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The Brochure - GLOBAL WARMING and local effects

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1<br />

Comenius-project<br />

at Gymnasium Schärding<br />

2010 – 2012<br />

Summary of all the presentations from Austria<br />

Presented in Hoyanger, Norway<br />

District of Schärding<br />

Gymnasium Schärding


During the period of 2010-2012 Gymnasium Schärding has taken part in the multilateral<br />

Comenius project “Europe´s focus on climate issues – regional practices <strong>and</strong> solutions”, an<br />

intercultural dialogue together with 4 other European upper secondary schools in 5 different<br />

countries. <strong>The</strong> project has been a great success <strong>and</strong> has had a wide range of <strong>effects</strong>. We have<br />

seen new friendships <strong>and</strong> mutual underst<strong>and</strong>ings between students <strong>and</strong> teachers involved.<br />

This brochure is a summary of the presentations our pupils have prepared for the meetings in<br />

Schärding, Hoyanger, Bilbao, Ronneby <strong>and</strong> Breukelen.<br />

Schärding, Austria, April 2012<br />

Brigitte Reisinger Peter Beham<br />

Headmistress Project-Coordinator<br />

2


Starting group 2010<br />

Finishing group 2012 attending meeting in Norway<br />

Sebastian Hofmann, Julian Pflügl, Jakob Ecker, Jakob Schlederer<br />

3


Global Warming <strong>and</strong> its <strong>local</strong> <strong>effects</strong><br />

Our school was talking about Global Warming <strong>and</strong> especially about renewable energy sources<br />

<strong>and</strong> the <strong>local</strong> <strong>effects</strong> in Upper Austria. For us it is very important to know about these things<br />

<strong>and</strong> how we can change our situation.<br />

Upper Austrian energy saving targets <strong>and</strong> projects in the past <strong>and</strong> for the future:<br />

<strong>The</strong> Upper Austrian government introduced an energy concept in the year 2000 (ENERGY<br />

21). It has already reached the following targets:<br />

� 23% more of the energy has been gained from renewable sources, which is fortunately<br />

a lot more than expected<br />

� <strong>The</strong> solar panel areas have been more than doubled<br />

� <strong>The</strong> percentage of eco-power used for producing current has raised about 600%<br />

� About 20 energy-, exploration-, <strong>and</strong> development projects have been arranged<br />

� <strong>The</strong> usage of fossil fuels has had a decline of almost 5%<br />

� <strong>The</strong> Austrian households have reduced their CO2 emissions by about 16%<br />

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Some projects for the future:<br />

� <strong>The</strong> traffic <strong>and</strong> fuel sector could be modernized by increasing the reach ability of<br />

public transport<br />

� Establishing the train as the "spine of the traffic".<br />

� New technologies <strong>and</strong> innovations for logistics<br />

� Improvement in Upper Austria in terms of energy saving<br />

� Protect the nature in the future<br />

� Energy for heating <strong>and</strong> electricity should be generated up to 100 % by renewable<br />

energy<br />

� Reduction of the energy need for heating by 39%<br />

� up to 65% CO2 reduction<br />

Generally the Austrian Government supports the people living in Austria by giving them<br />

financial support for buying electric cars, installing new solar thermal systems or new<br />

photovoltaic systems. Another project is to install biomass heating systems in every public<br />

building <strong>and</strong> to change the old streetlamps into more energy saving ones.<br />

