01.06.2005
Newsletter 03/05
N E W S L E T T E R - 03/05
Dear reader,
it is election season in Germany: One of the ideas being mooted as a result is to extend the service lives of nuclear power plants to 40 years again, and to cut back on the assistance provided for renewable energies. Öko-Institut’s energy experts are in no doubt that this is the wrong path. Germany must uphold its sustainable energy and climate protection strategy. This will be a key focus of debate with politicians, industry representatives and academics on the coming Friday, 3 June, at the Institute’s annual conference in Freiburg, and is accordingly a focal theme of this newsletter. We further report on the experience gained in the first round of emissions trading, and present the green goals already being shot for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. You will also learn about successful direct marketing for local public transport services, and how to quantify radiation exposure at the dentist. I wish you stimulating reading.
Yours Katja Kukatz, 1 June 2005
CONTENT
F O C A L T H E M E S
- Energy policy of the future – a sustainable alternative to nuclear power
- Energy policy of the future – and the nuclear legacy
- Emission trading – Preparing for the second round
- How green will the 2006 FIFA Football World Cup be?
- Direct marketing for city busses in Offenburg
N E W S F L A S H
N E W S L E T T E R A R C H I V E
C O N T A C T
Energy policy of the future – a sustainable alternative to nuclear power
Annual Öko-Institut Conference
The Kyoto
Protocol came into force in February this year. It represents a first and important step for global climate
protection policy – but no more. In order to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions, far more
ambitious reduction targets are required than those agreed as part of the Protocol. Urgent problems regarding
climate protection and a more sustainable energy system remain to be addressed. In order to tackle these
problems, Germany should continue to play a pioneering role within the EU and press for ambitious European
reduction targets. At the annual Öko-Institut conference, which will be held this coming Friday, 3 June, in
Freiburg, the institute’s energy experts and around 150 delegates from politics, business and science will
discuss global, national and regional sustainable energy and climate protection strategies that do not rely on
nuclear energy.
"Nuclear power plants are not suitable as tools for climate protection. It would mean replacing one evil
with another", says Veit Bürger, energy expert at the institute. "Nuclear technology continues to pose
unsolvable problems", states Michael Sailer, deputy director and long-standing nuclear expert at the
institute. As an alternative, the institute envisages an energy policy that phases out nuclear energy and also
does away with fossil fuels in the medium to long term. According to the institute, phasing out nuclear power
offers an opportunity for expanding alternative forms of power generation.
Natural gas, the fuel with the lowest specific carbon dioxide emissions among the fossil energy sources, can take
on an important bridging function. Gas-fired power stations are highly suitable for operation as cogeneration
plants, generating electricity and useful heat at the same time. Renewables, particularly biomass, also offer
significant potential. The third important pillar is energy efficiency: Electricity consumption, and therefore
demand for new power plants, has to be reduced significantly. Private households, for example, could save around
40 to 50 percent of electricity by switching to energy-saving washing machines, refrigerators or televisions.
Reduced electricity consumption also reduces dependence on gas imports, for example. Saving energy is therefore
an important contribution to security of supply. Positive side effects of such a climate protection-oriented
energy policy include a boost for the labour market, reduced dependence on oil, regional added value, and
international competitiveness of new industries.
All national efforts notwithstanding, climate protection is a global task. The international community of states
should quickly agree a long-term climate protection strategy that also integrates the large newly industrializing
countries and avoids developing countries becoming dependent on fossil energies or nuclear energy during the
development of their electricity, heat and transport systems. vb/kk
The second article of this newsletter “Energy policy of the future – and the nuclear legacy”
explains why, new reactor concepts notwithstanding, nuclear energy is not a suitable response to the energy
issues of the future. Further information on this issue can be found in the discussion paper on
"Baden-Württemberg`s energy future without nuclear power"
Contact:
Veit Bürger
Öko-Institut e.V., Freiburg Office
Energy & Climate Protection Division
[back to the index]
Energy policy of the future – and the nuclear legacy
Risks and problems of nuclear energy use
In light of the
immense climate protection challenge and the limited sources of fossil fuels, voices advocating a renaissance of
allegedly „clean” nuclear power are growing louder. Why, despite new reactor concepts, atomic energy
is not the answer to the energy questions of the future is the topic of discussion for nuclear and energy experts
of the Öko-Institut at the annual conference of the Institute this Friday, 3 June, in Freiburg. They will
identify how a sustainable energy system can be designed, which problems still need to be solved, and which risks
still argue against the use of nuclear power. Primarily, these have to do with operation of the plant.
