Companies, associations, research institutions and many more discussed how they can reduce their CO2 emissions. The representatives of over 26 institutions were aware that the path to climate neutrality is more like climbing the Zugspitze than a coffee run.
The Climate Neutral Erlangen Alliance is one of the 41 measures of the Climate Awakening Roadmap and is supported by the City of Erlangen. The first meeting laid the foundation for the future exchange platform. "The partners in the alliance should come away from the meetings with new ideas and take them back to their organizations. "We are united by working on the same problems. An open exchange on successful sustainability measures, but also on dead ends we have experienced, helps us to become faster in climate protection and decarbonization," emphasizes Stefan Brand from Schaeffler Special Machinery (Erlangen campus).
Brand was one of the initiators of a working group that dealt with photovoltaic (PV) systems on bicycle and parking lot roofs.
While solar power will be mandatory for large parking lots in France from July, advances in Germany are still threatened by hurdles such as
- Fire department access roads
- rainwater infiltration
- infrastructure in the ground
to fail. There is also a big question mark over the profitability of such projects.
The group therefore came to the conclusion that PV systems on parking lot roofs in Erlangen are still in their infancy and that pilot projects are therefore all the more important in order to gain valuable experience.
"We are deliberately bringing together science and business, but also organized civil society, which often has a fresh perspective on seemingly entrenched situations."
(Lord Mayor Florian Janik)
The working group on "CO2 balancing made easy for companies" also met with lively interest. It was led by Knut Harmsen, Head of the Erlangen Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) office, and Thomas Roßner, Managing Director of imbus AG (Möhrendorf). Thanks to a free balancing tool, every company can easily determine its annual CO2 emissions and identify "climate sins". Any facility that is still looking for its biggest levers for CO2 reduction is invited to the IHK workshop "CO2 balancing in practice" on July 12 (registration at www.ihk-nuernberg.de/v/6291).
More than 23 Erlangen institutions are already supporting measures from the Climate Awakening Roadmap and are making their contributions digitally visible in the Climate City Contract(www.erlangen.de/mein-beitrag). In the future, it is planned that partners of the Alliance will also participate in the city contract and urban monitoring. This will enable the institutions to underline their seriousness about climate protection.
All about climate protection
Climate awakening
With Climate Awakening, Erlangen is on its way to climate neutrality. Find out which measures are to be implemented and what you can do personally here.
Climate awakening
With Climate Awakening, Erlangen is on its way to climate neutrality. Find out which measures are to be implemented and what you can do personally here.