Five prize winners can look forward to the Lower Austrian Timber Construction Prize 2016, which was awarded for the 15th time on 6.6.2016.
Högl Winery, Wachau Prize winner utility building
(Copyright Elmar Ludescher)
"Planning is becoming more and more creative and every year there are new technical solutions. As a result, wood is becoming more attractive as a building material for builders and planners every year," summarises Deputy Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitne. "You can see this not only in single-family homes, but also in the public sector, where wood is being used more and more often in construction." The timber industry in Lower Austria has now reached a production value of around 1.7 billion euros and employs around 22,000 Lower Austrians.
"How do we want to live in our city and in our neighbourhood? We asked ourselves these questions at the planning workshop "Viva Werkstatt". The aim was to collect ideas for the careful development of the Viktoriaviertel. The neighbourhood is to become lively again and the urban areas are to be converted for the common good.
Among the more than 20 participants were architects, urban planners, residents, representatives of the local retail trade and gastronomy, and interested citizens of Bonn."
CO2-Emissions should be reduced by 65 percent over the next ten years compared to 1990 in order to achieve climate neutrality - Energy system must be converted to 100 percent renewable energies by 2040 - Investment of 3,000 billion euros required to meet European Green Deal and Paris climate targets - German EU Council Presidency can ensure that Corona aid packages link economic stimulus with climate protection
The European Green Deal sets the bar very high: Europe is to become climate neutral by 2050. However, these targets can only be achieved if CO2-emissions by 2030 not only by 40 percent compared to 1990, but by 65 percent. To achieve this, energy production would have to be completely converted to renewable energies by 2040. The necessary investments are high, but they will pay off. These are the most important results of a new study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). On the occasion of the German EU Council Presidency, the economists from DIW Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin involved in the study have calculated under which circumstances the goals of the European Green Deal could be achieved and what costs this would entail. "So far, the EU Commission has assumed a CO2-reduction target of 40 percent. But this will not make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, as our calculations show. The targets must be much more ambitious," says study author Claudia Kemfert.
Graphic: DIW Berlin
The authors have therefore compared a baseline scenario of 40 percent with a climate protection scenario that assumes a CO2-reduction of 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990, as demanded by some groups in the EU Parliament. In fact, the calculations show that under these circumstances, the climate neutrality targeted in the Green Deal could be achieved. "However, this is only possible if we switch our energy system to 100 percent renewables - and do so already by 2040," says study author Karlo Hainsch. Even with a complete switch to renewables, the energy supply would remain secure, as the study's hourly calculations show - even for countries that still rely heavily on fossil or nuclear energy, such as Poland and France.
"The German EU presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection." Christian von Hirschhausen
Such a scenario would save around 60 billion tonnes of CO2. "However, a switch to 100 percent renewable energy cannot be had for free. Extensive investments will have to be made," says study author Leonard Göke. According to the calculations, the investment required for renewable energies amounts to around 3000 billion euros. This is an enormous amount, but it is offset by savings of almost 2000 billion euros alone, which would no longer have to be spent on importing fossil fuels. Since both the EU and most national governments in Europe have put together extensive aid packages because of the Corona crisis, these could form a good basis for supporting the necessary investments.
"The German EU Presidency could kill two birds with one stone: economic recovery and climate protection," says study author Christian von Hirschhausen. "To do so, it must ensure that the extensive stimulus packages under the European Green Deal are used for investments in renewable energies and energy efficiency." In addition, there is still the Just Transition Fund, which the EU has set up to provide financial support for structural change in the regions of Europe that are affected very differently by the measures. "Particular care must be taken to ensure that the funds are channelled into sustainable climate-neutral projects and not used for the de facto stabilisation of fossil fuel development paths," warns study author Pao-Yu Oei. The current economic crisis, which is setting new parameters worldwide and across sectors, could now be used to decisively tackle the necessary measures towards climate neutrality.
