On 1 July, WWF and Allianz SE released the 2009 G8 Climate Scorecards. This Ecofys report shows which country is leading in climate protection and it reflects what actions the countries have taken so far to prevent dangerous climate change. The scorecards are meant to stimulate discussions at the G8 summit at the beginning of July in Italy, setting the course for Copenhagen. For more information please contact Niklas Höhne.

An economic recession of two years or longer will considerably decrease the effectiveness of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in stimulating low-carbon technologies. In order to meet EU climate targets in the longer term, new governmental policies will be needed to compensate for this. This is the key finding of the EU policy impact study Ecofys did for the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL).

As global leaders head to the G20 summit to consider solutions to the current global economic crisis, a new report prepared by Ecofys and Germanwatch for WWF and E3G reveals that many of the economic recovery packages being discussed are a missed opportunity in terms of stimulating a green recovery, and actually run the risk of locking the world into a high-carbon future. The report provides the most detailed and

comprehensive analysis to date of the proposed 'stimulus'

packages of five key countries - France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US - as well as the package agreed by the European Union as a whole.

In a report for the European Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ECEEE), Ecofys examined the effect of using different definitions of major renovation in the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The report concludes that the planned threshold of the cost related definition of major renovation could be lowered to unlock more of the cost-effective potential. Additionally, a component related definition (dealing with components like facades, windows, heating system, etc.) could be beneficial to identify more precisely situations that offer possibilities for cost effective coupled renovation.

In 2006 the European Council announced its ambition to bring the average level of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in Europe up to the standards currently achieved by the best performing Member States. In preparation for this ambition set for 2010, a methodology needs to be developed to collect statistical data and monitor the level of GPP in each Member State. This methodology can be implemented in the seven best performing Member States which have been identified as frontrunners in GPP.

The main objective of this study is to monitor the current level of GPP in the seven best performing Member States.This report presents the levels and impact of GPP measured in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom (‘Green-7’) in 2006/2007. The results are based on a digital questionnaire amongst 2907 contracting authorities in these Member States. The overall response was 1105 (38%).

In commission of SenterNovem and eight manufacturers, Ecofys studied the energy savings and CO2 reduction potential of air/water heat pumps in existing Dutch residential buildings. This report shows that the heat pump performs almost double as good as the microCHP. This means that 20% of CO2 savings in the residential sector can be achieved by this technology. The most interesting result is however that the CO2 savings of the heat pump will increase after further insulation.

This study analyses the possible approaches to greenhouse gas abatement by industrialised (Annex I) countries, to calculate their comparability. The reduction targets for Annex I countries and the abatement costs of achieving these different aggregated reduction targets show a wide range. To meet the EU climate target of 2°C, a 30% emission reduction by the EU is needed, combined with comparable reduction efforts by other Annex I countries and a 15 to 30% below-baseline emission reduction by developing countries.

In this paper, the introduction of Emission Performance Standards (EPS) as a means for additional emission reductions in the European power sector was assessed. EPS in the power sector can already be found in California, USA, since 2007 as well as in the US states of Oregon, Washington and Montana, which introduced EPS schemes following the example of California.

This report provides a background on the methodology and results of the assessment of the long term (2050) global and regional technical potential of renewable energy sources. For renewable power also the cost distribution is assessed. The approach is based on a review of existing studies in combination with expert judgements. This analysis is done as part of the report Opportunities for the rapid deployment of renewable energy in large energy economies published by REN21. The report is prepared for the third Ministers Meeting in the Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change, in order to provide Ministers of participating countries an overview of opportunities to rapid deployment of Renewable Energy Sources (RES).

An important question for climate policy making is how
much GHG emissions and energy can be saved, in which
sectors and at what costs? Traditionally, studies looking
at this question are often characterised as either using
a Bottom-Up or a Top-Down approach. The differences
between these approaches are far from clear-cut. The
first approach tends to focus more on available technologies
and their characteristics, while the second approach
focuses on the processes within the economy as a whole
on the basis of observed historic behaviour. This report gives a detailed assessment over the two approaches.

