Project partners

The consortium carrying out this project consists of 6 institutions in 5 countries (UK, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Hungary). The partners have expertise in labelling a range of products, consumer behaviour and social science issues; policy research and market transformation experience, electricity markets and liberalisation; renewable energy sources and green electricity. This knowledge and experience will ensure the output of a reliable, well-tested, coherent product that can be used to take the labelling issue forward. Meet the consortium here:

UNITED KINGDOM

Oxford University (www.eci.ox.ac.uk)

The Environmental Change Institute (ECI) is Oxford University’s multidisciplinary centre for the organisation and promotion of research and teaching on the environment. The ECI has co-ordinated and participated in a number of large EC contracts. Oxford University offers a rich tapestry of colleges and departments working actively on all aspects of the environment, including carbon reduction and climate change.

During 2000 the ECI employed over 30 research and administrative staff distributed between 4 major research programmes. Lower Carbon Futures (LCF) is the group dedicated to research on the rational use of energy and carbon reduction, with ten years experience in the provision of information, analysis and policy options to reduce the environmental impacts of energy use. Major areas of expertise are: Consumer behaviour and energy use: Individuals directly consume some 50% of national energy through personal transport and household requirements. Our understanding of consumer behaviour, attitudes and values, which drive increasing demand, allows us to target policies more effectively. We have carried out considerable research in this area, including for example the major DECADE and CADENCE projects that involved inter-county comparisons, modelling and analysis of domestic energy demand and the presenting of policy options. Market transformation policy: Market transformation is a multi-policy strategy to accelerate the adoption of energy efficient products. We have worked with industry, the UK government and other stakeholders to achieve a common approach to energy and carbon savings (www.mtprog.com).

Labelling: EEPs has developed expertise in the field of labelling and has undertaken several large scale European projects in this area.: Sustainability and equity: Through our work on fuel and transport poverty, as well as energy advice to low income households we address the issue of social equity. These concepts are now incorporated into national policy and our research is influencing the equity debate in the UK.

Renewable energy: Our innovative and expanding research in this sector includes: Our solar project compares the performance of eleven different types of photovoltaic modules in the UK and Spain and is one of the few independent tests being carried out in this area. Wind energy policies in Europe and China Tracking developments of green electricity markets in Europe

IT Power (www.itpower.co.uk)

IT Power is a leading renewable energy consultancy company based in the UK with 20 years’ experience in the management and implementation of international projects. The company has key expertise in market studies, energy policy and economics, dissemination activities, organisation of seminars, as well as R&D, engineering design and project management. IT Power has 15 staff at expert level or above.

IT Power is part of the ‘ELGREEN’ project team, who are developing trading rules for green electricity in Europe and creating a Green Electricity Exchange model. IT Power has been particularly involved in the work concerned with the labelling of green electricity in the EU. This work entailed analysing the various ‘quality labels’ for green electricity available, as well as undertaking some preliminary assessments of developments in information disclosure labels in the USA.

IT Power was commissioned in 2001 to study the availability of green electricity tariffs in 30 countries around the world and to make recommendations on the best tariffs, following the environmental criteria agreed with its client. The company is also the majority owner of Green Electricity Marketplace (GEM), a company set up to market green electricity tariffs via the internet and provide information on the options available to consumers. IT Power was also responsible for completing a report on behalf of the IEA for the G8 Renewable Energy Taskforce on the prospects for international trading of Green Electricity Certificates.

GERMANY

Öko-Institut (www.oeko.de)

The Öko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology) is one of the leading environmental research organisations in Germany. The Öko-Institut mission is to analyse and evaluate current and future environmental problems, and to develop and implement strategies and models for sustainable solutions. Work at the Öko-Institut encompasses the levels of basic research, conceptual development and implementation, as well as advisory and consultancy activities, and outreach to the media. The institute not only conducts comprehensive research, but, beyond this, stresses the principle of practical implementation of research results. Innovation, actor-orientation, interdisciplinarity and networking are hallmarks of the Institute's work that prove decisive for implementation. Third-party funded research is commissioned by local, regional, national and transnational governmental bodies, and by industrial companies, political parties, citizens' action groups and NGOs. At present, the Institute's staff comprises about 80 scientists and engineers working at its Central Office in Freiburg and at the Berlin and Darmstadt offices. The Institute is independent of industry and governments, is recognised by law as a non-profit organisation and receives no public funding.

The Institute’s Energy & Climate Division is working on problems of energy planning (systems analysis, scenario design), renewable and energy-efficiency technologies, utility regulation and implementation of sustainable energy strategies in liberalised markets and national and international climate policy. Studies have been carried out on economic effects, legal impediments, technological status, and environmental acceptability of energy strategies. Results were taken up in action plans of the German federal government, several States and on the local and regional level, too. Furthermore, the Division is carrying out research on climate change issues - from database development for greenhouse-gas emissions to concepts for policy implementation on all policy levels.

