Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Water

German scenario for inland water marinas

To protect boat hulls from fouling with algae, mussels or barnacles, biocidal antifouling products are mostly used. In the EU, these products are subject to authorisation according to the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR). Among other things, it is checked here whether the use of the product causes acceptable risks to the environment. There are around 206 000 pleasure crafts in Germany. Around 71%...read more

Chemicals

Potential SVHCs in environment and products: Measurements of the presence of potential sub-stances of very high concern in the environment and in products

The report provides information on the occurrence of per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFASs) and alkylphenols (APs) in various product groups. For PFASs, the report analyses construction materials and industrial textiles as well as the content of short-chain APs (4tPP, 4tBP) in paints, coatings and adhesives. At the same time, the occurrence of APs in surface waters was investigated in a screen...read more

Climate | Energy, Waste | Resources

Impacts of climate change on mining, related environmental risks and raw material supply

The aim of the project “Impacts of climate change on the environmental criticality of Germany’s raw material demand” (KlimRess), was to assess how climate change potentially affects the environmental risks of mining and raw material supply chains. This final report summarizes the results of the project. The report offers insights on climate change impacts from five qualitative case studies, provid...read more

Climate | Energy, Waste | Resources, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Resource-Efficient Pathways towards Greenhouse-Gas-Neutrality - RESCUE: Executive Summary

The RESCUE project describes in six scenarios possible development paths towards a resource-efficient and greenhouse-gas (GHG) neutral Germany. For this, assumptions related to the roll-out of renewable energy technologies, the level of ambition for reaching GHG-neutrality, the magnitude of materials- and energy-efficiency, and the implementation of sustainable life-styles are varied. Until 2050,...read more

Climate | Energy, Waste | Resources, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Scientific Opinion Paper: Resource-Efficient Pathways towards Greenhouse Gas- Neutrality (RESCUE)

How Germany can achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050 and resulting raw materials demand

The RESCUE study describes in six scenarios possible development paths towards a resource-efficient and greenhouse-gas (GHG) neutral Germany until 2050. The GreenSupreme scenario achieves the reduction of emissions along a global 1.5 °C path towards GHG-neutrality by 2050, while at the same time substantially lowering Germany’s material footprint. This publication discusses possible synergies and...read more

Air, Water, Soil | Land

Integrated nitrogen indicator, national nitrogen target and the current situation in Germany (DESTINO Report 1)

Excessive reactive nitrogen affects the air and groundwater quality, the good condition of land and marine ecosystems, as well as the climate and biodiversity. Different economic and consumer sectors release different nitrogen compounds, which are connected to one another via the nitrogen cycle. In order to raise public awareness to the complex problem situation and sensitivity for urgent politica...read more

Chemicals

Development of an OECD Guidance Document for the Application of OECD Test Guideline 236 (Acute Fish Embryo Toxicity Test)

The project goal was to support the regulatory acceptance of data generated with the OECD Acute Fish Embryo Toxicity Test (TG 236) as alternative method to the OECD Acute Fish Toxicity Test (TG 203). TG 236 is an important contribution to animal welfare in chemical safety assessment in Europe but also worldwide. Results of the project are directly used within OECD project 2.54 on the Development o...read more

Waste | Resources

Discussion of the environmental limits of primary raw material extraction and development of a method for assessing the environmental availability of raw materials to further develop the criticality concept (ÖkoRess I)

Summary

The project "Environmental Raw Material Availability" (OekoRess I) developed methods for the assessment of environmental hazard potentials of mining. For this purpose, a mining site-related evaluation model was first developed and tested in an iterative process using 40 case studies. On this basis, a raw material-related evaluation model was derived and applied to five raw materials as examples. B...read more