Valencia continues to struggle with the consequences of its recent flood. But others are actually benefiting from climate change. How can critical infrastructure be protected? The benefits of floating solar systems and a Bosnian success story.
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00:00For the first time, the global average temperature was 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than in the
00:08pre-industrial age. According to the Paris Agreement, global warming needs to be kept
00:14under 1.5 degrees Celsius. The consequences? More extreme weather events such as drought,
00:21storms and heavy rain. A huge flood hit the Spanish region of Valencia in 2024. More than
00:29220 people died. What's the situation today? Also on Made Today, industries of the future.
00:40Who benefits from climate change? More efficiency, floating solar panels and one successful entrepreneur
00:48who uses martial arts as a springboard.
01:01120,000 cars destroyed, infrastructure that's still partially paralyzed and soldiers and
01:07civilians still cleaning up the streets. In the middle of Ground Zero in Catarroja,
01:13workers are still cleaning the equipment and manufacturing halls. The 40 injection
01:18molding machines at automotive supplier Industrias Alegre stand frozen.
01:24All of these machines, they're just scrap. Technicians from all over Europe are trying
01:30to get other machines up and running.
01:36The flood was devastating for us, here and in all other towns in the area. And the flood
01:44completely paralyzed our business. The mud reached nearly two meters high.
01:53The flood doesn't seem to have caused any damage at this logistics company, but the
01:57boss wants to show us another warehouse.
02:05The way there resembles a war zone. Photos and videos from the hours after the flood
02:11show how destructive the sea of mud was. This is almost three meters. That's how high
02:18the water was. But people are once again working here. Just not quite like before.
02:26We have goods here that are blocked because the customer has to decide what they want
02:34to do. Some are still good, but we need to reach an agreement. And here is where goods
02:42were that have just gone out. We have to clean, clean, clean.
02:49These solar panels from China are also blocked, but Juan Castellano feels that they are a
02:53relatively minor problem. If you have money, you can keep going because you can make decisions
03:00quickly. But if you don't have any money and don't get any help because you're a smaller
03:05company, you're up against the wall.
03:09Like Matilde Gregori. She has a bar in the village of Penitucer. It was also ravaged
03:15by the water. She's angry because she has yet to receive any aid from the state.
03:23The only help we've gotten was from supermarket entrepreneur Juan Rudge, who was the only
03:29one with the courage to come and ask what kinds of problems we are having and help.
03:35Otherwise, nobody.
03:38You didn't get any other help?
03:41No, nothing. If you call the insurance company, they'll tell you they're busy and they'll
03:45call you back. Be patient. But it's been almost two months.
03:51The head of Spain's biggest supermarket chain quickly donated 35 million euros to more than
03:574,000 small businesses. But even that wasn't enough. Prospects in many places in the flooded
04:03area are bleak. Many shops and restaurants are unlikely to ever reopen.
04:11That's why the Chamber of Commerce takes to the road every day with a truck to advise
04:15smaller entrepreneurs.
04:20Most people don't really know what they can do or what kind of aid is available.
04:28The Chamber finds the many closed bars and retailers should be a focal point for state aid.
04:37We're talking about 800,000 people there and 350,000 in the worst areas. We hope that
04:44direct payments, especially for small businesses, very small businesses, can help them to move
04:49forward. We're not just businesses. We're people and we're cities and these cities need
04:55economic activity and for that to happen, we need this direct aid.
05:02But around two months after the flood, there's also some good news, even at Industrias Alegre.
05:08Although the sea of mud will probably paralyze the company until the end of April, customers
05:14are receiving their products again.
05:18We looked for external companies to distribute all of our molds and tools.
05:26And in record time, we were able to find 11 companies in different areas of Valencia, Spain,
05:32and even some in Portugal and Germany.
05:36Even the trade unions are cautiously optimistic, despite their concerns.
05:41That's because the Spanish government also took care of more than 30,000 workers who were suddenly jobless.
05:49We demanded a social safety net, like coverage through short-time work benefits due to Force
05:54Major, which can also be processed very quickly. People apply for short-time work and since
05:59they are in the affected area, it gets approved.
06:02We're talking about an approval rate of more than 98%.
06:08Despite the masses of scrap and waste that are still being removed, the region's outlook
06:13is slowly improving, as can now be seen from this street shortly after the flood.
06:18But the region still has an image problem abroad.
06:24This meant media coverage at the national and international level.
06:28Valencia was all over the front pages and on the TV news.
06:32But it turns out that the actual brand of Valencia, the city, is still completely intact.
06:38The problem is that 10 minutes away from Valencia, you find a completely desolate area that looks
06:44like it's been bombed.
