CO2 – Ein Stoff und seine Geschichte
traveling exhibition since 2007
When the Earth was young, its atmosphere contained about 30 percent CO2. Human life would not have been possible at that time. Today, much of the carbon dioxide is bound in fossil fuels or is found in plants and soil. Almost everything we see when we are out in nature is transformed CO2, from limestone rocks to treetops.
CO2 is the world's best-known chemical formula today, even better known than the formula for water. But as much as CO2 is discussed in public, its many facets, from the elixir of life to the climate killer, are mostly unknown.
The exhibition tells the story of this substance with its most important crises, developments and turning points as an exciting journey through the history of the earth. It begins with the oldest witnesses of prehistoric times and ends with our present day. Because we humans are now intervening massively in the history of CO2.
Our power plants, heating systems and vehicles burn fossil fuels and release the CO2 that has been bound over millions of years. This not only consumes valuable raw materials, but the CO2 released into the air also has an impact on the climate.
In the exhibition, you can explore the deep connection between CO2 and life and learn to understand the relationship between CO2 and climate. It is a lively journey through nature and the human world that makes large connections visible, opens up surprising perspectives and inspires reflection. Because it is high time to rethink how we deal with CO2.
Scientific team: Dr. Jens Soentgen, Prof. Dr. Armin Reller, Dr. Simon Meißner, Claudia Schmidt, Knut Völzke
Leise design team: Knut Völzke, Saira Hussain, Barbara Ott, Valentin Rettenmaier
Client: WZU – Environmental Science Center of the University of Augsburg
Year of creation: 2006-2007
Chapter 10 of the CO2 story reports on the Tertiary period, when brown coal was formed from dead trees and grasses. A time when mammoths lived and cinnamon trees grew in Germany.
The story comprises 13 chapters, flanked by information boards, a media island, a small laboratory and a CO2 sparkling water bar.
The structural elements of the chapters are modular. They can be arranged differently depending on the spatial conditions of the exhibition venues.
The project is designed as a “hands-on exhibition” with the concept of understanding through understanding.
The movement of the continents is shown in each chapter within the information line. It also provides information about the geological period, the average temperature, the oxygen and CO2 content in the air.
Exhibition stations:
Environmental Science Center at the University of Augsburg
Federal Environment Agency Berlin
Museum am Schölerberg, Osnabrück
Koelnmesse Entsorga-Enteco
Museum of Natural History Chemnitz
Natural History Museum Leipzig
Museum for Nature and Environment Lübeck
Natural History Museum Bielefeld
Wilhelmshaven National Park Center
Carl Bosch Museum, Heidelberg
Ulm Natural History Education Center
Youth and Children's Office Schramberg
Museum Burg Neustadt-Glewe
Naturama – The Aargau Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum Lucerne
Farm Equipment Museum Ingolstadt
Fürstenfeldbruck District Office
Augsburg Natural History Museum
Low-CO2 emission processes and renewable raw materials were used for the exhibition architecture. The chapter elements consist of E1-classified chipboard, which was printed directly with translucent, UV-curing inks without coating. Chapter 12 shows the material with a transparent surface and makes a direct reference to the industrial age.