additional coal phase-out reserve of six to eight gigawatts.
"The Paris Climate Agreement requires the phase-out of coal before 2030. The federal government is responsible for achieving the climate targets, it must enshrine the phase-out in law and ensure a just structural change. To achieve the 2020 climate target, it must now launch an immediate programme. Waiting any longer is irresponsible," continued the BUND chair. Due to the inactivity of climate policy in recent years, the German "climate problem" has become increasingly acute. According to the latest emission forecasts, the German climate protection target for 2020 will be missed by ten percentage points.
At the same time as the coal phase-out, the nuclear power plants can also be taken off the grid more quickly than required by law. The seven nuclear power plants that are currently still connected to the grid represent a constant safety risk for the population and must be decommissioned as soon as possible. So far, however, the federal government does not want to use the amendment to the Atomic Energy Act to really accelerate the nuclear phase-out. "BUND demands an immediate nuclear phase-out. At the very least, the current revision of the Atomic Energy Act must be used to legally prohibit further transfers of electricity volumes," says Weiger. Without this transfer, the nuclear power plants would run for a total of ten years less and the production of 300 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste would be avoided.
Getting out of nuclear power and coal and still securing the energy supply - this is possible if the energy transition is driven forward. "It is a matter of further expanding renewable energies with commitment and creating the energy-economic framework conditions for an energy turnaround that is essentially based on wind energy and photovoltaics," says Weiger. This means an expansion of flexible decentralised CHP power plants, a reduction in electricity consumption, optimised utilisation of the electricity grids and a significant increase in the possibilities for load reduction.
Vancouver celebrates topping-out ceremony of the world's tallest wooden residential building at present
26.08.2016 - In Vancouver, Canada, a world record in timber construction has been set - almost casually and without much fuss. The wooden structure of the 18-storey student dormitory of the University of British Columbia was erected in 66 working days and celebrated its topping-out ceremony on 10 August. The steel roof structure and parts of the prefabricated façade, which was insulated with wood fibre and clad with weatherproof HPL panels, are still missing.
According to the current schedule, the project, which cost around € 35 million, could be completed and handed over to the owner in September next year. Then over 400 students will move into over 300 flats. The construction consists of a combination of glulam columns and cross-laminated timber floors - the foundation, ground floor and staircase lift houses were concreted.
We use cookies to optimize our website and services.
Functional
Always active
Technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a particular service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that have not been requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access, which is solely for statistical purposes.Technical storage or access used solely for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary consent from your Internet service provider, or additional records from third parties, information stored or accessed for this purpose cannot generally be used alone to identify you.
Marketing
Technical storage or access is necessary to create user profiles, to send advertising or to track the user on a website or across multiple websites for similar marketing purposes.
