News from JRC - Institute for Environment and Sustainability

• Supporting EU and International efforts to help Pakistan
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 25/08/2010]
  

  The severe Monsoon floods that have affected Pakistan have killed more than 1,600 people, affected about 20 million people (12% of total Pakistani population) and caused extensive damage to agricultural lands and infrastructure including houses.

   
  

  In close cooperation with the EU Member States and the international community, the European Commission, through its offices for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO/MIC), is providing humanitarian relief and rescue expert support to assist the Pakistani authorities and the Pakistani population.

• JRC monitors forest fires in Russia and quantifies effects
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 19/08/2010]
  

  The Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC-IES) has analysed the occurrence and distribution of forest fires in the European part of Russia, since the beginning of July 2010. A series of maps shows the location of fires occurring from 1st of July, and notably during the more intense last two weeks, until the 12th of August 2010. It was quantified, how these fires potentially affected the areas impacted by the Chernobyl accident of the 26th of April 1986. The JRC-IES also analysed the impact of the recent fires on land cover and peat soils in this area.

• Forest fire danger remains critical in Portugal
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 13/08/2010]
  

  During the last weeks, Portugal has seen conditions of high and very high fire danger. These conditions that favour fire ignition and spread lead to a number of simultaneous forest fires in Northern Portugal. Fire danger forecast provided by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) shows that fire danger conditions will continue to be critical in the next days, with a gradual decrease of fire danger though still remaining in the very high levels in large areas of the Iberian peninsula. A slight improvement is expected for 19 August.

• Desertification: JRC-IES nominated UNCCD Regional Reference Center
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 12/08/2010]
  

  The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has established 15 Reference Centres worldwide on the basis of their recognised experience in desertification and land degradation issues. This is done in order to implement country reporting guidelines and development activities for a new indicator-based monitoring and assessment process at regional, sub-regional and national levels. The DESERT Action at the JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) was nominated as one of these Reference Centres. As such, it provides assistance to the countries of the UNCCD regional annexes for the Northern Mediterranean (Annex IV), Central and Eastern Europe (Annex V) and other affected country Parties (e.g. USA, Canada, Hungary).

• Public consultation on indirect land use change and biofuels
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 05/08/2010]
  

  The European Commission has launched a public consultation on indirect land use change and biofuels. Indirect land use change (ILUC) occurs when land formerly used for a food crop is turned over to production of biofuels. As a result, cultivation of the displaced food crop is often transferred to a location where land prices and the costs associated with agriculture are lower – this can be on grasslands and forested land. This is of concern because the deforestation and cultivation of virgin or semi-virgin land releases high levels of carbon previously held in soil and plants into the atmosphere. Subsequent use of nitrogen fertilizers on poorer soils would also lead to emissions of N₂O from the soil.

  The Commission has issued several studies on the topic. Interested parties are welcome to base their contributions on these studies, where comments on the underlying assumptions, data and methodology are of special interest, as well as on other analytical work. The Commission is also seeking advice on concrete policy options.

• Crop forecast: average production in the EU despite extreme weather
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 04/08/2010]
  

  Total cereal production in 2010 should be close to the average from the last five years. While the yield per hectare will be 5% above average, overall cultivated areas have decreased. This agricultural year has been marked by unusual scattered weather events ranging from severe rain shortage to floods. However, the impact of poor weather on crops in some areas of the EU has been offset in other areas.

  The forecast published today by the JRC provides yield estimates for the main crops throughout the European Union and identifies the areas most affected by stress conditions.

• Bisphenol A and baby bottles: challenges and perspectives
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 22/07/2010]
  

  Bisphenol A (BPA) is extensively used in the synthesis of plastics and resins, implying a widespread consumer exposure through various products coming in contact with food, such as baby bottles or food cans. Despite several risk assessment studies performed over the last ten years by different regulatory bodies worldwide, there is so far no agreement about the impact of BPA on human health. The review report "Bisphenol A and baby bottles: challenges and perspectives", published by the JRC Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP), provides an overview of the issues at the base of the on-going debate and highlights some areas of uncertainty, which may be the subject of future investigations.

• Proposals for enhancing confidence in financial services
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 14/07/2010]
  

  On 12 July the European Commission proposed changes to existing European rules to further improve protection for bank account holders. The JRC has contributed to the development of this directive proposal which amends existing European rules on deposit protection. In cooperation with the European Federation of Deposit Insurers, scientists at the JRC conducted an impact assessment of the proposed changes and of possible criteria to determine individual banks’ contributions to the guarantee funds based on their risk profiles.