06:50Valencia is trying to coax tourists back with an ad campaign that shows how the mud and
06:55Without visitors, the city center is much emptier than usual at this time of year.
07:07The frequency and intensity of devastating fires such as in Los Angeles, floods like
07:12those in Georgia and North Carolina, and hurricanes such as Helene in the U.S., experts attribute
07:18them to climate change.
07:21And the economy is also suffering as a result.
07:24But how can we prepare for extreme weather?
07:27And how can we protect ourselves against the damage caused by such disasters?
07:35Crop failure, infrastructure in ruins, falling productivity.
07:39The consequences of climate change could be devastating for the global economy.
07:43But there's a number of ways to deal with it.
07:46The demand for reinsurance has actually increased over the years, and it's essentially driven
07:50by rising losses from natural catastrophes.
07:55We expect to grow by 50 percent from 2020 to 2030.
08:01Now we are increasing our production capacity by three times bigger than the current one.
08:06Right now, we are in the middle of a crisis.
08:09We are in the middle of a crisis.
08:11We are increasing our production capacity by three times bigger than the current one.
08:16Rising temperatures are creating record demand for air conditioning worldwide.
08:20Cooling is no longer just a luxury, it's becoming a matter of survival.
08:24India set a heat record this year, 52.9 degrees Celsius.
08:28Air conditioning manufacturers are experiencing a boom in demand.
08:32German manufacturer Bosch, which specializes in heat pumps, will also increasingly focus
08:37on air conditioning solutions in the future.
08:41The global cooling market is around 15 times larger than the heating market.
08:46People who live in large parts of Asia, China, India, Southeast Asia, the southern part of the US,
08:52that is from New York downward, Latin America and also Southern Europe,
08:56primarily need cooling and secondarily heating.
09:02Bosch aims to make its biggest ever acquisition.
09:05The planned takeover of Johnson Controls and Hitachi is expected to cost 8 billion US dollars.
09:11The merger of the two companies will actually lead to, roughly speaking,
09:15a doubling of our company size and significant globalization.
09:19But there is a problem. Air conditioning consumes a huge amount of electricity.
09:24In many countries like India, most of this electricity is generated from coal.
09:29So cooling causes enormous emissions that further drive global warming.
09:33One possible solution?
09:35Electrified solutions, including air conditioning systems,
09:38work far better than heating technologies with photovoltaics, for example.
09:43Because when the sun shines, it gets hot, and then you can cool things in a climate-neutral way.
09:51Climate change not only brings heat, but also extreme drought.
09:55Two-thirds of the world's population are threatened by water shortages.
09:59Global demand for desalination plants is growing.
10:02The technology comes at a price.
10:04Conventional desalination plants have a high CO2 footprint and cost several million euros.
10:09But there's another way.
10:11The Berlin-based company Boreal Light relies on solar-powered, low-cost desalination systems.
10:17And they are a global leader in this field.
10:20We filled a gap in the market for small and medium-sized solar water desalination systems.
10:26So we run the machine 100% on solar.
10:28No diesel, no grid, no battery, nothing.
10:31Then we are having a system that is simple.
10:33You just need a wrench and a screwdriver to dismantle this machine.
10:39The Berlin factory produces the systems in various sizes, which are then shipped all over the world.
10:44Most of them go to sub-Saharan Africa, a region that contributes little to climate change,
10:50but suffers especially from its consequences.
10:52The desalination plants here supply millions of people with clean drinking water
10:57and are indispensable for agriculture.
11:01We know in the world we are facing the challenge of drinking water,
11:05but our food sector is also in challenge of access to irrigation water.
11:09Recently, in the past one year, we received more requests from farmers
11:14than from normal people, cities, communities for the drinking water.
11:19Boreal Light is ambitious and wants to supply over 100 million people worldwide with clean water by 2030.
11:26In addition to Africa, the main focus is on Latin America and Southern Europe.
11:31The changing climate is also increasing the damage caused by natural disasters.
11:35Insurance companies are benefiting from heightened demand in this area.
11:40Munich Re is the largest reinsurer in the world.
11:44We take peak risks away from the primary insurers,
11:47who have previously incurred very high claims expenses,
11:50with primary insurers for particularly severe catastrophes.
11:55Insurance losses due to climate change are increasing rapidly worldwide.
11:59In recent years, they have exceeded the 100 billion euro mark annually.
12:04Munich Re has been collecting data on natural catastrophes for 50 years
12:09in order to better assess risks and has the largest database worldwide.
12:15Ultimately, of course, we are forced to adjust our prices for certain risks
12:19and we are seeing that questions are increasingly being asked
12:22about insurability and the affordability of extreme weather events.
