Joint Research Centre - European Commission

JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
The European Commission's in-house science service
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Boosting scientific support to Danube strategy

From left to right: Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President of the European Commission, Slovak Prime Minister H.E. Robert Fico and JRC Director General Dominique Ristori

A high-level event in Bratislava, co-organised by the European Commission and the Government of the Slovak Republic, today launched six scientific clusters to support economic development in the Danube Region. The six clusters will focus on: water; land & soil; bio-energy; air; data exchange & harmonisation; and smart specialisation.

16/05/13 ExpandMore

New Emergency Response Centre inaugurated – JRC contributions

Group photo in front of monitors

The European Commission's central platform for disaster response, the Emergency Response Centre (ERC), was inaugurated today in Brussels on the occasion of the Civil Protection Forum, which aims to address the EU's increasing role in disaster management.

This new Centre relies extensively on three JRC platforms used for the forecast and monitoring of floods, fires, humanitarian natural disasters and tsunamis, as well as on the JRC's monitoring and analytical capabilities (ie: flash situation reports, map services…). The JRC also co-ordinates the Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service, which provides accurate geospatial information derived from satellite remote sensing which is completed by available in situ or open data sources.

 

15/05/13 ExpandMore

The water footprint of the EU for different diets

Pie chart

A recently published article, co-authored by a JRC scientist, explores potential solutions to the increasing competition for scarce global freshwater resources by analysing the water footprint of consumption (WFcons) for different diets in the EU28 (EU27 and Croatia). The article, published in Ecological Indicators, finds that reducing meat consumption could help make significant water footprint (WF) savings.

The water footprint concept links the use of water resources to the consumption of goods. The EU28 water footprint of consumption is defined as total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods consumed by its inhabitants.

10/05/13 ExpandMore

2013 GreenBuilding Awards: winners halve energy consumption

View of the entrance of the LWL museum of natural history

Energy-saving efforts in ten new and refurbished buildings in 6 European countries (Austria, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland, Denmark) have today been recognised with the European Commission's GreenBuilding Awards.

Buildings are responsible for about 40% of total energy consumption in the EU. The average energy savings of 51% achieved by the winners shows that real savings can be made in buildings, towards meeting the EU's targets for energy reduction. The highest energy savings (75%) came from a refurbished Austrian office building (Amtshaus Schlagergass), which installed a newly insulated roof, heat absorption glazed windows and dynamic shading devices.

 

08/05/13 ExpandMore

Open Day 2013 at JRC's Ispra site breaks previous record numbers

A group of visitors follow the explanations of a JRC scientist  about research on water quality

On Saturday, 4 May 2013, over 10 300 visitors followed the invitation to spend a day dedicated to science exploration and discovered how the European Commission's in-house science service helps to promote growth, jobs and innovation, a healthy and safe environment, consumer protection and secure energy supplies.

06/05/13 ExpandMore

Assessing Europe's potential pumped hydropower storage

Existing and potential capacity for a scenario of one existing water reservoir for selected EU and EFTA countries.

A JRC report assessing Europe's potential for pumped hydropower, the most used electricity storage, revealed that for a set of countries for which comparable data are available, the current storage capacity could be increased by up to 10 times when new plants are based on one existing reservoir. A larger capacity to store energy would allow a higher penetration of renewable energies and would support the EU's efforts to reach its goal of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020.

03/05/13 ExpandMore

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Publication Repository

The Publications Repository provides access to JRC research publications.

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