Heidelberg's "CO2 mirror" to reflect energy consumption4 November 2011 | 14h22 | 214 visits The City of Heidelberg (Germany) has a long experience in managing poster campaigns. Their Klima sucht Schutz... in Heidelberg! (Climate is searching for protection in Heidelberg!) campaign began in 2007 and today involves hundreds of citizens ENGAGEd in energy issues. Last month through two major events, the number of committed citizens continued to rise. The ENGAGE days took place during the TREND fair on environment, health and climate protection. Visitors were encouraged to join the campaign to show how everyone can contribute with small but effective measures to reduce his/her carbon consumption without harming a high quality of life! One example is living in passive houses in Heidelberg’s railway town. To date, over 800 Heidelberg citizens, architects, pupils, students, medical doctors, artisans and craftsmen, and many more contribute to reach local energy targets! The fair offered at 130 stands the opportunity to learn about environmentally friendly behaviour. The energy utility shared information about their tariffs on green electricity, the cycling club showed the cycling possibilities available and introduced the different types of helmets available. University students were introduced to an initiative to invest money in PV systems via a co-operative. A lecture about renewable energy in Germany was presented by the environmental minister. Craftsmen, companies and the network of energy advisors informed about solar energy, biomass or energy efficient buildings. A lecture for Children from the university detailed climate issues and the alternative mobility club showed transport options which are free of emissions. ENGAGE aims not only to show how many actions are locally taken, but also to give evidence to participants how much influence they can have on their energy consumption. The 8000 visitors received a diversity of information concerning energy and mobility issues and what they can do to reduce their CO2-footprint. It was also easy for them to ENGAGE: all participants had the opportunity to share their engagement and to have their picture taken at a stand. But how do participants get a concrete proof of their savings? The City of Heidelberg has developed the CO2 Spiegel (CO2 mirror) that enables them in a few clicks to calculate their personal CO2 emissions and to estimate how much energy they can save if they change some parameters of their mobility or heating habits. The user can even compare his/her results to the national average. A few days before this 3-day fair, a high profile Covenant of Mayors conference took place in Heidelberg on the 25th October. On this day, Mayors and representatives of 50 German local authorities launched the German Covenant Club. This event included an ENGAGE photoshooting that took place in the lunch room. Guenther Oettinger participated via video stream and three mayors were elected as speakers of the German Covenant of Mayors Club. The conference participants combined forces for CO2 emissions reductions. screenshot from "Mein CO2-Spiegel" Source: Umweltdirekt.de - Autumn 2011 |