Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Chemicals

Method development for analysis of pharmaceuticals in environmental samples

Since the last decades the increasing currency of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment and their risk potential for the aquatic life has become an urgent issue. The number of pharmaceuticals detectable in the low μg/L range in the environment is rising each day. Against this background the aim of this project was the development, optimization, validation and comparison of analytical methods...read more

Chemicals

Environmental risks from mixtures of antibiotic pharmaceuticals in soils – a literature review

The report summarizes the current knowledge on antibiotic contaminations in soils. The study raises concerns regarding the contamination of manure, anaerobic digestate and sewage sludge with antibiotic mixtures and discusses their ecotoxicological effects and spread of antimicrobial resistance in soils. Overall aims were mainly to identify antibiotic mixtures typically applied in veterinary and hu...read more

Climate | Energy

How can existing national climate policy instruments contribute to ETS development?

Before introducing an emissions trading system, jurisdictions have to consider the ex-isting energy and climate policy framework. This report seeks to analyse and evaluate non-ETS climate policy instruments, such as carbon taxes or green certificate trading schemes, regarding their suitability to serve as a basis for establishing emission trading systems. There is a general assessment of prototypi...read more

Chemicals

Expert Report on the Usability of Data from the POP Database in the Field of ‘Technosphere’

The report provides a quality-assured database for the technosphere compartment as part of the further development of the POP/dioxin database into a knowledge-based system that can be used as a flexible evaluation instrument.To this end, the existing database inventory of technosphere samples was classified according to primary and secondary sources with further subclassification in a tree structu...read more

Air

Air Quality 2018

Preliminary Evaluation

This evaluation of air quality in Germany in the year 2018 is based on preliminary data which has not yet been conclusively audited from the air monitoring networks of the federal states and the UBA, valid on 18rd January 2019. Due to the comprehensive quality assurance within the monitoring networks, the final data will only be available in mid-2019. The currently available data allows for a gene...read more

Climate | Energy

Assessment of bio-CCS in 2°C compatible scenarios

Since the adoption of the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC (AR5), there has been a growing discussion of methods for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) from the atmosphere. With CDR as a supplement to GHG-emission reductions it would be possible to stabilize the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere more quickly or perhaps even to reduce it. Bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is t...read more

Climate | Energy

Support for the revision of the Monitoring and Reporting Regulation for the 4th trading period (focus: Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU))

In the light of the upcoming phase 4 of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS, 2021-2030), the Monitoring and Reporting Regulation and the Accreditation and Verification Regulation are currently under review. One topic of particular interest is the question whether and to what extent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions transferred to Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) installations shou...read more

Climate | Energy

Challenges of Coal Transitions

A comparative study on the status quo and future prospects of coal mining and coal use in Indonesia, Colombia and Viet Nam

Today more than 45 % of all energy-related CO2 emissions come from burning coal. Thus, reducing CO2 emissions from coal use is a necessity for reaching the targets of the Paris Agreement. This will not only pose challenges for coal consumers (restructuring of the energy system), but also for countries whose economy is strongly depending on the production of coal.This paper examines the role of coa...read more