Shortly after the shutdown of the Swiss old reactor Mühleberg it goes Philippsburg 2 nuclear power plantfrom the grid on 31.12.2019 as planned. This will be followed in a few months by Fessenheimthe two oldest reactors in France. In addition, at the end of the year in Sweden, the 45-year-old "Ring neck 2" from the grid. Shutting down nuclear reactors significantly reduces the risk of accidents and avoids masses of radiating nuclear waste and its transport in Castor containers.
In 1989, there were still 177 nuclear reactors in Europe. An interactive map of the remaining 126 still in operation (As of 1 January 2019, there should still be 121 after the shutdown of the above-mentioned nuclear power plants) can be found here: www.global2000.at/karte-atomkraft-europa
Timber construction can be cheaper than standard construction - At the same time significantly better CO2 balance
MNP Architects Munich, School Wangen
Current comparative calculations based on realized new buildings in timber construction show: Building with wood does not have to be more expensive than the standard construction method. This result is surprising, as it contradicts the common perception that timber construction is more expensive. At the same time, the CO2 balance of timber construction is significantly better; as a result, its CO2 avoidance costs are very favourable, in some cases even negative. An expansion of timber construction would therefore be climate protection at comparatively low cost.
The architect and developer of the Legep construction software, Holger König, has balanced the construction costs and CO2 emissions for the production of five public and private timber buildings and compared them with the results that would have been produced for the same buildings if they had been built in the conventional way. Legep can be used to calculate the manufacturing and life-cycle costs, energy requirements and environmental impact of buildings. In this case, König only looked at manufacturing. For the prices, he used current sirAdos data, which represent the market very realistically. He then went to the trouble that many architects, civil engineers and building owners shy away from: He modeled the buildings with the same area and cubature and the same energy standard, but replaced the wooden components with conventional materials - depending on the building project, solid masonry in brick, sand-lime brick or aerated concrete, or a column-beam supporting structure made of reinforced concrete. He used reinforced concrete for the floor slab, cellar, ceilings and flat roofs, mineral wool or polystyrene for the insulation, and plastic or aluminum frames for the windows. König explains the fact that four out of five buildings in timber construction cost less or the same as in standard construction with the industrial-technical development that many timber construction companies have undergone in recent years. Two of the timber buildings even achieved a negative CO2 balance in the manufacturing phase due to the large amount of renewable raw materials used, which act as carbon stores. In the other three buildings, a slightly higher proportion of non-wooden components, which every timber building also contains, caused the slightly positive CO2 balance.
If one relates the difference in CO2 savings to the difference in construction costs, one obtains the CO2 avoidance costs of timber construction. Negative abatement costs here mean that the builder has saved costs with timber construction compared to standard construction and at the same time protected the climate.
By increasing the proportion of timber construction, more climate protection can be achieved at low or even negative costs, while at the same time strengthening rural areas. The green-red state government in Baden-Württemberg has recognised this and created more favourable framework conditions for the building material in its state building code, which was amended on 1 March (information here). In contrast, some state building codes still contain legal obstacles to building with wood.
The city of Munich also wants to convince more builders to use timber construction: as part of its "Munich Energy Saving Promotion Programme", it has been granting a CO2 bonus for the use of timber and other renewable raw materials in building construction of 30 cents/kg since 2013 (information here).
A high insulation standard with insulating materials made from renewable raw materials is also a contribution to climate protection. The plant raw materials from which the insulating materials were obtained have bound CO2 from the atmosphere, which is now stored in the building material for long periods of time. And finally, heating based on renewable energies also reduces CO2 emissions.
The Agency of Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V.). (FNR) funded the determination of LCA baseline data for the Legep programme with funds from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) between 2004 and 2006.
Germanwatch welcomes agreement on new energy directive / German government gives up resistance at the last minute and supports ambitious climate protection
Bonn/Brussels. The development and environmental organisation Germanwatch welcomes the adoption of the European Investment Bank's new energy directive as an "important signal for the entire financial market". It stipulates the phase-out of financing fossil fuel projects by the end of 2021. The phase-out was also achieved thanks to a joint approach by the previously conflicting federal ministries.
"This decision sends an important signal to other development banks and the entire financial market. Financing fossil fuel projects that are not compatible with the Paris climate goals will become much more difficult overall," says Christoph Bals, Political Director of Germanwatch. He welcomes the fact that the environment and finance ministries have overcome the blockade by the economics ministry and, after weeks of disagreement, have finally agreed to the phase-out. "Fortunately, the German government managed at the last minute to avoid being seen as a blocker on climate protection at EU level this time."
As a member of the German government's Sustainable Finance Advisory Council, Bals is hoping that the council will present concrete recommendations in spring 2020 that will make Germany a leading location for sustainable finance and that are compatible with the Paris climate goals.
The Investment Bank's decision allows for exemptions to promote particularly energy-efficient gas-fired power plants beyond 2021. However, this is subject to the condition that credible plans are submitted for the subsequent primary use of climate-friendly renewable gases and that the specified emission caps are not exceeded. Germanwatch emphasises that this rule must now be made watertight. The exception must not become a major loophole.
Creating sufficient affordable housing - especially in European conurbations - is one of the great challenges of our future and calls for new solutions. In view of demographic change, changing family structures and growing environmental awareness, completely new forms of housing have developed in Europe: shared living for young and old, residents' cooperatives, senior living projects, eco-settlements, integrative living or neighbourhoods in the neighbourhood. Above all, the significance of communal living will change against the background of social traditions and framework conditions such as housing policy and the housing market. This book offers an insight into communal living in eleven European countries - Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany - and presents a large number of exemplary housing projects with their structural and social concepts as well as their different forms of sponsorship.
The book (120 pages) was published by Jovis Verlag and can be purchased at the wohnbund office and in bookshops (ISBN 978-3-86859-406-5).
Europe
Living together
Wohnbund e. V. (Ed.)
Softcover
21 x 29,7 cm
120 pages, 149 col., 18 b/w ill., plans and tables
German/English
ISBN 978-3-86859-406-5
12.2015
This is what the mayors of Mexico City, Paris, Athens and Madrid decided at the C40 meeting at a climate protection meeting of major international cities in Mexico City. They want to "do everything in their power to promote the use of electric and hybrid cars". In addition, more money is to be invested in the expansion of public transport and cycle paths.
Behind the meeting is the Group C40, short for Climate Leadership Group. In the beginning, there were 40 cities committed to climate protection - now there are more than 80. According to their own figures, they have a combined population of more than 600 million, i.e. almost one tenth of the world's population.
The taz publishes an interview on the topic with the mobility expert Paco Seguro (Chief coordinator of the Spanish environmental organisation Ecologistas en Acción) on 3.12.2016, in which it is explained how it should work: www.taz.de/Oekologe-ueber-dieselfreie-Innenstadt/!5359282
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