Project Websites
Agrobiodiversity
The project 'Developing Agrobiobdiversity' aims to better understand the decline of agrobiodiversity in
its multifaceted contexts 'the relationship between women and men in breeding and utilisation is a part of
these - and to launch the topic onto the social agenda. Conditions for sustainable, gender adequate animal and
plant breeding will be illustrated, thus also contributing to the national implementation of the Convention on
Biodiversity (Rio 1992).
Bioenergy - Material Flow Analysis of Sustainable Biomass
Use for Energy
The project was presented at the BMU-congress "Umwelt und Erneuerbare Energien" ("Environment and
Renewable Energies") on February, 4th - 5th 2002 in Berlin and is sponsored in the context of the
"Zukunfts-Investitions-Programm" ZIP ("Future-Investment-Program") by the German government.
Biomass Futures
Given the coherent and ambitious
policy targets but being aware of the risks and underlying uncertainties within the biomass sector as well as the
energy one (security of supply, scarcity of resources, etc.) this project will aims to quantify demand and supply
dynamics and the impacts of sustainability criteria plus criteria on indirect land use change, water, soil and
social aspects across sectors. The Project will assess the role biomass can play in meeting the EU policy targets
Develop info packages for each stakeholder category: inform and support policy makers at European and National
level and generate information for the role of biomass which will be taken into account in the formation on NAPs
Enhance dialogue with specific target groups and initiatives (e.g. BAP)
conCISEnet
conCISEnet was funded
within the framework of the ‘Scientific networking of non-profit environmental research institutes in the
field of socio-environmental research’ program by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.
conCISEnet makes a contribution to discussions on European industrial policy between the poles of sustainable
development, innovation and competitiveness. The debate in Germany is enriched by international networking; good
examples are disseminated in other European countries.
Create Acceptance
Cultural influences on Renewable Energy Acceptance and Tools for the development of communication strategies to
promotE ACCEPTANCE among key actor groups
Crops2Industry
The ultimate objective of this
project is to explore the potential of non-food crops, which can be domestically grown in EU27 context, for
selected industrial applications, namely oils, fibers, resins, pharmaceuticals and other specialty products and
outline and prioritise crops-to-products schemes, suitable for the different Member States, which will support
sustainable, economic viable and competitive European bio-based industry and agriculture. The expected output of
this project will be to identify the whether and under which terms Europe has the potential and the technical
competence to develop a competitive bio-industry fed by a sustainable agriculture.
EcoTopTen ' Innovations for Sustainable
Consumption Patterns
EcoTopTen is a campaign to promote sustainable products and sustainable consumption patterns. In concert with the
Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISER), we are carrying out market analyses, product innovation schemes
and consumption research to identify innovative products. EcoTopTen products are of high quality, are
appropriately and affordably priced and have, of course, minimum environmental impact. Starting in March 2005,
the Institute will launch a major consumer information campaign to raise awareness of EcoTopTen products and the
options for their sustainable use. This campaign is scheduled to run until the end of 2006.
Electricity Disclosure
The disclosure of electricity information is aiming to provide electricity consumers with relevant information on
the product they are buying. This will assist consumers to make informed choices in a liberalized energy market
and therefore is an essential complement of the liberalized electricity market.
Environmental
Manual
The Environmental Manual (EM) for power development - an activity developed and maintained by the German
Government via GTZ, and a group of donors, with scientific support from Öko-Institut - is a computerized tool to
identify environmental and cost implications of projects in the areas of energy and transport.
ESTEEM
is a toolbox for sustainable energy projects. It was developed in the Create Acceptance project (EU 518351) to
help projects implementing innovative new energy technologies to deal with societal acceptance issues.
E-TRACK: A European
Tracking System for Electrictiy
The E-TRACK project will investigate the feasibility of a harmonised standard for tracking electricity in Europe.
The project will provide a detailed insight into the requirements for the design and operation of tracking
systems, which are set by European and Member States legislation as well as by market participants. A major
result of the project will be a blueprint of a European standard for tracking electricity, which will cover
technical aspects (e.g. database and interface specifications) and non-technical issues, such as institutions and
processes involved.
eupopp - Policies to Promote Sustainable Consumption
Patterns
Consumption is a key lever to attain a more sustainable development: unsustainable consumption
patterns are major causes of global environmental deterioration, including the overexploitation of renewable
resources and the use of non-renewable resources with their associated environmental impacts. Leading research
institutions from across Europe are taking part in a groundbreaking project analysing the impacts of policy
strategies and instruments on consumption patterns in order to examine how sustainable consumption (SC) policies
can successfully tackle this problem. A focus is on policies in the need areas of housing and food. In the
analysis, all European regions will be covered, with a special emphasis on Spain, Finland, Germany, and the
Baltic area. The project “European Policies to Promote Sustainable Consumption Patterns” (EUPOPP) is
funded under the 7th Framework Program of the European Union and is running from August 2008 to July 2011.
