EuroEnviro 2009 15th European Students’ Symposium on the Environment
Renewable Energies :: Possibilities and Limits
EuroEnviro 2009
EDITOR Andreas Kreuzeder andreas.kreuzeder@gmx.at PHOTOGRAPHY Francesca Gambazzi, Stephan Kupsa, Andreas Kreuzeder and the participants Frontpage: designritter@photocase.com, mages@photocase.com, suze@photocase.com CONCEPTION, DESIGN AND LAYOUT Andreas Kreuzeder PRINT
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS Printing this Report was sponsored by Gisela Fuchs, Andreas Kreuzeder, Florian Ortner and Paul Stangl - Thanks! http://www.euroenviro2009.com
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Contents foreword 05 preface 06 The History 07 09
EuroEnviro 2009 The Program of his years meeting
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Renewable Energies A brief introduction
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Daily Reports
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The EuroEnviro World Participants 2009
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Presentations
written by Alexandro Fierro, Eveline Volkart, Francesco Neri, Andreas Kreuzeder, Charlotte Wirion, Christian Kozina, Elena Raspertova, Sara Pauli, Julian Fink, Stefanie Pessenteiner, Stephan Kupsa, Francesca Gambazzi, Christian Mohns, Arabi Arabi Abdelhaq, Crist贸bal Rodr铆guez Coca
The Participants Presentations
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Results The Petition
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EuroEnviro 2009 In Pictures
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EuroEnviro 2010 A sneak preview Sustainable Lifestyle
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Foreword Some words from the editor about the thrilling experience of the EuroEnviro 2009 in Germany. The experience of joining the EuroEnviro 2009 in Germany was overwhelming. This report is an attempt to condense these incredible days into a few pages. However, texts and pictures can only offer a little glimpse on this meeting. It seems impossible to describe the dynamics, the energy, the exchange and spirit of such a meeting. Nevertheless, we hope to offer a insight on our activities, our discussions and issues. This report contains a mixture of articles, pictures, stories and some background of the EuroEnviro - or BIB, as many participants still refer to it. The idea was to gather the experiences, describe our activities from different viewpoints and to send this book to all participants. We also want to document what we did and what a EuroEnviro meeting can look like. Starting with general information on the history and background we collected daily reports by the participants of this years EuroEnviro. These reports tell individual stories which are as multicoloured as the meeting itself. The hardest part was to show the emotions, the energy or generally, the EuroEnviro-vibe. Our picture section might offer insights but unfortunately this can only tell a little part of the whole story. Gathering all the articles, raising some money to print and getting everything done took some time, of course. Thanks to all the contributors, to the participants and organizers. We all hope that this lets you remember the fun
we had, brings back the unique feeling and refreshes the promise, that we all are going to meet again someday. Everybody at the EuroEnviro 2009 was impressed by the perfect organisation, the glueless schedule and by all the work which was done to accomodate all of us. Often all this happend invisible to the participants. Thank you so much for all the time, personal effort and strengh you put into this. We hope, that you were able to enjoy at least a few moments of „your“ EuroEnviro and of course we hope to see you all again at the next one! Finally, I want to spend a big thank you to this years organising team. With the words „yes, we‘ll do it!“ you all have accepted to focus your energy, spend your free time and to work hard for a meeting so far ahead, that you can‘t even imagine how it‘s going to be. I wish you all the best of luck, the eagerness to push trough the hard times and many chances to enjoy the fruits of your work. I hope that you can enjoy this report on the EuroEnviro 2009. Maybe it wets your mouth for more. Keep it as a souvenir, close it into your heart. Show it around and tell the people about the EuroEnviro: invite them, thrill them, discuss, tell and inspire them. That is, what the EuroEnviro is here for. Join and Enjoy! Andreas Kreuzeder Graz, Austria
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Preface EuroEnviro 2009: Renewable Energy - Possibilities and Limits
