germany

“The clear alternative and the best news from 2012 came from Germany, the one big country that’s taken climate change seriously. Their energy minister announced in November that they were going to blow past their targets for renewable power. This is in Germany, mind you. I mean, Munich is north of Montreal, but there were days last summer when they generated more than half the power they used from solar panels within their borders. What they’re proving is it’s not natural bounty nor technological know-how that holds us back; it’s simply political will, one resource we’re capable of ginning up if we set our minds to it.”[read more]

Yolanda Rother was in for a rude awakening when she took her first steps on the campus of Georgetown University in January. It did not take much for her to realize life in D.C. would be much different than she originally anticipated. All she had to do was look up.“Lights were always left on. A complete waste of energy,” said Rother, 24...[read more]

Government agencies and marketing bureaus across the globe strive to find ways to get people into parks and using public spaces. Some spend millions with extravagant firework spectaculars, while others import international music acts or host an almost continuous string of farmer’s markets and craft fairs, many of which fail to deliver a...[read more]

‘The architecture was award winning - but the lifestyle? There’s more going on at local cemeteries.’The comment, in the German magazine Der Spiegel, described the City Nord development in Hamburg last year. But it could have been equally true of many new urban developments worldwide. In the UK, the only qualification to that comment...[read more]

Starting this autumn, a network in Berlin is starting that promotes the knowledge exchange about urban gardening. The new network is targeting experts from garden and agricultural industries, vocational students, vocational school teachers and private individuals. The German Federal...[read more]

Frankfurt scores particularly well in terms of transport and renewable energy. Berlin is good in air quality, CO2 emissions and water use. Bremen ranks high in buildings and environmental management. These are some of the findings of the German Green City Index, commissioned by Siemens (which sponsors SustainableCitiesCollective) and...[read more]

Germany hopes to make electric vehicles the wave of the future with growing investments in the electric vehicle research and development sector. Photo by lincolnblues. The German government is planning to fund one billion Euros (US $1.4 billion) to the research and development of electric vehicles, with the ultimate goal of adding one...[read more]

On Monday, Germany’s state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn and Siemens AG confirmed an order for 300 of the most advanced high-speed trains in the world.  In what amounts to a Hail Mary pass, the beleaguered Deutsche Bahn is pouring EUR 6 billion into 250km/h ICx train service through 2030, which they hope will restore DB’s...[read more]

Continental, the Germany-based international automotive components supplier, developed a stereo camera as a component of its braking system. The camera recognizes pedestrians and prevents serious road injuries. The company hopes that this new device will help prevent or at least reduce the seriousness of the frequent crashes involving pedestrians.[read more]

Heating oil in Germany is currently more expensive than ever before at the beginning of a year. In this harsh winter, households that have already switched to renewable heating are in a financial advantage. In addition, heating systems based on renewable energy sources reduce the greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt hour by up to 95...[read more]

A wide range of technical products need rare metals, i.e. raw materials that represent less than 0.01 percent by weight of the earth's crust. Car converters require platinum, aircraft engines and micro-capacitors for mobile phones need tantalum, lithium batteries and flat panel displays use indium. Without rare metals wind turbines or...[read more]

  More than 1.8 million German households and companies collect rain in concrete or plastic tanks, in order to water the garden, flush the toilet or wash their cars. About 110 million cubic meters of valuable drinking water have been saved in 2009, nationwide. Last year at least 60 000 new rain water tanks were built in Germany...[read more]