Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Water

Environmental Impacts of Fracking Related to Exploration and Exploitation of Unconventional Natural Gas Deposits

Risk Assessment, Recommendations for Action and Evaluation of Relevant Existing Legal Provisions and Administrative Structures

We examine the water-related environmental impacts and the risks for human health and the environment that could potentially be caused by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) during exploration and exploitation of unconventional natural gas reservoirs in Germany. This study covers both scientific-technical aspects and the existing mining and environmental regulations. Both were analyzed with respect to...read more

Waste | Resources

Substantive implementation of Article 29 of Directive 2008/98/EC

Scientific-rechnical foundation for a national waste prevention programme

Based on the European Waste Framework Directive and the German Recycling Management Act of 01.06.2012 the objectives for a national waste prevention programme were defined. As main objective, according to art. 1 WFD, the "prevention or reduction of the disadvan-tageous impacts of waste generation and management on the human health and the environment" is recommended. Indicators for a quantitative...read more

Chemicals

Mobility, fate and behavior of TiO2 nanomaterials in different environmental media

Nanomaterials are nowadays used in increasing amounts in everyday products and special applications. Enhanced release of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) into the environment can hence be assumed. The first part of the study dealt with a method development for the stability testing of the coating of two different functionalised TiO2 nanomaterials. The stability was analysed covering different enviro...read more

Economy | Consumption, Health

Measurement of Fine and Ultrafine Particles from Office Devices during Printing in order to Develop a Test Method for the Blue Angel Ecolabel for Office-Based Printing Devices

The research project on which this report is based focuses on the measurement of particulate emissions in the area of fine and ultrafine particles from laser printing devices. Against the backdrop of a public debate about possible hazards related to these emissions, UBA has commissioned BAM to develop a measurement method for these emissions, to expand the existing awarding criteria for the "Blue...read more

Waste | Resources, Agriculture

A Greener Common Agricultural Policy

A start has been made but many weak points remain

A revised Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2014 - 2020 was agreed between the EU Commission, the Agriculture Council and the European Parliament in late June 2013. While the reform essentially follows Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloș proposed agenda, the outcome became watered down in the course of negotiations. This is the conclusion reached by the Agriculture Commission at the German F...read more

Climate | Energy

Stakeholder Participation in Adaptation to Climate Change

Lessons and Experience from Germany

The report concludes with recommendations for planning and conducting stakeholder participation processes and suggests suitable designs depending on the pursued objectives.read more

Chemicals

Identification of potential PBT/vPvB-Substances by QSAR methods

The identification and the assessment of potential PBT/vPvB substances are key tasks of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) under the ⁠REACH⁠ regulation. Potential PBT/vPvB substances can for example be identified using quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs). For a definitive assessment, experimental data are required.read more

Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

What Matters 2013

The UBA annual publication 2013Noise protection is one of the key thematic focus areas of UBA's work in 2013. More than half of the people in Germany feel disturbed by noise. Another focus area is oceans, which are under stress from overfishing and over-fertilisation in particular. The hunt for raw materials on the ocean floor also poses a new threat. The third focus area is sustainable building a...read more