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Has Federal Building Minister Barbara Hendricks (SPD) raised expectations with the Alliance for Affordable Housing and Building that ultimately cannot be fulfilled? The Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Bundestag is investigating her doubts about the meaningfulness and effectiveness of the alliance in a question. And they want to know: How and when will the alliance be continued?
Read the full article from 2 January 2017: www.immobilien-zeitung.de/...gruene-zweifeln-am-sinn-des-buendnisses-fuer-bezahlbares-wohnen
Keywords:
DE-News, Affordable housing, Housing policy
WIESBADEN - At the start of the heating season, private households had to pay around % more to fill their heating oil tanks in October 2018 than a year earlier. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), consumer prices for light heating oil have risen almost continuously since March 2016 following sharp price declines in 2014 and 2015. The last time light heating oil was more expensive than in October 2018 was at the end of 2013.
The rise in heating oil prices is mainly due to the fact that crude oil also became significantly more expensive on the global market until the beginning of October 2018. Currency effects due to the strong US dollar also had a price-increasing effect in 2018, influencing the price trend for German crude oil imports (+42.8 % in October 2018 compared to the same month of the previous year), producer prices for light heating oil (+37.7 %) and, as a result, the prices for light heating oil that consumers had to pay (+39.9 %).
According to preliminary figures, the annual inflation rate for light heating oil at the consumer level remained high in November 2018 (+40.7 %), although crude oil prices on the global market have been falling since the beginning of October. Compared to the previous month, prices for light heating oil rose by 5.9 %. There were significant regional differences: While the fuel became cheaper again in some parts of northern Germany in November 2018 compared to the previous month, it became more expensive, especially in southern and western Germany. This could indicate a low water effect: Transport costs rose due to the ongoing restrictions on inland shipping on the Rhine, which in turn may have had a regional impact on the price of light heating oil.
Source: Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 11/12/2018
Keywords:
Stakeholders, DE-News, Renewable, Mobility, Environmental policy, Ecology
The cities propose to strengthen and accelerate local climate protection through a new financial support system. The German Association of Cities today published a concept and a publication on its website. The Chief Executive of the German Association of Cities, Helmut Dedy, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) for a report on 6 June:
"We think it is good and important that the federal government also wants to promote municipal climate protection more strongly. From the cities' point of view, there have been far too many short-sighted and cumbersome federal funding programmes so far, which at best have caused a flash in the pan. This is no longer appropriate, because we need to act quickly and effectively to achieve climate neutrality. The German Association of Cities has therefore developed a concept for how the federal and state governments can wisely promote municipal climate protection. Municipalities should receive fixed budgets for climate protection for at least 10 years. This creates planning security at the local level, for example to renovate school buildings to make them more energy efficient or to achieve a heat supply without fossil fuels.
Further information on the Cities' Council proposal can be found here:
www.staedtetag.de/presse/pressemeldungen/2022/konzept-fuer-neues-foerdersystem-fuer-kommunalen-klimaschutz
Keywords:
Procurement, DE-News, Renewable, Funding, Climate protection, Communities
- Photovoltaic modules can generate climate-friendly electricity for decades
- Old modules must be disposed of properly
- New BSW information paper provides information on dispensing points and important safety instructions
One advantage of photovoltaics is that they can supply electricity for decades if installed and components are selected correctly. If photovoltaic modules are no longer used to generate solar power due to damage or age, they must be disposed of properly in accordance with the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG). After all, they contain valuable raw materials.
"The recycling of solar modules is technically feasible today. Specialised waste management companies can recycle old modules in such a way that the raw materials they contain can be fed almost completely into a production process as secondary raw materials," says Carsten Körnig, Managing Director of the German Solar Industry Association (BSW). "It is therefore important that discarded modules are channelled into the materials cycle. Owners of photovoltaic systems, installers and operators of collection centres can find out where old modules can be handed in and what needs to be considered in our new information sheet."
For example, modules from private households can be disposed of free of charge at designated collection points such as recycling centres or the take-back centres of manufacturers and distributors. "As an electrical voltage is generated when light falls on the active cell layer in photovoltaic modules, it is important to handle dismantled modules for disposal with care," says Körnig. For example, module cables should be secured, modules should be carefully stacked and, if necessary, provided with edge protection. "The solar-active side of the module should always face downwards when stacking, and open contacts and damaged backsheets should be insulated before removal."
More than 1.7 million photovoltaic systems are in operation in Germany. Under normal conditions, a photovoltaic module can reliably supply climate-friendly electricity for at least 25 years, and usually much longer. The industry association therefore does not expect to see a large number of old modules for a good ten years.
The free information paper "Safe handling of old PV modules" is available at
www.solarwirtschaft.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bsw_hinweispap_altmodule.pdf
Keywords:
100% EEs, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Sustainable management, New books and studies, PV, Recycling, Resource efficiency, Environmental policy