12:26Few people in the global south are insured against losses from natural disasters.
12:31How will the costs be shared between the insurance industry, the state and those affected?
12:36If neither insurance companies nor governments cover the damage,
12:40those affected must pay for it themselves, which can be an existential risk.
12:46That makes education and prevention critically important here.
12:50Air conditioning, water desalination and insurance are three sectors
12:54that benefit economically from climate change.
12:57But unlike oil and gas companies,
12:59whose businesses contribute directly to the climate crisis,
13:02they help deal with the consequences.
13:07There's not much discussion about the profits that they're making
13:10because it's seen as something that they actually need.
13:13They become a problem if these industries are not able to pay for it.
13:18High prices lead to global injustice
13:20when vital climate solutions are not accessible to all.
13:24So the danger is that you have a rising inequality
13:28by not being able to actually use these services those companies actually provide.
13:34State regulation and competition can play a key role in the global crisis.
13:39But what are the risks?
13:42State regulation and competition can play a key role
13:46in driving innovation for climate solutions,
13:50making them more affordable and ensuring fairer access for people around the globe.
14:01It would be even better to prevent damage than to regulate it.
14:05To make sure you're not left in the dark when disaster strikes,
14:08there's one thing that absolutely has to work.
14:11The critical infrastructure.
14:13But what is it exactly?
14:15How can you keep these vital systems running?
14:17We have an explanation for you.
14:28What is critical infrastructure?
14:31No light, no water, no electricity and nothing to eat.
14:36The risk of these disaster movie scenarios actually happening is increasing worldwide.
14:42For a society to continue to function when crises, wars and natural disasters strike,
14:47one thing has to be protected.
14:50Critical infrastructure.
14:52But what does that actually involve?
14:55First and foremost is the energy supply.
14:58Because if the power goes out,
15:00almost all other critical infrastructures are affected.
15:03For example, the food supply.
15:05Without electricity, goods spoil in the supermarket.
15:08A shortage then causes panic buying,
15:11as happened during the coronavirus pandemic.
15:14To ensure food security,
15:16transportation and traffic also can't be allowed to collapse either.
15:20That's another piece of critical infrastructure.
15:23And clean water is essential for nutrition.
15:27An interruption in the supply also paralyzes production processes
15:31and quickly causes illness.
15:34Of course, this also includes medical care,
15:37like hospitals and medicine.
15:40The financial and insurance sectors also need to be preserved
15:43so the economy stays intact.
15:46The German government also counts information technology and telecommunications,
15:50media and culture, government and administration
15:53and waste disposal as critical infrastructure.
15:57But how do you protect it all?
15:59Continuous monitoring is impossible.
16:01Instead, these systems need to become more resilient.
16:05For example, small, self-sufficient power grids
16:08that continue to function after an attack could be built.
16:12Critical infrastructure protection is still in its infancy,
16:15but is becoming increasingly urgent.
16:24Protecting the climate is still as urgent as ever.
16:27One good way to do this is by using solar energy.
16:30There are already plenty of solar panels on roofs and in fields.
16:34And there are more and more of them.
16:37But did you know that solar panels on the water are even more efficient?
16:42We'll show you how it works
16:44and what this promising new form of energy generation has already accomplished.
16:50Solar Systems on Water
16:53Solar Systems on Water – a technology with a future.
16:57They are more expensive than solar systems on land,
17:00but more efficient due to the water's cooling effect.
17:05The first floating solar system in Germany was installed on a quarry pond in 2019.
17:11The biggest project being built is in an open-cast mining area in eastern Germany.
17:17Lignite was mined here for decades.
17:20It's the size of 20 soccer fields – power for 8,000 households.
17:25The Hohlmanns gravel plant is one of the pioneers in Germany.
17:29The size of their floating plant – 3.3 hectares – around 5 soccer fields.
17:34They use the electricity it generates for the gravel works.
17:39In a gravel plant like this, all the large extraction equipment,
17:43including the processing equipment that sifts the sand and coarse gravel from the fine gravel,
17:48all run on electricity.
17:50The plant is about 40% self-sufficient.
17:53Which means we are about 40% independent.
17:58In times like these when there is little sunshine,
18:00we have to buy additional electricity from the grid.
18:07Solar systems depend on sunshine, which varies with the seasons and time of day.
18:12Since the gravel plant doesn't run on the weekends,
18:15the electricity generated gets fed back to the grid.
18:19But feeding it into the grid doesn't make any economic sense for us,
18:23which is why we're currently considering whether it might be better to invest in storage technologies.
18:30The gravel works has invested 5 million euros of its own money in the floating solar plant.
18:35The state provides no subsidies.