In the coming decades, the aggregate risk of the operation of nuclear power plants will increase as a result of
the increasing age of the plants. The so-called new „Generation III“ or „Generation IV“
reactor concepts will not change this situation. Firstly, these will at most constitute a minor percentage of the
total plant inventory. Secondly, the accident risk of these reactor types can indeed be reduced, but for reasons
of physics a serious incident remains possible.
After just under 40 years of nuclear energy use in Germany, there are already over 100.000 cubic metres of
radioactive waste. This includes highly radioactive waste with long-lasting nuclides that have a half-life of
some 100.000 years, particularly the spent fuel elements – a legacy for thousands of subsequent
generations. There is no alternative to subterranean disposal in a geological formation at a depth of several
hundred metres for these wastes. If such a repository is established in a location in Germany and is carefully
selected according to geological criteria, it is highly likely that long-term isolation of the radioactive waste
from the biosphere will be achieved. In no case can accident scenarios with abrupt release of large quantities of
radioactivity occur as are possible with the operation of power plants. But repositories require not only
technical solutions, but also societal acceptance. This presumes that there is a clear limit as to what
quantities and over what time period radioactive waste continues to accrue in the future.
There are alternatives that make sustained contributions to climate protection and that are not associated with
the risks and societal conflicts of nuclear power. What these are, how they should be pursued in future power
supply concepts, and what a long-term climate protection strategy should look like will be discussed by energy
and nuclear experts this Friday, 3 June, in the Freiburg Solar Info Centre on the occasion of the annual
conference of the Öko-Institut under the heading „Energy policy of the future – and the nuclear
legacy.“ Please read the article „Energy policy of the future – a sustainable alternative to
nuclear“ power in this newsletter. bk
Contact:
Michael Sailer
Beate
Kallenbach-Herbert
Öko-Institut e.V., Darmstadt Office
Nuclear Engineering & Plant Safety Division
[back to the index]
Emission trading – Preparing for the second round
The allocation of allowances must be simplified
The second trading period in the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme will run from 2008 to 2012
– and as the new National Allocation Plans have to be submitted to the European Commission by mid 2006, it
is no surprise that the debate about the allocation of allowances has already begun. So which lessons have been
learned from the allocation process to date, and where is there scope for improvement? These issues were explored
by Dr Felix C. Matthes and Martin Cames, energy experts of the Öko-Institut, with fellow profes-sionals at the
Berlin Energy Days in early May. Their main proposals for improving the sys-tem are as follows: the definition of
"installation" should be harmonized on an EU-wide basis; the option rule introduced shortly before the
adoption of the National Allocation Plan should be abolished; and the number of special provisions, which
resulted in a total of 58 different combinations of possible allocation rules, should be restricted.
The EU’s company-level emission trading scheme is a key instrument in assisting EU Member States to achieve
compliance with their greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. The scheme sets
upper limits, known as "caps", for each EU country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Germany’s
cap during the first trading period – the 2005 to 2007 pilot phase – is 499 million tonnes of
CO2 equivalent per annum. One allowance permits the emission of one tonne of CO2
equivalent. This means that in absolute terms, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 0.4
percent – or 2 million tonnes annually – during the first trading period, compared with the base
period from 2000 to 2002.
