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1.

Safety of offshore oil and gas operations : lessons from past accident analysis : ensuring EU hydrocarbon supply through better control of major hazards. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Energy and Transport.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

The disaster following the explosion on drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, dramatically demonstrated that offshore extraction and exploitation of hydrocarbons is not without risks. Accidents can occur, often with devastating consequences to human lives, expensive extraction equipment, the sea and coastal environment and ecosystem, coastal economies and interruption – or delay – of energy supply. In order for offshore oil and gas operations to become safer, lessons from the analysis of past accidents need to be identified and shared. This report investigates sources of information on offshore accidents, identifies lessons to be learned from “landmark” accidents and how they fit in the risk management chain, and performs statistical analysis based on the content of a commercial accident database.

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2.

Global resources use and pollution. Volume 2, Country factsheets. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

In the recent decades, the increase in the world population, the economic expansion and the globalization of the economy have led to a dramatic growth in the use of some natural resources and in the levels of pollution. These trends have coincided with a growing concern about some critical questions for the future of humankind such as resource scarcity and depletion, climate change, environmental degradation, the limits of growth or the inequalities in the access to natural resources across countries. This Pocketbook presents a series of indicators describing the evolution of the use of natural resources and the emission of air pollutants around the world, in relation to production, consumption and trade activities. Based on different analysis derived from the World Input-Output Database (WIOD), this publication includes information on 6 environmental dimensions: land use, material extraction, water use, and emission of acid substances, greenhouse gases and ozone precursors. The time frame covered is the period between 1995 and 2008, and the geographical scope includes the EU-27 Member States, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, the United States of America and the Rest of the World.

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3.

EU R&D Scoreboard : the 2012 EU industrial R&D investment scoreboard. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.

Summary

The EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard is published annually by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation and Joint Research Centre). The 2012 Scoreboard is based on a sample of 1500 companies, the world's top investors in R&D and representing equivalent to almost 90% of the total expenditure on R&D by businesses worldwide. It measures the total value of their global R&D investment financed with their own funds, irrespective of the location where the relevant R&D takes place. Out of the 1500 companies, 405 are based in the EU, 503 in the US, 296 in Japan and 296 in the rest of the world including Switzerland, South Korea, China, India and 23 other countries. Each of the Scoreboard companies invested more than EUR 35 million in R&D in 2011.

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4.

Best available techniques (BAT) reference document for the manufacture of glass : industrial emissions Directive 2010/75/EU: integrated pollution prevention and control. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.

Summary

The BREF entitled ‘Manufacture of Glass’ forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, nongovernmental organisations promoting environmental protection, and the Commission, to draw up, review, and where necessary, update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of the Directive. This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. This BREF for the glass manufacturing industry covers the following activities specified in Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU, namely: activity 3.3: Manufacture of glass including glass fibre with a melting capacity exceeding 20 tonnes per day ; activity 3.4: Melting mineral substances including the production of mineral fibres with a melting capacity exceeding 20 tonnes per day. The document also covers non-melting activities and downstream processes that may be directly associated to these activities and carried out on the same site. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the manufacturing of glass are the reduction of emissions to air; efficient usage of energy and raw materials; minimisation, recovery and recycling of process residues; as well as an effective implementation of environmental and energy management systems. The BREF document contains eight chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide general information on the glass manufacturing industry and on the industrial processes and techniques used within this sector. Chapter 3 provides data and information concerning the environmental performance of installations in terms of current emissions, consumptions of raw materials, water and energy, generation of waste. Chapter 4 describes the techniques to prevent or reduce the environmental impact of installations in this sector. In Chapter 5 the BAT conclusions, as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive, are presented for the eight sectors of the glass industry: container glass, flat glass, continuous filament glass fibre, domestic glass, special glass, mineral wool, high temperature insulation wool, frits.

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5.

External cost calculator for Marco Polo freight transport project proposals. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2011.

