Germany on the road to net zero: a new Web Atlas shows the options
Which technical and nature-based options as well as political decisions can support Germany in being CO2-neutral? These questions are answered by the new web atlas of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. The new tool is aimed at politicians, experts and the public. The HZB has also contributed to the web atlas.
Since July 2019, the Helmholtz Climate Initiative is working to congregate all expertise in the Helmholtz Research Centers on climate issues. One result is a comprehensive web atlas on which Helmholtz researchers from all disciplines have contributed. The online atlas clearly presents the current state of knowledge and is constantly updated.
The content is presented in a comprehensible way and the depth of information can be freely selected so that relevant information can be found quickly and easily. Markings indicate the three information levels "Overview", "Practice", "Background".
The atlas is divided into four chapters: Technological Lever, Decision Support Lever, Roadmaps under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Partner Centres of Net Zero-2050.
The HZB contributions are in the chapter on technological levers. Björn Rau has compiled information on building-integrated photovoltaics and Matthew Mayer has contributed to two articles on the electrochemical conversion of CO2.
Digital knowledge transfer
"The web atlas is about digital knowledge transfer," says Daniela Jacob, director of GERICS. "It acts as a showcase for the research contributions of a total of ten Helmholtz Centres that have contributed their expertise to the Net Zero 2050 project."
"The contributions of our partners are presented in two different formats such as georeferenced maps with explanatory text or as a picture story with accompanying text," explains Swantje Preuschmann from GERICS, who heads the Web Atlas project. "On the one hand, the atlas should convey scientifically based facts, but on the other hand it should also be intuitive and playful to experience."
Triggering dialogue
The tool is intended to contribute to a broad dialogue in society and facilitate the transfer of knowledge from science to actors in politics, public administration and other "climate-relevant" decision-makers. This should help to actually make Germany CO2-neutral by the middle of this century.
Further information: https://atlas.netto-null.org
- Nanosilver as an electrocatalyst for CO₂ reductionVia electrolysis, CO2 can be reduced to CO, a raw material for further chemical products such as fuels. Within the GreenQuest Project, an internation team led by HZB chemist Prashanth Menezes has now systematically investigated catalyst layers made of silver nanoparticles, varying both the size of the particles and their density. The best yield was achieved with nanoparticles with diameters of around 10 nm, which were loosely distributed. Furthermore, they demonstrated how the economic efficiency of the electrochemical cell can be enhanced by integrating an additional chemical reaction at the anode, enabling the simultaneous production of a valuable formic acid, hydrogen, and CO in one device.
- Marcel Risch has been appointed Professor at the Freie Universität BerlinMarcel Risch was appointed to a W2-S professorship in the Department of Physics at Freie Universität Berlin in August 2026. His research group has been transformed into the department 'Mechanisms of Sustainable Electrocatalysis'. Risch investigates the fundamental mechanisms of electrocatalytic reactions and, on this basis, develops knowledge- and data-driven strategies to improve electrocatalysts for the sustainable production of hydrogen, fuels and chemicals.
- BESSY II: Evaporated perovskites in tandem solar cells improvedPerovskite-silicon tandem solar cells achieve significantly higher efficiencies than silicon solar cells on their own. One particularly attractive method is co-evaporation of the perovskite precursor molecules on top of the silicon subcell. Scientists at HZB have analysed film growth on the nanoscale at BESSY II and found a new way to improve the quality of the perovskite layer: adding a thin seed layer of caesium chloride between the two sub-cells promotes uniform perovskite growth and suppresses the formation of undesired lead iodide at the interface.