Öko-Institut e.V.: 50 million by 2030 - The heat transition: making it work

Editorial

[Translate to Englisch:] Jan Peter Schemmel, Sprecher der Geschäftsführung des Öko-Instituts

Room wanted, for a while

Editorial by Jan Peter Schemmel, CEO, Oeko-Institut

I wish our apartment had a spare room. Just one. Now that the children are a bit older, it would be nice for them to have a space of their own. We would only need it for a few years, just until they leave home. After that, I would happily hand it back – my wife and I wouldn’t use it.

That’s not how it works, I hear you say. But that’s how it should work, don’t you think? We have very fixed ideas about our living arrangements, and that limits our scope. So you need a bigger apartment? Then…

Room wanted, for a while

In Focus

Policy instruments for the heat transition

A large and cumbersome ship

The present situation cannot continue: the building sector is heading for a substantial emissions gap. Under the Federal Climate Change Act (Bundes-Klimaschutzgesetz), this sector is required to cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions to 70 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2030 – a 67 per cent reduction compared with the 1990 level. With the current package of measures, however, this target will be missed: a study led by the Oeko-Institut predicts a gap of almost 17…

Policy instruments for the heat transition

Individual heating here, district heating there

Municipal heat planning

Gas or oil? For a long time, these seemed to be almost the only heating options available. Today, there is much more choice. Depending on the locality and region, geothermal, solar thermal or even industrial waste heat may be worth considering. What is still lacking, however, is a broad overview of which type of heat supply is most appropriate and sustainable for different municipalities and neighbourhoods. But in Baden-Württemberg, that is about to change: here, under the amended…

Individual heating here, district heating there

[Translate to Englisch:] Daniel Fuhrhop (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg)

“Living space is a ressource”

Interview with Daniel Fuhrhop (University of Oldenburg)

Ban construction! The title says it all: in 2015, Daniel Fuhrhop published an impassioned polemic against new builds. Presenting his case from an economist’s perspective, he argues that the demand for housing can be met through smart use of the existing building stock. Daniel Fuhrhop is now based at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, where he is working on a research project on optimised use of living space and new housing models. In this interview with eco@work, the…

“Living space is a ressource”