6


Global change – impact on winter tourism<br />

In Upper Austria winter tourism is one of the most important sectors of the economy,<br />

especially in the south. If the climate change goes on like this <strong>and</strong> it gets warmer <strong>and</strong> warmer,<br />

there will be even less snow than now.<br />

When there are two snow-poor winters in a row, some skiing- areas could threaten the<br />

bankruptcy <strong>and</strong> would have to give up some of their ski- slopes. Many working places would<br />

be lost.<br />

Renewable sources<br />

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources like rain, wind, sunlight,<br />

tides <strong>and</strong> geothermal heat. <strong>The</strong> source of renewable energy either regenerates quickly or the<br />

utilization of renewable energy does not lead to exhaustion of the source.<br />

About 34% of Upper Austria’s energy comes from renewable sources, which is a relatively<br />

high percentage.<br />

� Wind<br />

� Water<br />

� Biomass<br />

� Geothermal energy<br />

� Solar energy<br />

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<strong>The</strong>se sources are unlimited. If we increase the use of renewable energy we can reduce the<br />

carbon dioxide emissions <strong>and</strong> the energy imports.<br />

Using renewable energy is promoted worldwide, yet it involves big problems. Even though<br />

technological advance allows the usage more often than in the past, the costs are still very<br />

high. Some future-oriented countries already invest a lot of money in renewable energy.<br />

Wind energy:<br />

Water energy<br />

A wind power station transforms the energy of the<br />

wind into electric energy <strong>and</strong> feeds it into an electricity<br />

network. <strong>The</strong> wind energy moves the wheels <strong>and</strong> this<br />

energy activates a generator.<br />

One wind power station can produce enough energy for<br />

1200 houses. Only in areas with high wind speeds is it<br />

useful to build wind power stations.<br />

Hydro power is the most important energy source in Austria. We have geological advantages<br />

for hydropower because of the Alps. So we have a nearly inexhaustible supply of water.<br />

Austria has more than 70 hydro power stations.<br />

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Solar energy<br />

More <strong>and</strong> more people have decided to get solar panels installed on the roofs of their houses.<br />

It is one of the most simple form to gain renewable energy. In Austria we have about 1m² solar<br />

panel per person.<br />

Concerning the financial aspect, Water <strong>and</strong> Wind energy is the cheapest. At the moment solar<br />

energy is not profitable in central Europe. It pays of itself just because it is funded by the<br />

government very much. But it will become more profitable in the future. So I think that we<br />

have to focus on exp<strong>and</strong>ing the use of hydropower <strong>and</strong> to make Wind Power <strong>and</strong> Solar energy<br />

more profitable. <strong>The</strong> incident solar energy on the earth roughly ten thous<strong>and</strong> times the current<br />

human energy needs. So there is a lot of potential, we could use.<br />

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Lecture by the Green party of Upper Austria (Oct. 6 th , 2011)<br />

Measures in climate protection policy:<br />

• Agriculture: Doubling the share of bio products in agriculture from 2003 to 2009 –<br />

further increase.<br />

• Energy efficiency: Upper Austria agreed to the Energy Efficiency guideline of the<br />

European Union as the first European Region.<br />

• Traffic: With 90% in this field, Upper Austria had to register the largest increase of<br />

emissions in the years since 1990. Master plan for upgrading of public traffic.<br />

• Informing consumers to use regional products.<br />

During our first six years in Upper Austria’s government 150 companies working in the field<br />

of renewable energy <strong>and</strong> energy efficiency created 36.000 jobs.<br />

Success spotlights:<br />

• International leadership in the turn of energy<br />

• A strong domestic market which creates a stable environment for our industry<br />

• Our green energy industry is a frontrunner of Europe’s technology<br />

• We made clear: Renewable energy can save the planet in the long term <strong>and</strong> creates a unique<br />

economic opportunity in the short term. An energy-revolution can change our society for the<br />

better.<br />

• A shift towards green energy is seen in our province as the crucial challenge for creating a<br />

safe <strong>and</strong> successful future<br />

• <strong>The</strong> entire Upper Austrian society works together on the project: Every second municipality<br />

joined already Climate Alliance community: almost all are working <strong>local</strong>ly toward energy<br />

independency.<br />

Green Growth as a strategy to spur job creation: 50.000 people should find work in clean-tech<br />

industry during the next six years, if our policies will be implemented. New jobs in<br />