Summary

The Marco Polo programme of the European Commission aims to shift or avoid freight transport off the roads to other more environmentally friendly transport modes. The programme is implemented through yearly calls for proposals. The proposals received to each call are selected for financial support inter alia on the basis of their merits in terms of environmental and social benefits. The evaluation of each proposal's merits in terms of environmental and social benefits is based on the external costs for each transport mode. On the Commission’s request the Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRCIPTS) modified and updated the methodology underlying the calculation of external costs and the software application that automates the estimation of the impact on external costs for specific projects. The work was based on a combination of data and model results that allow the estimation of transport volumes, fleet mixes, levels of utilisation and resulting externalities with up-to-date methodologies for the economic valuation of these externalities. The new external cost methodology and calculator covers road, rail, inland waterways and short sea shipping. External cost coefficients are provided for environmental impacts (air quality, noise, climate change) and socioeconomic impacts (accidents, congestion). The methodology permits the estimation of external cost coefficients for specific mode subcategories based on fuel technology, cruising speed, vehicle size, and cargo type.

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6.

Monitoring industrial research : the 2010 EU Survey on R&D investment business trends. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2011.

Summary

This report presents the findings of the sixth survey on trends in business R&D investment. These are based on 205 responses of mainly larger companies from the 1000 EU-based companies in the 2010 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. These 205 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth almost €40 billion, constituting around 30% of the total R&D investment by the 1000 EU Scoreboard companies. The main result is that top R&D investing companies in the EU expect their global R&D investments to grow by 5 % annually from 2011 to 2013. This is more than double the rate of last year’s expectations, and represents a significant upturn from the 2.6 % R&D investment cuts observed for these companies in 2009. Companies surveyed expect their R&D investment inside the EU to grow 3 % a year over the next three years, although this remains the lowest rate compared to what they expect to invest in R&D in other world regions, especially in Asian countries like China (25%) or India (8%), but also in the US and Canada (5%).

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7.

Evaluation of EC comparison on the determination of 226Ra, 228Ra, 234U and 238U in mineral waters. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2011.

Summary

This report describes all details of the comparison for the determination of 226Ra, 228Ra, 234U and 238U in mineral waters among 45 European laboratories monitoring radioactivity in food and the environment. Three commercially available mineral waters were provided as comparison samples. Reference values of the four radionuclides under study in this comparison were determined in collaborative work of IRMM and the Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS), using tracer techniques and standardised radionuclide solutions. The reference values are thus traceable to the SI units. The sample preparation and measurement processes applied in the participating laboratories are described and the results of the comparison are presented and discussed in detail. Whereas, in general, the measurement results for the uranium isotopes show a relatively favourable agreement with the reference value, the results of this comparison point at severe problems of 226Ra and 228Ra determination in about one fourth and more than one third of the laboratories, respectively. For radium, 19 results corresponding to 14 % of all are even off by a factor of two or more. By comparison, for uranium, this number amounts to 6 % (9 results out of 150). Nevertheless, also for the determination of uranium, 14 % to 23 % of the laboratories report results not compliant with the En evaluation criterion. The corresponding participants are urgently requested to investigate and revise their analytical methods.

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8.

Proceedings of the 7th International conference on energy efficiency in commercial buildings IEECB 12. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Energy and Transport.

Publication	Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.
Summary	This book contains the proceedings of the seventh International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings Frankfurt, Germany 18 - 19 April 2012.

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9.

The role of safety reports in preventing accidents : key points and conclusions. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