This report concerns the role of policies and policy instrument design in reducing
the financing cost of renewable energy technology projects. The following points are analyzed: the key elements of successful policy schemes, the conditions that should be set for successful design of future policies, the risk management measures that can be included in policy schemes to mitigate or transfer risks away from investors and therewith reduce the cost of financing RES and whether we can apply this to other policy schemes in other countries.

Annexes of report: Policy instrument design to reduce financing costs in renewable energy technology projects

This REEEP report gives a brief and comprehensive overview of the status of energy efficiency in buildings, industry, transport and agriculture. It focuses on the G8 and +5 countries and is presented on the COP14. With this report REEEP intends to make policy and decision makers aware that energy efficiency improvements increase the security of supply and are crucial in mitigating climate change. Furthermore, the report emphasizes that many investments in energy efficiency are cost-effective.

For the UK Department of Energy and Climate Ecofys prepared country factsheets. The factsheets include greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, sectoral trends, emission reduction costs and climate policies for 61 countries. These new data are valuable references for the negotiations during the Climate Summit in Poznan.

Ecofys compares required emission reduction under the Greenhouse Development Rights approach (GDRs, developed by EcoEquity) with other methods to share emission allowances proposed for an international climate agreement post 2012. This particular approach requires all countries to reduce emissions based on the percentage of the national population that is emitting or earning more than a development threshold. The results of this analysis are given for major developed and developing countries and on a regional basis up to 2050.

This study by Ecofys and Wuppertal Institut provides reference emissions and three mitigation scenarios (no-regret, co-benefit and ambitious) for Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea until 2020. It makes an illustrative proposal of ambitious reductions in developed countries and a contribution by developing countries to allow global warming to stay below the 2°C. What could be the contribution of developing countries in an international climate change agreement post 2012?

This study defines a low carbon vision for Greece in 2050, where greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 60%-80% in 2050 in comparison to 1990 levels. Per sector (industry, transport, buildings, energy supply, agriculture and waste) measures are defined for emission reduction. Greenhouse gas emissions have grown in Greece from 109 Mtonne CO2eq to 139 Mtonne. By 2050, emissions are expected to grow to 228 Mtonne. By implementing technical measures for emission reduction, greenhouse gas emissions in Greece can be reduced to 36 Mtonne in 2050, corresponding to 67% reduction in comparison to 1990 level. Some of the most important measures are: energy-efficiency improvement, zero-energy buildings, anaerobic digestion of manure, the use of renewable energy for power generation and CCS.

In this study energy demand scenarios are developed for the update of the Greenpeace Energy [R]evolution scenario. The energy demand scenarios cover energy demand in the period 2005-2050 for ten world regions. Two low energy demand scenarios for energy-efficiency improvement have been defined. The first one is based on technical energy-efficiency potentials and is called “Technical”. The second scenario is based on more moderate energy savings taking into account implementation constraints in terms of costs and other barriers. This scenario is called “[R]evolution”.

The aim of the study is to give insight in energy-efficiency and capture-readiness of recently built (>1997) and planned fossil-fired power plants in the EU. Information was found for nearly 70 power plants. The results indicate that most plants have efficiencies close to BAT level and a large share of planned coal plants are expected to be capture-ready. Most recently built fossil plants and most planned gas plants however are not designed as capture-ready.

The Gold Standard is a certification scheme for voluntary and compliance carbon credits, accepting only renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that actively promote sustainable development. The Gold Standard Version 2 consists of the following documents:

The Requirements present the fundamental principles and the rules of Gold Standard certification in a concise way.

The Toolkit describes the project cycle and provides examples and detailed instructions on the use of the Gold Standard.

The Upgrade explains the differences between the Gold Standard Version 1 and 2.

Gold Standard version 2 is valid starting from 1 August 2008.

In this report Ecofys examines and compares efforts against climate change of the G8 countries in commission for Allianz and WWF. The study 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.

In this report Ecofys presents an approach to share the energy and climate related targets between EU Member States simultaneously. The method includes the EU’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target (-20% or 30% in 2020), the renewable target (20% by 2020), and the energy efficiency target (20% better than reference by 2020) as well as the EU Emission Trading Scheme. The study demonstrates that greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) could be reduced by more than 30%, if the already agreed targets on renewable energy and energy efficiency are implemented and action is taken in other sectors.

In this study Ecofys evaluates an allocation method for EU Emissions Trading as developed by the IFIEC federation. In the evaluation, the direct costs and environmental outcomes of the IFIEC method are compared with two other allocation methods: auctioning and historic grandfathering.

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.

For CRIEPI (Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Japan) we compared the energy efficiency of fossil-fired power generation for Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Nordic countries, South Korea, United Kingdom and Ireland, and United States.

This report has been written by Ecofys and Spinconsult at the request of EnergieNed and the Dutch Ministries of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and Economic Affairs. The assessment focused on the chances for carbon capture and storage (CCS) at coal power plants in the Netherlands.

For WWF International Ecofys made an assessment of policies and measures in G8 plus 5 countries, with recommendations for decision makers at national and international level.

Ecofys conducted an initial assessment of the draft National Allocation Plans (NAPs) for the 2nd phase of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) due to run from 2008 to 2012. The focus is on Member State progress towards Kyoto targets and the level of the cap relative to Business as Usual (BAU) emission developments. The assessment was based on draft and notified versions of NAPs from 18 out of 25 EU Member States plus Romania and Bulgaria who will join the scheme from 2007.

The objective of this report is to provide an analytical basis to underpin discussions on future commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the end of the first Kyoto Protocol commitment period (i.e. post-2012). The project report provides (1) fact sheets with detailed data for 47 countries and (2) calculations of the implications of future climate regime architectures on emission allowances on a country level.

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.

Ecofys investigated for Eurima, the European insulation manufacturers association, the impact of the EPBD and possible extensions on the building stock of the investigated new EU Member States. The study demonstrates that compared with the building stock of the long standing EU-15, the average of the building stock in the new Member States can be characterized by a lack of maintenance resulting in an urgent need for refurbishment.

This report provides an overview of the progress made on the European market for renewable energy sources for the EU-25 member states. The results and analysis describe the situation at the end of 2004.

Comparison of the climate performance of the G8 countries. The report gives information on emissions, projections and climate policies for Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States of America. Includes background information for China, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa.

This study addresses the relevance of SF6 electrical equipment in past, current and future greenhouse gas reduction efforts. The analysis was carried out by Ecofys on request of CAPIEL, the Coordinating Committee for the Associations of Manufacturers of Industrial Electrical Switchgear and Controlgear in the European Union in cooperation with the Union of the Electricity Industry, EURELECTRIC representing the main utilities in the European Union.

This report reviews the environmental impact of the casing drilling Land Offshore Containerised (LOC250) oil drilling installation to the environmental impact of a “standard” drilling installation. The investigation focus on polluting gases within the three primary activities of a drilling installation (emissions related to transport, construction and operation).

To finalize an IEA task, Ecofys was contracted by Gramsbergen solar to give an update on the current status of solar drying in Europe. Furthermore, Ecofys developed a basic calculation tool for solar dryers in Europe.
Click here to get more information on the calculation tool.

The study provides an overview of the proposals on international climate policy after the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol 2008 to 2012. It includes a comprehensive compromise proposal and a comparison of emission allowances under different approaches. Authors: Niklas Höhne, Dian Phylipsen, Simone Ullrich, Kornelis Blok.

Ecofys wrote this market report in cooperation with Reuters Business Insight. The report examines the burgeoning emissions trade market in detail, providing analyses and actionable advice to enable you to develop the best carbon strategies. (This is an update of the report issued in 2002.)

This study, commissioned by the UK Department for Trade and Industry and Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, contains the details of in-depth research into member states' National Allocation Plans. The report draws some high-level conclusion as well as providing details of the analysis used to measure NAPs against the EU ETS directive's criteria. The study covers NAPs that had been submitted to the European Commission in final form by the end of July 2004.

Ecofys conducted a research for Greenpeace on the possibilities of reducing electricity consumption to prevent the construction of a 1000-megawatt (MW) power plant in the Netherlands. A Dutch report and an English summary are available.