- Renewable Energies<br />

- Energy efficiency<br />

- Organic farming<br />

- Environmental protection<br />

- Ecotourism<br />

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Summary<br />

In a nutshell, it’s not a possibility to use renewable energy, it’s a must. Other energy resources<br />

like coal, natural gas, petroleum or uranium will extinguish due to increasing energy dem<strong>and</strong>.<br />

Furthermore, non-renewable resources usually produce pollution or radioactive waste. As<br />

nobody wants to live in a polluted world without energy, we have to switch to hydropower,<br />

solar energy, geothermal energy <strong>and</strong> wind power – the sooner the better!<br />

Causes of Climate Change<br />

In the last 100 years, the Earth has warmed by 0.75 degrees Celsius. Global sea levels have gone up,<br />

glaciers <strong>and</strong> sea ice have melted, <strong>and</strong> extreme weather events, like floods <strong>and</strong> droughts, are likely to<br />

happen more often.<br />

<strong>The</strong> causes of climate change can be divided into two categories:<br />

1. human causes<br />

2. natural causes<br />

It is now a global concern that the climatic changes occurring today have been speeded up<br />

because of man's activities.<br />

<strong>The</strong> natural variability <strong>and</strong> the climate fluctuations of the climate system have always been<br />

part of the Earth’s history however there have been changes in concentrations of greenhouse<br />

gases in the atmosphere growing at an unprecedented rate <strong>and</strong> magnitude. <strong>The</strong> United<br />

Nations, governments <strong>and</strong> many top scientists around the world believe that we must act now<br />

to stabilize <strong>and</strong> arrest further changes.<br />

To underst<strong>and</strong> climate change fully, the causes of climate change must be first identified.<br />

<strong>The</strong> enormous consumption of fossil fuels started in the Industrial Revolution in the 19th<br />

century. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal <strong>and</strong> natural gas supply most of the energy needed to run<br />

vehicles, generate electricity for industries <strong>and</strong> households. <strong>The</strong> energy sector is responsible<br />

for about ¾ of the carbon dioxide emissions, 1/5 of the methane emissions <strong>and</strong> a large<br />

quantity of nitrous oxide.<br />

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1.) Carbon dioxide is undoubtedly, the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.<br />

Changes in l<strong>and</strong> use pattern, deforestation, burning fossil fuels, Power Plants, use of fertilizer<br />

in agriculture <strong>and</strong> other activities have all led to a rise in the emission of carbon dioxide.<br />

At first we want to talk about burning fossil fuels.<br />

a) Burning fossil fuels<br />

When fossil fuels like coal, oil <strong>and</strong> gas are burned, they release greenhouse gases. In 2005,<br />

burning fossil fuels sent about 27 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.<br />

People burn fossil fuels to create energy, which is used for many things including:<br />

� heating homes <strong>and</strong> buildings<br />

� growing, transporting <strong>and</strong> cooking food<br />

� travelling (for example, by car, plane, bus <strong>and</strong> train)<br />

� treating water to make it drinkable, heating it <strong>and</strong> piping it into homes<br />

� manufacturing, using <strong>and</strong> transporting products, from clothes to fridges, from plastic<br />

bags to batteries<br />

b) Deforestation<br />

Cutting down forests faster than they are replaced (deforestation) is a major contributor to<br />

climate change. It accounts for about 20 per cent of human carbon emissions – more than the<br />

entire global transport sector produces.<br />

Deforestation makes such a huge contribution to carbon emissions because trees absorb CO2<br />

as they grow. <strong>The</strong> more trees that are cut down, the fewer there will be left to absorb CO2,<br />

leading to it building up in the atmosphere.<br />

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c) Power Plants<br />

Power plants are a key contributor to the <strong>effects</strong> of global warming. Power plants that gain<br />

their electricity through the burning of fossil fuels (such as coal plants) are especially to blame<br />

for this problem. This is largely because once the fossil fuel is burned to create energy, it<br />

releases carbon dioxide.<br />

d) Fertilizer<br />

Fertilizer is another common human cause of global warming. As the population grows, there<br />

is a greater need for food. One of the main tools for large scale farmers is fertilizer. As farm<br />

fields increase, so does the use of fertilizer. Fertilizer naturally emits the greenhouse gas<br />

nitrous oxide, which is also dangerous to the environment.<br />

2.) Methane is the second important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. It is released from<br />

animals such as dairy cows, goats, pigs, buffaloes, camels, horses <strong>and</strong> sheep.<br />