Even before the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, it is clear that the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is making slow progress. The global community now needs action instead of words to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The international report on the status of SDG implementation shows that there are major gaps in implementation worldwide. The number of hungry people is increasing again worldwide. Social inequality continues to rise. The climate crisis and species extinction are advancing.
It is particularly dramatic that Germany is not a pioneer. In sustainability policy, the German government permanently acts according to the motto "too little, too late". Germany has a double responsibility: firstly, as an industrialised country, to demonstrate that it is taking the implementation of the Agenda seriously as a pioneer. And secondly, to contribute more than it has so far to financing the 2030 Agenda at the international level.
There is no coherent national legislation aligned with the SDGs. Still not all departments have prepared SDG action plans or provided additional funding. The climate cabinet's proposals are far from sufficient to achieve the climate sustainability goal and the Paris Climate Agreement. Biodiversity is declining, nitrate pollution for groundwater is not decreasing, environmentally harmful subsidies amounting to over 40 billion euros annually are not being eliminated.
We demand binding targets for SDG implementation for all ministries and ambitious measures where there are particularly large deficits in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, the German government must develop more ambitious indicators to meet the requirements of the SDGs. There is also a need for a sustainability TÜV for new laws.
At the international level, sustainability summits need to be organised in a more goal-oriented and inclusive way. It is incomprehensible that the private sector is invited to the SDG Business Summit at the United Nations, while there is no comparable forum for civil society. This is a fatal sign at a time when civil society actors worldwide are increasingly suffering from restrictions. This approach runs counter to the "Leave no one behind" guiding principle of the 2030 Agenda.
Source: Press release of 24.9.2019 by Buendnis 90/The Greens in the Bundestag Uwe Kekeritz, Spokesperson for Development Policy, and Bettina Hoffmann, Spokesperson for Environmental Policy
E-bikes replace conventional delivery bikes and make work easier for letter carriers
Deutsche Post operates the largest e-fleet in Germany with 2,500 StreetScooters "Work" and 10,500 pedelecs
Local emissions target: 70 per cent of last-mile deliveries to be switched to clean solutions by 2025
The number of e-bikes is to be further increased in the coming years. Photo: Deutsche Post DHL Group
Osnabrück/Bonn, 30.03.2017: Deutsche Post today put the 1,000th e-bike of its StreetScooter subsidiary into operation in Osnabrück. The delivery bikes, which are electrically assisted up to 25 km/h, have a payload of up to 50 kg and make the work of letter carriers in urban areas much easier. As with the e-cars ("StreetScooter Work"), Deutsche Post delivery staff were involved in the development. The result is an e-bike that has considerable advantages over conventional electric bicycles in terms of ergonomics, efficiency, load distribution and safety standards. For example, instead of three letter containers, four now fit on the bike. The number of e-bikes is to be further increased in the coming years. In addition, Deutsche Post is testing the "E-Trike" from the StreetScooter company with a payload of up to 90 kg in some delivery districts, also for use in letter delivery.
"We are very serious about our climate protection offensive and are very passionate about it," says Jürgen Gerdes, Member of the Board of Management responsible for Deutsche Post DHL Group. "And in addition to the benefits for the environment, there are additional benefits for our employees, whom we equip with the most modern work tools."
Deutsche Post already operates the largest electric fleet in Germany with around 2,500 StreetScooter Work electric vehicles and a total of around 10,500 pedelecs (e-bikes and e-trikes). In the medium term, the Group intends to replace its entire delivery fleet with electric vehicles.
The e-mobility offensive is part of the ambitious environmental programme GoGreenThe Deutsche Post DHL Group aims to reduce all logistics-related emissions to net zero by 2050. One of the four sub-goals on the way to achieving this is to improve people's quality of life at the local level by 2025 through clean transport solutions.
To this end, the Group wants to switch 70 per cent of its own collection and delivery to clean solutions, for example by bicycle or electric vehicles.
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.
