Here and there

There are some good news briefs on sustainable energy topics this week.

Industrial Insulation

EiD reported on a recent roundtable on industrial insulation organised by the European Industrial Insulation Forum. Videos of the main statements are now available here.

New reports from European Environment Agency

• Global megatrends shaping Europe’s environment – Surging economic growth in many emerging economies is increasing global competition for resources and the burden on natural systems. The EEA is analysing these changes and their implications for Europe’s environment in an updated assessment of ‘global megatrends’. Information is available here.

• Status of black carbon monitoring in ambient air in Europe – This report provides a summary of black carbon (BC) definitions as discussed in the air quality monitoring community. Secondly, it provides a summary of the current status of BC-related monitoring in Europe. Information presented in the report includes an overview of available measurement techniques and associated technical issues, monitoring networks and current data reporting practices. Information on the technical report is available here.

New reports from the International Institute for Sustainable Development

The IISD offers two recent publications that try to guide policy makers in conceiving and implementing green industrial policy:

• Industrial Policy for a Green Economy (by Johannes Schwarzer). This report does a thorough job of distilling the lessons of the history of industrial policy, both positive and negative, and applying them to the new field of green industrial policy.

• Green Industrial Policy and the World Trading System (by Aaron Cosbey). This brief starts from the inherent tension between industrial policy and international trade and investment law, asking whether there is anything special about green industrial policy, and whether it warrants special treatment under trade rules.

new report from eceee

The European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy published its new Steering Through The Maze report entitled, Understanding the Energy Efficiency Directive.  The report provides a simple summary of the Directive’s contents for those unfamiliar with  details. The guide is complemented by a new FAQ section on the Directive on eceee’s web site.  Information on the report and FAQs is available on the eceee website.