Methane is also emitted during the process of oil drilling, coal mining, leaking gas pipelines,<br />

l<strong>and</strong>fills <strong>and</strong> waste dumps.<br />

<strong>The</strong> certainty of global warming can be seen through some of the natural phenomenon like the<br />

effect on crops <strong>and</strong> extreme weather conditions around the world. It is especially clear in the<br />

dramatic change of the polar caps.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are other elements of people's homes that contribute to climate change indirectly.<br />

Everything, from furniture to computers, from clothes to carpets, all use energy when it is<br />

produced <strong>and</strong> transported – <strong>and</strong> this causes carbon emissions to be released.<br />

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However, there is now very strong evidence <strong>and</strong> almost universal agreement that significant<br />

recent global warming can’t be explained just by natural causes. <strong>The</strong> changes seen over recent<br />

years, <strong>and</strong> those predicted for the next century, are considered to be mainly the result of<br />

human behavior.<br />

Solutions for Climate Change:<br />

<strong>The</strong> biggest <strong>effects</strong> most people have on climate change come from:<br />

� energy used at home<br />

� travelling<br />

� the food they eat<br />

Most other environmental problems, like pollution or loss of rare animals, are also a result of<br />

everyday dem<strong>and</strong>s for food, products <strong>and</strong> energy.<br />

Make small lifestyle changes that reduce our personal use of energy. Our power stations are<br />

principally run by burning coal, so the less electricity we use, the less coal is burned <strong>and</strong> the<br />

less CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere. See some suggestions below on ways we can achieve<br />

this.<br />

Tips to reduce our personal consumption of energy:<br />

� Turn off the air conditioner unless it’s absolutely necessary. Clean your air<br />

conditioner’s filter regularly to improve the unit’s efficiency.<br />

Put on a jumper instead of lighting the fire!<br />

� Turn off lights that aren’t needed. Change to low energy globes.<br />

� Minimize your use of the car. It’s burning fossil fuels directly! Try carpooling. Adopt<br />

better driving habits that minimize fuel consumption (saves money too!). Walk to the<br />

shops if you can!<br />

� Turn off electrical equipment at the power point. Even such things as TVs <strong>and</strong><br />

computer monitors on st<strong>and</strong>-by are using energy.<br />

� Take shorter showers. This saves water <strong>and</strong> the energy needed to heat the water.<br />

� Ensure that dishwashers <strong>and</strong> washing machines are full to capacity before you turn<br />

them on.<br />

� Turn your thermostat down one degree to cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent<br />

<strong>and</strong> reduce carbon emissions.<br />

� Buy energy saving products.<br />

� If you’re buying a car, use the fuel economy label to choose one that will use less fuel.<br />

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� Recycle more! Nearly two thirds of all household rubbish can be recycled <strong>and</strong> most<br />

councils run doorstep recycling collections for paper, glass <strong>and</strong> plastics. Composting<br />

food waste can help reduce emissions that cause climate change.<br />

� Plant trees <strong>and</strong> shrubs. All plants utilize a process called photosynthesis whereby they<br />

absorb equal parts of CO2 <strong>and</strong> water (H2O) to produce sugars for energy. For each six<br />

parts of CO2 <strong>and</strong> water, a plant produces one part of sugar <strong>and</strong> six parts of oxygen,<br />

which is released as a by-product. All plants store carbon so do not burn off your<br />

garden rubbish! This releases the carbon back into the atmosphere. It’s always best to<br />

compost your garden waste <strong>and</strong> return the material to the earth!<br />

