The Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH) has presented a free tool for the individual design and holistic evaluation of tenant electricity concepts. These offer tenants in apartment buildings the opportunity to benefit from cheap renewable electricity generated on site. However, the economic viability depends on a large number of factors, which is why tenant electricity providers can hardly estimate whether [...]
Kategorie für Blog: Ecology
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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 the political [...]
Since 1 May 2018, the amendments to the Hamburg Building Code (HBauO) have come into force. The resolution on this was passed in June 2017. In the future, wood can be used for construction projects with a height of up to 22 metres - i.e. approximately 6 to 7 storeys. Also in the area of [...]
Resilient Cities Congress of the Cities Network ICLEI in Bonn The Paris Climate Agreement involves all levels of government in addressing climate change. At the local level, these are cities and municipalities. The ICLEI network of cities, which includes 22 German cities, will meet in Bonn from 26 to 28 April for the [...]
The Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Transport is funding new charging stations for more e-mobility in the state with up to 40 percent. Not only municipalities are eligible to apply, but also companies that want to set up publicly accessible charging stations. In Saxony-Anhalt, funding applications for the installation of public e-charging stations can be submitted with immediate effect. With their publication in the ministerial gazette, the [...]
Renewable energy growth varies widely from country to country / Greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union rose slightly last year / Agora Energiewende and Sandbag present report on EU energy transition Brussels, 30 January 2018. In 2017, wind, solar and biomass in the European Union generated [...]
Since 1999, ABG Frankfurt Holding has built around 3,000 apartments in passive house standard for residents from 180 nations, ranging from subsidized apartments to condominiums. Due to the low ancillary costs and the high living comfort, there are hardly any vacancies. "We build cheaper than the competition, which either doesn't want or can't do Passive House," [...]
While two large providers are planning a merger, another company is entering the market in Munich with Oply. But it is still unclear when the city will be able to actively promote the rental system. http://sz.de/1.3921869
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE presented the fourth edition of their study on the cost price of electricity from renewable energies on March 20, 2018. In it, they analyze current costs and forecast further developments based on technology-specific learning rates and market scenarios up to the year 2035. "The cost forecasts of the previous studies [...]
As of now, the 192-page guide of the AKP - Fachzeitschrift für Alternative Kommunal Politik can be purchased for 15 euros nominal fee plus shipping costs. Climate protection has long been a topic in the councils, climate change adaptation in many places not yet.
PolRess is a project of Freie Universität Berlin, the Environmental Policy Research Centre, together with Ecologic Institute and Öko-Institut.The project accompanies the process of implementing and updating the German Resource Efficiency Programme ProgRess with scientific studies. The analyses examine relevant actors and their positions on various fields of action and starting points of resource policy, instruments [...]
The Federal Environment Agency's publication "Urban Mining" was published in July 2017 and explains the possibilities of extracting raw materials in urban areas, for example from buildings, infrastructures and durable consumer and fixed assets. While waste management is essentially concerned with waste generation, urban mining looks at the total stock of durable goods. The aim is [...]
The Ministry of the Environment in Rhineland-Palatinate has launched the "1,000 efficient stoves for Rhineland-Palatinate" funding programme. As part of this, the replacement of old fireplaces with modern wood-burning systems is financially supported if they received approval between 1 January 1985 and 1 January 1995. The subsidy amounts to up to €800. The [...]
The new website was implemented by the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) as part of the project "Resource Policy at Municipal and Regional Level" (kommRess) on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency. Resource protection is becoming increasingly important in environmental policy. Against this background, the Federal Environment Ministry wants to provide greater support to municipalities in matters of resource efficiency. The [...]
Funding guideline comes into force on 1 March 2018 With the so-called small series guideline, the Federal Environment Ministry is launching a new funding programme as part of the National Climate Initiative. Funding is available for products and processes for climate protection that are already ready for the market but have not yet made the breakthrough. The guideline will enter into force on 1 March 2018 [...].
4.25 TWh from solar energy in NRW last year Düsseldorf. 4.25 terawatts (TWh)! That's how much electricity the photovoltaic systems installed in North Rhine-Westphalia produced last year (2017). This corresponds to the average annual electricity demand of more than 1 million four-person households. In total, there are 8.7 million households in NRW.
Incentive for less "grey energy" in the construction of non-residential buildings The City of Hamburg promotes the use of wood in the construction of new non-residential buildings with a floor area of 100 m² or more. The use of wood in the construction of new buildings is subsidised with € 800 per tonne of wood product.
