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December '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.

November '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.


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