The project's objective is to support JRC IPTS in revising the existing Ecolabel and GPP criteria of personal computers and notebook computers. The priority in this revision process is to first analyse which of the existing criteria and the supporting evidence are still valid and to identify the additional research that should be carried out. Potential additional criteria can be developed, if identified as necessary in the course of the study. The study starts with a definition of the scope; the necessarity for new or revised Ecolabel and GPP criteria is based on a market analysis and a technical analysis with research on the most significant environmental impacts during the whole life cycle of the products. This also includes the application of a consistent methodological approach regarding the hazardous substances criteria. Based on these findings, the improvement potential will be derived resulting in a proposal for a revised Ecolabel and GPP criteria set for desktop and notebook computers which will be discussed in a European stakeholder process.
The project's objective is to support JRC IPTS in revising the existing Ecolabel and GPP criteria of televisions. The priority in this revision process is to first analyse which of the existing criteria and the supporting evidence are still valid and to identify the additional research that should be carried out. Potential additional criteria can be developed, if identified as necessary in the course of the study. The study starts with a definition of the scope; the necessarity for new or revised Ecolabel and GPP criteria is based on a market analysis and a technical analysis with research on the most significant environmental impacts during the whole life cycle of the products. This also includes the application of a consistent methodological approach regarding the hazardous substances criteria. Based on these findings, the improvement potential will be derived resulting in a proposal for a revised Ecolabel and GPP criteria set for televisions which will be discussed in a European stakeholder process.
The aim of the current research is to identify regional sources and trans-boundary flow leading to the observed salinity of Lake Tiberias (LT) -also known as the Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret-, and its surroundings, which is considered the only natural surface fresh water reservoir of the area. The current study will include all sources of brines in the Tiberias Basin (TB) with specific emphasis of the relationship between the brines from the Ha'on and Tiberias Regions (HTR).The tasks will be achieved by a multidisciplinary approach involving: (i) numerical modelling of density-driven flow processes (i.e., coupled heat and dissolution of evaporites), (ii) hydrochemical studies, supplemented by investigations of subsurface structures.(i) Numerical modelling will be carried out by applying the commercial software FEFLOW® (WASY, GmbH) complemented with the open source code OpenGeoSys developed at the UFZ of Leipzig (Wang et al., 2009). The final goal is to build a 3D regional-scale model of density-driven flow that will result in: (1) revealing the different interactions between fresh groundwater and natural salinity sources (2) elucidate the driving mechanisms of natural brines and brackish water body's movements.(ii) Hydrochemical study will include major, minor and, if possible, rare earth elements (REE) as well as isotope studies. The samples will be analysed at the FU Berlin and UFZ Halle laboratories. Geochemical data interpretation and inverse modelling will be supported by PHREEQC. Hydrochemical field investigations will be carried out in Tiberias basin and its enclosing heights, i.e. the Golan, Eastern Galilee and northern Ajloun in order to search for indications of the presence of deep, relic saline groundwater infested by the inferred Ha'on mother-brine. The current approaches will be supplemented by seismic and statistical data analysis as well as GIS software applications for the definition of the subsurface structures. The key research challenges are: building a 3D structural model of selected regions of TB, adapting both structural and hydrochemical data to the numerical requirements of the model; calibrating the 3D regional-scale model with observational data. The results of this work are expected to establish suitable water-management strategies for the exploitation of freshwater from the lake and from the adjacent aquifers while reducing salinization processes induced by both local and regional brines.
