Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

An astronomical institute’s perspective on meeting the challenges of the climate crisis

Analysing greenhouse gas emissions of an astronomical institute is a first step to reducing its environmental impact. Here, we break down the emissions of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg and propose measures for reductions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Average annual emissions in 2018 for an Australian and MPIA researcher in tCO2e yr–1, broken down by sources.
Fig. 2: Relative GHG emissions broken down by flight destination for MPIA employees.

References

  1. McMichael, A. J. et al. Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses (World Health Organization, 2003).

  2. Edenhofer, O. et al. IPCC, 2014: Summary for Policymakers (IPCC, 2014).

  3. Rohde, R. Global Temperature Report for 2019 (Berkeley Earth, 2019); https://berkeleyearth.org/2019-temperatures-new/

  4. The Paris Agreement (United Nations, 2016); https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

  5. Stevens, A. R. H., Bellstedt, S., Elahi, P. J. & Murphy, M. T. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1169-1 (2020).

  6. Flagey, N. & Thronas, K., Petric, A., Withington, K. & Seidel, M. J. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1190-4 (2020).

  7. Burtscher, L. et al. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1207-z (2020).

  8. Marshall, P. J. et al. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/0903.3384 (2009).

  9. Submission Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol 2020: National Inventory Report for the German Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990–2018 (Federal Environment Agency, 2020); https://go.nature.com/2PQCje0.

  10. Federal Climate Protection Act (BMU, 2019); https://www.bmu.de/gesetz/bundes-klimaschutzgesetz

  11. Recalculated and Extrapolated Population Based on the 2011–1991 to 2011 Census (Destatis, 2016); https://go.nature.com/3iBuuF9

  12. Germany Current Population (Destatis, 2020); https://go.nature.com/2FcKleW

  13. Ritchie, H. & Roser, M. CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Our World in Data, 2017); https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions

  14. atmosfair Emissions Calculator (atmosfair gGmbH, accessed 24 July 2020); https://www.atmosfair.de/en/standards/emissions_calculation/emissions_calculator

  15. Qantas Future Planet (Qantas, accessed 24 July 2020); https://www.qantasfutureplanet.com.au

  16. Table O: Australian Electricity Generation, By Fuel Type, Physical Units (Department of the Environment and Energy, 2019); https://www.energy.gov.au/publications/australian-energy-update-2019

  17. Net Public Electricity Generation in Germany in 2018 (Fraunhofer ISE, accessed 24 July 2020); https://www.energy-charts.de/energy_pie.htm?year=2018

  18. Contribution to Climate Protection: More Business Trips by Train (BMI, 28 January 2020); https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/kurzmeldungen/DE/2020/01/brkg-bahn.html

  19. Voluntary Commitment to Refrain from Short-haul Business Flights (Scientists for Future, 2020); https://unter1000.scientists4future.org

  20. Klöwer, M., Hopkins, D., Allen, M. & Higham, J. Nature 583, 356–359 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. electricityMap (Tomorrow, accessed 3 August 2020); https://www.electricitymap.org/zone/IS

  22. Radu, L.-D. Symmetry 9, 295 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Portegies Zwart, S. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1208-y (2020).

  24. Henderson, P. et al. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.05651 (2020).

  25. Matzner, C. et al. Astronomy in a Low-Carbon Future (Zenodo, 2019); https://zenodo.org/record/3758549

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Knud Jahnke.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jahnke, K., Fendt, C., Fouesneau, M. et al. An astronomical institute’s perspective on meeting the challenges of the climate crisis. Nat Astron 4, 812–815 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1202-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1202-4

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene