Where does the district of Ebersberg stand in terms of climate protection? – Ebersberg

Big words often have the unpleasant quality that they are difficult to keep – and the words that the district of Ebersberg chose in 2012 for its future climate policy can safely be described as huge. The aim is to be free of fossil fuels and other finite energy sources by 2030, and 50 percent of the consumption from 2007 should be saved in the heating sector. In 2015, the district council also passed the resolution to cover 90 percent of the energy requirements of municipal properties with renewable energy sources by 2020 and also to reduce its energy consumption by 15 percent by last year. Has the district achieved its goals? Time for an interim conclusion.

And this turns out to be rather mixed, as can be seen from a comprehensive analysis that the district administration made on a request from the parliamentary group of ÖDP and Left. In it, the two parties wanted to know – roughly summarized – how things are on the way to climate neutrality. “There is no district council resolution with the goal of climate neutrality”, Susanne Kinze from the property office had to clarify at the most recent meeting of the responsible district committee. As engineer Bernd Busse explained, all energy sources would have a certain level of CO2 emissions due to the upstream value chains. “There is no such thing as a complete zero,” said the expert.

The district suffered a setback in the previous year

The district resolutions are therefore based on producing at most as many greenhouse gases from 2030 as can be absorbed by the so-called sinks, such as forests or moors. On the way there, however, the district office had to accept a setback last year. In 2020, 90 percent of the energy requirements of your own buildings should come from renewable energies. In fact, it was only 59 percent.

The Markt Schwaben grammar school, the district administration office itself and the old distillery are currently still heated with natural gas. But that should soon be over, as Kinze said in the committee. The conversion of the Markt Schwabener Gymnasium to district heating is already being planned, as is a groundwater heat pump for the Johann Comenius School in Grafing. If these two measures were to be implemented, the proportion of renewable energies would be 75 percent. In order to reach the targeted 90 percent, the district office and the old distillery must also be sustainably supplied. According to Kinze, there are already plans to integrate both buildings into the district heating network of the city of Ebersberg. Nevertheless, the switch to renewable energy sources alone is not enough to achieve the goal of complete CO2-free, as the administration says.

Another adjustment screw is therefore to reduce energy consumption overall through savings. There is good news and bad news here. The good thing is that the district has achieved the target of 15 percent less consumption compared to the initial value in 2007 in the previous year. In 2020, the properties had saved 19 percent energy. The bad news, however, is that in 2019 it was already 24 percent – so the district has deteriorated again. But the authority itself is not to blame, as Susanne Kinze explained. “Corona hit us in the heels,” she said, referring to the pandemic. Due to the constant ventilation while heating at the same time, the electricity consumption has just increased.

Classrooms are becoming more and more digital – and therefore need more electricity

In addition, it is generally difficult to save energy, especially in schools. “The classrooms are becoming more and more digital with electronic boards and laptops,” said Kinze. In addition, there are more and more all-day classes, so the building times have been extended as a result. The ventilation systems installed in the classrooms due to the corona pandemic would also consume energy, as would the e-filling stations attached to the buildings. The district is now installing these in all renovations and expansions. Savings in the school area are therefore actually only possible by switching from old lamps to LED lights and good thermal insulation.

Open detailed view

The largest energy thrower in schools is currently still the Markt Schwaben high school, with a heat consumption per square meter that is almost twice as high as at the other educational institutions. The district wants to tackle this problem in the coming year with a feasibility study in which the general renovation of the so-called component 1 is to be examined. The administration assumes that the renovation will cost around eight million euros.

Such specific figures would have been wished for more often from the applicants from ÖDP and Linke in the analysis, as Renate Glaser (ÖDP) said in the committee. She called for a concrete plan by 2030, which also lists the costs that are necessary to achieve the goals. “We’re moving in the right direction, but it’s just not being done enough,” said Glaser.

The climate protection manager calls for more money and personnel

The climate protection manager Lisa Rütgers, who submitted a survey, has a similar view of how Ebersberg is positioned in relation to other districts in terms of climate protection. The conclusion: “We are not in a bad position,” said Rütgers. However, climate protection is by no means an Ebersberg invention, all districts are very committed to the topic. After all, the municipalities also have a certain role model function. Rütgers said of Ebersberg: “We should take on a pioneering role and also keep and expand it.” But this also requires the necessary resources in the form of money and personnel, which must be made available by politics.

How this can be reconciled with the increasingly tight budget will be the big question in the years to come. In any case, there is not much time left for the district, after all, all goals should be achieved in eight years. For District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß (CSU), the analysis presented is at least “a good basis for further discussions”.