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December '08 - Ecofys supports Drax Biomass Sustainability Strategy

Ecofys has been leading in the field of biomass sustainability, having helped the UK government establish the sustainability criteria for the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation as well as a practical scheme for companies to report on these criteria - the scheme is currently the only operational scheme in the EU. Ecofys also advised the Dutch and German governments, as well as the European Parliament on their biomass sustainability initiatives.

Furthermore, Ecofys supports several bioenergy companies, investors as well as non-governmental organizations (NGO's) to fully understand the complexities of the biomass sustainability debate and to manage sustainability risks in their day to day business. Ecofys is, therefore, very pleased to have helped Drax develop their sustainability strategy and are encouraged by the leadership initiative that Drax has displayed in making the sustainability of their biomass supply chains one of their highest priorities.

September '08 - Ecofys column in ENDSEuropeReport

The ENDSEuropeReport is the monthly EU environmental policy briefing for business professionals. Click here for the article of our Ecofys colleague Claudia Doets.

August '08 - The Gold Standard version 2 is out now!

The Gold Standard is a premium quality label for carbon credits. Ecofys upgraded all rules and guidance. The standard is supported by more that 60 NGOs and has a technical advisory committee with leading figures in the field of sustainable development. Ecofys focused on strengthening the criteria on stakeholder participation and contribution to sustainable development. At the same time the user-friendliness and transparency for all Gold Standard users has been increased. For more information, please click here.

July '08 - A new report available: The value of Carbon in China, Carbon finance and China's sustainable energy transition
Ecofys Azure International prepared this report for the WWF.
For the executive summary, click here. For the complete report, please click here.

July '08 - Ecofys study for Allianz and WWF compares climate policies of
G8
Since climate policies are on the top of the agenda of the annual G8 summit (7-9 July 2008) in Hokkaido, Japan, Allianz and WWF commissioned Ecofys to examine and compare efforts against climate change of the G8 countries. The Ecofys study "G8 Climate Scorecards 2008" presents an overview of the implemented and planned measures aiming to counteract climate change. Moreover Ecofys ranked the countries assessing aspects like emissions, renewable energy development and energy efficiency. Additionally the study analysed climate performance of five large developing countries, namely Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, which are attending the summit as well. 

The study has been written by Niklas Höhne, Markus Hagemann and Sara Moltmann (all Ecofys Germany).

To download the report, click here

For more information, click here

June '08 - Capra new managing director Ecofys Italy

Mr. Emanuele Capra is the new managing director for Ecofys Italy, based in the Turin office. Capra has a background in logistics, banking and energy contracting. With his expertise and network he will add significant value to the Ecofys Italy team.

To read the full press release click here.

April '08 - Ecofys reviewed industry’s alternative allocation method for

EU-ETS

IFIEC Europe, the international federation of industrial energy consumers, has developed an alternative allocation methodology for EU-ETS. The current Ecofys study reviews an application of this method to the EU-ETS electricity sector and compares it with the methods of grandfathering and auctioning.

The IFIEC method allocates emissions allowances for clean production, as defined by a so-called benchmark, free of charge. We show that this method limits the CO2 costs of electricity production to the actual costs of achieving a clean production level, as determined by a benchmark. This is different from the methods of auctioning and grandfathering in which the full costs (either real costs or so-called opportunity costs) of all CO2 emissions are passed through into the electricity price. As a result, application of the IFIEC method reduces electricity costs for end-users in the order of, on average, 10-30% of industry’s electricity bills and 5-20% of household bills.

Within EU-ETS, the IFIEC method provides the same environmental incentives as auctioning and better incentives than the current system of grandfathering, provided that a single (not fuel-specific) benchmark is used for all electricity producers under

EU-ETS. The lower electricity prices that result from the IFIEC approach, however, reduce the incentive for some low-carbon measures to be implemented outside EU-ETS. Where full auctioning increases electricity costs, the revenues of auctioning can be recycled into the economy. In the current study we only briefly touched upon such recycling options.