The National Allocation Plan is the cornerstone of the emission trading scheme. It determines the allocation of
allowances to participating installations in the energy sector and energy-intensive industries. In Germany, 1849
installations have joined the scheme during the pilot phase; installations with less than 20 MW rated input are
excluded. Efficient plants which receive more allowances then they need can sell the surplus to companies whose
installations have failed to meet their emission reduction targets. In Germany, the allocation of allowances has
taken place free of charge during the pilot phase.
The "grandfathering" principle, based on historical emissions, was taken as the basis for the
allocation of allowances. To determine the allocation of allowances to each plant during the pilot phase, average
CO2 emissions in the base period from 2000 to 2002 were multiplied by a standard compliance factor of
0.9709. However, new entrants to the scheme receive their allowances on the basis of benchmarking. Benchmarks are
established for product groups and are based on the best available most climate-friendly technologies. Companies
operating with the best available technologies are generally allocated enough allowances to meet their needs.
Companies producing the same product using technology below this standard receive fewer allowances.
"Both systems are equally effective in achieving the reduction target", says Martin Cames. But he is
critical of the option rule, which was introduced into the legislation at the last minute. "The rule offers
no environmental benefits but is causing concern in many companies because it makes the allocation process
intransparent and unpredictable". The option rule allows operators of existing installations to apply for
the same treatment as new entrants, with allowances being allocated on the basis of benchmarking instead of the
grandfathering principle. This option appeals to companies whose emissions were lower during the base period than
is anticipated for the pilot phase, for example. The option rule permits them to apply for more CO2
emission allowances under the benchmarking procedure than the grandfathering principle. If benchmarking is used,
a more stringent allocation process is applied, but the installations concerned are no longer subject to the
compliance factor and are instead assessed according to projected capacity utilization. The usual outcome of
benchmarking is that the installations are allocated more no-cost allowances than would be anticipated under the
grandfathering principle – even if they are not utilizing the best available technology.
But many companies have found it extremely difficult to determine which allocation system is more beneficial for
them. The reason is that if the option rule is applied, the allocation of allowances depends on the –
unforeseeable – decisions taken by rival companies: if the total number of allocated allowances exceeds the
cap, a second compliance factor comes into play. As is permissible under the legislation, a uniform percentage of
allowances is then withdrawn from all companies. As the number of existing installations opting in favour of
benchmarking rises, the reductions resulting from the application of the second compliance factor to all relevant
companies will also increase.
Martin Cames is therefore calling for the option rule to be abolished. In his view, the number of special
provisions – which have resulted in a total of 58 different combinations of possible allocation rules
– should also be reduced. He believes that the allocation process is too complicated. "The more
special provisions apply, the more problems will arise with allocation. If, at the end of the process, two-thirds
of the companies are able to benefit from exemptions, the burden on the remaining third will become increasingly
onerous", says Cames.
The two scientists are also calling for a harmonized EU-wide definition of "installations" and for
rated energy input no longer to be the sole determinant of the threshold value for installations. The problem is
that when this method is used, the trading scheme also extends to companies whose annual emissions are very low.
In Germany, for example, 31 percent of installations have only received 0.55 percent of the allocated allowance,
while in the Netherlands, 24 percent of installations account for just 0.9 percent of emissions. To monitor their
emissions, companies are therefore having to shoulder financial and administrative burdens which are quite
disproportionate to the environmental pollution they cause. Cames sums up the situation: "An EU-wide
definition of "installations" should aim to identify the specific companies which genuinely produce a
high level of greenhouse gas emissions".
For further information, please visit the websites www.oeko.de/bet_2005 and www.oeko.de/dokumente/schwerpunkt_01.pdf (in German only). The German legal texts can be
accessed here.
Contact:
Martin Cames
Öko-Institut e.V., Berlin Office
Energy & Climate Protection Division
[back to the index]
How green will the 2006 FIFA Football World Cup be?
“Green Goal™”: Environment benefits from stadium operations
The countdown
continues: in about twelve months, the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ will begin in Germany, and the nation aims to
present itself as a model in environmental matters, too. Together with the Environment Ministry, the German
environment foundation Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt and the Öko-Institut, the World Cup Organizing Committee
(OC) has developed “Green Goal™”, the first environmental action plan for a world or European
football championship. Also a novelty: with Green Goal™, measurable environmental goals are being defined
for the first time for a large sports event. What has happened since the official presentation of the concept in
March 2003? Time to take stock.
