By Tom Carson
Oktoberfest
Environmental scientists have released the first analysis of methane emissions from Oktoberfest. Researchers from the Technical University in Munich found the event emitted nearly 1500kg of methane – 10 times the amount that wafted off Boston in the USA in the corresponding period.
More than six million people visit Oktoberfest each year and make their way through more than seven million litres of beer, 100,000 litres of wine, half a million chickens and a quarter of a million sausages.
Scientists explained, “We have strong indications that fossil fuel methane emissions by gas grills and heating appliances are major sources.” 10% of the rise in the gas was attributed to the flatulence and burps of attendees! Read about it in German here.
Germany's Umweltpolitik
The Foreign Policy’s Adam Tooze argues that Germany’s Bundesbank has chosen ‘economic nostalgia’ over saving the planet. He states that central banks such as the European Central Bank (ECB) are seeking to combat climate change.
In comparison, the Bundesbank, Germany’s once-dominant central bank of Europe, is hesitating to act decisively. For instance, the articles notes how Jens Weidmann, the current head of the Bundesbank, has suggested that proactive, green, interventionist central banking would be an invitation to populism and an open invitation to the anti-green AfD. Read more here.
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