The BECA (Balanced European Conservation Approach - ICT services for resource saving in social housing) project addresses the need to reduce energy consumption in European social housing by a very significant amount to meet overall emission reduction targets. To substantially reduce peak and overall demand for energy and water across EU social housing, BECA will develop a full set of innovative services for resource use awareness and resource management. Balance is achieved by addressing not only energy but water, by including all key energy forms - electricity, gas and heating - and by including strong activities in Eastern Europe as well as in the North, South and West of the EU. Social housing organisations in 7 European countries (Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Serbia) and their partners are cooperating in the project to provide ICT-based energy management and energy awareness services directly to social housing tenants and service operators. Services will be piloted by approx. 5,000 social housing tenants across 7 sites in 7 European countries. Sustained reductions in resource use are to be achieved through usable ICT-based services directly to tenants, as well as by effective monitoring and control of local power generation and, for district heating, the full heat delivery chain. Intensive work will be addressed to optimising services for tenants and maximising impact on resource use behaviour. Service requirements will be investigated with tenants and staff and service prototypes based on initial use cases will be subject to user testing within the first year of the project. Results are used to finalise service design in a second iteration of use case definition and service specification lasting some 8 months, cumulating in implementation of operational services at all the 7 pilot sites. Pilots at sites will operate for at least 14 months; lead sites will be identified to being operation early and provide example solutions to others. The consortium, led by social housing providers and public authorities includes global ICT and service providers and distribution network operators working with local consultants and specialist advisors to carry out all steps in service implementation.
Objective: The FELICITAS consortium proposes an Integrated Project to develop fuel cell (FC) drive trains fuelled with both hydrocarbons and hydrogen. The proposed development work focuses on producing FC systems capable of meeting the exacting demands of heavy-dut y transport for road, rail and marine applications. These systems will be: - Highly efficient, above 60Prozent - Power dense, - Powerful units of 200kW plus, - Durable, robust and reliable. Two of the FC technologies most suitable for heavy-duty transport applic ations are Polymer Electrolyte FuelCells (PEFC) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). Currently neither technology is capable of meeting the wideranging needs of heavy-duty transport either because of low efficiencies, PEFC, or poor transient performance,SO FC. FELICITAS proposes the development of high power Fuel Cell Clusters (FCC) that group FC systems with other technologies, including batteries, thermal energy and energy recuperation.The FELICITAS consortium will first undertake the definition of the requirements on FC power trains for the different heavy-duty transport modes. This will lead to the development of FC power train concepts, which through the use of advanced multiple simulations, will undertake evaluations of technical parameters, reliab ility and life cycle costs. Alongside the development of appropriate FC power trains the consortium will undertake fundamental research to adapt and improve existing FC and other technologies, including gas turbines, diesel reforming and sensor systems f or their successful deployment in the demanding heavy-duty transport modes. This research work will combine with the FC power trains design and simulation work to provide improved components and systems, together with prototypes and field testing where ap propriate.The FELICITAS consortium approach will substantially improve European FC and associated technology knowledae and know-how in the field of heavv-duty transport.
The use of risk containment procedures can provide a basis for preventing and limiting the consequences of accidental releases of pathogenic agents, enabling the risks to be dealt with in a coherent way. All over Europe, different strategies for analysing specific risk categories exist. The objective of this co-ordination action is to provide data for the harmonisation of safety assurance (risk containment - risk assessment) criteria, definitions and schemes and corresponding legal frameworks applicable to biosafety level (containment level) 3 and 4 laboratories in the various member states. To achieve this overall aim a pan European network of biosafety and biosecurity experts and a consortium website including an updateable inventory of biosafety and biosecurity relevant elements will be created. The cost-effectiveness of measures and methods designed to ensure the safety of the public and private research infrastructures will be assessed. The information will be compiled in a report. Together with national and international organizations in the field of biosafety and Biosecurity, the consortium will prepare as part of the project 'Exploitation Plan' a program for training and seminars. Conclusions and recommendations which could be used for future policy making as well at the European level as well on the national level will be the outcome of this project.
