Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Water

Water Framework Directive

The status of German waters 2015

The European Water Framework Directive requires that rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters, and groundwater achieve “good status” by the year 2027 at the latest. The European Union has provided a clear timetable as well as three six-year management cycles for Member States to achieve that goal. This brochure presents the results from the first management period, shows the development sinc...read more

Soil | Land

The Use of Natural Resources

Report for Germany 2016

With the report on “The Use of Natural Resources - Report for Germany 2016”, the German Environment Agency (UBA) sheds light upon the current situation regarding resource use in Germany. The first UBA resources report focuses on renewable and non-renewable raw materials. The themes covered range from raw material extraction and trade to the use of raw materials in the German economic system and ra...read more

Climate | Energy

CO2 Emission Factors for Fossil Fuels

Germany is obligated to report its national emissions of greenhouse gases, annually, to the European Union and the United Nations. Over 80 % of the greenhouse-gas emissions reported by Germany occur via combustion of fossil fuels. The great majority of the emissions consist of carbon dioxide. To calculate carbon dioxide emissions, one needs both the relevant activity data and suitable emission fac...read more

Chemikalien

Pharmaceuticals in the environment: Global occurrence and potential cooperative action under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM)

In a comprehensive literature review measured environmental concentrations of human and veterinary pharmaceutical substances reported worldwide were compiled in a systematic database. Pharmaceuticals or their transformation products have been detected in the environment of 71 countries covering all five UN regions. 631 different pharmaceuticals have been found above the detection limits of the ana...read more

Chemicals

Pharmaceuticals in the Environment – Make ideas work

Key measures to reduce pharmaceuticals’ emissions

Pharmaceutical substances are biologically highly active chemicals which can unintentionally but regularly be released into the environment. More than 600 different pharmaceuticals can be found worldwide in soils, sediments, surface waters and some of them even in groundwater. To protect human health and the environment it is urgent to implement strong and effective measures to reduce emissions of...read more

ChemikalienGesundheit

Nanomaterials and other advanced materials: Application safety and environmental compatibility

Review of the joint research strategy of the higher federal authorities

In a long-term research strategy, the German higher federal authorities responsible for human and environmental safety – the German Environment Agency (UBA), the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the National Metrology Institute (PTB) – are accompanying the...read more

Air, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Guideline on Air Quality Plans

Particulate matter (PM10) is one of the air pollutants, which pose a major risk to public health. This is why EU legislation has set limit values for PM10. In case of persistent and high exceedances of these limit values the “Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe” proposes air quality plans as a complex, though effective, instrument to reduce air quality level exce...read more

Climate | Energy

Integration of Power to Gas/ Power to Liquids into the ongoing transformation process

Power to gas (PtG) is a technology for producing hydrogen and methane using electricity, while power to liquids (PtL) is an electricity-based process for the generation of liquid fuels. Jointly with other so-called power-to-x technologies PtG and PtL make it possible to provide renewable energies for all applications. This position paper assesses the role and prospects of the power-to-gas/power-to...read more