Isra-Mart srl : German county aims to be carbon-neutral

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Isra-Mart SRL news:

A rural wine-growing county is southern Germany says it is determined to be a carbon-neutral, zero-emission area by 2050.

The Rhineland county of Cochem-Zell in the Mosel River Valley just south of Cologne is part of a rapidly growing effort by rural communities in Europe to reduce CO2 emissions, Deutsche Welle reported Friday.

Rural-level efforts can have a potentially greater impact than large projects such as wind farms and mass-transit systems, Hans-Josef Fell of Germany's Green Party said, "but we need both kinds of projects if we want to meet climate goals."

The European Union has set a goal of reducing emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

The 65,000 residents of Cochem-Zell have been formally working toward environmentally sustainable development since 2003, when the community joined the U.N.-sponsored Local Agenda 21 program.

The county says its zero-emission goal is based on three initiatives: renewable energy, biofuels, and energy conservation and efficiency.

Environmentalists hail the grassroots nature of the movement.

"For decades, there has been a major movement in Germany toward renewable energy," Fell said. "This movement is made up of people, not the old energy industry."