This expert report reflects conclusions and key points from two surveys and a workshop involving Seveso inspectors from around Europe on the role of safety reports in preventing major chemical accidents. The Seveso Directive requires operators of so-called “upper-tier” major hazard sites to submit safety reports detailing the major risks associated with the site and how they are controlled. Safety reports are the documents in which the operator of such a site demonstrates that the major accident prevention policy and a safety management system are in effect, that major accident hazards and risk have been identified and are adequately prevented and potential consequences limited, that adequate safety and reliability is incorporated in all aspects of the plant, and an effective internal emergency plan has been drawn up and implemented. A good safety report allows the authorities to get a clear overview of what could happen, how accidents are prevented and what is being done to ensure that if an accident occurred, the consequences can be minimised and a clear mitigation plan is in place. Ideally, the safety report should also be a dynamic, living document that helps companies control and take into account the potential for major accident hazards in various operational decisions. In many cases, the safety report is, however, still only a report compiled for the authorities. The report indicates that while there are many practical differences in how the Seveso II Directive safety reports are evaluated and used in inspections within the EU and its Seveso partner countries, the challenges are almost universal. Most challenges appear to be related to whether the safety report presents a coherent and convincing case that justifies the risk management decisions taken. The report describes the key challenges, providing several examples of good practice for improving safety reports (operators) and verifying safety reports during inspections (authorities). It also identifies a number of specific areas where it could be useful to develop common tools and solutions to improve overall effectiveness of safety reports as an active and useful mechanism for site risk management.

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10.

Best available techniques (BAT) reference document for iron and steel production : industrial emissions Directive 2010/75/EU : integrated pollution prevention and control. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.

Summary

The BREF entitled ‘Iron and Steel Production’ forms part of a series presenting the results of an exchange of information between EU Member States, the industries concerned, nongovernmental organisations promoting environmental protection and the Commission, to draw up, review, and where necessary, update BAT reference documents as required by Article 13(1) of the Directive. This document is published by the European Commission pursuant to Article 13(6) of the Directive. This BREF for the iron and steel production industry covers the following specified in Annex I to Directive 2010/75/EU, namely: activity 1.3: coke production ; activity 2.1: metal ore (including sulphide ore) roasting and sintering ; activity 2.2: production of pig iron or steel (primary or secondary fusion) including continuous casting, with a capacity exceeding 2.5 tonnes per hour. The document also covers some activities that may be directly associated to these activities on the same site. Important issues for the implementation of Directive 2010/75/EU in the production of iron and steel are the reduction of emissions to air; efficient energy and raw material usage; minimisation, recovery and the recycling of process residues; as well as effective environmental and energy management systems. The BREF document contains 13 chapters. Chapter 1 provides general information on the iron and steel sector. Chapter 2 provides information and data on general industrial processes used within this sector. Chapters 3 to 8 provide information on particular iron and steel processes (sinter plants, pelletisation, coke ovens, blast furnaces, basic oxygen steelmaking and casting electric arc steelmaking and casting). In Chapter 9 the BAT conclusions, as defined in Article 3(12) of the Directive, are presented for the sectors described in Chapters 2 to 8.

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11.

Social inclusion of youth on the margins of society : policy review of research results [er]. European Commission. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

If Europe wants to realise its full potential and provide jobs to 75 % of its working population it needs to use the talents and skills of all its citizens, in particular young people. The policy review ’Social inclusion of youth on the margins of society’ looks into the lives and aspirations of young people who face severe or multiple forms of social exclusion, such as young migrants, young Roma, long-term unemployed, homeless youth and young people in public care. It analyses the causes and processes of their exclusion and focuses on policy solutions to break the individual and social glass-ceiling. This policy review summarises the evidence of a cluster of five youth-oriented research projects launched in 2008 and broadens the evidence basis for stimulating inclusive growth in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy and its flagship initiatives ‘Youth on the move’ and the ‘European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion’.

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12.

Symbol model database and analyses for public finance sustainability. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

In the present report, we describe the main steps we have taken in order to create a sound database for the European Union Member States banking system. The final goal is to use this database as source for input variables of SYMBOL (SYstemic Model of Banking Originated Losses) model, developed by the Join Research Centre of Ispra in cooperation with the European Commission Directorate General for Internal Market and Services and experts from academia, for monitoring financial crises. SYMBOL simulates potential crises in the banking sector under various assumptions, and it allows assessing the cumulative effects of different regulatory measures (e.g. higher capital requirements, strengthened deposit insurance and introduction of resolution funds) and their most effective combinations. It uses items in bank's balance sheet to estimate the potential losses for a given banking system via a Monte Carlo analysis. The model is flexible and can be deployed either on a single country or on a set of financial institutions sharing common features. The report also shows an application of SYMBOL for assessing the impact on public finance of a crisis in the banking sector and compares the current regulatory framework with a future scenario where the new capital requirements set in Basel III and an effective framework for bank resolution are in place.

