Explained in just under 10 min. The video is from April 2019 and shows two larger aquaponics facilities in Berlin.
Keywords: DE-News, Movies, Movies 4 to 10 Min, Sustainable management, News Blog Berlin, Transition Town, Urban production
Explained in just under 10 min. The video is from April 2019 and shows two larger aquaponics facilities in Berlin.
Berlin, 18 October 2019 - Hardly any other topic has been as prominent in recent months as climate protection. A major building block in stopping man-made climate change is the implementation of the energy transition. "Renewable energies can make a huge contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, in the electricity, transport and heating sectors," says Dr Robert Brandt, Managing Director of the Renewable Energy Agency (AEE). "The German population knows how important renewables are for this. Our new acceptance survey shows that people want the energy transition."
In the current representative survey of the Agency for Renewable Energies (AEE), which was conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov*, nine out of ten citizens (89 percent) are in favour of greater use of renewable energies in Germany. 66 percent even stated that the increased use and expansion of renewable energies was very and extremely important.
Only six per cent consider them to be less important or not important at all. "Citizens have clearly positioned themselves on the role of renewables in the climate issue," says AEE Managing Director Dr Robert Brandt: "Renewable energies are the most important part of the solution."
The approval of renewable energies is also reflected in the fact that 64 per cent of respondents would find it very good or somewhat good if renewable energy plants were located in their neighbourhood. This figure is only eight per cent for coal and nuclear power plants. "It is particularly remarkable that approval even increases if the respondents already have experience with these plants in their neighbourhood," says Brandt. For example, support for a solar park in one's own neighbourhood increases from 66 to 78 percent if there is already a solar park in the immediate vicinity. This positive effect can also be seen with wind energy and biogas plants.
The results of the 2019 acceptance survey clearly show that the German population is far more open to change than is generally assumed.
A total of around 6.4 billion euros was invested in the expansion and maintenance of the electricity grid in 2018. Although there have been protests against the construction of new overland power lines in recent months, overall acceptance of their expansion is very high.
86 per cent of respondents consider the expansion of overland power lines to be important or very and extremely important. For only eight per cent, this is less or not at all important.
However, it is not only electricity generation for private households that is crucial for the implementation of a successful energy transition in the fight against climate change, but also for industry. After all, final energy consumption for electricity totalled 530 billion kilowatt hours in 2017. 57 per cent of citizens surveyed believe that solar energy is the best source for industrial electricity, while 45 per cent consider offshore to be ideal. "Our acceptance survey this year shows that the majority of citizens are behind renewable energies," summarises Brandt. "We can and must show the renewables sector with words and deeds that the German population and politicians recognise and value their role in the much-needed energy transition."
Methodology
The AEE acceptance survey is a Germany-wide, population-representative survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Agency for Renewable Energies. A total of 1,003 people aged 18 and over were surveyed online. The survey was conducted between 10 and 13 September.
*This year, the Agency for Renewable Energies has changed the survey institute and the type of survey for its acceptance survey: Instead of the telephone survey by Kantar Emnid among people aged 16 and over, the online survey by YouGov was now conducted among people aged 18 and over. In this respect, comparability with the results from previous years is not readily possible.
Keywords:
100% EEs, Stakeholders, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, New books and studies, Transition Town, Environmental policy
Lecture "Can we build our way out of the climate crisis?" from 16.4.2020
53:37 min
Among other things, Schellnhuber calls for "timely action to achieve the two-degree target, primarily by switching from fossil to renewable energy sources and replacing finite building materials with wood and renewable raw materials."
Keywords:
DE-News, Movies, Movies > 45 Min, Research, Wood construction, Climate protection, NaWaRohs, Environmental policy, Life cycle assessment
The gap between knowledge and action is often wide. At the beginning of his book "Ökoroutine", Michael Kopatz explains why we often don't do what we think is right: out of routine. Because the here and now determines our actions. Because it is difficult to avoid advertising. Or because living sustainably seems more expensive and more inconvenient in everyday life. Why should I, of all people, cycle more often, fly less, spend more money on organic products?
Keywords:
DE-News, Climate protection, Lifestyle / Consumption, Sustainable management, New books and studies, Sufficiency, Transition Town
Recently, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg published the subsidy guidelines for 2020 and 2021 for residential renovation and new construction in the private and public sectors. The climate-friendly procurement of wood and wood products from the region is anchored in these guidelines. The origin of the wood must be proven by means of the "Holz von Hier" label recently introduced in Austria or comparable certificates.
Financial advantage for building owners through regional wood
If regional wood is used, the costs eligible for housing subsidies increase by 20 euros per square metre of roof and façade area, for example. For an average-sized single-family house, this can add up to around 4,000 to 5,000 euros. In the case of new buildings, the recognised costs for a loan under the housing subsidy also increase by 20 euros per square metre of floor space for the use of regional wood for the windows, and by as much as 30 euros for the façade.
"With this innovation, we have placed climate-friendly procurement in the foreground, without the risk of legal discrimination against companies in border regions," says Provincial Councillor Christian Gantner, emphasising the priorities. Unlike other quality labels, "Holz von Hier" is not oriented towards state or national borders, but only takes into account transport distances along the entire processing chain. Cross-border cooperation in the wood processing chain is thus strengthened. "In the long term, thanks to "Holz von Hier", regional, rural businesses can be strengthened and imports from more distant countries such as Russia and Scandinavia can be replaced," adds DI Andreas Amann, Head of the Forestry Department of the Provincial Government.
Trend reversal towards more regionality and climate protection in timber construction
The inclusion of the "Holz von Hier" label can stimulate demand among end customers for domestic timber. In public tenders, the proof of origin is already required in accordance with the law, since it has found its way into the specifications for the municipal building certificate. In order to use the label, the entire processing chain must be traceable - all companies from the sawmill to the dealer to the window manufacturer must join the initiative if they want to offer domestic wood with chain-of-custody certification.
"We think that with the inclusion of 'Holz von Hier' in the housing guidelines, a trend reversal towards more regionality and climate protection in construction can be initiated," hopes Erich Reiner, contact person for Holz von Hier in Austria. This could succeed even better if the regionality of the entire building construction is taken into account in future revisions of the subsidy guidelines. The climate-friendly use of wood is in line with the forestry strategy of the state of Vorarlberg and supports the efforts to achieve the energy autonomy goals.
Link
www.holz-von-hier.eu
Keywords:
Building materials / Construction, Procurement, Funding, Wood construction, Climate protection, NaWaRohs, Sustainable management, News Blog Europe (without DE), News Blog Austria, Resource efficiency, Vorarlberg