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.
EcoTransIT
The Ecological Transport Information Tool (EcoTransIT) calculates environmental impacts of any freight transport. Thereby it is possible to determine the energy consumption, CO2 and exhaust emissions transported by rail, road, ship and aircraft in any combination. EcoTransIT is free of charge for any non-commerical use.
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 Oeko-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 Oeko-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.
Impact Measurement and Performance Analysis of CSR (IMPACT)
Research on CSR so far concentrated on assessing the benefits for and within companies. But what benefits and impacts does CSR actually bring beyond company borders to the economy and society at large? How can managers, policy makers and stakeholders better measure and evaluate its impacts? What does this mean for smart mixes of public policies and corporate strategy? From March 2010 until March 2013, the IMPACT project - “Impact Measurement and Performance Analysis of CSR” - will break new ground in addressing these questions.
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. Oeko-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.
Reliable Disclosure Systems for Europe (RE-DISS)
The RE-DISS project aims at improving significantly the reliability and accuracy of the information given to consumers of electricity in Europe regarding the origin of the electricity they are consuming. Such information is given to all consumers through the regime of electricity source disclosure, which is a requirement on all European suppliers of electricity. There is also a quickly growing market for green power which is addressed by the project as well.
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 Oeko-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 (Oeko-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.
