Climate-neutral by 2030: The district of Ebersberg is a long way from that

Created: 2022-12-08 06:07

By: Josef Ametsbichler

The district administrator dreams of a district heating pipeline for up to 70,000 people in the district.

Symbolic picture: imago © Stephan Pietzko via www.imago-im

Transport, electricity and heat: The district of Ebersberg wants to cover its energy requirements in a CO2-neutral manner in all sectors from 2030 onwards.

A new report raises doubts as to whether this is realistic.

District

– Exactly two years ago to the day, District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß hit the table with the eco-hammer.

The CSU man wants to supply up to 70,000 people via district heating pipeline through half the district - from Vaterstetten along the B304 to Ebersberg.

Apparently not much has happened since then.

It is true that Vaterstetten, the planned source of heat for everyone involved, is pushing ahead with his geothermal project.

Announced start: 2025. But there is silence about the connection of the four other district municipalities, Zorneding, Kirchseeon, Grafing and Ebersberg.

You get "measurably closer" to the climate-neutral district - but time is running out

After the announcement, a project disappears into oblivion.

There may be reasons for this, but this is symptomatic of the energy transition in the district.

By 2030, it should obtain its energy consumption for electricity, heat and mobility entirely from renewable sources - industry, households, municipalities.

And so far, the district administrator, district office and energy agency have stood by this goal.

"Measurably closer" to him, writes climate protection manager Lisa Rüttgers in the foreword to the greenhouse gas balance published on Wednesday by the energy agency for the district.

That's not wrong, but a lot can be measured, even if it can hardly be seen with the naked eye.

Renewable energies in the district of Ebersberg: 0.5 percentage point increase in two years

The actual share of climate-neutral energies in final energy consumption in the district rose by just 0.5 percentage points from 2018 to 2020, to 14.5 percent.

This is also in the balance sheet, the most recent data for which relates to 2020.

"We are continuing the positive development of recent years," said District Administrator Niedergesäß in his foreword.

Anyone who takes the trouble to turn to page 19 can only admire the district administrator for his optimism.

There, dashed, steeply rising diagram lines show what the increase in wind, photovoltaics and geothermal energy should look like so that things can still be achieved by 2030.

85.5 percent are still missing.

The reality is sobering: Most of the solid lines that depict this are bobbing along almost horizontally.

Climate target 2030: not a single energy sector is on course

The district is not on track in any area.

Wind power: lasts.

Photovoltaics: Growth of 2.3 percentage points from 2018 to 2020. There are still eight years to go until 2030.

After all, the district residents have reduced their individual greenhouse gas balance - in two years by 0.7 tons to 6.5 tons of CO2 per capita.

The district administrator calls this an “impressive result”, but at the same time admits that the corona pandemic and its influence on traffic played an important role – “there has to be so much honesty”.

Back to the example of geothermal district heating, where debit and credit diverge the most.

Ebersberg's Mayor Ulrich Proske announced that his geothermal energy working group is currently meeting behind closed doors.

There are already three areas that could be considered for a start.

"Networks have to be created with a lot of lead time and a lot of money," says the non-partisan mayor.

The city council is to discuss at the beginning of 2023 whether Ebersberg will listen to the advice of its energy experts and stay on board with the project.

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District Administrator: "Steep and difficult path!"

"The status is of course very different," said the district administrator when asked by EZ and referred to Vaterstetten, which is in the starting blocks.

“There are no concrete timetables in the other municipalities at this point in time.” However, the five municipalities involved have met several times in the presence of external experts.

"The district office can only coordinate and organize here." This includes, for example, potential analyzes for the communities and financial support for planning.

According to Niedergesäß, the district is on the way to achieving the energy transition with many projects.

Geothermal energy: "a very effective and goal-oriented piece of the jigsaw puzzle".

Niedergesäß: "But overall the path is still very steep and difficult!"

Assistance: Anna Liebelt

You can read more news from the Ebersberg region here.

By the way: everything from the region is also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.