  The directive proposal amends current European rules on Deposit Guarantee Schemes to further enhance the protection offered to bank account holders. It aims to assure better coverage, faster payouts, less red tape, better information and long term responsible financing.

• Biofuels sustainability: JRC methodology for calculating carbon stock changes
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 09/07/2010]
  

  The JRC has substantially contributed to the new EU system established to ensure that European biofuels and bioliquids come from sustainable sources and meet the highest environmental standards. A key tool is the JRC's methodology to quantify changes to the amount of carbon in soils and biomass when land use changes as a result of biofuels production. This is an important factor in the sustainability assessment. The methodology follows the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories and is supported by comprehensive global data collected by the JRC. The methodology was the basis for the Commission decision on the guidelines for the calculation of land carbon stocks.

• Hendrik Emons nominated Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 08/07/2010]
  

  Hendrik Emons, Head of the Reference Materials Unit at JRC Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), has been become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is the largest organisation in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences.

  The Fellow designation is awarded in recognition of those who have made an outstanding contribution to either i) the advancement or application of chemical science, ii) the chemical science profession or iii) the management or direction of an organisation in which Chemical Science is important.

• Share of renewables in new electricity generation capacity continues to rise
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 05/07/2010]
  

  The "Renewable Energy Snapshots" report, published today by the JRC's Institute for Energy (IE), shows that renewable energy sources accounted for 62% (17GW) of the new electricity generation capacity installed in the EU27 in 2009. The share rose from 57% in 2008. For the second year running, wind energy accounted for the largest share of the new capacity: 10.2 GW out of the 27.5 GW built, representing 38% of the total. In absolute terms, renewables produced 19.9% of Europe's electricity consumption last year.

  If current growth rates are maintained, in 2020 up to 1400 TWh of electricity could be generated from renewable sources, the report concludes. This would account for approximately 35-40% of overall electricity consumption in the EU, depending on the success of community policies on electricity efficiency, and would contribute significantly to the fulfilment of the 20% target for energy generation from renewables.

• A call for integrity, openness, clarity and public engagement
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 03/07/2010]
  

  The JRC and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have issued a call to scientists and policy-makers for integrity, openness, clarity and public engagement. Representatives from both organisations made the plea on 3 July at a session of Euroscience Open Forum 2010 in Turin, Italy. The recommendations reflect the findings of a workshop last fall at the JRC’s Ispra site where 21 high-profile science and technology leaders gathered to discuss the use and misuse of science in policy-making. The specialists, each with pertinent experience in real-life scientific support to policy-making, offered advice on best practices and pitfalls in science policy on both sides of the Atlantic.

• New JRC strategy: reinforced scientific support to EU policy-making
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 02/07/2010]
  

  The JRC has today published its new strategy for the period 2010-2020. It envisages reinforced scientific support to EU policy-making based on assessments of policy options identified in close collaboration with the Commission's policy Directorates-General.

  Many of the complex challenges ahead cut across traditional policy boundaries and require multi-disciplinary research. In order to deliver the best support, the JRC will focus its efforts on seven thematic areas, which respond to major EU and global challenges and take into account the JRC's proven competences.

• Size matters: towards a definition of nanomaterials for regulatory purposes
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 02/07/2010]
  

  Despite the growing utilisation of engineered nanomaterials in consumer products and innovative technological applications, there is at present no widely accepted definition of the term "nanomaterial" that is suitable as a basis for legislation on their safe use. Responding to a request of the European Parliament, the JRC published today a reference report entitled "Considerations on a definition of nanomaterial for regulatory purposes".

  The report discusses possible elements of a definition aiming at reducing ambiguity and confusion for regulators, industry and the general public. It recommends that the specific term “particulate nanomaterial” should be employed in legislation to avoid inconsistencies with other definitions and that size should be used as the only defining property.

• July / August issue of the JRC newsletter
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 01/07/2010]
  

  The July / August edition of the JRC Newsletter has been published and can be downloaded here. It features an editorial by Roland Schenkel, Director General of the JRC, on the organisation's newly adopted strategy for 2010 - 2020.

  This month's issue also has news on such diverse topics as R&D investment trends in the ICT sector, a new Europe-wide power grid model, new technologies for nuclear safeguards or actions towards limitations in the CO₂ emmissions and fuel consumption of trucks and buses.

