According to a new study, the world is still a long way from achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Sweden is in the best position, according to the report published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and others. The study compared 149 countries. Sweden is closest to the goals, followed by Denmark and Norway. Germany came in sixth place. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are intended to help combat extreme poverty, climate change and discrimination by 2030.
The study was produced in collaboration with the renowned economist and UN special advisor Jeffrey Sachs and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). It was presented at a United Nations sustainability conference in New York on 20 July and handed over to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"I am certain that the SDG Index from SDSN and the Bertelsmann Stiftung will make a valuable contribution to making the world a more peaceful, just and sustainable place."
The Special price on the topic "Urban development revisited: Prices - Practice - Perspectives" was given to the project Urban development area Stuttgarter Straße, French Quarter in Tübingen. The special prize, which is awarded in parallel to the urban development prize, serves to highlight particularly urgent fields of action in urban development and urban planning. It was awarded on 23.4.2021 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the German Urban Development Prize to contributions that had already been recognised with prizes and awards between 1980 and 2010. The judging of the special prize was very complex, as it had to cover a span of 30 years, i.e. a generation, of the achievements of German urban development that were considered outstanding at the time, and, in retrospect, it had to be based on robust, objective criteria that could adequately reflect the complexity of 30 years of urban development history and 30 years of urban development models.
"The robust urban design concept and the qualities of the public space are the hallmarks of the quarter, which exudes great liveliness. When strolling through the district, one has the certainty that it will gain in popularity and vitality as it ages," was the jury's verdict for the project. Thirty years after the competition for the French Quarter in Tübingen [urban development prize winner from the 2001 submission], the idea of parcelling proves to be a recipe for success with a high degree of suitability for everyday use and exemplary for participatory-oriented urban development in Germany.
Energiedienst's power-to-gas plant in Grenzach-Wyhlen is allowed to produce emission-free hydrogen from green electricity as of today. Photo: energiedienst.de
At a hydroelectric power plant operated by the energy company Energiedienst in Grenzach-Wylen, the production of green hydrogen has been running successfully for four months. The project produces 500 kilograms of hydrogen per day.
Hydrogen from hydropower: successful start for one of the largest power-to-gas plants in Germany to date. This is reported by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). The megawatt plant has been in operation for four months in April 2020 and is functioning reliably. A research electrolyser connected to it is also running successfully. The ZSW is coordinating the project. The operator of the commercial plant is the energy supplier Energiedienst AG.
The power-to-gas plant with an electrical connected load of one megawatt produces renewable hydrogen using electricity from the Rhine hydroelectric power plant in Wyhlen. Since it is not necessary to use the public electricity grid, grid fees and the EEG surcharge do not apply. In addition, high full load hours can be achieved because the hydropower is available practically around the clock. This further improves the economic efficiency and enables extensive operating experience to be gained quickly.
He said the plant has been running regularly since early December 2019 and has had 1,850 hours of operation since then. Previously, it was in trial operation. The monitoring system set up by the ZSW, which measures all essential components and subsystems, functions perfectly. The plant operates fully automatically in 24-hour operation both at full load and in various partial load conditions.
Efficiency of 66 percent
The ZSW monitors operation with the help of remote data transmission to Stuttgart and automated data evaluation. The overall efficiency of electricity to high-purity hydrogen compressed to 300 bar is currently up to 66 percent in relation to the calorific value of the gas. In addition, the researchers are investigating ageing effects and deriving potential improvements from the data.
So far, the plant has filled 62 trailers with hydrogen suitable for fuel cells. Each of these transportable containers holds around 300 kilograms. The plant can produce up to 500 kilograms of hydrogen per day. This is enough for an average daily mileage of more than 1,000 fuel cell cars.
Improved electrolysis
The research project docked to the commercial plant is also progressing positively. In a research plant, the scientists are testing improved electrolysis blocks with a maximum output of 300 kilowatts in parallel operation with the commercial plant. They should further reduce the price of hydrogen. But companies could also test and optimize components there.
Last year, the ZSW and its research partners already achieved an initial success during the test operation of the plant: with new electrode coatings, the researchers achieved 20 percent more power density compared to the electrolysis blocks of the industrial plant section. This means that less volume and material are required for the same output.
Goal: Halve hydrogen price
Since the investment costs are also based on the construction volume and the electrolysis units account for the largest share of costs in the conversion of renewable electricity at around 40 percent, progress in this area is automatically reflected in the price of hydrogen. For manufacturers of electrolysis plants, development is therefore an important factor for further cost reduction. The long-term goal of the ZSW researchers and Energiedienst engineers is to roughly halve the current production costs of electricity-based hydrogen.
The state of Baden-Württemberg supports the Lighthouse project with a total of 4.5 million euros. In 2019, a project based on this was selected by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as one of the winners of the first round of the "Reallabore der Energiewende" ideas competition. A total of twelve partners are on board for this major project.
In addition to the motivation and background of the ecovillage movement, the film also gives a good impression of the Sieben Linden ecovillage.
The text on vimeoHow can a world beyond growth, competition and profit look like? The multimedia project "Degrowth in Bewegung(en)" shows which initiatives and movements develop and live social, ecological and democratic alternatives.
In the ecovillage Sieben Linden we met Christiane Kliemann, who tells us in an interview what makes an ecovillage, how ecovillages are politically engaged and where the relation to degrowth is.
In the 2019 national competition, the focus is on existing buildings and inward growth: How can existing spaces be optimally utilised in times of scarce building land? How can innovative living spaces be created by converting existing uses? The 2019 state competition is looking for exemplary examples - in the city and in the countryside - that utilise all possibilities for reactivating existing buildings and were realised between 2014 and 2019.
The Bavarian Housing Prize is an honorary award. The award-winning participants receive a certificate and the award signet for the Bavarian Housing Prize made of Nymphenburg porcelain.
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According to a new study, the world is still a long way from achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Sweden is in the best position, according to the report published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and others. The study compared 149 countries. Sweden is closest to the goals, followed by Denmark and Norway. Germany came in sixth place. The UN Sustainable Development Goals are intended to help combat extreme poverty, climate change and discrimination by 2030.