The vital, functionally mixed city is the guiding principle of sustainable urban development. Urban production can make an important contribution to the mix of functions. After years of functional segregation, it shows ways in which new city-affine production typologies, manufactories, small businesses and crafts can achieve more functional mixing in the various city quarters and secure or restore supply qualities.
Today, Thursday, the European Parliament voted on new rules on occupational pensions (1). Thanks to the persistence of the European Parliament's negotiating delegation, sustainable and environmental criteria must be taken into account in future investments, as we Greens/EFA Group have proposed.
Modern mobility is more than e-car subsidies, which is why Baden-Württemberg has introduced a purchase premium of 50% (max. 4,000 euros) for commercial eCargobikes. In an interview with cargobike.jetzt, Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) explains the Bicycle STRATEGY in the southwest: www.cargobike.jetzt/interview-winfried-hermann
New study makes the progress of the German states in the energy transition transparent Berlin/Stuttgart, 16 November 2017. Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bavaria are the leading German states in the field of renewable energies. This is the result of the comparison of the German states published today by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and the Center for Solar Energy and [...]
The successful implementation of the energy transition requires a variety of technologies that solve different tasks in the energy system. Missing components must be supplemented and optimization processes implemented. Technological innovations, supported by social innovations, play a central role in this. Now, several projects are systematically investigating the potentials of the individual energy technologies and the innovation needs [...]
From building to neighbourhood: The current issue of the specialist journal "Information on Spatial Development" (IzR), published by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), shows how entire urban districts can be developed in a climate-friendly and energy-efficient way.
A broad alliance of more than 50 large and medium-sized companies and business associations is calling on the parties in the exploratory talks to make climate protection the central task of the future German government.
The ARD documentary shows the two sustainable housing estates Stellwerk 60 Cologne Nippes and the French Quarter in Tübingen.
Even if the share of electric vehicles on German roads increases significantly by 2050, the demand for raw materials for electromobility can be met. Global deposits of lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and platinum significantly exceed the forecast demand. These are the findings of a recent analysis by the Öko-Institut commissioned by [...].
BN - Is the roof of my house or company building suitable for a photovoltaic system or a solar thermal system? This question can now be answered quickly and conveniently online with the help of the new solar roof cadastre of the city of Bonn. In a building-specific map display, a colored marking indicates whether and to what extent [...]
Since the first edition of the FNR brochure "Straw Insulated Buildings" in 2013, building with this environmentally friendly and cost-effective material has developed positively.
Bonn/Düsseldorf. The fast, affordable and complete energy transition towards 100 percent renewable energies needs pioneers and trailblazers who inspire others. With the annual awarding of the German Solar Prize, EUROSOLAR puts these actors in the public eye and offers new impulses for a decentralized, citizen-oriented and regenerative conversion of the energy system. EUROSOLAR [...]
In its statement published on 2 October 2017, the German Advisory Council on the Environment calls on the incoming German government to initiate the coal phase-out without delay. The upcoming legislative period offers the last chance to set the course for an appropriate implementation of the Paris climate targets in Germany.
In future, three citizens' energy cooperatives will bear the "Citizens' Energy Project 2017" award. A total of 17 projects nationwide took part in the competition for the title. The three winning projects received a particularly large number of votes during a two-month internet voting process, in which around a thousand interested parties took part, and were also successful in the evaluation by the jury of committee representatives [...]
In its August issue, ÖKO-TEST magazine evaluated 15 different roof insulation materials, including 5 with the natureplus seal of approval. The products are mainly suitable for insulation between rafters. The good performance of conventional products made of glass and rock wool, which all achieved "good", was striking. Of the natureplus-certified products, 2 insulation materials made of wood fibres - "Gutex Thermoflex" [...]
To date, the "Hoher Weg" eco estate in Hamm is the second largest timber housing estate in Germany with 120 residential units. This is astonishing because it was built back in the 1990s. The photos were taken in August 2017: The largest German timber housing estate was also built in Hamm: http://sdg21.eu/db/wohnpark-heinrichstrasse More information about the estate in [...]
Issue 3 of the journal IzR on sustainable urban development Four days, more than 30,000 participants, 167 states, numerous lectures, workshops and exhibitions: Habitat III, the World Summit on Human Settlements hosted by the United Nations in autumn 2016, was a major event. The result is the New Urban Agenda, a new global action programme for urban development. But how [...]
Two studies on renewable energy this week announced something that concerns everyone. One, in the journal Joule, calculates for 139 countries how the switch to one hundred percent energy from solar, wind and hydro could work by 2050. In the process, 24 million more jobs would be created than lost [...]