• Institute reports of IES and IPSC available
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 28/06/2010]
  

  The annual report 2009 of the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) and the new brochure of the JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), ‘Science for the environment’, are now available.

  The IES brochure gives an insight into many activities and achievements of the IES over the past two years. It is divided into four main chapters dealing with environmental issues associated with prosperity, security, solidarity and those which have a global perspective. The IPSC Annual report highlights the major achievements and resources related to the Institute's work during 2009. An overview is given of IPSC mission and its implementation, the scientific activities and the relations with the outside world.

• Dr. Killian Halpin re-elected Chairperson of the JRC Board of Governors
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 24/06/2010]
  

  Dr. Killian Halpin (Ireland) was re-elected Chairperson of the JRC Board of Governors at its last meeting in Oslo (Norway) on Thursday 17 June 2010. This will be Dr. Halpin's second three-year term of service as the Chairperson.

  On the same occasion, the JRC Board of Governors elected Ms. Kerstin Eliasson (Sweden) as Deputy Chairperson and Dr. Hans Peter Jensen (Denmark) as Delegate to the High Level Users Group.

  The JRC Board of Governors assists and advises the Director-General and the Commission on matters relating to the strategic role of the JRC and its scientific, technical and financial management. The Board consists of high-level representatives from the EU Member States and FP7 Associated Countries. They are nominated by the Commission upon designation of the country's authorities.

• Enterprise Search Solutions market could see annual growth of up to 15%
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 23/06/2010]
  

  The Enterprise Search Solution (ESS) market, a digital services market for the easy retrieval of information within organisations, was worth 831 million Euros in 2008 and has the potential to grow between 10% and 15% every year until 2013, according to a new report published by the JRC's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS). The catalytic effect on other markets brought about by this growth is likely to be significant. The report titled, "Economic Trends in Enterprise Search Solutions", highlights how this technology is key to increasing the competitiveness of the digital economy as it renders business more efficient particularly in data-intensive companies. The report reviews the techno-economic developments in the ESS and forecasts a further consolidation of existing ESS actors. In addition, technical and business alliances involving major European players are also likely to occur, allowing for the pooling of resources for R&D on promising technologies.

• Information exchange event JRC-Norway
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 22/06/2010]
  

  The JRC, together with the Research Council of Norway, organised an Information Exchange Event in Oslo on 18 June, which was held at the CIENS (Oslo Centre for Interdisciplinary Environment and Social research).

  Speakers from the JRC and from Norway presented their main activities in fields of common interest, in particular energy and climate change. The programme focused more specifically on environmental friendly energy research.

• JRC-China symposium on research collaboration at World Expo in Shanghai
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 18/06/2010]
  

  In the frame of the World Expo 2010, taking place in Shanghai from May to October 2010, the JRC and its partners - including the Chinese Academy of Science, Tongji University, China Atomic Energy Agency – have presented and debated ongoing research in the fields of disaster management and nuclear energy. The event was opened by Stephan Lechner, Director of the JRC Institute for Protection and Security of the Citizen, and Guo Huadong, Director General of the Centre for Earth Observation and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences and addressed an audience of 150 distinguished participants from research bodies, industry and government agencies.

• American Nuclear Society award for JRC-ITU paper
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 17/06/2010]
  

  Vincenzo Rondinella, Dimitrios Papaioannou, Ramil Nasyrow and Jean-Paul Glatz from the JRC Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) received, together with their co-authors, the 2009 Significant Contribution Award by the Materials Science and Technology Division of the American Nuclear Society for their paper entitled "Characterization of Metallic Fuel for the Transmutation of Minor Actinides in Fast Reactor".

  The Significant Contribution Award recognizes the authors who presented the best materials-oriented paper at either the Annual or Winter ANS Meetings in the field of materials science and technology contributing to the development of nuclear energy.

• Working towards more sustainable fisheries in the Mediterranean
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 17/06/2010]
  

  In May 2010, Member States' data on commercial fish stocks in the Mediterranean, together with data on effort trends and landings at fleet level were assembled by the JRC's Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) through its dedicated fisheries data collection web site. Thanks to the JRC's persistent efforts and quality checks, more complete and reliable data is now available to support sound scientific advice in fisheries management. Despite shortcomings in the compliance with data call rules, the JRC's scientists were able to provide the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) working group for the Mediterranean with an increased amount of quality data on stocks compared with previous years.

