Traveling Naomi: Cogeneration and the Courts

Day 8
We had yet another early start to our day as we boarded the bus for Freiburg, Germany to listen to a presentation about the city's efforts on climate protection and energy policy. The presentation was given by Klaus Hoppe, the head of the city's energy department. We talked about the efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through transportation initiatives and the effort to produce more efficient, alternative green energy.

Transporation
71% of Freiburg's residents commute by foot, bicycle, or public transportation each day. The city itself has been build around public transportation since the early 70s. Transportation is concentrated and ensures that all forms of public transportation are interconnected: bus, train, and bike bridge connect the east and west.

Climate Policy
In the 70’s the government wanted to build a nuclear power plant, but there was lots of opposition from agriculture people against industrialization so it was never built. Instead, the Institute for Solar and Energy was created as an alternative to nuclear, and a goal was set to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% in 2010. The government realized the goal would not be reached so they changed the date and target to 40% reduction by 2030.

The three pillars of climate protection policy in Germany are energy saving, energy efficiency and renewable energy.

To save energy, zero plus buildings have been constructed that actually produce energy and put it back into the grid. The city offers subsidies for energy efficient buildings in order to encourage these kinds of structural alterations.
Increased energy efficiency has been realized through cogeneration. Cogeneration is a small generator system that produces both heat and electricity at the same time, making it 90% efficient because almost no heat is lost in production. These generators are decentralized, about the size of a car engine, and run on natural gas.
Renewable energy makes up about 4% of Freiburg's total energy use. People are paid for putting solar panels on their rooftops and they are used at 27 soccer fields. Solar energy is mostly used as a public marketing device because it is not very efficient but high tech visibility is publicly popular. Wind power is also part of the renewable energy makeup, but people worry about it hurting tourism and the landscape.

The green energy movement is also realized through city planning. The neighboring city of Vauban is also known as the Car-less City. It has been connected to railway since 2006, and no cars are allowed within the city limits. There are two public garages located outside the city and most leave their cars there and only use them for travel because they are not needed for day to day activities. In addition, the city has a low energy standard with 270 passive houses that have no energy costs and zero plus houses that actually produce energy. Heating is achieved at a district level using cogeneration, which further increases the Vauban's energy efficiency.

The fascinating presentation left us with little time to explore the city. We quickly grabbed lunch (I had a schnitzel sandwich with spicy mustard) and boarded the bus to return to Strasbourg for our next visit/lecture at the Court of Human Rights. The Court began in 1950 when the then 12 (now 47) state European Council signed the Human Rights Convention; the convention was sparked by the public release of Holocaust photos. The court has 47 full-time judges: one-per-state, nominated by parliament, once chosen are independent and have no national ties, and don't have to be citizens of the country they are nominated by. Each judge is elected for 9 years with no opportunity for reelection, and they must retire at age 70. Applicants to the Court of Human Rights are individuals suing a nation due to the denial of EC agreed upon human rights like the right to a speedy trial, the right to an education, and the right to life. For an applicant's request to be considered, they must have exhausted all national legal options. 80% (35,000) of all cases received are rejected. There are currently 140,000 pending cases of which, 50,000 require further investigation. The extensive backlog is the currently the court's largest problem; it would take 20 years with no new cases coming in to clear the docket

At night, we had a farewell BBQ dinner and bonfire back at the Chateau to celebrate the end of our time in Strasbourg before we moved on across the river to Germany. The food was an amazing five course dinner made from all organic home garden grown ingredients, and was definitely one of the best meals I have ever had!

Peace, Love, and Strasbourg ~ Naomi

Pictures of the Day