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13.

Tropical cyclone Isaac : USA, August 2012. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

Tropical Cyclone ISAAC, after causing damage and deaths in Haiti, moved towards the coast of SE Louisiana (USA), where it made two landfalls. After the second landfall, it started moving inland in SE Louisiana, passing W of New Orleans on Aug 29 afternoon/evening (UTC), weakening into a tropical storm, then late on Aug 30 became a tropical depression. Tropical Cyclone ISAAC affected the southern parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surge, causing flooding, power outages, damage to property and, according to media report, killing at least 7 people. Most of this damage has been caused by heavy rains and storm surge. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) followed the event through the information automatically collected and analysed in the Global Disasters Alerts and Coordination System (GDACS). GDACS classification, for TC ISAAC in the USA, was: Green for the wind impact, Orange for rain impact and Red for storm surge impact. On 27 August 2012, 2 days before the landfall, the JRC HyFlux2 storm surge model indicated a possible storm surge in the order of 2.5-3.5m for Aug 29 morning (UTC) in the coastal area E-SE of New Orleans, Louisiana Online observations and NOAA reports confirmed the forecasts. This report analyses and discusses the GDACS automatic impact assessments and compares the JRC HyFlux2 deterministic storm surge forecasts with the probabilistic forecasts provided by NOAA.

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14.

Tropical cyclone Giovanna [er] : Madagascar, February 2012. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

JRC has developed GDACS, an early warning system created to alert the humanitarian community about potential disasters which are under development. Tropical cyclones are some of the most damaging events, affecting the coastal population with three dangerous effects: strong wind, heavy rain and storm surge. GDACS includes the analysis of the first and the second effects, and recently also the third effect (storm surge) has been implemented. An impact assessment for all the three alerts are presented in the report. Wind alert level estimated by GDACS was Red, due to the high wind and the high vulnerability of the affected country. The wind impact assessment by BNGRC has confirmed that most of the damage due to Giovanna was caused by strong winds. The region most affected has been Antisanana. The rain impact alert level in GDACS is based on the estimation of the total accumulation of rainfall on land using NOAA eTRaP data. The applicability of the data was considered fine for alert levels at regional level, but not at local level due to spatial uncertainty. The storm surge GDACS alert level is based on the calculations of the JRC code HyFlux2. The accuracy of the estimated storm surge height could not be established because the available tide gauge was malfunctioning. We compared our results with two UNOSAT/UNITAR impact assessment maps of two damaged cities (Brickaville and Vatomadry). These maps gave a clear indication of building damages, as a result of strong winds and storm surge while the JRC calculations showed a storm surge in the order of 1 m. Overall, the GDACS models performed well. Alert levels for all hazard components were consistent with the observed impact. The location and timing of the information could accurately identify the affected provinces. GDACS information is appropriate for near real-time strategic decision making.

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15.

European research and innovation in materials science and engineering : what to change in the future? : report from the Materials Summit in Brussels, 10 September 2012. European Commission. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.

Summary

The Materials Summit 2012 brought together representatives of the main industrial and research stakeholders to discuss a strategic and modern vision of optimal features for materials R&D&I. The summit analysed and assessed the effectiveness of the support to materials research and innovation to date, and explored possible options for the future. Some of the issues addressed were the further structuring of the materials community, the best way of consulting stakeholders in order to prioritise and elaborate yearly work-programmes, how to achieve a winning combination of scientific and industrial advances, how to maximise the positive impact of the R&D&I support for the growth, competitiveness and sustainability of the EU industry, how to maximise the return for the taxpayers’ money invested.

