Status: 15.11.2022 11:40 a.m
While the international community in Egypt is struggling for more climate protection, something is happening on a small scale. Communities are on their way to becoming carbon neutral. The potential for CO2 savings is great.
At first glance, Kastl in der Oberpfalz looks like many communities in Germany: a historic center with a castle and church surrounded by single-family homes that stretch down the valley and up the hills. And yet the small market town has achieved something that the world community can only dream of: In the last twenty years, CO2 emissions in the public sector have been reduced by two thirds.
Mayor Stefan Braun points to the roof of the changing rooms at the local outdoor pool. Since 2003 it has been completely covered with a dense network of black plastic pipes. “That was the first measure we took,” explains Braun. The water from the swimming pool is heated here with the heat of the sun and sent back into the pool. “We already have 28 degrees in the pool in early summer,” says Braun. The former gas boiler has become superfluous. This saves the municipality 15,000 euros a year. The investment for the absorber system on the roof was 45,000 euros – it had already paid for itself after three years.
Local heating saves 500,000 liters of oil
Other measures in Kastl also help the climate: solar modules are now standard, at least on public buildings – for example at the sewage treatment plant, where solar power is used directly. At the community boundary at the back of the forest, a community wind turbine turns – with three megawatts of power, theoretically as much electricity as the entire community consumes, in practice the electricity ends up in the general grid.
And: A wood chip heating plant provides local heat. It is supplied by farmers from a radius of ten kilometers and sends hot water to public buildings and now also to around fifty households. The pipeline network is currently being expanded. “In the past, nobody wanted local heating because it was a bit more expensive than heating with oil yourself,” says Braun. “Meanwhile they’re running into us.” The mayor calculates that the community is currently saving around 500,000 liters of heating oil a year with local heating alone.
Communities alone will not save the climate
Carsten Warnecke from the NewClimate Institute in Cologne praises the commitment of many communities. Nevertheless, more climate protection also requires the big politics that are currently being negotiated at the UN climate conference in Egypt. “We need the massive expansion of renewables. I think everyone has understood that by now. But it really has to happen,” says Warnecke. Because no matter how much the communities save themselves, they can do little to ensure the energy supply for industry on their own, for example.
This is an issue especially in larger cities and metropolitan areas. The climate expert is currently observing with suspicion that coal-fired power plants are being reactivated and investments are being made in gas infrastructure. The great danger is that this development is not only temporary, but that newly developed gas deposits will also be used in the long term – and the earth will continue to warm up.
Emissions at pre-pandemic levels
Indeed, researchers are observing that CO2 emissions this year are similar to those before the pandemic, with more than 40 billion tons worldwide. This is the conclusion he comes to current report of the international scientific project Global Carbon Budget. Because a lot of rainforest is cut down, an important buffer that could absorb CO2 again is lost. If this level continues for another nine years, global warming can no longer be kept below 1.5 degrees. The climate goals of the Paris Agreement are therefore in immediate danger.
Municipalities like Kastl also have many more options. So far, the community has been able to reduce its annual CO2 emissions from 480 tons to 200 tons – in the area of public administration. However, if more private households switched to renewables, much greater savings would be possible. On average, every German citizen currently causes almost eight tons of CO2 a year.
Much more potential
Kastl’s Mayor Braun would like to see more commitment on the part of the citizens. Of around 1,000 roofs, only 180 are currently used for photovoltaics or hot water, he calculates. Most households still heat with oil. Using a solar cadastre, every community member can find out for themselves online whether their roof is suitable for a photovoltaic system. “There’s still a lot of potential there,” says Braun. However, some have recognized the signs of the times, and photovoltaic systems are currently being approved on a regular basis.
The community soon wants to build a second woodchip power plant in order to be able to supply even more single-family homes with local heating. Then around one million liters of heating oil could be saved each year. And: Some taboos are shaking. The municipality is considering equipping listed buildings with solar panels. “We have to weigh up what is urgently more important to us,” says Braun. “Leave old buildings as they are. Or fight climate change.”