Over 3.2 million spectators are expected for the 64 games of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. In addition, there
will be more than 15.000 journalists, about 1500 FIFA representatives, and numerous volunteers and service
personnel. This indicates a formidable amount of traffic, a high electricity and water demand, and much waste
that has to be disposed of. That is why with Green Goal™, the OC has set the following targets: Energy
requirements shall be met in part from renewable sources. By means of efficient energy use, energy consumption of
stadiums shall be cut by 20 per cent. Transportation is to be organized efficiently and in an environmentally
friendly manner, and 50 per cent of all visitors are to use public transport to travel to the games. Waste
arisings shall be cut by 20 per cent and inevitable waste is to be utilized in an environmentally acceptable
manner. To ease pressures on drinking water resources, the World Cup stadiums are to reduce their present fresh
water consumption by 20 per cent.
“By setting these targets, the organizers have scored several green goals in the construction and operation
of the football arenas,” says Dr. Hartmut Stahl, Green Goal expert at the Öko-Institute. The environmental
measures include:
- the first-time introduction to the German Football League of the European environmental management system EMAS, in the World Cup stadiums in Nuremberg and Munich
- the use of rain water for sprinkling the playing field, e.g. in Stuttgart and Nuremberg
- the installation of waterless urinals or water-efficient toilets, e.g. in Hanover, Stuttgart, and Gelsenkirchen
- special rainwater re-infiltration concepts, e.g. in Frankfurt or Berlin
- the erection of photovoltaic installations, e.g. in Gelsenkirchen
- the switch to public transport by means of an extensive Park & Ride system for the reduction of noise and emissions in Kaiserslautern
- the saving of money and resources through the recycling of used stadium seats in Hanover
- the unsealing of surfaces and reduced overall surface sealing during stadium construction in Leipzig
A complete overview of environmental measures at the venues can be found here.
Another distinctive feature is the introduction of combi-tickets. For the first time, spectators in all of the
World Cup cities can use public transport for free with their admission tickets on the entire day of play. The
combi-ticket presents a novelty for world and European football championships: until now, this service only
existed for German Soccer League and international matches and only for a shorter period of availability.
In order to make the use of public transport as comfortable as possible, a signpost system for local traffic will
be developed. For the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, a uniform signposting system will guide the spectators to the
stadium with public transport from airports, train stations, or Park & Ride lots in all venue cities.
The OC has also set up an Internet travel centre. All
visitors there can already find comprehensive travel information for public transport and German railways.
Special consideration is given to the routes between the stadiums and important traffic hubs, such as the main
railway stations, for example. These Internet sites will also contain precise driving instructions to Park &
Ride parking lots a few weeks before the beginning of the World Cup. The aim is that spectators who travel by car
can transfer to public transport as soon as possible.
An additional important step for environmentally friendly transportation to the stadiums are attractive offers by
Deutsche Bahn, the German railway operator, one of the national sponsors of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, for
officials and football fans from across the world. Deutsche Bahn is already making a special offer for the FIFA
Confederations Cup in June in Germany. An admission ticket to the games entitles one to the purchase of a railway
ticket subject to the conditions of a BahnCard 25. During the World Cup, approximately 6000 journalists can
travel free with their World Cup accreditation on the entire local and long-distance network of Deutsche
Bahn.
Despite all these measures, global warming impacts are to be expected from energy consumption and traffic
throughout Germany. The OC and its partners have therefore decided to compensate for the unavoidable emissions by
promoting climate protection activities at other locations. The 2006 FIFA World Cup™ shall thus be
climate-neutral for the first time. Approximately 100.000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions must be compensated
for. To that end, the OC and its partners plan to support climate protection projects elsewhere, especially in
newly industrializing and developing countries. kk
Since April, Green Goal™ has a dedicated website.