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16.

The EU sovereign debt crisis : potential effects on EU banking systems and policy options. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.

Summary

This paper aims at investigating some of the critical issues highlighted by the sovereign debt crisis in European Union (EU) Member States (MS). The goal is twofold: 1) Quantify the increase in the risks of the EU banking systems due to haircuts of sovereign debts of some EU Member States, which have been particularly touched by the sovereign crisis; 2) evaluate and compare the policy options which have been adopted to address the issue. The first goal is achieved by estimating the increase in the banks Probability to Default (PD), due to the haircuts in sovereign debts, through a further development of the SYMBOL model to estimate the PDs by numerical inversion of the Basel FIRB formula for minimum capital requirements. For the second objective the measures within the Basel III Accord, which among the others increases the quality and quantity of capital that banks should set aside to cover from unexpected losses, are compared with the agreement on bank recapitalisation and funding reached by the European Council in October 2011, which responded to the urgent consequences of the sovereign bonds crisis in the EU. The analysis is performed on the 65 large EU banking groups identified by the European Banking Authority (EBA) for the capitalisation exercise. Results show that the haircuts on sovereign debts of EU MS in crisis would heavily worsen the stability of their banking systems but could also sometimes affect financial stability of other EU countries. We also show that the creation of a temporary capital buffer in the form of a capital target, necessitated by the exceptional circumstances prevailing in some EU MS, represent a step forward to Basel III rules.

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17.

Review of technical assessment of national renewable energy action plans. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Energy and Transport.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.

Summary

In the present Report data contained in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans and already presented in the previous EU 24926 EN reference report (2011) have been updated considering the final NREAPs versions submitted in early 2012. Differences with the previously reported data are put into evidence in the Review Highlights, while Annex I and II contain the updated versions of Figures and Tables of the 2011 report.

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18.

Renewable energy snapshots 2012. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Energy and Transport.

Publication	Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.
Summary	Penetration and deployment of renewable energies in Europe is analyzed on the basis of the latest available data and statistics.

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19.

2012 JRC wind status report : technology, market and economic aspects of wind energy in Europe. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for Energy and Transport.

Publication	Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2013.
Summary	This report presents a snapshot of the current situation of the wind sector from a technology and market perspective, and a detailed analysis of the economics of wind. It is the first of a series of annual reports which will not only include annual developments but also specific, one-off research into technology aspects of the wind sector.

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20.

Tropical cyclone Giovanna : Madagascar, February 2012. European Commission. Joint Research Centre. Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2012.

Summary

JRC has developed GDACS, an early warning system created to alert the humanitarian community about potential disasters which are under development. Tropical cyclones are some of the most damaging events, affecting the coastal population with three dangerous effects: strong wind, heavy rain and storm surge. GDACS includes the analysis of the first and the second effects, and recently also the third effect (storm surge) has been implemented. An impact assessment for all the three alerts are presented in the report. Wind alert level estimated by GDACS was Red, due to the high wind and the high vulnerability of the affected country. The wind impact assessment by BNGRC has confirmed that most of the damage due to Giovanna was caused by strong winds. The region most affected has been Antisanana. The rain impact alert level in GDACS is based on the estimation of the total accumulation of rainfall on land using NOAA eTRaP data. The applicability of the data was considered fine for alert levels at regional level, but not at local level due to spatial uncertainty. The storm surge GDACS alert level is based on the calculations of the JRC code HyFlux2. The accuracy of the estimated storm surge height could not be established because the available tide gauge was malfunctioning. We compared our results with two UNOSAT/UNITAR impact assessment maps of two damaged cities (Brickaville and Vatomadry). These maps gave a clear indication of building damages, as a result of strong winds and storm surge while the JRC calculations showed a storm surge in the order of 1 m. Overall, the GDACS models performed well. Alert levels for all hazard components were consistent with the observed impact. The location and timing of the information could accurately identify the affected provinces. GDACS information is appropriate for near real-time strategic decision making.

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