Does the EU renewable energy sector still need a guarantees of origin market? CEPS Policy Insights No 2017/25, June 2017

The European Commission’s Renewable Energy Directive of 2001 mandated EU member states to develop a system for the guarantees of origin (GOs) of renewable electricity. In 2016, this market had an estimated value of €120 million per year across the EU, of which €100 million was income for generators of renewable electricity. Yet the GO system has been criticised for lacking environmental credibility and having little impact. The current legislation of the GO instrument leads to an oversupplied GO market and a double-counting problem. This enables suppliers who want to launch renewable electricity products, and corporations seeking to make their electricity demand more renewable, to do so in a legally correct and cheap but environmentally questionable way, which leads to little or no extra generation of renewable electricity. The author argues that well-designed reforms could address these weaknesses and provide additional, consumer-driven income streams to help realise new renewable energy projects in the future. He proposes a number of recommendations for action

Should all producers of renewable energy automatically receive GOs? CEPS Commentary, 12 March 2018

In this contribution, Jaap Jensen finds that the practice of automatically issuing guarantees of origin (GOs) to all producers of renewable energy undermines EU energy and climate objectives

Development of a Capacitive Mems RF Power Sensor Without Dissipative Losses: Towards a New Philosophy of RF Power Sensing

The development of a novel radio frequency (RF) power sensor is presented based on capacitive micro electromechanical system (MEMS) technology, in which the signal is barely disturbed during the power measurement. Results of the first prototypes and improvements for the second generation of RF power sensors are given\ud \u

Radio frequency power sensor based on MEMS technology

We present the first measurement results of a power sensor for radio frequency (rf) signals (50 kHz - 40 GHz) with almost no dissipation during the measurement. This sensor is, therefore, a 'through' power sensor, that means that the rf signal is available during the measurement of its power. The power detection has been realized by measuring capacitively the movement of a grounded aluminum membrane, which is suspended above the transmission line carrying the rf signal. The power sensor is thus a capacitive MEMS technology based sensor. The fabrication is done by aluminum surface micromachining on an AF45 glass wafer. We measured the capacitance as a function of the applied rf power and found a linear relationship as predicted from theory

Improving the Market for Flexibility in the Electricity Sector. Report of a CEPS Task Force. CEPS Task Force Report

Electricity will play a greater role in the transport and building sectors and all decarbonisation scenarios point to the increasing electrification of the energy system. To reach EU climate change targets, however, electricity will need to come increasingly from low carbon sources, especially (but not only) from variable renewable energy sources. Both trends − the electrification of sectors and the need to integrate electricity from variable renewables − mean that the electricity sector should become more flexible. This report reflects the discussions held in the CEPS Energy Climate House Task Force on Creating a Market Design for Flexibility in EU Electricity Markets, which met between April and September 2017. The Task Force formulated a number of recommendations in the areas of short-term and balancing markets; grid reinforcement and cross-zonal capacity allocation; aggregation; priority dispatch; DSOs (distribution system operators); and sectoral integration

Longstanding Adduction-related Groin Pain in Athletes

Although participation in sports is considered important by the Dutch government, it does increase the risk for musculoskeletal injury. Every year, about 3,500,000 sports injuries occur in the Netherlands (Schmikli et al., 2004). In this thesis, emphasis is placed on sports-related groin injuries. The incidence of groin injuries is estimated at 5% to 18% of all reported athletic injuries (Morelli & Smith, 2001). However, these data should be interpreted with caution as no universal standards are currently available for the definition or classification of groin injury. In contrast with the knee, the groin does not refer to a well-defined specific anatomic structure. It merely refers to a vaguely described anatomical area of the proximal upper leg, reproductive organs and the lower abdominal region. In the Dutch injury registration system (IPAN) (Schmikli et al., 2004; 2009), the groin region is mentioned as part of the upper-leg/hip region and, therefore, there are no accurate estimations of the different kinds of groin injuries among the Dutch population. Groin injuries are relatively common in the type of sports requiring lots of turning, accelerations and decelerations such as soccer, field hockey and tennis, as well as in sports with high-intensity hip abduction such as speed skating and ice hockey. In the Netherlands, with 930,000 active soccer athletes and 431,000 injuries each year, indoor and outdoor soccer make a large contribution to the total number of groin injuries. It is know that males are more likely to have a groin injury than females (Hägglund et al., 2009), and that 10% to 18% of all injuries in male soccer are attributed to groin injuries (Nielsen and Yde, 1989). In Dutch professional soccer, about 9% of all injuries are groin injuries (Stege et al., 2008). A groin injury is likely to result in long-term play loss (Renstrom & Peterson, 1980). In addition, previous groin injury is known to significantly increase the risk for recurrences (Maffey & Emery, 2007)