Ecofys is among the leading experts in the area of Emissions Trading. Our broad range of customers includes the European Commission, governments, ETS participants, market intermediaries and NGOs. For more information, click here.
To download the report, click here

March '08 - Milestone in Ecofys’ CRRESCENDO project: city of Almere signs contract for Solar Island

Friday February 29th 2008, contracts were signed between the city of Almere and energy supplier NUON for development of a Solar Island of 7000 m2 solar collectors. The island will be the third largest solar heating system in the world and is unique for the Netherlands. The island is part of the Ecofys’ CRRESCENDO project.

CRRESCENDO, ‘Combined Rational and Renewable Energy Strategies in Cities, for Existing and New Dwellings to ensure Optimal quality of life’, aims to integrate a major share of sustainability into thousands of homes and their energy infrastructures. By the end of 2009, over 15,000 people will live in modern, comfortable, healthy and energy-efficient homes due to the well-orchestrated sustainable developments. Ecofys initiated this European project which runs in the CONCERTO programme of the European Commission, and is one of the project leaders.

Each community participating in the CRRESCENDO project implements an integrated strategy towards achieving an increase in the use of renewable energy sources (RES). Almere is one of four participant communities of the CRRESCENDO project. It is situated east of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Since the 1970’s, Almere, has committed itself to a programme of sustainable development. This commitment continues to manifest itself through its target to become totally sustainable by 2030.

The Solar Island will consist of 7,000 m2 of solar collectors aesthetically arranged around a bus lane and it will 10% of heat for 1,000 homes in the NoorderPlassen-West district.

February '08 - Environmental policies had a 7 % impact on EU greenhouse gas emission trends between 1990 and 2005
This Ecofys study, carried out for the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, evaluated and quantified the impact of environmental policies on the emissions of the six Kyoto greenhouse gases in the EU-27 between 1990 en 2005. Next this quantification was compared with the required policy impact increase halfway through the 1990-2020 period in order to reach the new 2020 targets. 

This study reveals two policy-relevant indicators for the EU. Firstly, environmental policies had a 7 % impact on emission trends between 1990 and 2005. Secondly, to meet the EU’s 2020 climate target, this impact must increase by a factor between three (all greenhouse gases) to almost five (CO2) in the 2005-2020 period (see Figure 1). 

This required increase in policy impact is by no means evident from the 1990-2005 monitoring data and the 2005-2020 linear-pathway-to-target line. By explicitly filtering out the effect of environmental policies better insight is acquired into the true challenges for the EU’s climate policies. 

Figure 1: On the left, the ex-post estimated effects of environmental policies on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in the EU-27 in the period 1990-2005. On the right, the ex-ante policy impact estimates (see text).

For the press release and downloads of the study, visit the website of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

January '08 - All Island Grid Study shows Ireland can be world leader in renewable energy

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan from Ireland announced the publication of a ground-breaking report on renewable energy and the electricity grid on the island of Ireland. The All Island Grid Study revealed that it is feasible to generate 42% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. This will be one of the highest levels of renewable electricity in the world. Furthermore the study showed that measurements will reduce Irish greenhouse gas emissions by 25% in comparison to a ‘business as usual’ scenario.

Ecofys executed work stream 4 of the All Island Grid Study. Under this assignment Ecofys aggregated the findings from the previous work streams (grid integration analysis, resource assessment, dispatch analysis) and analysed the impacts of renewable generation scenarios of the on various stakeholders and the society as a whole. For the press release and downloads from the study, go to the website from the Irish government.

January '08 - Guidance on biofuels sustainability reporting in UK

This month the UK government issued guidance to companies on how to report on the sustainability and carbon performance of their biofuels. The UK is the first country in the world to issue its sustainability policy for biofuels. The policy was largely developed by Ecofys in collaboration with the government and a wide range of stakeholders. The guidance documents can be downloaded from the Renewable Fuels Agency website.

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