The EuroEnviro is a students organised meeting of European students with an environmental focus. Since 1995 the annual EuroEnviro takes place in different European countries on a temporal theme about environmental protection. In 2009 the EuroEnviro was organised by students of Rostock about the theme: “Renewable Energies – Possibilities and Limits”. In times of climate change and growing resource deficiencies this topic has an important meaning. Already the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 defines the renewable energies as a possibility to advance against climate change. With this background the participants had the possibility to take part in a varied program with excursions, presentations, discussions and workshops concerning the possibilities and limits of the future use of energy. The question weather Renewable Engergy is good or not seems easy to answer. However, it is not. Not only, that there are different sources of so called „renewables“ - there are limits and constraints, advantages and disadvantages attached not only to the technology itself but also to the emotionalized discussion. This is, what the EuroEnviro 2009 was about: Renewbale Energies - Possibilities and Limits! People working towards more sustainability in energy production have long been smiled at. However, times have changed and today „green“ has gotten a mainstream term. We think, that this is good. However, some issues are - as we also experienced during our trips and excur-
sions - more of a marketing-gag. And to make things more complicated, even environmental students can‘t agree on many questions which arise. Depending on background, viewpoint, political and societal opinions answers on easy questions may be absolutely different. This provides a substantial area of conflict. Many stakeholders in society, politics, economy - grass-roots environmental groups, lobbying organisations, corporate giants and joung entrepreneurs - are trying to weather the uprising storm of the energy supply for the future. The complexity of this matter, the dynamics of highly cross-linked systems, technological limits, theoretical claims and emotionalized discussion is hard to oversee and understand. This is what makes Renewable Energies such a controversial matter. The EuroEnviro 2009 tried to offer a frame for discussion and exchange of different viewpoints. The diversity, derived from different backgrounds and countries of origin of all the participants, provided vast fields to do so. The annual meeting of european students with an environmental focus tries not only to connect the participants themselfs. Much more, a major aim is to connect different stakeholders with an international group of students which one day, will be acting in this fields. The past has shown, that the experiences of the EuroEnviro meetings are unique and that the networks that are tied are unvaluable - just as the tradition of the EuroEnviro itself.
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The integral combination of knowledge, friendship and neverending energy, that is the EuroEnviro. Alex
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The History
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EuroEnviro means to get in touch, exchange experiences and to find ways to apply - no matter in which field of living. Be critical and keep it going. Klaus
The EuroEnviro was created in 1995 in Born on the peninsula Darß (Mecklenburg - Vorpommern, Germany). The founders were students from Rostock studying at the department of “Landmanagement and environmental protection”. Their aim was to exchange their opinions with other students on environmental sciences and ecopolitical issues. Since 1995 the meeting took place in many European countries all over the continent.
2009 Rostock, Greifswald and Berlin, Germany: „Renewable Energies - Possibilities and Limits“ 2008 Soomaa National Park, Estonia: „PAN Parks“ 2007 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia: „Ecotourism – Discovering the hidden natural treasures“ 2006 Geneva, Switzerland: „Food: An environmental Perspective“ 2005 Seville, Spain: „Environmental communication and education“ 2004 Bucharest, Romania: „Preserving nature and culture through tourism“ 2003 Paris, France: „Eye to eye on Sustainable Development“ 2002 Belgrade, Serbia: „Sustainable Development – Considering the environment during socioeconomic transition“
2001 Aberdeen, Scotland: „Industry and Environment“ 2000 Moscow, Russia: „Our common European heritage“ 1999 Évora, Portugal: „Mediterranean Ecosystem“ 1998 Graz and Vienna, Austria: „Water and groundwater ecology“ 1997 Zurich, Switzerland: „European freight transport and traffic“ 1996 Krakow, Poland: „Humans and its environment“ 1995 Born, Germany: „First Round: The National Park“
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EuroEnviro 2009 The Program The EuroEnviro 2009 meeting took place in the three cities Rostock, Greifswald and Berlin. Students from Europe and even further away met for 10 days, starting on May 1 st.