AUSTRIA

EVA (www.eva.ac.at)

Energieverwertungsagentur, the Austrian Energy Agency (E.V.A. for short) was established in 1977 as a non-profit organisation. It is the Austrian energy research and policy institution in which the federal and the provincial administration (‘Bund’ and ‘Länder’ respectively) and some thirty important institutions and corporations from a variety of economic sectors co-operate. E.V.A. is the principal partner of the federal government in its effort to attain its energy policy objectives, which aim mainly at a stimulation of renewable energy sources, at a macro-economically efficient production and a rational use of energy, and innovative technologies. The board of directors (‘Präsidium’) comprises of the federal minister charged with environmental affairs, the federal minister charged with energy affairs and the chairman of the provincial governors.

E.V.A. is the Austrian Member of the European Energy Network EnR. Furthermore, E.V.A. is the leader of the Austrian OPET consortium and member of the AFB-nett. E.V.A. employs a staff of about 30 people. The expertise of the staff members ranges across the technical, economic, environmental, statistical and social science disciplines. The overall mandate of E.V.A. is to make ‘energy savings’ an energy source which can successfully compete with conventional sources of energy, and to advocate boundary conditions under which market forces can act in favour of an improved energy efficiency and renewable energy. As part of its tasks E.V.A. assists federal and provincial administrations, utilities, industry etc. in defining energy technology and research policies. Furthermore, E.V.A. does scientific research, consultancy and information dissemination on a variety of current energy issues of technological, structural and behavioural nature.

The Agency:
analyses energy problems of technical, structural and behavioural nature, presents recommendations for actions, offers information to decision makers, and addresses the appropriate public audience;

is active in the fields of RUE and RES and carries out studies on biomass, district heating, monitoring of CO2 abatement policies, CO2 saving technological innovation, energy efficiency in industry and others;

develops long-term strategies for sustainable development, elaborates proposals for concrete measures and supports their implementation - this includes the analysis of Austria’s present and future interactions with the European Community as well as with Central and East European countries;

initiates and facilitates discussion and implementation process, getting partners and/or opponents round the conference table.

SWEDEN

Stockholm Environment Institute (www.sei.se/)

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is an independent and non-profit international research institute specialising in sustainable development and environment issues. SEI was established by the Swedish government in 1989. Its research programme aims to clarify the requirements, strategies and policies for a transition to sustainability. SEI’s mission developed from the insights gained at the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm (after which the Institute derives its name), the work of the (Brundtland) World Commission for Environment and Development and the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

SEI’s mission is to support decision-making and induce change towards sustainable development around the world by providing integrative knowledge that bridges science and policy in the field of environment and development. SEI fulfils this mission through creative transformation of scientific information and data into focussed knowledge that informs and supports improved decision-making. The Institute examines the policy connections and implications of scientific and technical analyses. This includes management strategies for environment and development issues of local, regional and global importance, and the development and application of methods and approaches to incorporate sustainable development considerations into policies, decision-making processes and institutional practices at national, regional, and international levels.

The SEI and its predecessor organisation (Beijer Institute) have been engaged in energy and sustainable development projects around the world for a quarter of a century. The staff conducts and/or co-ordinates research and analysis, implementation and demonstration projects, capacity-building programmes and outreach activities. Historically, SEI has been studying the supply of energy services and developing global- and national-level methods for evaluating energy planning options. Analyses of energy technology implementation, technology transfer and environmental policy assessments have played an important role in the programme’s research. The Climate and Energy Resources Programme maintains strong links with energy and environment departments at universities and organisations in Europe, North and South America, as well as with many European and international organisations, including UNDP, UNEP, FAO and the multilateral banks. SEI employs around 80 research and support staff, working at several locations, and maintains its headquarters in Stockholm.

HUNGARY

Central European University (www.ceu.hu/envsci/)

The CEU was established in 1991 as a pan-regional university committed to promoting educational and academic development throughout the former socialist block of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (CEE). It seeks to contribute to the advancement of open societies in CEE by offering a system of postgraduate education in which ideas are creatively, critically, and comparatively examined. The CEU serves as an advanced centre of research and policy analysis and facilitates academic dialogue, while preparing its graduates to serve as the next generation of leaders and scholars in the region.

The Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy of CEU is uniquely positioned to be a Central European partner in the Consumer Choice and Carbon Consciousness for Electricity project for the following reasons: The Department is a centre of excellence for environmental scholarship, post-graduate education and training in CEE . The Department has been playing a key role in addressing the CEE regionâs environmental legacies on an academic and professional level. The Department comprises a core international faculty (representing CEE, the NIS, Western Europe and North America) of experts in natural and social sciences. Our faculty is engaged in policy-oriented research covering local, regional and global environmental and sustainable development problems.

The Department has a long and successful track-record of collaborating with leading international agencies on addressing environmental and related issues of the region, including serving as the UNEP's Collaborating Center in Central and Eastern Europe for the Global Environmental Outlook initiative.

In addition, the department and its faculty have been working on international research projects funded by, among others, the World Bank, EBRD, NATO, UNEP, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, the European Commission (SAVE, PHARE), Global Environment Facility (GEF), International Finance Corporation (IFC), The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, NOVEM, and private sponsors, including Dow Chemicals and Procter and Gamble.