Deutsche Post builds eTransporter

Partnership for emission-free delivery transport
Important impetus for electric mobility in Germany

Bonn/Cologne, 14 June 2017

The new vehicle type is based on a Ford Transit chassis, which is equipped with a battery-electric drivetrain and a body structure in accordance with Post and DHL Paket specifications. Image: Deutsche Post DHL Group

StreetScooter GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post, and Ford-Werke GmbH are entering into a partnership to build battery-powered delivery vehicles. After Deutsche Post has already made its mark on the market for smaller vans with the emission-free StreetScooter, which it developed and built itself, the partnership is now moving on to a larger vehicle type: the basis is a Ford Transit chassis, which is equipped with a battery-electric drivetrain and a bodywork according to the specifications of Deutsche Post and DHL Paket.

Production will start in July 2017 and at least 2,500 units will be deployed in Deutsche Post DHL Group's inner-city delivery operations by the end of 2018. This volume will make the joint project the largest producer of battery-electric medium-duty delivery vehicles in Europe.

Both companies, Deutsche Post DHL Group and Ford, share the same goal of helping to shape the mobility of the future by reducing emissions and developing new transport solutions. This partnership is a concrete and important step towards achieving these goals.

"I see this partnership as another important boost for electromobility in Germany," says Jürgen Gerdes, Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post AG. "This step underlines Deutsche Post's innovation leadership, will relieve the burden on city centres and improve people's quality of life. We are continuing to work on a completely CO2-neutral Logistics!“

"Electromobility and innovative transport solutions for urban areas are at the centre of our efforts to align our business with the requirements of the future," says Steven Armstrong, Group Vice President and President Europe, Middle East and Africa, Ford Motor Company. "For us as the market leader in the commercial vehicle segment in Europe, this partnership is the perfect complement to our plans. With StreetScooter and the Deutsche Post DHL Group, we have a partner with enormous expertise and a global network."

In addition to the new production line, production of the existing StreetScooter models will be significantly expanded, as already announced: StreetScooter GmbH plans to produce up to 20,000 units of its successful smaller e-delivery vehicle in different variants each year in Aachen and at a future additional production site in North Rhine-Westphalia. More than 2,500 StreetScooters are already in use throughout Germany for Deutsche Post. In addition, more and more external interested parties are registering demand or have already taken delivery of StreetScooters to convert their vehicle fleets to emission-free operation.

Source: Deutsche Post DHL Group press release dated 14 June 2017

Keywords: Stakeholders, Bonn, DE-News, Mobility, News Blog NRW, eMobility, Ecology

Höfken: "We are continuing to expand our successful solar offensive".

"Solar energy is a fundamental pillar of the energy transition. In order to further support this and to achieve our goal - a complete power supply from renewable energies by 2030 - we are further expanding our successful solar offensive: In addition to expanding the solar storage programme, which is in high demand, we are currently developing a solar register for Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition, we will also promote solar carports, balcony plug-in modules, wall boxes or agro-PV projects in the future," announced Environment and Energy Minister Ulrike Höfken during the event under the motto "Solar Offensive Rhineland-Palatinate: Investments for Climate and Economy" as part of the series "Wednesdays at the MUEEF" in Mainz today. Together with guests from the solar industry, nature conservation and citizen energy, she discussed the opportunities of solar energy for the state, for example through the economic factor of the Solar Offensive or cooperative PV projects.
Rhineland-Palatinate is investing an additional 14 million euros alone in climate-friendly solar energy from the Corona-related second supplementary budget. Because energy from the sun not only protects the climate, but also stimulates the economy and generates added value and jobs in Rhineland-Palatinate, Höfken continued.

Solar storage programme: more than 3,250 applications submitted
Solar storage enables solar energy to be used even when it is cloudy or dark. "In order to cover more of their own needs from renewable energy sources, we support private households, schools, municipal properties, charitable institutions and companies in investing in a solar storage system in addition to a PV system. With success: more than 3,250 applications have already been received by the Energy Agency. And with the additional funds we can support many more projects", explained the Minister. The trades in particular benefit enormously from these investments: 1,000 new PV roof systems with solar storage bring around 19 million euros of investment to Rhineland-Palatinate, Höfken concluded.

Background:
By 2030, the electricity supply in the state is to be generated entirely from renewable energies. Every second kilowatt hour of electricity generated in Rhineland-Palatinate already consists of energy from wind, sun, biomass or water.
The solar offensive will contribute to further expanding the share of solar energy in the state. At the federal level, Rhineland-Palatinate is also campaigning within the offensive for the removal of obstacles and better legal requirements. For example, the Ministry of the Environment has lobbied in the Bundesrat for the abolition of the cap on installed PV capacity of 52 gigawatts without replacement.
In addition, the Solar Offensive includes the guideline on electric mobility in the state administration, an open space ordinance for the installation of PV systems on low-yield and species-poor grassland, as well as comprehensive advice and information from many partners.