EuroEnviro 2009 The organizing team Coordination • Marcus Behrendt Programm • Ulrike Kästner • Juliane Müller Finances & Sponsorship • Barbara Mahnke • Luise Heym • Adelwin Bothe • Franziska Hanisch • Kerstin Suckow Publicity & Communication • Franziska Hoffmann • Hanna Haendel • Anne Respondek • Henrik Haendel Technics & Logistics • Robert Kreibig
EuroEnviro2009 Ökohaus e.V. Rostock Hermannstraße 36 18055 Rostock Germany
Rostock
Friday May 1st Arrival Saturday May 2nd Introduction, Renewable Energies global and Energy turnround • Reception and introduction into the theme • Presentation and discussion of the energy turnround in Rostock • Presentation: Renewable Energies global Sunday May 3rd Wind and Solar Energy • Excursion: Excursion to the windpower park “Lübow” and the solar center “Wietow” with a hiking tour • Nostalgic evening „15 years of EuroEnviro“ Monday May 4th Water Energy, Renewable Energies in the European Union • Presentation: Water energy in northeastern Germany • Presentations of the participants : level of renewable energies in the participant’s countries I • Game lobby of energy Tuesday May 5th Biomass • Game lobby of energy • Excursion: Agency of renewable resources „Gülzow“
Wednesday May 6th Wind and Solar Energy • Excursion: Nordex - producer of wind power • Workshop: We build a solar cooker
Greifswald
Thursday May 7th Energy out of coal and nuclear power plants • Visit of the energy site „Lubmin“ • Panel discussion • Preparation of a petition
Berlin
Friday May 8th Alternative and energy saving ways of live, renewable energies in the European Union • Formulation of the petition • Visit of low-energy houses • Presentations of the participants: level of Renewable Energies in the participant’s countries II Saturday May 9th Closure and Results • Final plenum • Reading of the petition, Evaluation of the EuroEnviro2009 • Bike tour in Berlin • Election of the next EuroEnviro organiser Sunday May 10th Departure
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Renewable Energies An introduction to the most important facts. Lena Gschaider
Renewable energy is generated from natural resources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat, which have natural replenishment. Of the final global energy consumption in the year 2006 18% came from renewables. The largest source with 13% came from traditional biomass, like wood burning, followed by hydroelectricity which provides 3% of the global energy consumption and 15% of the global electricity generation. Across European countries and the United States of America wind power is widely used and has a growth rate of 30% annually. In the year 2008 the worldwide installed capacity was 121,000 megawatts (MW). Very popular in Germany and Spain are photovoltaic (PV) power stations and the manufacturing output of this industrial sector reached 6,900 MW in 2008. The largest solar thermal power station is found in the Mojave Desert and such stations operate throughout the USA and Spain. But renewable energy projects and production is not only found in large quantities in industrial countries but in rural areas as well, where energy is crucial in human development. For example: the African state Kenya has the world’s highest rate of households owning solar stations. The renewable energy market continues to grow even if the renewable energy technologies are criticised for being ugly or intermittent. It is predicted that this growth will last throughout the 2009 crisis.
Constraints and opportunities It is suggested by critics that renewable energy technologies may create pollution where they are created to prevent it. Critics also say they might be dangerous, take up large amounts of land or are simply not capable of producing enough energy. Supporters recommend the so called “appropriate renewables�, known as well as soft energy technologies, as it is said they have a lot of advantages.
Availability and reliability Amory Lovins, an American physicist and environmentalist, explains that renewable power sources can be integrated into the grid system. It is very reliable when wind power and solar cells are integrated with each other. An renewable energy needs far less back up than utilities that are bought to combat the intermittence of nuclear or big coal plants. To mention an example, in 2007 three states of Germany were wind-powered by more than 30% and during some months by 100%. Solutions already exist concerning the variable power supply problem: Grid Energy Storage, Pumped-storage hydro systems, thermal mass, hydrogen fuel cells, compressed air and batteries are to be mentioned here. The initial costs of an investment in energy storage systems might be high but can be recovered during the systems life.
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Aesthetics Another point of criticism concerning wind and solar stations comes from an aesthetic point of view. Possibilities exist to use solar collectors for example as noise barriers along very extensive used road- and highways, or to use amorphous photovoltaic cells to tint windows and produce energy this way.
Environmental considerations The already mentioned pint of pollution shall be explained here. This pollution is normally not produced by the renewable energy source directly but through the industrial processes, materials, infrastructures and construction equipments used to generate power from the source. Another issue concerning the environment, particular when dealing with biomass and biofuels, is the required land area to harvest energy. Critics say this large amount of land could be used in other ways or left as undeveloped land. Supporters want to make clear that power generated this way may reduce the need of safety zones around nuclear plants, hundreds of square miles strip-mined for oil sands or to slag mountains for coals.