Der im Oktober 2003 vorgelegte Verordnungsvorschlag für die Registrierung, Bewertung, Zulassung und Beschränkung von Chemikalien (REACH) legt fest, welche Informationen im Rahmen des Registrierungsverfahrens für Stoffe zu liefern sind. Im Rahmen von REACH sind allerdings mehrere Möglichkeiten vorgesehen, auf die Durchführung einzelner Prüfungen zu verzichten, wenn dies ausreichend begründet wird. Der Verzicht auf die Durchführung einzelner Prüfungen wird in REACH als 'Waiving' bezeichnet. Als 'expositionsbezogenes Waiving' wird ein Verzicht auf die Durchführung von Studien bezeichnet, wenn die Begründung darauf gestützt ist, dass es zu keiner relevanten Exposition von Mensch und Umwelt durch den zu registrierenden Stoff kommt. Doch für die Beantwortung der grundsätzlichen Frage: 'Was ist unter einer relevanten Exposition zu verstehen?' fehlten bisher klare Kriterien und rechtssichere Definitionen. Im Verordnungsvorschlag werden in den Anhängen VI, VII und VIII je nach Textstelle unterschiedliche Begriffe für ein Waiving aufgrund der Exposition verwendet ('no relevant exposure', 'limited exposure', 'no exposure', 'no significant exposure', 'unlikely exposure'). Mit Exposition ist hierbei der Kontakt des Menschen oder der Umwelt mit einem Stoff gemeint. Ergänzend wird auch in Anhang IX auf das expositionsgesteuerte Waiving eingegangen. Risikomanagementmaßnahmen, welche die Exposition beeinflussen, werden an mehreren Stellen des REACH-Verordnungsvorschlages angesprochen. In einem gemeinsamen Forschungsprojekt hat das Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit und der Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V. (VCI) mit Unterstützung des Öko-Instituts in Kooperation mit dem Forschungs- und Beratungsinstitut Gefahrstoffe (FoBiG) und dem Institute Ökologische Netze dazu jetzt Konkretisierungen vorgelegt. Anhand von 17 konkreten Stoffbeispielen erarbeiteten die WissenschaftlerInnen die entsprechenden Expositionssituationen und konkrete Kriterien für das Fehlen einer relevanten Exposition und den daraus abzuleitenden Verzicht auf bestimmte Testanforderungen. Sie prüften auch, ob solche konkretisierten Waiving-Bedingungen in der Praxis umsetzbar sind. Im humantoxikologischen Bereich wurde vorrangig die Frage bearbeitet, unter welchen Bedingungen auf den 28-Tage-Toxizitäts-Test gemäß Anhang VI verzichtet werden kann, als Beispiel für einen Test mit wiederholter Applikation. Das Projekt wurde organisatorisch und inhaltlich vom Öko-Institut unterstützt, gemeinsam mit dem Forschungs- und Beratungsinstitut Gefahrstoffe (FoBiG) und dem Institut Ökologische Netze. An dem Projekt wirkten weitere ExpertInnen des VCI und seiner Mitgliedsunternehmen, der Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA), des Umweltbundesamtes (UBA) und des Bundesinstitutes für Risikobewertung (BfR), des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Arbeit (BMWA), des Beratergremiums für Altstoffe (BUA) und des Sachverständigenrates für Umweltfragen (SRU) mit.
The project aims at clarifying the vulnerability of adult beech trees, growing under Central-European stand conditions, to the tropospheric, chronic ozone (O3) impact. O3 as being part of 'Global Change may constrain the carbon sink strength of trees under the expected atmospheric CO2 enrichment. A novel 'Free-Air Canopy O3 Exposure' system, creating an experimentally enhanced O3regime within the canopy (relative to 'control' trees in unchanged air), is employed for analyzing O3-induced responses that are relevant for the carbon balance and CO2 demand of the trees. For relating tree performance to effective O3 doses rather than O3 exposure, the O3 flux concept into leaves will be examined and validated against AOT40. Response patterns will be assessed, integrating the cell, organ and whole-tree level, while making use of molecular, biochemical and ecophysiological methodologies. In addition, branch cuvette fumigations and exposure of young beech plants inside the stand canopy will validate the ecological significance of former O3 studies in phytotrons, open-top chambers or on single branches in tree crowns. Evidence will be incorporated into mechanistic modeling for scaling to the stand level and quantifying O3 impact for 'Global Change' scenarios. This process-oriented risk assessment will guide environmental policy making. The objective is to assess the vulnerability of adult beech trees to the ground level, chronic O3 impact by employing a novel 'Free-Air Canopy O3 Exposure' system that experimentally enhances the O3 exposure within the forest canopy. Ozone is viewed as one component in 'Global Change' scenarios in that it may mitigate the supposed increases in productivity under elevated CO2 conditions by reducing the carbon sink strength of trees and forests. This issue is regarded relevant, as recent experiments suggest such an antagonistic interaction between ozone and CO2 in plant performance. Prognoses indicate further increase in chronic, ground level O3 exposure to occur during the 21st century across the northern hemisphere, and deficits in knowledge are still significant, in particular regarding the responsiveness of advanced tree age and current O3 threshold definitions like AOT40. (...) The major outcome of this study will be the elaboration of a database needed for the management of trees and stands under the chronic, enhanced ground level O3 regimes. This includes mechanistic knowledge regarding threshold definitions of O3 flux (uptake) rather than exposure. The most important relevance of the elaborated results will be for the UNECE Level II and III concepts about 'Critical Levels for Ozone and the UNECE ICP-Forests. In particular, impacts on practical development strategies will be (1) evaluation tools to assess modifications of the CO2 sink strength of forests due to additional impacts, in the present case ozone (cf. Kyoto protocols) and (2) quantification of factors modifying the O3 effect on adult beech forest trees, Etc.
