How do things look when it comes to fuel prices in NRW? "When I drive past a gas station," says Thomas Müther, spokesman for ADAC Nordrhein, "the trend is very encouraging. Super E10 can be had for less than 1.60 euros per liter in the late afternoon in some places like Essen or Cologne. During the day, the price of diesel often fluctuates between 1.74 euros and 1.80 euros. In the evening, it even gets a bit cheaper for drivers with diesel." He adds, "In the meantime, despite regional differences, fuel prices at petrol stations are even lower than for the most part during the fuel discount phase between June and August.”

The weeks of high prices on the gasoline market have come to an end. This is evident at all gas pumps in NRW. "This relieves citizens somewhat," says Wolfgang Schuldzinski, head of the NRW Consumer Advisory Service, "commuting is now no longer quite so expensive, although the high energy prices are still a heavy burden overall." Oliver Krauss, transport policy spokesman for the CDU in the state parliament, takes a similar view: "Many people, especially here in NRW, are dependent on their car. So it's good if commuters in particular are less burdened by prices at the pump. At the same time, public transport benefits from falling fuel prices: we want to make buses and trains more attractive, so it helps if refueling diesel-powered vehicles becomes cheaper.”

The nationwide prices are slightly higher than the examples for NRW show, but the trend is similar. For example, according to the ADAC, Super E10 cost an average of 1.739 euros nationwide in the seven days until Wednesday this week - down almost five cents from the previous week, and down 32 cents from March and May. Diesel is with an average of 1.843 euros as low as ever since the peak in March with at times 2.14 euros. However, this is not especially inexpensive: according to the ADAC, the average price for diesel has never been above 1.48 euros per liter in any year of the past ten years; as recently as last year, the average was 1.385 euros per diesel.

The main reason for the slide in prices is the falling price of oil. Because the global economy is weakening and because China keeps imposing new Covid lockdowns, the price of a barrel of oil (159 liters) of the North Sea brand Brent slipped by 30 percent to 88 dollars. That's still double the price on many days in 2020, but there are few signs of a massive new spike: the EU and G7 countries are planning a price cap on oil at around $70, partly to hurt Russia over the Ukraine spill. Conversely, the EU's oil embargo against Moscow, which is planned in several stages, could reduce supply somewhat - especially in eastern Germany, the end of supplies to the Schwedt refinery could cause shortages, while NRW is well supplied via Rotterdam. "Then the crude oil quotations could rise again - and thus also the fuel prices", warns Steffen Bock, boss of the portal Clever-Tanken.de.

(Orig. text: Reinhard Kowalewsky)

This year, the Berlin/Brandenburg Consumer Protection Association (VSVBB for short) evaluated how high the proportion of women is at German universities. The survey included 40 of the largest German universities and colleges. Specifically, the survey asked how many professorships are held by women, how many women head a deanship and how many are even rectors.

Of the 41 university presidents in Germany, 15 are female, which is just under 37 percent; among deans, the female quota is only 18.94 percent. In Bonn, there is one female dean for every six deans (so the ratio is one-seventh, just under 14 percent); according to the study, there are 161 female professors to 475 male professors in Bonn, exactly one quarter.

In the nationwide VSVBB survey, no university had a "female professor quota" higher than 40 percent. The leader of the women's quota in terms of professorships is the University of Koblenz-Landau with 40.25 percent. The University of Bonn is just below the national average of 27 percent female professors and only ranks 29th in the survey of 40 German universities.

If you ask the university directly, the figures for the gender distribution of professorships in Bonn differ: 148 women, 438 men. According to press spokesman Andreas Archut, this is because this calculation also takes into account those on leave, visiting professors and senior professors.

Last year, he said, half of all new appointments were given to women. "Some faculties, such as medicine and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, which used to have hardly any female professors, have almost quadrupled the proportion of female professors in the past decade," Förster points out.

Archut adds: "The goal of the University of Bonn is to further develop equality-oriented, family-friendly and discrimination-free study and working conditions in research, teaching and administration. The proportion of women in professorships is an important indicator in this context."

Together with the faculties, he said, the aim is to increase the proportion of female professors to 30 percent by 2026. The rectorate itself now has equal numbers of women and men.

(Orig. text: Maike Walbroel)

This can be called sustainable in both senses of the word. The "new old" Christmas lighting on Friedrich-Breuer-Strasse fulfills several sustainability criteria: It helps save electricity from now on and it turned out to be still reusable after many years of use.

What happened? The retailer association in Beuel, GGB had been given 15,000 euros from a municipal funding pot for new lighting in the main shopping street so that the aging poinsettia lights equipped with power-guzzling light bulbs could be replaced.

Despite the financial offer, the retailer organization took a different approach. GGB member Wolfgang Quadt, who has volunteered for many years to maintain and install the large poinsettia lights, worked hard to retrofit the lights. Instead of incandescent bulbs, LED lamps now shine. This saves a great deal of money.

The remaining five-digit amount of money was returned by the merchants to the Beuel district administration office. This sum went towards financing the urgently needed new tents for the Nikolausmarkt. Hats off for the idea and commitment!

(Orig. text: Holger Willcke)

(Translations: ck)