Space Industry and Business News  
ENERGY NEWS
Germany banks on green job growth

1930s home undergoes energy upgrade
An energy-inefficient house built to 1930s specifications is going green, becoming what British researchers say they hope will yield a zero-carbon structure. The University of Nottingham team said Wednesday in a release it plans to undertake three energy efficiency upgrades to bring the 1930s-style house, built last year, in line with the British government's 2016 carbon dioxide targets for all new housing. Mark Gillott, who is leading the research, said the house provides "a unique test facility to measure the exact cost benefit, energy efficiency and carbon reduction figures achieved through the various upgrade measures we are implementing ... ." The three-year research project is being led by experts from the School of the Built Environment together with the energy firm E.ON. The 1930s home was an icon of its age -- 3 million were built and remain a major part of Britain's current housing stock, Gillott said. The dwelling typically has open fires, single glazed windows, inefficient gas or electric water heating, and no insulation. The 1930s-style guinea pig has more than 100 sensors to monitor energy use, temperature and humidity, researchers said. Changhong Zhan, a research fellow at Nottingham, and his family have been living in the house for the last eight months while researchers monitored their energy consumption and the building's energy loss. Zhan said he found living there "a bit uncomfortable," noting the lack of central heating and gaps in the windows and doors. Once the upgrades are complete the project team will reassess the benefits of the low-carbon technologies and the impact of using natural resources such as the sun, wind and rain.
by Stefan Nicola
 Berlin (UPI) Aug 5, 2009
Germany will be able to create 2 million new green jobs until 2020 if it makes the right policy decisions, argue the country's environment minister and a group of experts.

The German green tech sector already employs 1 million people. Over the past four years, 120,000 new jobs were created in the German renewable energy sector, which today employs nearly 300,000 people.

"All national and international studies indicate that this job creation potential will strongly increase," Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's environment minister, said Wednesday in Berlin. "Because of its experience and its innovative power, Germany has a big chance to participate in that boom."

Gabriel wants to incentivize environmentally friendly behavior, fund green education and research into clean coal; hold on to the country's nuclear phase-out; and finance a modernized energy infrastructure.

Gabriel said the plan by his party colleague Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister running for chancellor, to create some 2 million green jobs until 2020, was indeed realistic. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives had harshly criticized Steinmeier for what they see as raising unrealistic hopes when it comes to job creation.

To back up his party colleague's claim, Gabriel presented two studies that came to similar conclusions than Steinmeier did: A microeconomic one from consultants Roland Berger that gives several suggestions on how to boost the German green tech economy; and a macroeconomic one from the IMK Institute that sees green tech as a key driver to beat the economic crisis. (Gabriel says the Environment Ministry commissioned them long before Steinmeier drafted his plan).

Like most countries in Europe, Germany has been hit hard by the downturn. Over the next 18 months, some 1.8 million Germans will lose their jobs, according to estimates by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Europe.

"This scenario is not acceptable but represents a call for action," Gustav Horn, head of the IMK Institute, said in the joint news conference with Gabriel. His institute warns that increased government spending will be needed to not only save 1 million green jobs, but to create around 2 million more.

Steinmeier's plan "is doable ... but it needs significant political commitment," Horn said.

To keep Germany's green tech companies near the top, they need to invest more in research and development, said Torsten Henzelmann from Roland Berger. Nearly 90 percent of German green tech companies have yearly sales of less than $70 million; they pour on average 4.5 percent of their sales into F&E -- too little to compete with the world's best in the long run.

"German companies are falling back when it comes to innovation," Henzelmann said.

Gabriel also banks on outside help for the German green tech sector: The minister said India's ambitious National Solar Mission plan, aimed at reducing emissions and improving the country's access to stable electricity, could harbor massive jobs for Germany's photovoltaic industry.

Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links



Memory Foam Mattress Review
SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
 Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


ENERGY NEWS
China refuses to budge on greenhouse gases
 Beijing (AFP) Aug 5, 2009
 China refused to budge Wednesday on its demands that rich nations commit to large greenhouse gas cuts at upcoming climate change talks, while also declining to put a ceiling on its own emissions. China and other developing nations will call on rich countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels at negotiations in Copenhagen in December, said Yu Qingtai ... read more






The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement