According to a recent survey of Germany's 700 largest cities and municipalities, only 6 percent of municipalities feel overwhelmed by the current refugee numbers.
Housing is expensive, especially in cities there is a lack of affordable housing. Build, build, build - politicians are relying on private investors here. They are supposed to solve the housing crisis. However, research by the ARD magazine Panorama shows that new private apartments are often unaffordable.
Source: Panorama
http://daserste.ndr.de/panorama/…Wohnungsnot-…
Further links
www.empirica-systeme.de/portfolio/empirica-systeme-marktdatenbank
Keywords:
DE-News, Funding, Affordable housing, Housing policy
According to Dr Axel Berg, Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Section of EUROSOLARAccording to the author, neither ambitious climate protection goals nor an increased ecological awareness are the drivers of the energy turnaround, but rather "the exponential cost degression in renewable energy technologies, the technical innovations in storage technologies and a high level of interest from the industrial sector". In his detailed, expert contribution, he names three key technologies that, in their interaction, will accelerate the energy turnaround to such an extent that it is very likely that major players from German old industry, which for decades were considered the backbone of our powerful industrial nation, will be disrupted away by new players.
The three Key technology:
1. solar energies, especially photovoltaics and wind power
2. memory
3. renewable mobility
We would have to increase research and development efforts in Germany to tinker with new battery generations and all the high-tech. We need public showcases, the conversion of public authority vehicle fleets, showcase cities like Graz and the bundling of SMEs. In the SME sector, many new players with good ideas are waiting in the wings. Subsidies in the double-digit billions flow annually, only slowing down the wrong channels of old industry (e.g. diesel...).
Conclusion
According to Berg, citizens could look forward to the disruptive developments described. Our cities would become quieter, the air cleaner, the quality of life would increase. Mobility would become smoother and much cheaper [FNB: because only a fraction of the previous cars would be needed and the external costs would be eliminated].
It will be bitter for the old world. The car companies have a lot of money and can survive by shrinking - similar to what E.on or RWE are currently trying to do by splitting up. It will be brutal for the medium-sized suppliers who specialise in engine parts such as gearboxes, carburettors, clutches or pistons that are simply no longer needed. Or the 40,000 car repair shops in Germany alone, whose main job is to service combustion engines. The later they look for new fields of business, the harder the economic and social collapses will be.
Everything is ready for the start of information technology disruption: renewable energies, storage, digitalisation and autonomous electric vehicles. By 2030, all of this could already be accomplished.
Read the full article from 7.8.2017 here:
www.energiezukunft.eu/...
Keywords:
100% EEs, Stakeholders, Construction and operating costs, Energy storage, Renewable, Climate protection, Mobility, News Blog Europe (without DE), PV, PlusEnergy house/settlement, Solar thermal, Electricity storage, Transition Town, Ecology, Economics
The Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) today adopted a new energy lending policy and confirmed more ambitious targets for climate action and environmental sustainability.
"Climate is now high on the political agenda," said EIB President Werner Hoyer. "Science predicts that the temperature will rise by three to four degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century if we do nothing to combat climate change. Large areas of the earth will then be uninhabitable - with devastating consequences for humanity. The EU Bank has been Europe's climate bank for many years. Today we have taken a big step forward. We will stop financing fossil fuel projects and pursue a climate strategy in the future that exceeds the ambitions of all other public financial institutions. I thank our shareholders, the EU countries, for their support over the past months. Now we will work closely with Member States, the EU Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Parliament, international institutions, financial institutions and, above all, the private sector to make Europe's economy climate neutral by 2050."
More commitment to clean energy
The EIB's new energy lending policy sets out five principles that will guide the Bank's future activities in the energy sector:
Andrew McDowell, EIB Vice-President with oversight of the energy sector: "In 2018, CO2-emissions from the global energy industry have reached a new record high. We need to act urgently to stop this trend. The new energy financing policy adopted by the EIB today is an important milestone in the fight against global warming. After a long debate, we were able to agree on a compromise: From the end of 2021, the EU bank will not finance fossil energy projects without CO2-reduction more. This also applies to gas. I would like to thank everyone who took part in the largest public consultation in the EIB's history over the past months. I would also like to thank the Bank's energy experts, who have shown how the EU's bank can drive the global effort towards zero-carbon energy."
Today's agreement brings to an end a review process in which industry, institutions, civil society and the general public have been able to engage. The Bank has received over 149 written submissions from organisations and individuals, as well as petitions with more than 30,000 signatures since January.
Over the past five years, the European Investment Bank has provided more than €65 billion for investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy distribution.
In line with the revised energy sector lending policy approved by the Board of Directors today, from the end of 2021 the Bank will not provide new financing for fossil fuel projects without CO2-reduction. This also applies to gas. In addition, the Bank has set a new emission standard of 250 grams CO2 per kilowatt hour, replacing the previous standard of 550 grams. The EIB had already revised its financing policy in the energy sector in 2013 and adopted a stricter emissions standard. As a result, it was the first international financing institution to stop funding projects for coal and lignite-fired power generation.
For a fair energy transition
Ten EU countries face particular challenges in investing in the energy sector. They are to be supported from a fund for a fair transition. In doing so, the EIB will work closely with the European Commission. For new energy projects in these countries, the bank can finance up to 75 percent of the eligible costs. It also supports these projects with advisory services.
More ambitious targets for climate protection and environmental sustainability
The EU's bank has been Europe's climate bank for many years. Since 2012, the EIB has mobilised a total of €550 billion for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. This makes the EIB one of the world's largest multilateral donors in this field.
The EIB's Board of Directors today approved a new strategy for climate action and environmental sustainability. The strategy focuses on three main areas:
Emma Navarro, EIB Vice-President overseeing climate action and the environment: "If we are to meet the Paris climate targets, it is essential that we raise our ambition. And that is exactly what we have done today. Two weeks before the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, we are sending an important signal to the world: the European Union and its bank - the EIB - will mobilise unprecedented amounts of money for climate change projects around the world. We are also doing everything we can to ensure that from the end of 2020 all our financing is in line with the goals and principles of the Paris Agreement. As agreed in Paris, any financing that is not yet green must become green."
EIB energy lending policy: Supporting the energy transformation
Source: EIB PM of 14 November 2019
Keywords:
Procurement, Renewable, Funding, Climate protection, Sustainable management, News Blog Europe (without DE), Environmental policy, Ecology, Economics
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
