Public authorities and offices must adhere to complicated regulations when purchasing modern technology. European and German law prohibit identification of brand names in public tenders. This becomes especially tricky when ordering IT and communications technology since brand-name products are often desired. There is now a solution provided by a new online portal http://www.itk-beschaffung.de/, wh... read more
First eco-label with same award criteria for Germany and China
Cooperation between the German Blue Angel eco-label and the Chinese eco-label has borne fruit: the two institutions responsible in both countries- the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification in Germany, and the Environmental Certification Center of the Chinese Environment Ministry- jointly determined for the first the award criteria for... read more
More energy efficiency in city lighting
Roughly one third of the streetlights in Germany is at least 20 years old-and is often consuming more energy than necessary. The Federal Ministry for Environment (BMU), the KfW Bankengruppe and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) have therefore launched the national energy efficiency award contest for city lighting (Energieeffiziente Stadtbeleuchtung) contest today. UBA President Prof. Dr. Troge... read more
Biological diversity and human simplicity
There is a new exhibition at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in Berlin starting 19 June 2008. Titled „BRUTSTÄTTEN - Künstlerische Positionen zur biologischen Vielfalt und menschlichen Einfalt“, it features three artists’ works that take a humorous yet deeper look at man’s fractured relationship to nature. read more
Put CO2 away under the sea?
Technologically speaking it is entirely feasible to separate the carbon dioxide (CO2) harmful to the climate from the concentrated flue gases of power plants and to compress them into porous rock or sediment layers under the oceans and seas. Yet can the greenhouse gas be stored permanently and safely without doing damage to the marine environment? This issue is the focus of a meeting of German an... read more
Pre-registration for REACH begins
The EU Chemicals Ordinance REACH goes into the next round as pre-registration begins. REACH requires registration of all chemicals that are on the market in the EU. Manufacturers and importers of chemicals must register products with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and assess the risk they pose to mankind and the environment. Pre-registration is a sort of taking of stock that provides public... read more
Continued dry periods and nitrogen input are hazardous to biological diversity
Over the past four decades the volume of nitrogen released into the environment worldwide has tripled-and this trend is set to continue, posing a long-term risk to biological diversity. ”Plants that thrive on nitrogen, e.g. nettles and boysenberries, are crowding out other species. Grassland is growing over entire habitat types adapted to conditions where few nutrients are present (e.g. raised bog... read more
Jobs in environmental protection at a record high
Four and a half percent of all jobs in Germany in 2006 were related to environmental protection, which means almost 1.8 million jobs and a new high. In 2004 the figure was at 3.8 percent. Three factors in particular account for this positive development: strong job growth in the renewable energies sector, a rise in exports of German environmental technologies, and additional jobs created in envi... read more
