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August 2008 - 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 2008 - 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.

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.

November '07 - New study for EURIMA

Commissioned by EURIMA (European Insulation Manufacturers Association) we have created a new study, analyzing U-values (insulation thickness) for a better energy performance of European buildings. The study provides findings for 100 European cities. Aim of the study is to contribute to the discussion of policy makers when reconsidering national regulations. The study reveals that there is significant room for improvement of standards. Click here for the Ecofys report. For the EURIMA press release please click here.

October '07 - Nobel Prize Winners

The Nobel Prize committee have awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and the IPCC. This UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change involves close to 2000 scientists from approximately 100 countries. The IPCC reports are mainly written by the lead authors. Others contribute, comment or review. All of them share in the honour of winning the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

We are very proud of our IPCC lead authors:

September '07 - Ecofys present at Carbon Footprint Construction Summit

June '07 - Terra Nova has joined Ecofys France

As per 1 June 2007, Terra Nova has joined Ecofys France. Terra Nova has an established reputation in France to deliver high quality studies on shore wind and biomass energy. With this acquisition, Ecofys France has grown to 12 employees with offices in Paris and Soissons. The Soissons team brings competences in landscape architecture and EiA-expertise and will lead our expertise in sustainable power and fuels in the French market. This team is headed by Rossano Pulpito.

March '07 - Ecofys contributed to the 4th Assessment Report of the IPCC

Ecofys contributed to the 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations. The report is the most comprehensive and authoritative review of the scientific literature on the physical science of climate change (Working group I), impacts from climate change (Working Group II) and ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Working Group III). As members of Working Group III the Ecofys experts Prof. Kornelis Blok, Dr. Jochen Harnisch, Dr. Ernst Worrell, Dr. Monique Hoogwijk and Dr. Niklas Höhne contributed as lead authors in the area of emissions from buildings industry and on international climate policy. There is now no institute in the world that contributes so many lead authors. Moreover Suzanne Joossen contributed as contributing author. The report of Working Group III will be released on 4 May 2007. A chapter outline can already be downloaded here: http://www.ipcc.ch/activity/wg3outlines.pdf. For more information you can send an email to climate@ecofys.com

Feb '07 - Ecofys present at Carbon Market Insights 2007

Ecofys was present at the Carbon Markets Insights 2007. Our colleague Arie van Beek gave a presentation on Timing of abatement: Implication for carbon prices and the cost of waiting. More information can be found at the event page.

Jan '07 - Ecofys sponsor of the 8th Annual Emission Trading conference

On the 22nd and 23rd of January the 8the Annual Emission Trading conference was held in London. Freerk Bisschop, Managing Director, spoke about the impact of the NAPs for phase II on the trading market. You can download the presentation here. If you want more information on this subject, please contact us.

Dec '06 - Investigation into the origins of Essent palm oil led by Professor Blok

Prof. dr. K. Blok, Professor at the University of Utrecht and Managing Director of Ecofys, has been appointed chairman of the committee which, on behalf of Essent, is going to investigate the possibilities of an international certification system for palm oil and palm oil derivatives. More information on the website of Essent.

Nov '06 - New report on options for the future international climate regime presented at COP/MOP in Nairobi by Ecofys

At the UN meetings on climate change in Nairobi, Kenya, Ecofys presented a comprehensive report entitled “Factors underpinning future action” on options for a future international climate agreement following the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Click here to download the report.

The report provides fact sheets with detailed data for 47 countries and calculations of the allowed emissions per country for various future scenarios.

The fact sheets for 47 countries provide current emission trends, underlying drivers and a summary of the climate change related policies. The fact sheets show that countries are very diverse – almost all of the countries considered have a characteristic that is unique. In particular small countries have specific national circumstances, e.g. New Zealand with a very large share of emissions from agriculture or Denmark with large inter-annual variations in emissions due to varying electricity trade. Large countries also have unique characteristics, such as Brazil with a major share of hydropower in electricity generation and biofuels in transport but very high emissions in agriculture, Canada with large inter-annual variations of emissions from land use change and forestry or France with a very high share of nuclear power.

The second part of the report assesses the level of emissions that each country would be allowed under different scenarios for a future international climate agreement that are compatible with the goal of the European Union to kept climate change below dangerous levels. To keep this goal, emissions need to be reduced significantly: Developed countries need to reduce emissions by roughly 30% below 1990 levels. Emission trends of developing countries need to be reversed as soon as possible.

Only a compromise approach for a future international agreement on climate change can be equally appealing to all countries: We tested several approaches varying from very simple to very complex. Each approach is more attractive for some and less attractive for others. A simple approach can therefore only act as a general guide of direction, but the final agreement is likely to be based on a complex formula or ultimately a compromise.

The final agreement on an international climate change regime will be a multi-faceted, multi-staged or multi-layered system arising from an iterative process of countries proposing and assessing each others proposals. The data provided in this report intends to provide some insights to guide countries in such a process.

The report can be found in our Publications section.

May '06 - First Dutch fuel cell boat introduced at Frisian Nuon Solar Challenge

During the Frisian Nuon Solar Challenge – a race for solar boats – Ecofys and the Knowledge Center Yacht building will introduce the first Dutch fuel cell boat. This is an electrically powered sloop equipped with fuel cells, using hydrogen as fuel. During the solar race, the sloop will function as a ‘chase’ express boat for the VIPs attending the event. The boat will cover the full distance – 220 kilometres – without refuelling. Click here for more information.

May '06 - Econcern accelerates international expansion

Utrecht, 17 May 2006 - Econcern has announced that net profit grew to €6.6 million (+56%) in 2005, on a total turnover of €45 million (+26%). The recent strategic investments by SHV and the Entrepreneurs Fund will enable Econcern to achieve an even faster growth rate in the years ahead. Ecofys is part of the Econcern group.

Click here for the Econcern press release.

May '06 - Ecofys provided assessment of cap for EU ETS sectors in

France

For Greenpeace France, Ecofys provided an independent assessment for European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) sectors in France in phase II of the EU ETS according to the objective of the Emissions Trading Directive using the projection data publicly available as of March 2006. Click here for the English report and French summary.

Click here for the French press release from Greenpeace

Test
Test case, for the report click here