Wind Power From an environmental point of view wind power is the friendliest source of renewable energy. Some studies in Europe of birds and offshore wind farms, many of them are sited
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in areas used heavily by seabirds, confirm that there are few bird collisions. What helped to reduce bird mortality at wind farms all over the world are improvements in wind turbine design, a much slower rate of rotation of the blades and a smooth tower base. But it has to be mentioned that older types of wind turbines can be hazardous to flying birds.
Hydroelectricity While large hydroelectric power is mostly considered as renewable energy there are many groups who want it to be excluded from renewable electricity standards, initiatives promoting the use of renewable energies and the definition of renewable itself. There exist a lot of laws that specifically lable “small hydro� as renewable or sustainable but exclude large hydro. It became more difficult to site hydroelectric power in developed nations too, because their major sites are either unavailable, for reasons like environmental issues, or they are already exploited.
Longevity issues While we can be very sure that sources of renewable energy like wind, sun, rain and so on last for billions of years we know that the infrastructure and equipment needed to exploit the resources certainly not last that long. Solar cells, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams can brake down and have to be replaced, repaired or rebuilt.
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Saturday, May 2 nd EuroEnviro 2009: Getting Started
After a tasty breakfast and an urgent cup of coffee our first official EuroEnviro day started with a tram ride through the forests of Rostock and a nice walk around the zoo which led us to the faculty of agrarian and environmental sciences at the University of Rostock. There we were welcomed by short introductory speeches of the dean and the main organizer Marcus Behrendt. Nice and funny movies about renewable energies were shown, Mr. Wind was introduced and a good atmosphere was created. The first official topic-related lecture was held by Mr. Söfker from the Green Party of Rostock. It was really impressive that he had lots of numbers and figures in his mind and that he could give us some insight in the ways of green political action but it was also a bit unfortunate that he didn’t prepare the presentation himself and some of the slides contained quite old data. The following lecture by Graham M. Butt from the Ministry of Economy, Labour and
Tourism introduced us to the energy policy of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and presented the concept of the “Energieland 2020” which was really interesting. Some difference of opinion among the speakers and questions from the audience led to the first lively discussions which could then be continued at lunch in the canteen – all in all, a very successful lead-in! The afternoon was then used to get to know the city of Rostock a little bit better. During a city-rally we had to answer tricky questions, communicate with “Rostockians”, climb church steeples and read our birthdays from an astronomical watch. In addition each group had to write a funny story containing important “Rostock BiB words” which was then read out loud at the barbecue on the beach. The day ended with delicious food, Frisbee and volleyball games and a cosy get-together around the bonfire. I’ve still some sand in my shoes.
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Sunday, May 3 rd Excursion to Wietow/Lübow
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Once you have been on a BIB, you will always stay in this trip Marcus
Perhaps a little unusual for many of the EuroEnviro participants, the second day in Rostock, a cloudy but warm Sunday, begins already at 7:30 with breakfast at the hostel. Today, we should visit an interesting project in a village of Mecklenburg Pomerania. It´s a Solar Centre, specialized, as we can guess from the name, in renewable energies. For that, a bus should pick us up at 8:30, but this time it isn´t us who are late but the driver of the bus! Waiting at the station we use the time for further games in order to remember the names of each other, which still is a missing gap for many of us. After one hour of travel time we arrive at our destination in Wietow/Lübow. There, we are welcome at the Solar Centre House and led to the conference room where we should hear different presentations concerning the history, aim and the activities of the Solar Centre. We learn that the old manor house was reconstructed and turned into a centre of technology. Here, everything is related to regenerative energies under the concept of ecological and sustainable development. The numerous rooms inside are used for conferences, exhibitions and galleries, where people all over the world should meet to exchange innovative ideas and work on new research in the field of renewable energies. The whole building runs on solar energy and provides the surrounding houses with electricity and warm water. Solar panels are installed outside the house, on the roof and even on the shutters. Concerning the water, they aim to have a closed circuit implementing special methods in water purification. After several presentations in the morning we are led outside to have a look at their newest construction, the “House of the future”, which uses solar energy to cool and warm different rooms at the same time. In that way there is a room with African vegetation, and another with Tundra weather. Here they work with the newest methods of insulation and storage of heat and coldness. The short trip is stopped to eat lunch and continue