Contact:
Dr. Hartmut Stahl
Öko-Institut e.V., Darmstadt Office
Infrastructure & Enterprises Division
[back to the index]
Direct marketing for city busses in Offenburg
Local public transport welcome package and taster ticket for new residents
The City of Offenburg on the edge of the Black Forest has set itself the target of encouraging its 55.000
residents to use public transport for 10 percent of all travel within the city. To this end the city adopted a
two-fold strategy involving expansion of the city bus services on the one hand and sophisticated marketing on the
other. The City of Offenburg commissioned the Öko-Institut with the development and implementation of a marketing
strategy. The City’s efforts have now been rewarded. Offenburg was awarded third prize in a local public
transport innovation competition organized by the transport and environment ministry of Baden-Württemberg on the
occasion of the second Baden-Württemberg local public transport innovation congress.
In order to establish bus transport as an independent municipal transport service, Offenburg created the
“Schlüsselbus” label for city bus services. The City introduced new bus routes offering frequent
services and expanded the central local transport hub at the railway station. The aim of the accompanying
marketing campaign was to make the new service better known, to improve the image of city bus services, and to
address new target groups. In early 2002 the Öko-Institut developed an associated concept. One of the strategies
was to specifically target new residents.
"New residents have to find their bearings and review their mobility habits. During such a phase it may be
easier to encourage people to try a new transport service", said project manager Willi Loose, transport
expert at the Freiburg office of the Öko-Institut. One way of attracting new customers is a friendly welcome
gesture. The core of the direct marketing concept is a local public transport welcome package that is
automatically sent to new residents. The package contains useful information, and each new household can request
a free, transferable city bus ticket that is valid for two months. This form of advertising is particularly
effective for two reasons: Customers do not have to take the first step for obtaining information on public
transport services, as is usually the case, and they are alerted to the service at an opportune time.
On behalf of "Technische Betriebe Offenburg" the Öko-Institut tested this concept in practice. Between
October 2002 and the end of 2003 the Öko-Institut sent out around 2.000 welcome packages for new residents and
326 taster tickets for interested new residents’ households. All households that had received a taster
ticket were also sent a questionnaire. The return rate was 29 percent. The institute’s scientists also
interviewed new residents who had moved to Offenburg before the campaign and had not received a welcome package.
This group served as a reference group.
The results fully met the expectations for the taster ticket campaign. Respondents clearly regarded the
unexpected welcome gesture and the attention paid by the City to its new residents as positive. On average, the
taster ticket group was able to acquaint themselves better with local public transport in Offenburg than the
reference group. Compared with the control group, those who took up the taster ticket offer used city and
regional busses 17 percent more often than where they lived before. This group also rated the bus travel
experience 13 percent better than the control group. After the taster ticket campaign, almost half the residents
in the taster ticket group continued to purchase public transport season tickets or multi-trip tickets.
The City of Offenburg decided to continue sending the local public transport welcome package to new residents
beyond the test phase. Based on feedback from the survey, certain aspects of the campaign have already been
improved. The complete project report in German can be found here. kk
Contact:
Willi Loose
Öko-Institut e.V., Freiburg Office
Transportation Activity Area
[back to the index]
Dental radiology
To what levels of radiation are patients exposed? / New Öko-Institut study
Everyone has been through it. The tooth is aching and an X-ray examination is needed for diagnosis. But just what
levels of radiation exposure does this mean for the patient? This is the key issue examined by the Öko-Institut
in a new study carried out on behalf of the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The study is being
performed in cooperation with the Medical Radiation Physics Working Group of the Pius Hospital and Oldenburg
University.
Under the German X-Ray Ordinance (Röntgenverordnung) the Federal Office for Radiation Protection has an
obligation to publish dose reference values for medical X-ray examinations. This stipulation of the ordinance
follows a recommendation issued by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). These official
values provide a reference point for X-ray examinations. Good X-ray practice requires that across the average of
examinations, the official dose reference values are not exceeded. If they are exceeded regularly, the competent
authorities must check and optimize the X-ray systems on site, for example by improving equipment settings or
replacing outdated systems.