18:38There are still hurdles in the approval process, which takes about two years.
18:46It's simply a process where many authorities themselves don't quite know how to deal with the issue.
18:56The first floating solar plant was built in California in 2008.
19:00Countries such as Switzerland and Britain followed suit.
19:04Today the biggest in Europe is in the Netherlands.
19:07Globally, however, China is leading the way
19:10and runs the world's highest capacity power plant on a flooded coal mine.
19:15In Germany, a law was passed in 2023 that only allows floating solar installations on artificial lakes.
19:22Only 15% of the lake can be covered, with a distance to the shore of at least 40 meters.
19:31The Water Resources Act is more or less a precautionary law,
19:35which is intended to prevent negative environmental impacts
19:38and negative effects on the ecology of water bodies.
19:46We've noticed that they don't have these regulations in the Netherlands, for example.
19:51That they actually have waters with coverage of around 70%.
19:57That means they want to take full advantage of this boom.
20:02What impact could floating solar panels have on the lake's ecosystem?
20:10It could be that if the oxygen supplied to the water were to change dramatically,
20:15algae growth would decline, or it would die off.
20:19Phytoplankton would die off and the fish would no longer find enough food.
20:23Maybe they wouldn't have enough oxygen either.
20:26We just don't know.
20:31One condition for the construction of this plant was to document the changes in the lake.
20:41We commissioned a biological engineering firm to do this.
20:45We have to use almost all the tools aquatic ecology has to offer.
20:52We have to actually prove what effects this plant has on water chemistry,
20:56phytoplankton, mussels, aquatic plants, bottom-dwelling gravel algae,
21:01resting birds and impact victims.
21:04And we have to demonstrate the results over five years at four test sites each.
21:10Floating solar systems last around 20 years.
21:13Insurance and maintenance costs are low.
21:17In the future, floating solar systems that combine wind and water power plants are also planned.
21:23The technology will be particularly interesting on the high seas.
21:27However, they will have to withstand extreme wind, waves and salt water.
21:39And now for something completely different.
21:42Martial arts have been around since ancient times,
21:45and there are still numerous competitions today where people engage in physical combat with each other,
21:50according to fixed rules.
21:52You have to train for this, preferably from an early age.
21:57A young Bosnian has turned his passion into a pursuit with his own gym.
22:06Before I opened my own gym, I worked five different jobs.
22:10If I'm going to work hard, it should be for myself and for something I love.
22:14My hobby is my job.
22:17The financial side is a must.
22:19But this is about passion.
22:21It's not just about the sport, the fighting, the boxing.
22:24The community is much more important to me.
22:33This gym feels like my second home.
22:35I'm comfortable here.
22:37At school, you have good days and bad days.
22:39I come here after and let out my frustrations,
22:42and I always go back home feeling much better.
22:52It's a brutal sport.
22:54It's tough and exhausting for sure.
22:56But it's also about learning how to regulate your strength,
22:59how to channel your strength.
23:01And always with respect for each other.
23:03That's really important in the training.
23:12Come on, push yourselves!
23:43Nice work!
23:47My family fled the war in Bosnia and came to Germany.
23:51I was here until first grade, then we moved to Sweden,
23:54lived there for five years.
23:56Then we came back to Germany because of the war.
23:59We had no money.
24:01We couldn't afford to buy food.
24:03We couldn't afford to buy food.
24:05We couldn't afford to buy food.
24:07We couldn't afford to buy food.
24:10Then we came back to Germany because my brother had stayed here
24:14and we didn't see a future in Bosnia.
24:16It was just war and destruction.
24:19When my parents came back to Germany,
24:21they worked jobs like cleaning or in a fruit and vegetable market.
24:25Humble, honest work.
24:34I started building a client base through personal training.
24:38That gave me financial stability and helped me save up to open my own gym.
24:44To open a gym, you need at least 10,000 to 12,000 euros.
24:47Costs include things like rent, insurance, utilities, parking spaces.
24:53You need insurance for the students and the gym itself.
24:56Then there are investments in equipment, martial arts gear, machines.
25:04Marketing is another expense.
25:06You need a social media presence to attract people to the gym.
25:10Most important is word of mouth.
25:12Offering affordable rates at the start helps bring people in.
25:16If they like the training, they'll recommend it to others
25:19and that's how you grow your customer base.
25:27My biggest wish is to be happy.
25:30Few problems, no debts, no negativity.
25:34Just good mood, good vibes.
25:37Friends, family, relationships.
25:40That's all.
25:45That's it for another edition of MADE,
25:47where the eternal battle against disasters caused by climate change was our topic for today.
25:52Maybe you'll now be better able to protect yourself.
25:55See you next time and take care!