Climate Mission: Possible
In the midst of and despite many different challenges, the state capital has its sights firmly set on an ambitious goal: to be carbon neutral by 2035. How to achieve this and what it will take - is the focus of this VIVID issue.
The climate is changing. We are not only experiencing this in NRW in mid-November 2022 at 18 degrees Celsius, but it is very apparent in various parameters of the German Weather Service. For example, the average annual temperature in NRW has risen by 1.6 degrees Celsius when comparing the periods of 1881-1910 and 1991-2020. In the same comparative period, the average annual rainfall has increased by 7 per cent, most significantly in winter. There are five fewer days of sub-zero temperature when comparing the period of 1891-1920 with the one of 1991-2020. Even more drastic: on the second highest mountain in NRW, the Kahler Asten, the number of days with snowfall has decreased by 25 days when comparing the period of 1951-1980 with the one of 1991-2020! At the same time, if you consider that more than 20 percent of German industrial turnover is generated in NRW, it becomes evident that industry has a particularly important role to play on the path to carbon neutrality in 2045, which is the goal the state government has set itself.
In Düsseldorf, the issue is taken very seriously: in July 2019, the city council decided that the state capital should become carbon neutral by 2035 - and thus 15 years earlier than previously planned. Carbon neutral means: the annual per capita CO2 emission in the city must not exceed 2 tonnes. However, the current CO2 balance from 2018, published in 2020, still certifies a per capita CO2 emission of around 6 tonnes - three times the desired target (the expected 2020 CO2 balance is expected to be published in January 2023 - VIVID will report). However, a look at the development so far should be motivating: in 1987, per capita CO2 emissions were still over 14 tonnes! Since then, the commercial/industrial sector has saved the most (-70 percent compared to 1987), accounting for about 40 percent of total emissions. This is followed by urban facilities (-52 percent), which account for about 2 percent of total emissions, and private households (-39 percent), which account for about 30 percent of total emissions. Transport comes in last, by a wide margin, with just 6 percent savings, although it is responsible for an impressive 27 percent of CO2 emissions - so there is plenty of room for improvement here!
CO2 emissions in 1,000 tonnes/a
Source: Klimafreundliches Düsseldorf – Energie und CO2-Bilanz 2018
Clearly defined priorities are needed to successfully pursue the so-called “path to carbon neutrality”. Firstly: avoid energy consumption. Secondly: decarbonise energy consumption, for example by purchasing green electricity. Thirdly: offset (see p. 38). All of the city’s climate protection measures in all four sectors follow this strategy of prioritisation (see interview with the head of the Office for Environmental and Consumer Protection, Thomas Loosen, on p. 14). The expansion of district heating plays a key role in this. According to Stadtwerke Düsseldorf (SWD), the current additional connected load is around 15 megawatts per year, but it is expected to reach 30 megawatts by 2026. “Step by step, our already climate-friendly district heating will become even greener - because we are integrating further low-CO2 heat sources, such as industrial waste heat, into our system. In addition, we are looking at regenerative heat sources such as solar heat and geothermal energy to become even more independent of external energy sources,” explains SWD sales director Manfred Abrahams.
„Step by step, our already climate-friendly district heating will become even greener“
Manfred Abrahams, Sales Director Stadtwerke Düsseldorf
The city has been supporting local businesses in climate protection since 2008 with the Ökoprofit® programme. As the initiator, the municipality works together with cooperation partners such as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the district craftsmen’s association or the municipal utilities as well as the participating businesses in a network. “Regular workshops are held together, the companies are individually accompanied and advised on their planned measures and supported with project materials,” explains Katja Hansen-Röhe, who, as managing director of the consultancy Wertsicht, oversees the programme on behalf of the city. In the past seven cycles of the programme, 69 companies of different sizes and from different sectors - from sanitary companies to financial service providers to museums - have been successfully certified and in some cases recertified. To do so, they have to document the measures they have implemented in detail demonstrating their successful eco-balance. Since the start of Ökoprofit®, the participating companies have saved a total of 2.9 million euros in costs through the active commitment of their employees - the amount of energy saved of over 32 million kWh alone is enough to supply about 1,700 three-person households with energy for a year. On top of that, the atmosphere above Düsseldorf would be spared more than 14,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. The ® certificate can also be helpful in recruiting: “Younger people in particular now look very closely at how sustainable an employer really is when they are looking for a job,” Katja Hansen-Röhe knows. The current energy crisis seems to have increased interest in the programme even more: At the beginning of November 2022, the eighth cycle started with 16 companies - more than ever before. “I believe the world only has a chance if we do business fairly and ecologically. Every company can do something in this respect, just as every private person can do something. It is a matter of simply getting started in your own context and learning from others as part of a network,” says Hansen-Röhe.
