The declared end of South Stream and why nobody seems to care. CEPS Commentary, 5 December 2014

More than seven years after the South Stream pipeline project was first announced in June 2007, it finally seems to have been dropped by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on his visit to Turkey this week. This CEPS Commentary looks at the ostensible reasons for President Putin’s decision as well as on what’s potentially behind them. It concludes that the EU may actually benefit from this decision in being able to secure more gas with less political interference from Russia

The Circular Economy: A review of definitions, processes and impacts. CEPS Research Report No 2017/8, April 2017

Transforming the linear economy, which has remained the dominant model since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, into a circular one is by no means an easy task. Such a radical change entails a major transformation of our current production and consumption patterns, which in turn will have a significant impact on the economy, the environment and society. Understanding these impacts is crucial for researchers as well as for policy-makers engaged in designing future policies in the field. This requires developing an in-depth knowledge of the concept of the circular economy, its processes and their expected effects on sectors and value chains. This paper reviews the growing literature on the circular economy with the aim of improving our understanding of the concept as well as its various dimensions and expected impacts. On the basis of this review, it attempts to map the processes involved and their application in different sectors. The paper suggests that research on the circular economy is currently fragmented across various disciplines and there are often different perspectives and interpretations of the concept and the related aspects that need to be assessed. This fragmentation is also evident in the available studies that adopt different approaches in calculating the impacts, which makes efforts at comparing the results from different sources very challenging. Finally, this paper suggests that there is limited information on the indirect effects on the economy (e.g. impacts on the value chain and/or changes in consumption spending patterns) as well as the social impacts of the circular economy transition

The Interplay between the Circular Economy and the European Semester: An assessment. CEPS Research Report No. 2017/16, December 2017

The European Semester is the European Union’s annual cycle of economic policy guidance and oversight. Although monitoring the achievement of Europe 2020 Strategy targets, some of which focus on energy and climate change, is among the key actions of the European Semester, the reviewers so far have concentrated on economic policies in the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis. The circular economy is currently part of the European Commission’s agenda for jobs, growth and investment, which are important themes of the Semester. Against this background, this paper assesses the extent to which the European Semester genuinely takes the circular economy into account in its review process. Based on a close examination of the 2017 cycle of the Semester and interviews with experts in the field, our analysis shows that the exercise has devoted limited attention to the circular economy. Several explanations are offered for this situation, along with recommendations for the way forward

Fast simulation of a flat cross wedge rolling process

In this paper, a new approach for a Fast Simulation of flat cross wedge rolling processes is presented. The approach is based on a preliminary research project of the Institute of Forming Technology and Machines (IFUM) of the Leibniz Universität Hannover, in which a software prototype for a Fast Simulation of a radial-axial ring rolling process was developed. Both simulations are based on geometric-kinematic models that allow a faster calculation of the material flow compared to the Finite Element-simulation (FE-simulation). The goal of the Fast Simulation for the flat cross wedge process is to support the designer in the challenging design phase of the flat cross wedge tool as well as in the planning phase of the process parameters. In this phase it shall be easier in future to determine the best geometric parameters for the design of flat cross wedge tools, to attain the necessary material flow and geometry, before starting with the first FE-simulation. With this preliminary information from the Fast Simulation it will be possible to reduce the number of iteration loops for the time-consuming FE-simulations of incremental forming processes

Production, Bonding and Application of Metal Matrix Composite Hot Forging Tool Components

Metal matrix composite materials are of high interest for their increased stiffness, strength or wear resistance. Wear resistant composites contain hard ceramic particles to reduce microcutting and grooving of the metal matrix surface. In this paper, a gas atomised hot work tool steel X40CrMoV5-1 (1.2344/AISI H13) was combined with fused tungsten carbide (FTC) particles in order to create forging tools with increased abrasive wear resistance. For that purpose, tool components were manufactured by sinter-forging of stacked powder layers to build up a graded hard phase concentration of up to 10 vol.-%. Subsequently, sinter-forged specimens were combined with basic hot work tool steel components and joined by diffusion bonding to assemble the complete tool. In order to evaluate their performance, the tools were examined in a hot backward can extrusion process of low-alloyed steel. Optical geometry measurements, light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy of the worn tool radii indicated a significant decrease in abrasive wear when using FTC-reinforced tools rather than conventional hardened tool steel

Measuring progress in eco-innovation. CEPS Working Document No. 409/June 2015

Eco-innovation has been identified as one of the key drivers of change that need to be harnessed for a sustainable future. Given the complexity of eco-innovation as a concept, there are various challenges to measuring its progress. This paper briefly explores the evolution of the concept of eco-innovation and emphasises its role in the EU 2020 strategy. It then provides an overview of the different measurement approaches and challenges associated with identifying and using indicators for measuring progress in eco-innovation. Within this context, the paper describes the added value and key features of the www.measuring-progress.eu web tool, which aims to improve the way in which policy-makers and others involved in the policy process can access, understand and use indicators for green economy and eco-innovation. The web tool was developed on the basis of a systematic overview by the NETGREEN research team of the large and fragmented body of work in the field of green economy indicators. The paper concludes with a number of messages for policy-makers in the field of the green economy

A Roadmap to Enhanced Regional Energy Policy: Cooperation in South East Europe. CEPS Special Report, No. 134/April 2016

Regional Energy Policy Cooperation has now gained political traction in the EU as a tool to advance the EU’s energy objectives. Cooperation and coordination is meant to facilitate the convergence of markets and policies, so while the creation of one EU Internal Energy Market remains the goal, regional cooperation is the tool with which to achieve that goal. Cooperation could become the stepping-stone towards the completion of the Internal Energy Market within the European 2030 climate and energy framework and beyond

Understanding the Circular Economy in Europe, from Resource Efficiency to Sharing Platforms: The CEPS Framework. CEPS Special Report No. 143 / July 2016

This paper aims to rethink the concept of the ‘circular economy’ through the prism of its relevance to its many stakeholders, ranging from public and private actors and mature and emerging industries to cities and regions, SMEs and multi‐sectoral corporations. The paper presents a schematic framework, which breaks down the circular economy into eight fundamental building blocks and shows how they are interconnected in relation to the multiplicity of involved actors. The framework is used to develop recommendations addressed to European policy‐makers on how best to support the transition towards a circular economy in the EU. 

Resource Efficiency Indicators for Policy-Making. CEPS Working Document No. 415/November 2015

In the EU, resource efficiency has been high on the political agenda since 2011, when the European Commission first included it as one of the seven flagship initiatives in its Europe 2020 Strategy for “smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”. Resource efficiency is not only considered an environmental necessity, but also a political, economic and security opportunity. This paper first stresses the benefits and opportunities for the EU of improving its resource efficiency. It then explains the added value of the www.measuring-progress.eu web tool, which aims to improve the way policy-makers and others involved in the policy process can access, understand and use indicators for resource efficiency. It provides practical examples of relevant indicators in the form of the EU Resource Efficiency Scoreboard and a case study showing how the web tool established by NETGREEN can be used in practice. The paper concludes with a number of policy messages