with the rest of the presentations. The first one to hear (or to guess, because the language seems to be an impediment and usually the referent turns to German sentences and words) is about a project of solar panels in Mozambique. Unfortunately, the presentation turns out to be a travel description of the referent’s son, and it doesn’t seem to be clear what the aim of the whole project is. The second problem arises some minutes later, as one of the EuroEnviro group points out her opinion about a possible conflict of solar energy concerning an additional heating effect on climate due to the absorption of all the radiation. Apparently the question is taken as a personal attack, and the next half an hour the discussion gets more and more intense. The speaker loses his temper and a friendly intervention is needed, saying that they could simply not answer the question. After the dispute there is not much time left for the planned activities, so we divide ourselves in three groups: one goes to the wind park to have a look at the decorated windmills, another tests solar cars, and the third makes a little trip to the surrounding park. After one hour we depart to get back to Rostock. The evening program starts with an international dinner with food specialities brought from the participant’s countries. After the awesome dinner (including Barbara´s magical tomato dish), we sit down to have a look at older BiB photos- it´s been 15 years of gatherings now! Within a few years this BiB / EuroEnviro might be presented on a wall like this. During the following picture show, a member of the European Radio Network (euranet) interviews representatives of each country and the organisers of the EuroEnviro 2009. Finally, some time after midnight, the night ends with dancing and singing to Manu Chao songs. For further information: Interview Radio: http://www.euranet.eu/ger/content/view/full/20232 Solar Centre: www.solarzentrum-mv.de
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Monday, May 4 th Water Energy, Renewable Energies in the European Union
The first time I hear about the HYLOWproject, I expect it to be some kind of top secret weapon system program or a new Windows Update. But believe it or not, it has nothing to do with such nightmares. Actually it’s a research program of the EU which has the aim to develop novel hydropower converters for very low head differences / pressure differences. In the forenoon Dr. Fröhle from the University of Rostock gives us a short review of the studies’ progress, it’s potential and the technical problems his team is trying to solve. After two more speeches of Dr.Fröhles’s students and assistants about issues, concerning the project in a judicial and ecological point of view, the following discussion is very agile (although most of us have to deal with a horrible lack of sleep). Then we have once again a delicious meal
in the university’s cafeteria. In the afternoon the participants give their presentations about the technical and scientific knowledge concerning Renewable Energies in their home countries. There’s a lot of conversation, lots of questions and reasonable, surprising or/and sometimes funny answers, that open our eyes for new perspectives. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the different approaches to the topic of renewable energies, founded by the participants varied social, economic and scientific background. In preparation for tomorrow’s role playing “the lobby of energy” the EuroEnviro09 participants have to split up in small groups and decide which strategies they are going to pursue. It’s going to be great fun and we can hardly wait until tomorrow.
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Tuesday, May 5 th Discussion, controvercy and arguments. That was Tuesday.
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EuroEnviro made it clear that renewables aren‘t a theory written in books but a theory awaiting us all. Arabi
After a night which was dominated by settling into a sometimes very controversial role, Tuesday morning began artistically. We were able to fully live out our role in the business game and had a very heated and emotional discussion about the pro‘s and con‘s of renewable energies and the counterparts. We were all trapped in our roles. Even we as supporters for renewable energies convinced ourselves partly for nuclear power, coal and oil, and not infrequently used the same arguments as we had heard from the lobbyists before and were hearing during the EuroEnviro. Not infrequently, these arguments also turned us thoughtfully, whether renewable energies are really the future. But these doubts were quickly discarded. So it was very rewarding to put ourselves in the position of oil/coal/nuclear lobbyists and adopt their mindset and defend it. The game also helped us in subsequent discussions with such people in order to invalidate their arguments quickly.
After lunch, we visited „Agency of Renewable Resources (FNR) e.V.“ in Güzlow. First we got an introduction in the research topics. Afterwards we went right into the fields – unfortunately it started to rain during the indoor introduction. In the fields we learned a lot about the nitrogen and carbon dioxide budget of plants and the differing energy yields of trees and their growth period. On the way home from Güzlow we visited a wood pellet factory. The factory was kind of rustic. The condition of the machines frightened me a little – cables hanging down from the top near dropping taps and things like that. After this slightly “different” stop we went home to Rostock by bus. There we had dinner and the day ended up homely with additional discussions about pro’s and con’s of renewable energies. To our own surprise everybody was still stuck in the role of the business game.