The COMTES project has as goal to develop and demonstrate three novel systems for compact seasonal storage of solar thermal energy. These systems will contribute to the EU 20-20-20 targets by covering a larger share of the domestic energy demand with solar thermal energy. Main objective of COMTES is to develop and demonstrate systems for seasonal storage that are significantly better than water based systems. The three technologies are covered in COMTES by three parallel development lines: solid sorption, liquid sorption and supercooling PCM. Strength of this approach is the collaboration of three development groups in activities that pertain to the analyses, methods and techniques that concern all technologies, without risking the exchange of confidential material. In this way, the development is much more effective than in three separate projects. The project starts with a definition of system boundary conditions and target applications. Next comes the investigation of the best available storage materials. Detailed numerical modelling of the physical processes, backed by experimental validations, will lead to optimum component design. Full-scale prototypes are simulated, constructed and tested in the laboratory in order to optimize process design. One year of fully monitored operation in demonstration buildings is followed by an integrated evaluation of the systems and their potential. When deemed successful, the involved industry partners will pick up the developed storage concepts and bring them further to a commercial level. The COMTES project is a cooperation of key scientific institutions active in the above mentioned heat storage technologies. For the first time, all relevant research disciplines are covered in an international effort. For each development line, a top-Ieading industry partner contributes its know-how and experience, providing the basis for further industrial development and exploitation of project results.
The MSY concept was included as a principle in the 2009 Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in accordance with the global imperative to manage fish stocks according to the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). This implies a commitment to direct management of fish stocks towards achieving MSY by 2015. Attaining this goal is complicated by the lack of common agreement on the interpretation of 'sustainability' and 'yield' and by the effects that achieving MSY for one stock may have on other stocks and broader ecosystem, economic, or social aspects. MYFISH will provide definitions of MSY variants which maximize other measures of 'yield' than biomass and which account for the fact that single species rarely exist in isolation. Further, MYFISH will redefine the term 'sustainable' to signify that Good Environmental Status (MSFD) is achieved and economically and socially unacceptable situations are avoided, all with acceptable levels of risk. In short, MYFISH aims at integrating the MSY concept with the overarching principals of the CFP: the precautionary and the ecosystem approach. MYFISH will achieve this objective through addressing fisheries in all RAC areas and integrating stakeholders (the fishing industry, NGOs and managers) throughout the project. Existing ecosystem and fisheries models will be modified to perform maximization of stakeholder approved yield measures while ensuring acceptable impact levels on ecosystem, economic and social aspects. Implementation plans are proposed and social aspects addressed through active involvement of stakeholders. Finally, effects of changes in environment, economy and society on MSY variants are considered, aiming at procedures rendering the MSY approach robust to such changes. The expertise of 26 partners from relevant disciplines including fisheries, ecosystem, economic and social science are involved in all aspects of the project. Global experience is engaged from North America and the South Pacific.
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