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List of attendances:<br />

� Ronneby, Sweden, 7. – 9. October 2010:<br />

o Teachers:<br />

� Beham Peter<br />

� Angerer- Buchegger Gabriele<br />

� Breukelen, Netherl<strong>and</strong>s, 18. – 22. 2011:<br />

o Teachers:<br />

� Beham Peter<br />

� Reisinger Brigitte<br />

� Gabriele Angerer- Buchegger<br />

o Students:<br />

� Marcher Antonia<br />

� Baumgartner Gerald<br />

� Altmann Tobias<br />

� Friedl Michael<br />

� Desch Michael<br />

� Roesch Florian<br />

� Parzer Michael<br />

� Veitschegger Jakob<br />

� Schlager Michael<br />

� Hamedinger Teresa<br />

� Ronneby, Sweden, 10. – 14. May 2011:<br />

o Teachers:<br />

� Beham Peter<br />

� Soellwagner Johann<br />

� Angerer- Buchegger Gabriele<br />

o Students:<br />

� Kaya Kevser<br />

� Maier Iris<br />

� Joos <strong>The</strong>resa<br />

� Br<strong>and</strong>stetter Clara<br />

� Brait Maximilian<br />

� Hofmann Jakob<br />

� Puchner Tobias<br />

� Grechhamer Christian<br />

� Schachinger Dora<br />

� Mair Michael<br />

� Bilbao, Spain, 2. – 4. June 2011:<br />

o Teachers:<br />

� Beham Peter<br />

� Karin Kislinger<br />

o Students:<br />

� Felix Kohlbauer<br />

� Schaerding, Austria, 4. – 8. October:<br />

o Teachers:<br />

� Beham Peter<br />

� Kislinger Karin<br />

� Soellwagner Johann<br />

� Angerer- Buchegger Gabriele<br />

� Hutterer Florian<br />

� Lang Daniela<br />

� Saenger Uta<br />

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o Students:<br />

� Desch Lukas<br />

� Schmid Maximilian<br />

� Hofmann Sebastian<br />

� Mair Michael<br />

� Rachbauer Lukas<br />

� Ecker Jakob<br />

� Pfluegl Julian<br />

� Froschauer Christina<br />

� Schlederer Jakob<br />

� Lehner Fink Sophia<br />

� Schild Eva<br />

� Stöckl Max<br />

� Br<strong>and</strong>stetter Clara<br />

� Joos <strong>The</strong>resa<br />

� Brait Max<br />

� Kupus Lejla<br />

� Parzer Michael<br />

� Ortner Leonie<br />

� Wösner Wolfgang<br />

� Buchinger Flora<br />

� Weberbauer Valerie<br />

� Baumgartner Gerald<br />

� Altmann Tobias<br />

� Marcher Antonia<br />

� Friedl Michael<br />

� Veitschegger Jakob<br />

� Unterholzer Julia<br />

� Kohlbauer Felix<br />

� Kaya Kevser<br />

� Schachinger Dora<br />

� Puchner Tobias<br />

� Hofmann Jakob<br />

� Grechhamer Christian<br />

� Bilbao, Spain, 30. November – 2. December 2011:<br />

o Teachers:<br />

� Beham Peter<br />

� Angerer- Buchegger<br />

o Students:<br />

� Altmann Tobias<br />

� Puchner Tobias<br />

� Hoyanger, Norway, 24. – 28. April 2012:<br />

o Teachers:<br />

� Beham Peter<br />

� Angerer- Buchegger Gabriele<br />

� Reisinger Brigitte<br />

o Students:<br />

� Ecker Jakob<br />

� Hofmann Sebastian<br />

� Pfluegl Julian<br />

� Schlederer Jakob<br />

17


© 2012 Gymnasium Schärding – 4780 Schärding, Austira<br />

Phone: +43 7712 3044 – e-mail: gym-schaerding.sek@eduhi.at<br />

http://bgschaerding.eduhi.at/main/<br />

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