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Wednesday, May 6 th How to (Not) Build a Solar Cooker
The exercise seems to be rather easy: You get a bottle of water and you have to make this water as hot as possible through positioning it into the sun. You can use shoe cartons, black colour, black paper, aluminium foil, transparencies and newsprint – as much as you want! Building such a solar cooker was our key task on Wednesday. After visiting
the Solar Centre several days before, one might think that our constructions were quite similar. But in fact there were rather big differences concerning look and efficiency of our cookers. After this challenging task, we prepared to take off to Greifswald, the next station of this years EuroEnviro. We ended up in the train, trying to retrieve some sleep.
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Thursday, May 7 th A day of site visits and discussions.
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Exchange, Experience, Knowledge and Energy - that describes the EuroEnviro. Andreas
So, here we are on our second day in Greifswald. Today we‘re allowed to wake up a bit later, the program starts at 10 with the visit of Lubmin. This is an ex-Nuclear Power Plant, and a very huge site. And, as it‘s very close to the seaside (and far from any big city), now ships are builded there, and many other factories are going to be builded. The bus leads us to Lubmin, and so we‘re introduced to this incredible amount of concrete and steel. The visit starts with a presentation of the site and an Ingeneer explains the conditions nowadays and what plans they have. Surprising to us all, a heated debate arises. Despite of his role and of the task he has, he proves to be very honest and sincere. He admits that, although the coal power plant will supply the energy need of the industry, isn‘t the right (and long-term) solution for the big problem of energy supply. Then, after a fast lunch, the visit to the power plant begins. It‘s amazing to see how big this place is, and many of us just cannot imagine how many people worked to build up this place (and, of course, how much energy and resources). At this point, we are divided into two groups, and everyone of us is asked to wear a red helmet for protection: let‘s go to see the reactor! Two members of the PR-staff lead us, and many of us get astonished after knowing that four of these eight huge reactors got on function less than two months after it took ten years to build them! This because after the unification of the two Germanies when the powerplants didn’t reach western security standards. After the long visit, and after getting a bit into the problem of dismounting all these buildings we went to visit the small information centre. Here, it‘s interesting to understand something more about all the mechanisms and processes of the nuclear power plant. Even though all the explanations
are in German, the few not german-speaking ones find in the man of the public relations some useful informations in english (one more time with the help of one of our brave organizers – thanks Uli!). And now, it‘s time to go back to the town. The public discussion is scheduled for us. The meeting is at Ikuwo, but before many of us enjoy a short visit to the center of the town. It‘s a pity not to have more time to spend here, but we have to preserve our energies for the discussion as well. At five the debate begins, and all the participants show us their positions and their aims, and once more we have to deal with many points of view and several different problems. It‘s interesting to notice that some citizens of Greifswald join the discussion (and not only the EuroEnviro-geeks), with precise questions and observations. It‘s also very interesting to hear different strategies and programs coming from persons working in different areas and with different roles, but having the same long-term purposes. And, as the green party representant speaks German, Marcus (the anchor) provides us with the translation – well done! The discussion goes on even afterwards, and the representatives stay with us for quite a while to eat together and answer all our questions and doubts. The dinner offered by Ikuwo‘s staff is really good (and vegan!), and some of us just fall in love with the banana-bread. The day seems to arrive to an end... but it‘s not like that! Franziska and Luise, still full of energy, keep us active with some group game, and also getting some feedback from all of us. Around ten, far from thinking about a comfortable bed (well, maybe not exactly everyone of us), a small group starts dancing in front of the bar, and gradually all of us join in. Incredible how much energy is left.
