Quantification of the carbon intensity of electricity produced and used in Europe

The EU has a comprehensive legislation to facilitate the energy transition towards a low carbon energy system and achieve the EU's Paris Agreement commitments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The European Green Deal is an integral part of the EU strategy for a sustainable and climate neutral economy by 2050. The decarbonisation of the power generation is essential to achieve the goal of decarbonising the energy and transport sectors. This paper presents a study conducted to quantify the carbon emissions associated to the production of electricity produced and used in European countries, based on a comprehensive methodology developed for this purpose. A spreadsheet model has been developed that considers the various sources for electricity generation, the type of plants, conversion efficiencies, upstream emissions and emissions from power plant construction, as well as the electricity trade. The results show the greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of electricity in all European countries, revealing significant variations between countries. The carbon intensity of electricity shows a clear reduction trend since 1990, for most of the European countries. In the European Union, carbon intensity of electricity used at low voltage degreased from 641 gCO2eq/kWh in 1990 to 334 gCO2eq/kWh in 2019, and this trend is expected to continue in the coming years

What is still limiting the deployment of cellulosic ethanol? Analysis of the current status of the sector

Ethanol production from cellulosic material is considered one of the most promising options for future biofuel production contributing to both the energy diversification and decarbonization of the transport sector, especially where electricity is not a viable option (e.g., aviation). Compared to conventional (or first generation) ethanol production from food and feed crops (mainly sugar and starch based crops), cellulosic (or second generation) ethanol provides better performance in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings and low risk of direct and indirect land-use change. However, despite the policy support (in terms of targets) and significant R&D funding in the last decade (both in EU and outside the EU), cellulosic ethanol production appears to be still limited. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the status of cellulosic ethanol production in EU and outside EU, reviewing available literature and highlighting technical and non-technical barriers that still limit its production at commercial scale. The review shows that the cellulosic ethanol sector appears to be still stagnating, characterized by technical difficulties as well as high production costs. Competitiveness issues, against standard starch based ethanol, are evident considering many commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plants appear to be currently in idle or on-hold states

Progress in estimates of ILUC with MIRAGE model

JRC started in 2012 a collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to carry out further work with the economic model MIRAGE used to calculate the ILUC emissions included in the Commission policy proposal COM(2012)595.. Results are expected to further reduce uncertainties in ILUC estimates. This work presents and discusses the results of new runs of MIRAGE model delivered to the JRC-IET. In particular, IFPRI was asked to: - Evaluate GHG emissions by crop groups (sugar, cereals and oil crops), maintaining the same model assumptions/parameters as in the previous analysis. - Make new runs of the MIRAGE economic model, with improved assumptions/parameters as suggested by the JRC The changes brought by IFPRI to their model raise the ILUC emissions compared to 2011 values, especially for EU ethanol.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

Historical deforestation due to expansion of crop demand: implications for biofuels

The report presents an independent estimate of the part of LUC emissions due to deforestation, starting from the 29% of historical deforestation area (and estimated emissions) caused by expansion of different crops. The deforestation area and emissions per tonne of extra crop are converted to emissions per MJ biofuel from that crop. The average global deforestation caused by increase in production of a crop or biofuel is estimated, making no geographical differentiation in where the extra demand occurs or where that would provoke deforestation. The source of historical deforestation data is a report published by DG ENV [EC 2013] which estimates which areas of forest were lost to different crops and to other land uses (grazing, logged forest, urban and others) between 1990 and 2008. It used historical deforestation data from FAO’s Forest Resource Assessment 2010, interpreted with other FAO data. The emissions are calculated only from deforestation and peat forest drainage, attributed to each MJ biofuel. This does not include emissions from the grassland area converted to cropland. This method gives an independent verification of the general magnitude of LUC area and emissions which should be expected from bottom-up models of LUC for scenarios, and the results indicate that historical LUC emissions were higher than those estimated by most economic models.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

岩盤クリープにより影響を受けた山地斜面の流出過程における岩盤地下水の役割と深層崩壊への影響

筑波大学 (University of Tsukuba)201

Sustainable Advanced Biofuel: Technology development report

This Sustainable Advanced Biofuel Technology Development 2018 presents an assessment of the state of the art, development trends, targets and needs, technological barriers, as well as techno-economic projections until 2050. Particular attention is paid to how EC funded projects contributed to technology advancements. It includes an overview of Member States' activities based on information from the relevant SET Plan Temporary Working Groups as well as the objectives and main outcomes of the most relevant international programmes.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Molecular characterization of acute myeloid leukemia by Next Generation Sequencing: identification of novel biomarkers and targets of personalized therapies

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematopoietic neoplasm that affects myeloid progenitor cells and it is one of the malignancies best studied by next generation sequencing (NGS), showing a highly heterogeneous genetic background. The aim of the study was to characterize the molecular landscape of 2 subgroups of AML patients carrying either chromosomal number alterations (i.e. aneuploidy) or rare fusion genes. We performed whole exome sequencing and we integrated the mutational data with transcriptomic and copy number analysis. We identified the cell cycle, the protein degradation, response to reactive oxygen species, energy metabolism and biosynthetic process as the pathways mostly targeted by alterations in aneuploid AML. Moreover, we identified a 3-gene expression signature including RAD50, PLK1 and CDC20 that characterize this subgroup. Taking advantage of RNA sequencing we aimed at the discovery of novel and rare gene fusions. We detected 9 rare chimeric transcripts, of which partner genes were transcription factors (ZEB2, BCL11B and MAFK) or tumor suppressors (SAV1 and PUF60) rarely translocated across cancer types. Moreover, we detected cryptic events hiding the loss of NF1 and WT1, two recurrently altered genes in AML. Finally, we explored the oncogenic potential of the ZEB2-BCL11B fusion, which revealed no transforming ability in vitro. However, further studies may elucidate its role in AML. Taken together, our results highlight the need for a deep molecular characterization of AML heterogeneity and identified potential biomarkers and targets for personalized therapies. Further studies will elucidate the role of these markers as drivers of leukemogenesis, prognostic factors and predictors of therapeutic response

Estimates of indirect land use change from biofuels based on historical data

ILUC emissions from biofuels are commonly estimated with sophisticated economic models of world agriculture. Because these are often complex, the JRC in collaboration with Overmars and PBL has evaluated and developed an alternative approach base on “historical” data. This approach gives simple and transparent estimates of ILUC emissions in recent years, even if the method is less rigorous in principle than estimates based on sophisticated economic models. ILUC emissions calculated by a methodology using historical data are generally in line with those of economic models, showing a lower impact of cereals and sugar crops compared to vegetable oils.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

Dinamiche del commercio internazionale dell'olio di oliva italiano: un'analisi prospettica

The paper analyses the dynamics of the Italian olive oil trade and gives a preliminary explanation of the opportunity in the international market. The paper starts showing the description of olive oil chain and production and underlining the main factors affecting the import export system. The aim of this work is to explain the magnitude of the trade flows for olive oil from Italy to its main importing countries. This objective has been reached by establishing an appropriate econometric model derived from an extended form of the “Gravity Model”. This model has been broadly applied to the analysis of international trade because it provides robust estimates. The results obtained and the model itself are useful in forecasting potential trends in the exportation of high quality Italian olive oil.Italian Olive Oil, Food-Trade, Gravity Models, Export Analysis, Q13, Q17, C20,