Global Emission Model of Integrated
Systems (Version 4.0)
The computer program GEMIS was developed in 1987-1989 as a tool for the comparative assessment of environmental
effects of energy by Öko-Institut and Gesamthochschule Kassel (GhK). Since then, the model was continuously
upgraded and updated. This work is sponsored by the Ministry for Environment in Hesse, Germany
Global Energy Strategy
(GES)
The GES is meant as a contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and its follow-up,
focusing on the issue of energy. A team of authors prepared a policy paper to underline the key challenges, and
possible solutions, for a sustainable energy strategy on the global scale.
PCF - Pilot Project Germany
Together with the participating companies, the Pilot Project will test practical application of the current and
evolving specifications for PCF assessment (ISO norms for Life-Cycle Assessment, and evaluating applicability of
BSI PAS 2050). The methodology will be applied to specific products and services, in particular consumer
products. On this basis, the Pilot Project will draw up recommendations for methodical development and
international coordination for implementing a transparent, scientifically substantiated method for measuring
Product Carbon Footprints. The Pilot Project will discuss approaches for the provision of sensible and credible
information for customers and consumers – to help encourage environmentally friendly purchase and
consumption decisions. Particularly in light of current developments of various labelling approaches with varying
quality, there is a decided need to inform consumers reliably and to create a proper context for standard PCF
communication.
PROSA - Product Sustainability Assessment
A key task of modern corporate management is to develop products in a sustainable fashion, taking not only
economic aspects into account, but also environmental and social ones. Öko-Institut ' Institute for Applied
Ecology ' has developed a method to solve this task: PROSA, Product Sustainability Assessment. PROSA
facilitates the strategic analysis of product portfolios, products and services. The method is similarly suited
for applications in integrated product policy and in dialogue processes. A major project is currently in progress
to refine the methodology and align it with related international approaches.
Renewbility
In the research
project "renewbility - Material Flow Analysis for Sustainable Mobility in the Context of Renewable Energy
until 2030" - financially supported by the Bundesumweltministerium (Ministry of environment) the material
flow analysis will be used to determine and qualify the economical and ecological effects on various scenarios of
mobility. It describes the process of the life cycle of demand, including the expenses for production and
distribution, and use of resources. It also determines the effects on employment.
Rhetoric and Realities: Analysing
Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe (RARE)
'Rhetoric and Realities ' Analysing Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe' (RARE) is a three year
research project under the European Union's 6th Framework Programme which aims to make a substantial
contribution to the development of a European approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The project
seeks to improve the understanding of the effectiveness of CSR as a policy instrument and how CSR can in practice
benefit sustainable development in the EU. Under the leadership of Öko-Institut, the project is being carried out
by a multi-disciplinary team of 16 researchers, scientists and consultants from seven leading research
institutions from across the EU.
Smart-A
The project „Smart Domestic Appliances in
Sustain-able Energy Systems (Smart-A)” aims at developing strategies showing how smart domestic appliances
can contribute to load management in future energy systems. In order to do this, the project assesses the options
for load-shifting by a variety of appliances across Europe and compares these with the requirements from energy
systems both on the supra-regional and the local level. These systems will have to integrate larger shares of
renewable energy in the future, which are partly intermittent, and therefore will require a smarter management of
generation, network capacities and demand.
Sustainable Transformation Research
Sustainable Transformation is a research programme at the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut). This
website presents the guiding research questions and fields of inquiry along which the programme is structured. It
provides links to related research which is carried out in various projects in cooperation with many partners
from scientific and practical fields.
Transformation and Innovation in Power
Systems (TIPS)
Any transformation of the electricity system has important impacts on any of the system`s components, its
development over time as well as on its social and ecological environment. The TIPS project addresses this
problem by investigating the dynamics and impacts of transformation in the German electricity system with a
special view to developing strategies for anticipatory shaping of transformation paths towards sustainability.