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Friday, May 8 th Traveling to Berlin - thrilling examples of Renewable Energy - diving into the culture. That was the friday. This morning turned out to be really tough. As we were staying in different places in Greifswald, we the first challenge of the day was to meet in time and to get on the train to Berlin. Not surprising, the lack of sleep was written in our faces as we were getting on the train. These hours were used to get, at least, a short nap. Occupying all the space in the train, it must have been a pretty strange picture of this group of young but obviously exhausted people. Recharged and willing to discover the nation’s capital, we arrived around midday and were immediately taking off to our Hostel. After lunch we drove back into town to visit low-energy houses. This project, ambitious as it was, turned out as a little bit disappointing as it looked more like an issue of marketing and not primarily an answer to environmental concerns. However, it was very interesting to see
the difficulty of renovating landmarked historical buildings and trying to improve what is already there. As we were already in town we chose to get some typical and traditional food: Döner, of course! The atmosphere in the park, where we were eating, got apocalyptic as some heavy rainclouds appeared suddenly and were turning the hot and humid weather into a cold and wet one. Making the best of it, we went into a bar which turned out to be really great. With discussions, games and in a great atmosphere with a group of people which were getting friends with the time we had spent together the night got longer and longer. Late, but with a smile in our faces, we went to bed and were looking forward to the final day of the EuroEnviro 2010 – with the important decision to make where the next EuroEnviro is going to take place.
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EuroEnviro 2009 - An experience I will never forget. Christóbal
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Saturday, May 9 A day at the Capital: Culture, discussion, visits and finally the host country for the EuroEnviro 2010 was nominated! Our day in berlin one lovely may day at 8.00 am, you could see clearly in the faces of the BIB people that the trip was coming to its end with a mix of emotions that only people who were there could feel. We had a nice breakfast at the enviromentally friendly hostel we were at, accombined by the pecuilar owner of the hostel, with his ironic comments that has put a smile on our tired faces. After the energetic food we had we went to the hostel´s garden to start writing the petition and different suggestions were made to tackle the issue, the completion of the petition was due to the next day for an expanded time. And just like everyday in Berlin, we started the berliners way and took the metro from our station to AlexanderPlatz to meet with two guides to show us around the amazing city of Berlin, which is the philosophy of the BIB gathering, to work hard and enjoy our time more! Our guide looked himself as a tourist with his american accent and loose shorts, but a profesional one, as he provided us with a very nice and detailed account of every stop we were at. At AlexanderPlatz there was an exhibition about the fall of the Berlin-wall, which was very informative and important to see. After that we went walking around passing by the television tower and stopping by the park infront to take some crazy group pictures, then we proceeded in our way walking to the river, passing by a historical part with musuems and an open market were we saw a pecuilar musician who was playing
the glasses and water inside them and they sounded music! And like many places we saw in Germany so far we went to an alternative compound were we enjoyed the sun and drinking and laughing. Then we went on to meet with a guide who showed us around some interesting parts with history and stories in Berlin. We had a very quick lunch, for there was no time to waste, and we took the metro to a very inteteresting place where there was a community of people who believe in renewble energies and sustainability and were using that to produce energy from photovoltaic cells for heat and electrcity. They had Wells for rain wĂĄter to use directly after filtering and they had a green house were they could plant vegetables and eat of what they plant. They were such an inspiration for all of us! After returning to the Hostel, we ate soup and potatoes and after that went outside to the garden in a group of four writing the petition, each with a different subject. Finally it was also time to vote for the country which should organize the EuroEviro 2010. Austria, the country with the most foreign representatives at EuroEnviro 2009, was elected to do that. And always very quickly we changed our clothes and went outside again to a pub for a while and despite the astonishing rainy weather we went out again in a quest to go to an electronic dance club and we danced releasing all the joy we had throughout these days and enjoying our last night together in Berlin.
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The “EuroEnviro 2009-World” crítica
Freude
succès serious amor famiglia
We are EuroEnviro Represented Countries Austria Germany Italy Jordan Luxemburg Mexico Spain Switzerland Russia Taiwan
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Presentations Highlighting some of the slides shown at our country-presentations and special talks.
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Results Since 15 years, environmental students from all over Europe come together once a year to discuss one topic from the wide spectra of environmental issues. Born in Born, (North Germany), the symposium took place in a different country every year. After travelling through whole Europe for 14 years the EurEnviro Symposium returned to Germany. “Renewable Energies – possibilities and limits” was this year’s agenda. The renewable energies are strongly represented in the every day media. As a result of this process, facts and figures are often not discussed neutral. Therefore our aim was to discuss the possibilities as well as the limits. As a result from this 10-days workshop, we, the students with an interest on environmental issues in Europe, claim to take the following points into consideration for further developments in energy policies.