Human Resource Management and Performance

The relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) and performance of the firm has been a hot debated topic in the field of HRM/IR for the last decade. Most scientific research on this topic originates from the USA. In our paper we will give an overview of recent USA-based research outcomes as a frame of reference for presenting recent findings from the Netherlands in this respect. These Dutch findings are interesting and contrasting USA-based approaches because they reflect the Western-European model for industrial relations or the so-called Rhineland model. A model in which legislation, institutions and stakeholders like workscouncils and trade unions play an important role in shaping HRM policies and practices. So the very often proclaimed relationship between corporate strategies, aligned HRM policies and their subsequent effect on performance is in a Dutch setting mitigated by institutions and stakeholders inside and outside the organization

Startbekwaam Afstuderen in het Hbo

Jansen, J. (2015).Startbekwaam Afstuderen in het Hbo. Juli, 24, 2015, Heerlen, Nederland: Open UniversiteitBinnen de maatschappij is er een levendige discussie over wat studenten na het afstuderen in het Hbo moeten kennen en kunnen. Door grotere en kleinere incidenten bij het verlenen van diploma’s aan bachelors is deze kwaliteitsdiscussie binnen onderwijsorganisaties, politiek en toezichthoudende instanties in volle gang. De politiek heeft allerlei toezichthoudende en controlemaatregelen genomen om het afstudeerniveau binnen het Hbo te garanderen. Onderwijsorganisaties zoeken naar het protocolleren van onderwijsprocessen om grip op de gewenste kwaliteit te krijgen. Toezichthoudende instanties proberen door transparante procedures opleidingen te helpen bij het realiseren van een eenduidig onderwijsprogramma met een verantwoord eindniveau. Het protocol ‘Afstuderen’ van de Vereniging Hogescholen en waarde- oriëntaties die de perceptie sturen vanuit diverse rollen vormen belangrijke vertrekpunten van deze thesis. Dit kwalitatief vergelijkend onderzoek poogt een antwoord te geven op de centrale vraag: Wat zijn verschillen en overeenkomsten in de percepties van docenten en managers van twee Hbo-opleidingen Communicatie en medewerkers van accrediterende instanties en een beroepsvereniging op de startbekwaamheid van studenten op het afstudeerprogramma? Het veldonderzoek richtte zich op het onderzoeken van de verschillen en overeenkomsten in percepties tussen de 18 participanten van twee Hbo-communicatieopleidingen en van externe validerende- en beroepsinstanties. De participanten zijn select gekozen op basis van hun kennis en ervaring met afstudeerprogramma’s binnen Hbo communicatie-opleidingen en daarbuiten. Het betreffen tien docenten en vier managers van Fontys en Inholland Communicatieopleidingen. Daarnaast zijn twee auditeurs van NVAO en Hobéon en twee vertegenwoordigers van Logeion (Beroepsvereniging Communicatie) bij het onderzoek betrokken. In dit onderzoek zijn drie meetinstrumenten gebruikt. Ten eerste de vragenlijst ‘protocol afstuderen’ (Expertgroep Protocol, 2014), deze vragenlijst is alleen door de docenten en managers ingevuld. De vragenlijst ‘belangrijkheid en haalbaarheid’ is aan alle participanten voorgelegd. De Q-sort voor het clusteren van percepties is ook door alle participanten gedaan. Uit de resultaten blijken dat er verschillen en overeenkomsten zijn tussen de percepties op afstuderen, startbekwaamheid en implementatie van het protocol afstuderen. Waardeoriëntaties, organisatiecontexten en rollen, welke de perceptie sturen, blijken in de resultaten significante verschillen op te leveren. Overeenkomsten worden vooral gevonden op gemeenschappelijke uitgangspunten over goed afstuderen binnen het Hbo