„ It is a matter of simply getting started in your own context and learning from others as part of a network“
Katja Hansen-Röhe, Managing Director Wertsicht
Learning from others and joining forces to do something for climate protection - this is also the aim of another unique network that is currently being formed in the city: the Düsseldorf Climate Pact. As initial partners, the city, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Chamber of Crafts and the District Chamber of Crafts have jointly committed to cooperate across the board in an agreement at the end of 2021. “By pooling all of the initial partners’ event, network and promotion activities, we are using completely new synergies and can support Düsseldorf businesses more comprehensively, specifically and effectively in terms of climate protection. There has never been anything like this before on a municipal level!” explains Theresa Winkels, the head of the Economic Development Department. Every company in Düsseldorf can become a “climate partner” in the climate pact and thus publicly demonstrate that it is pursuing climate protection goals and implementing concrete measures - many have already signed the climate protection agreement (see p. 34). On the one hand, they will receive support in the form of individual advisory, funding and communication services, for which a dedicated office will soon be the central point of contact. On the other hand, they will become part of the Climate Pact network in order to exchange information and learn from each other in regular network meetings with other businesses - this can also lead to innovations. “The vast majority of entrepreneurs know that they have to act, but they don’t always know exactly how. Through our network, we create a platform to help them overcome these insecurities and show them new ways to collaborate,” says Theresa Winkels.
The Ökoprofit® programme kicked off a new cycle of activities at the beginning of November with 16 companies from Düsseldorf - more than ever before.
On an international level, too, the key - besides less energy consumption and the expansion of energy infrastructure – is collaboration. The well-known physicist Harald Lesch, for example, in the recommended book “Erneuerbare Energien zum Verstehen und Mitreden” (Renewable Energies to Understand and Talk About), calls alongside his co-authors for more decisive action: “It would bring considerable benefits to all countries to advance the energy transition as a joint project”. The fact that the situation in each country is different should not be used as an argument to wait for the other countries to act first, he said. “We should still press ahead with the energy transition at home with all our might, while taking an international approach at the same time.” •
Climate protection and climate adaptation
These two terms are often mistakenly used synonymously, although they are two different subject areas with different goals.
Climate protection aims to curb man-made global warming - for example, by reducing emissions of climate-damaging gases such as CO2 or methane. Measures such as more energy-efficient technology, the replacement of fossil energy sources with renewable energies or educational campaigns help to achieve this goal. More than 80 percent of the world‘s greenhouse gases are emitted in cities - so it is precisely here that climate protection is enormously important!
Climate adaptation aims to counter the irreversible consequences of climate change that are already being felt today and will continue to be felt in the near future - such as more heat, longer dry periods, more heavy rainfall - with certain measures. These include, for example, the planting of vegetation and shading, irrigation and drainage, or the establishment of monitoring and warning systems.
How Düsseldorf’s CO2 balance is calculated
As in every city in Germany, the CO2 balance is calculated according to the territorial principle: only the energy consumption data that can be attributed to the city area are included. In addition, only the final energy consumed is taken into account, for example the electricity from the socket, the natural gas from the pipeline or the oil in the heating tank - but not energy from the so-called upstream chain, which is required during extraction or transport. The various energy sources (e.g. electricity, district heating, natural gas, heating oil, etc.) are assigned certain emission factors that indicate how many CO2 emissions are produced per kilowatt hour (kWh) consumed. The emission factors are used to calculate the total emissions in the city. In 2018, this amounted to 3,861,000 tonnes of CO2 – divided among the approximately 642,300 inhabitants at the time, this is approximately 6 tonnes per capita.
How to do more for the climate!
Almost always more can be done: Here you will find important addresses for your business in terms of advice, funding programmes and networking.
From climate-friendly living and working to planting greenery and solar energy services - the Office of Environmental Affairs bundles
numerous advisory and funding programmes here. Especially for companies, there is the Ökoprofit programme and the Düsseldorf
Mobility Partnership:
https://www.duesseldorf.de/umweltamt/Are you looking for funding programmes for energy supply, buildings and heating or energy and resource efficiency? The
NRW.Energy4Climate funding navigator is here to help:
https://tool.energy4climate.nrwWith the new transformation advisory service, NRW companies receive help with the transition to a climate-neutral and digital economy:
https://www.mags.nrw/transformationsberatungSmall and medium-sized companies in particular receive start-up assistance from the state of NRW in terms of advice, credit assistance and concept development for their own climate-neutral transformation:
https://www.wirtschaft.nrw/Im Düsseldorfer Bündnis für Nachhaltigkeit können sich Non-Profit-Organisationen austauschen und vernetzen:
https://www.duesseldorf.de/nachhaltigkeit
Words Tom Corrinth
Pictures iStock, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, Wertsicht, Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf (Ingo Lammert)