Source: PM of the MUEEF RLP from 30.09.2020

Published 2 May 2018

Half-time of the IBA Heidelberg: The exhibition is opened

Opening of the exhibition (from left to right): Carl Zillich, Curatorial Director of the IBA Heidelberg, Hanne Rung, Project Manager of the interim presentation, Mayor of the City of Heidelberg Hans-Jürgen Heiß, Gunther Adler, State Secretary for Building, Jürgen Odszuck, First Mayor of the City of Heidelberg and Michael Braum, Managing Director of the IBA Heidelberg *© IBA Heidelberg | Tobias Dittmer*

The exhibition marking the halfway point of the IBA Heidelberg has opened: A rich accompanying programme attracted almost 1000 visitors from Thursday to Saturday, many of whom were visiting the exhibition venue, the Mark Twain Center in Heidelberg's Südstadt, for the first time.

The IBA SUMMIT, the biennial meeting of mayors, university rectors and urban planners from international "Knowledge Pearls" in Heidelberg, heralded the opening days of the IBA interim presentation on 26 April. Prof. Dr Eckart Würzner, Lord Mayor of the City of Heidelberg welcomed the guests from Stanford, Cambridge, Lund and Leuven with an introduction to the IBA: "The IBA Heidelberg is on an excellent path. It demonstrates how various strengths of our city can be interwoven. These include, for example, promoting education, developing environmentally friendly mobility, creating new living space and promoting climate-neutral urban development. The IBA has made a significant contribution to the sense of a new beginning in Heidelberg.

The vernissage of the exhibition took place at the Mark Twain Center on the evening of 27 April. Gunther Adler, State Secretary for Building, Housing and Urban Development in the Federal Ministry of the Interior spoke on the occasion about the "IBA" format from the federal government's point of view. According to Adler, the IBA is an important piece of German building culture that enjoys international renown and is worth every effort to pursue its claim to excellence. The IBA tradition encompasses many aspects: International relevance, next-practice projects, sustainable impact on the region and building culture standards. For the IBAs currently underway, it is sometimes difficult to fully meet these claims to excellence under the given framework conditions. "Nevertheless, we are seeing overwhelming results, which encourage us as a federal government to continue the quality offensive together - also within the framework of the IBA Heidelberg," the State Secretary emphasised. "We need the IBA to show us how we can find answers to relevant questions of current urban development using new and unusual methods and means - this is more urgent today than ever. The IBA's courage to experiment and to go beyond existing boundaries is important to address the quality of living, working and living in our cities in the future."

Jürgen Odszuck, First Mayor of the City of HeidelbergThe IBA's interim presentation provides an excellent overview of what it is doing in Heidelberg: it gives important new impulses on how we can further develop Heidelberg as the knowledge city of tomorrow. It promotes excellent building projects in our city. And it offers innovative approaches on how we can design processes more effectively and lead to even better results."

Michael Braum, Managing Director of the IBA Heidelberg, was pleased about the great response to the exhibition opening and welcomed the guests: "Innovation in the knowledge society uses its intellectual and creative resources. This changes the value system of the industrial society, in which diligence stood above creativity. Today, in the knowledge society, creativity may be more important than diligence. This also has implications for the city. Our cities will change more dynamically in the 21st century than they did in the course of industrialisation. This requires a new way of thinking in urban planning and architecture. The IBA would like to make a contribution to this, which can now be seen in this exhibition."

Carl Zillich, Curatorial Director of the IBA Heidelbergexplained the exhibition concept: "Before we present realised building projects for the knowledge city of tomorrow in 2022, we have focused at the halfway point on the actors, processes and ideas of the first five years. Together with the exhibition makers from 'Stiftung Freizeit', we have developed analogue and at the same time interactive forms of presentation. Thus, for different interests, individual glimpses behind the scenes of the IBA, the urban development of international science cities, but also Heidelberg institutions and initiatives are on offer. Numerous architectural models, pictures and plans have already aroused curiosity about the construction sites, which are now marked all over the city."

The opening days closed on Saturday, 28 April with a colourful programme, during which many young families in particular got an impression of the exhibition and the IBA projects.

The exhibition of the IBA interim presentation is now open until 8 July daily from Tuesdays to Sundays from 15.00 - 20.00, including public holidays.

More information about the exhibition, guided tours, registration or booking of individual group tours at:
www.iba.heidelberg.de

Keywords:
News Blog Baden-Württemberg

Incentive to use less "grey energy" in the construction of non-residential buildings

The City of Hamburg promotes the use of wood for the new construction of non-residential buildings with a floor space of 100 m² or more.

The use of wood in the building construction of new buildings is being 800 € per tonne of wood product promoted.

In addition Insulation materials with the quality mark RAL-UZ 132 or 140 (Blue Angel) or the natureplus seal with a subsidy of 10,- €/m² component area promoted. At least 80 percent by volume of the thermally insulating building component must consist of the sustainable insulation material.

In an office building with 1,000 m² of heated floor space and solid wood exterior walls and ceilings, about 200 tonnes of wood are used. This would be eligible for funding of 160,000 €. The maximum amount of funding per building is 250,000 €*.

Link to the website of the Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank:
www.ifbhh.de/nichtwohngebaeude

*Data are only estimates for orientation, data without guarantee.