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Optimal scheduling and revamping plan of a battery storage subject to capacity degradation
No full textThe financial viability of merchant battery storage projects typically relies on the participation in electricity markets (e.g., wholesale day-ahead market), which entail repeated charging/discharging actions of the asset. This cyclic operation causes a degradation of the storage batteries and a reduction of the available energy capacity. The operation of the asset can be improved by considering revamping actions, where the energy capacity of the asset is restored by replacing the degraded cells with brand-new ones. However, these actions require a comprehensive modelling of different types of non-negligible costs and of important operating features. For an accurate maximization of the overall profit, it becomes extremely relevant to determine the optimal timing and sizing of these revamping actions. This paper develops a scheduling model for a utility-scale battery which co-optimize the asset’s optimal short-term market operation while providing the optimal long-term revamping policy to manage the energy capacity fade pursuant to cyclic charging/discharging actions. Specifically, the optimal choices concerning the revamping policy accurately account for three features. The first acknowledges both fixed and variable costs concerning the replacement of racks of cells. The second is the downtime of the asset during each revamping period, i.e. its inability to operate in energy markets while the revamping action is being carried out. Last, the proposed methodology allows to compare the residual economic value of worn cells with respect to the current market value of brand-new ones. Results indicate a high impact of the abovementioned features on the optimal selected revamping policy as well as on the actual total profit of the battery.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market
Assessment of the EU Ecolabel criteria for printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products
Get PDFThe Commission performed an assessment to verify the current suitability and relevance of EU Ecolabel criteria for printed paper, stationery paper, and paper carrier bag products in Commission Decision 2020/1803. The assessment concludes that the criteria for this product group are still up to date. However, the User Manual needs to be updated to clarify some unclear points according to the questionnaire feedback received from respondents. The analysis suggests that the established EU Ecolabel criteria should be revised in synergy with the development of ecodesign criteria in the framework of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). Although JRC recommendations for the first ESPR Working Plan excluded ‘Books and printed paper’ product group, main environmental impacts for paper were covered by the shortlisted intermediate product group Pulp, paper and board. Ecodesign criteria for the Commodity chemicals intermediate product group, which ranked second in the JRC recommendations, should also be considered. However, the first ESPR and Energy Labelling Working plan adopted and published in April 2025 has excluded both ‘pulp, paper and board’, and ‘chemicals’ for the period 2025-2030.
In this context, criteria for printed paper, stationery paper and paper carrier bag products should be revised based on the knowledge generated by the BREF for pulp, paper and board and by the BREF for surface treatment using organic solvents.
Since it is not known yet when both BREFs and ecodesign criteria will be developed neither for pulp, paper and board nor for chemicals related to the assessed product group, it is suggested to maintain the validity of the Commission Decision 2020/1803 as currently formulated until the expiration date on 31 December 2028.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Sustainable Industr
Security barrier performance assessment with numerical simulations using generic vehicle models
No full textVehicle security barriers preventing the entry of vehicles into pedestrian zones can effectively mitigate terrorist attacks by vehicle-ramming. The performance of barriers against vehicle impact can be certified through physical tests using real vehicles of given UNECE categories following ISO 22343 (2023). Due to a high cost, the number of performed crash-tests is very limited and cannot cover all impact scenarios of interest for the assessment of a barrier performance.
The use of numerical simulations seems to be the most appropriate way to enhance the physical testing approach, since they are more accurate than simple analytical methods and more cost efficient than experiments. Over the last decades, the automotive industry and associated research communities have developed efficient numerical simulations tools to analyse the vehicle impact, related to the passenger’s and vulnerable road users’ safety. With some adjustments, these simulations methods and tools can be directly transposed to the analyses of vehicle impacts on security barriers.
The numerical vehicle models used for passengers’ safety are far too detailed and too specific than needed for vehicle ramming applications. Namely, in our domain of interest, the objective of the simulation is to assess the performance of a barrier not a passenger safety. In addition, a barrier’s performance needs to be assessed for an entire category of vehicles, not for one specific vehicle.
Therefore, for simulating vehicle impacts on security barriers several generic vehicle models have been developed to represent vehicles of a broad range of categories (from 3.5t to 30t trucks). These models are generic in the sense that they do not represent a specific vehicle brand, but are representative of one specific category among those defined by the standard ISO 22343. In addition, they are adjustable through a set of parameters, so that their properties could fit to various vehicle configurations. In particular, the mass of the vehicle, including its distribution, the main vehicle dimensions (length, width, etc.) and mechanical characteristics related to the crash behaviour can be varied.
In this communication, several numerical simulations using the generic vehicle models are presented. Model validation with experimental results and sensitivity analyses of vehicle characteristics and impact configurations are discussed. It is shown that there are several crucial vehicle properties, which can significantly influence the crash behaviour and therefore the load on a security barrier subjected to an impact.JRC.E.4 - Transport and Border Securit
Regional resilience in the era of climate change and digitalization
Get PDFThe impacts of the green and the digital transitions on the regional economic structure of the European Union are of paramount importance and have been at the forefront of the recent policy discussions. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion by developing a composite indicator to assess the overall risks imposed by the twin transition on the EU’s NUTS2 regions. The indicator focuses on two key aspects: the regions’ vulnerabilities and their readiness to adapt to the challenges of the transition. The risk index highlights the large degree of heterogeneity in terms of the risk imposed by the transition process, with the less-developed regions emerging as the most vulnerable.JRC.B.7 - Innovation Policies and Economic Impac
25 years of research and regulation: Is nanotechnology safe to commercialize?