• International workshop on exposure science and toxicity testing
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 16/06/2010]
  

  On 16-17 June 2010, over 150 representatives from academia, industry and regulatory authorities will meet for the annual "International workshop on integrating new advances in exposure science and toxicity testing" in Stresa, Italy. The workshop, which is organised by both the JRC and the International Council of Chemical Associations’ Long-Range Research Initiative (ICCA-LRI), will consider the application of integrated approaches to the design, evaluation, and health risk management of chemicals. This workshop will also provide a venue to evaluate how communication between scientists, decision makers and stakeholders, including the public, can be improved to yield better chemical management policies. The event will be co-chaired by Maurice Whelan from the JRC's Institute for Health and Consumer Protection and Annette Guiseppi-Elie from DuPont, USA.

  The ICCA-LRI is a partner­ship that facilitates collaboration among the independently managed LRI research programs of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), and the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA). Initiated in 2005, ICCA-LRI workshops offer dynamic forums to foster interactions among researchers and stakeholders, to stimulate discus­sions that can improve the scientific basis for policy-making, and to support consensus building that can advance risk and safety assessments for chemicals.

• Safeguarding the reprocessing of spent fuel
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 15/06/2010]
  

  On 15 June, the JRC Institute for Transuranium Elements , the Directorate-General for Energy and the International Atomic Energy Agency celebrated the 10th anniversary of the On Site Laboratories at the nuclear reprocessing plants of Sellafield (UK) and La Hague (France).
  
  The JRC operates the On Site Laboratories at reprocessing plants in the nuclear sites of Sellafield and La Hague to analyse samples of spent fuel in situ. The throughput of these plants represents 80% of the world's reprocessed spent nuclear fuel, which is verified by European Commission inspectors and supported by JRC scientists in order to assure its compliance with nuclear safeguards. Thanks to its expertise in this field, the JRC was involved in the set up of the only other similar facility in the world which is located (outside the EU) in Rokkasho (Japan). In addition, the JRC also provides training to Euratom and the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) safeguards inspectors.

• Researching the threat of emerging pollutants
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 14/06/2010]
  

  On 10 June, a collaboration agreement between the JRC and the NORMAN association (Network of Reference Laboratories for Monitoring of Emerging Environmental Pollutants) was signed in Stresa, Italy to improve coordination of research on "emerging pollutants". The signing took place at the joint JRC-NORMAN workshop on river-basin specific pollutants in the context of the European Water Framework Directive.

  The main scope of this important collaboration is to enhance the impact and effectiveness of national efforts in generating information about the environmental occurrence and effects of new or so-called emerging pollutants. This is pivotal in deepening the understanding of the scientific, economic and social issues related to new and less-investigated chemicals entering our natural resources.

• JRC re-news commitment to standardisation activities
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 11/06/2010]
  

  Roland Schenkel, Director General of the JRC, and Elena Santiago Cid, Director General of the European Committee for Standardization and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, expressed their mutual desire to continue their cooperation in the field of standardisation and pre-normative and co-normative research by signing a renewed collaboration agreement.

  Formal cooperation between the two organisation dates back to 1998. The JRC's work supports the establishment of European and worldwide standards in many areas, including safety and quality of food and feed, GMO's, safety of chemicals, air, water and soil quality, spatial data infrastructures, energy or construction codes in the building sector.

• Commission sets up system for certifying sustainable biofuels
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 10/06/2010]
  

  The Commission decided today to encourage industry, governments and NGOs to set up sustainability certification schemes for all types of biofuels, including those imported into the EU, by adopting important explanatory communications on the sustainability scheme, and a decision on a carbon stock guideline which lay down what the schemes must do to be recognised by the Commission. This will help implement the EU's requirements that biofuels must deliver substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and should not come from forests, wetlands and nature protection areas.

  The rules for certification schemes are part of a set of guidelines required by the Renewable Energy Directive to explain how the sustainability requirements should be implemented. The JRC, through its Biofuels Task Force, provided significant input for the formulation of the communications, assisting for example the Commission in designing implementing measures and procedures for the calculation of GHG emissions of biofuel and bioliquids pathways.

• JRC-China collaboration for consumer protection kicked off in Shanghai
  [ανακοινώθηκε στις: 07/06/2010]
  

  The Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine and the JRC Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) have kicked off collaboration to support risk management and improve consumer protection through new approaches in the areas of nanotechnology and alternative methods to animal testing. On 6 June, the organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the occasion of the EU-China Food Safety Scientific Seminar at the Shanghai World Expo. Both institutions provide technical support for policy makers and aim to reinforce their co-operation in scientific research for consumer products safety.