1. Reduction of energy consumption
2. Education and research for renewable energies
The most important issue is the reduction of energy consumption without serious limitation of life standards. Therefore, we propose to institute high standards (low-standard energy). Especially public buildings (schools, hospitals, governmental buildings) can give a good example. In the same way, we ask to establish higher standards for electro-domestics and industrial machines (subsidise A-Level) and to improve the public transportation system. Furthermore we suggest, to encourage, for example through subsidies, an integral planning of industrial areas that consider the re-use of by-products such as heat.
To enable people to decide for which kind of energy they are willing to spend their money, more transparency in the implementation of new power plants and the production of energy is needed. Moreover, we think it is necessary to enforce research concerning renewable energies. The first improvement is to shift investment from conventional to renewable research. Secondly, it is fundamental to improve the research conditions trough introducing new institutes at universities. To finance this process, new funds for renewable energies are needed. Especially the research on energy storage solutions plays a very important role.
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Another goal is to support the renewable energy sector in improving the efficiency factor of their devices to allow small and medium enterprises to compete with those that are already in the market.
3. Support by law and subsidies Besides investing in research, we also suggest to focus on the possibilities for private households. Therefore, subsidies for private investment into renewable energies are needed (Renewable Energy Law). In this connection, we propose that laws should include flexible mechanisms to fit on the latest technological findings. We suggest that at a local scale investment should be promoted to install new and renewable energy production facilities, optimizing the existing potential at each area.
4. Emission Trade System In order to not only fulfil our Kyoto goals, we demand that an emission trade scheme will be implemented in a way that will encourage polluting industries to increase their energy-efficiency and reduce their greenhouse emissions.
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5. Improvement of power grid It is important to improve the power grid so that the supply from different resources and technologies can be balanced in terms of efficiency and safety. In order to consider the interests of citizens to generate a secure, affordable and ecological energy supply, we suggest to separate the production of energy from the distribution with a juristic framework.
6. No new nuclear power plants or coal power plants Instead of investing in expensive and inflexible nuclear and coal power plants, money should be spent in renewable energies. To bridge fluctuations in the renewable production, gas can be used as a temporary solution. If there is a necessity to build conventional power plants, it must only be allowed if an old one is closed in exchange. And as there is no acceptable solution for the final storage of radioactive waste, no new nuclear power plants must be built!
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EuroEnviro 2010 A sneak preview Sustainable Lifestyle Ideas for Consumption and Mobility
Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. It describes the ability of a system to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future. Drawing upon the core principle of supplying our needs without violating the rights of future generations to supply their own, individuals, organisations and companies are struggling to adapt their behavioural patterns. This is, however, not as easy as it appears. When zeroed on the questions of everyday life it suddenly gets pretty hard to apply. Behaviour in daily routine, or more commonly our lifestyle, is hard to change. Even for people with a strong commitment to sustainability it is hard to find a comfy balance which satisfies their needs and the will, to take not more than is there. The strong connections and relations in various fields of our lifestyle offer a vast field of conflict as many of them can only be changed on a societal scale, not an individual one. Even more there are ties between public and private sectors, political and institutional responsibility and grass-root movements trying to weather the storm of this upcoming challenge. The annual meeting of European students with an environmental focus, the EuroEnviro 2010, has chosen the topic „Sustainable Lifestyle - Ideas for Consumption and Mobility“. To offer deep insights we have decided to nar-
row the topic to these fields but we are aware of the highly connected, dynamic and complex system in which this topic is embedded. Focusing on the domains of consumption and mobility in our daily routine we want to deal with the following questions: • How can we support people to start living a sustainable lifestyle? • What does a sustainable lifestyle mean at all? • Which political and economic framework is needed to live sustainable? • What are the political, economic and societal conditions we are dealing with? The EuroEnviro 2010 wants to provide a unique set for students with an environmental focus coming together from all over Europe. The programme offers hands-on activities as well as discussions, excursions and the phrasing of measures we want to set in the future. The goal is, to reach a broad audience spread all over Europe. The participants should be able to act as catalysts as they return home and to apply methods and ideas which were generated during this meeting. It is a goal of the EuroEnviro 2010 to critically reflect on our way of living and to develop alternatives for a sustainable lifestyle on an European scale.
EuroEnviro 2009 Our Sponsors Renewable Energy Possibilities and Limits