No full textThis paper examines the global communities’ regulatory and scientific advancements in nanotechnology and nanomaterials since 2000. It explores some similarities and differences in nanomaterial safety compared to general chemical safety. The paper provides an overview of the encountered challenges and how far they have been resolved, as well as information on how different countries’ legislators have addressed nanomaterials, including safety assessment in (new) legislation. Challenges arose due to the unique physico-chemical properties of some nanomaterials and included the lack of i) a regulatory definition, ii) applicable regulatory test methods, including methods for physico-chemical characterization and for ecotoxicological effects, as well as sample preparation and dosimetry, iii) assessment and modelling of human, especially occupational, and environmental exposure to nanomaterials, iv) quantification of nanomaterial in complex media, v) systems for collecting the data generated and ensuring FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and quality data, vi) reference nanomaterials, and vii) a frame for nanotechnology governance. The paper highlights the role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in building a global, regulatory understanding of nanotechnology and nanomaterials, as well as the OECD’s achievements of developing nanospecific test guidelines. The paper identifies areas, such as alternative test methods, availability of reference nanomaterials, comparable data and FAIR data, analytical tools for quantifying nanomaterials in (complex) matrices that are still under-addressed. It gives a wider perspective of Governance of Advanced Materials including nanomaterials, also illustrated by carbon nanotubes used in batteries for electric vehicles, to also aid their commercialization. In the EU, the policy context is moving towards a holistic governance approach embracing sustainability dimensions.JRC.F.2 - Technologies for Healt
Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards | Summer Read 2025
Get PDFThe biannual newsletter of the Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards (JRC-COIN)JRC.S.3 - Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluatio
Aligning intermediate climate targets with long-term decarbonisation ambition
No full textThe new submission round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement presents a critical opportunity to enhance the credibility and feasibility of national decarbonisation pathways. By better aligning mid- and long-term targets, countries can reduce inconsistencies in emissions trajectories and strengthen the foundation for achieving long-term goals. Drawing on the experience of the European Union’s 2030 and 2040 intermediate emission targets, we highlight key considerations for setting milestones towards mid-century net-zero goals.JRC.C.6 - Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor
The EU Blue Economy Report 2025
Get PDFThe Report provides the reader with an analysis of the socio-economic performance, trends and drivers of the Blue Economy sectors. Complementing the content of this Report, the online EU Blue Economy Observatory provides more timely and in-depth updates of relevant Blue Economy developments per economic sector and Member State. According to the official figures for 2022, the established sectors of the EU Blue Economy directly employed close to 4.82 million people, generated about EUR 890.6 billion in turnover and EUR 250.7 billion in gross value added. Furthermore, the estimates suggest that the EU Blue Economy sectors continued to grow in 2023, contributing EUR 263 billion to the EU GVA and employing 4.88 million persons.JRC.D.2 - Ocean and Wate
The impact of access to agricultural advisory services on input use and farm performance: Evidence from Senegal
No full textPerformant agricultural advisory services (AAS) in Africa are crucial for improving the agricultural productivity and food security of the farm households. Yet, evidence-based study on the impacts of AAS on farm performance are scarce, especially in West African countries. This study evaluates the impact of access to AAS on input use and farm performance in Senegal, employing the instrumental variable and control function approaches accounting for selection bias. The approaches are also employed to several sub-samples to see if the impacts are heterogeneous across crop types and fertilizer use, and matching techniques are applied to test the robustness of the results. Results show that the highest positive impact of AAS is on yield, while the impacts on gross margin and improved seeds uptake are very modest. Access to AAS has no effect on fertilizer uptake. It also finds that AAS impacts positively cereal production and farmers using no fertilizer but has no effect on the legume and horticultural crop production and on farmers using fertilizer. Given the Senegalese government and donors have put a lot of effort into developing an efficient AAS system, a consideration of the identified weaknesses is required to improve its efficiency.JRC.D.4 - Economics of the Food Syste
How to implement locational criteria in renewable auctions
Get PDFIntroducing locational criteria to renewable auctions leads to more renewable energy integrated into the grid, less redispatch and lower consumer costs. The impact of location can be evaluated using standard modelling tools: A grid model-ling exercise is sufficient to derive the system contribution of a given renewable project. Points can then be awarded by group-ing candidate projects based on their benefit to the system. To ensure a robust evaluation of the locational criterion, the grid modelling exercise should ideally take place at European level, cover several decades of climate data, as well as a time span that covers considers the entire lifetime of the assets in question. Transparency and competition are key to maximize the benefits from locational renewable auctions. Calculated locational impact should be published early, before the auction takes place. In this way project developers know where to build to win the auction. At the same time, this ensures that renewables are being developed where they benefit the system most.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market