“But there have been no such reference values until now for dental X-ray examinations. The findings
generated by our study allow the Federal Office for Radiation Protection to define and publish these
values” says Mathias Sering, researcher with the Nuclear Engineering & Plant Safety Division in the
Öko-Institut’s Darmstadt office. “What we are doing here is thus basic research.” The project
comprises several sub-tasks and is implemented separately for various types of X-ray examination: intraoral
imaging, panorama layer imaging, skull teleradiography, dental computer tomography and digital volume
tomography.
In a first step, the scientists determine which parameters are of relevance to assess radiation exposure. To that
end, exposure levels associated with typical settings and parameters of X-ray equipment are measured in reference
systems. To perform these measurements, the phantom of a human head – fitted with numerous measuring units
– is X-rayed in the systems. This means that dose levels are measured not only for the teeth, but also e.g.
for the eye lens, the parotid gland and the thyroid. These measurements are made with numerous different
equipment settings. The data thus collated permit exact statements on which equipment settings lead to which
levels of radiation exposure. The measurements are carried out by the Öko-Institut’s cooperation partner
– the Medical Radiation Physics Working Group of the Pius Hospital and Oldenburg University – which
commands over the technical systems and extensive practical experience in this field.
In a second step, data are surveyed directly in dental practices. In these surveys, the scientists record the
equipment settings with which X-rays are carried out for the various types of examination. Comparison of the
phantom measurement results with the dentist survey findings permits identification of the patient radiation
exposure that actually occurs in practice. Further statistical analyses of the data thus gathered permit, for
instance, statements on the variance of actual radiation exposure for the various types of examination. The
two-year project is expected to conclude in August 2006. ms/kk
Contact:
Mathias Sering
Öko-Institut e.V., Darmstadt Office
Nuclear Engineering & Plant Safety Division
[back to the index]
Reading resource: Green public procurement
Potential, barriers, strategies
German administrations procure many things: paper, buses, electricity and more. The total procurement of local
authorities, cities and ministries accounts for about twelve percent of German gross domestic product. Which
quantifiable reductions in environmental impact can be achieved if public procurement is aligned with
environmental criteria? What are the real and perceived barriers standing in the way of green public procurement?
These are some of the questions tackled by a project titled “Potential for sustainable procurement and
tools for its implementation (NaBesI)” carried out jointly by Dresden Technical University, the
Öko-Institut and ICLEI’s European secretariat. The findings have now been published as a book.
A good 20 years on from the publication of the first green procurement guidelines, the book takes stock of their
success. The assessment builds upon comprehensive analyses of procurement practice, market responses and the
potential for improvement. With its detailed presentation of the various environmental specifications permissible
under German, European and international law, the book identifies the compatibility of environmental policy
stipulations with procurement law. Calculations of the achievable overall reduction in environmental impact
underscore that public administrations have far more than merely symbolic influence. Implementing green
procurement within administrations is often a wearisome task; this book makes the task easier, providing an
analysis tool for self-evaluation of barriers.
Read the related article – available only in German: „Ökologische Beschaffung kann die Umwelt
erheblich entlasten” – in Newsletter 04/04 at www.oeko.de/newsarchiv_engl.htm.
Umweltfreundliche öffentlich Beschaffung. Innovationen, Hemmnisse, Strategien. Edited by Regine Barth,
Christoph Erdmenger & Edeltraud Günther. Published in the “Nachhaltigkeit und Innovation” series.
Physica-Verlag Springer 2005. 400 pages. 66,95 Euros.
Contact:
Regine Barth
Öko-Institut e.V., Darmstadt Office
Coordinator of Environmental Law Division
[back to the index]
C O N T A C T
Publisher
Öko-Institut e.V.
Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut)
Editorial office
Department of Public Relations & Communication
Christiane Rathmann
Katja Kukatz
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