HELIO's Past Projects...

ASIA PRO ECO | PRO ECO CHINA | ENCOURAGED | MAXIMA

The Asia Pro ECO project aimed at addressing greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions reduction in China with the goal of promoting a healthier urban environment in China through capacity building. The project, Capacity Building On Business Opportunities for CDM Projects in China focused on capacity building through local industry stakeholders to encourage and facilitate the participation of private Chinese industry in the implementation of CDM. Activities were collaborative and involved local authorities and a local environmental NGO.

 The project aimed to:

• provide a delivery model for the facilitation of private industry participation in CDM implementation in China and other Asian contexts with similar needs; and,
• build the local capacity in CDM projects development.

Capacity building was done through the development of training materials, local delivery of training programmes, the creation of a CDM database of Project Idea Notes (PINs). Workshops and round tables were held to involve relevant stakeholders particularly targeted to private enterprises across different industry sectors.

The main resulted achieved were:

1. analysis of potential stakeholders and opportunities on carbon-trading and CDM project;

2. production of training material and implementation of CDM Capacity building activities, addressed to entrepreneurship (industrial) sectors;

3. creation of a carbon trading informational database on Project Idea Notes in China;

4. construction of an information platform addressed not only to promote project results but to further facilitate information exchange among carbon market operators;

5. development of a CDM Handbook addressed to carbon market; and,

6. promotional events(workshop and round tables) with relevant stakeholders (Chinese industrial representatives and potential EU and international buyers) particularly targeted to private and public enterprises across different industry sectors.

HELIO and PRO-ECO China

was carried out under the 6th European Commission's Framework programme.

This 24-month project assessed economically optimal energy corridors (electricity, natural gas and hydrogen), between EU and neighbouring countries and identified barriers and benefits. Policy measures for reaching a pan-European energy network were recommended.

Specifically the project:

1. assessed the economic optimal energy interconnections and network infrastructure for electricity, gas and hydrogen of EU with and through neighbouring regions (North Africa, Middle East and Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Iceland) connecting EU with key producers in next decades;
2. identified, quantified and evaluated the barriers and potential benefits of a large European "energy connected area; and,
3. recommended the necessary measures to be adopted to ensure, realise and implement these energy corridors. A final stakeholders conference was held to assure consensus among scientists, stakeholders and NGOs and to validate the results.

The map below shows the EU (in light brown). The arrows indicate existing and potential energy corridors in a Pan-European context.

HELIO and ENCOURAGED

HELIO's role was to ensure that the views and concerns of civil society were represented in the project.  We co-ordinated the participation of relevant NGOs in the project workshops and final conference. NGOs were also identified to attend specific meetings to contribute their expertise on key issues. The aim was to create an open dialogue between consumers and suppliers.

For more information on the project, click here.

was a European Union funded project that focused on making electricity external costs known to policy makers. The full title of the project was: Dissemintation of External Costs of Electricity Supply: making electricity external costs known to policy makers. This 18 month project (May 2004 - October 2005) produced an accepted scientific methodology for implementing electricity external costs into European policy and to provide a consensual set of external cost estimates. Participants in this project included representatives from the energy industry, policy and NGOs.

Why this project?

Environmental externalities of energy and transport are a problem in Europe because:

• the European energy market is experiencing increasing liberalization and integration
• much of the impact of pollution is imposed beyond national boundaries; and,
• environmental regulation in the energy and transport sectors take place at the European level.

HELIO and MAXIMA

HELIO's position is that some externalities that have potentially major impacts on the environment or on society are often ignored because they are not quantifiable in a straightforward manner.  Nevertheless these non-monetisable costs can and should be taken into account and their evaluation attempted using non-monetary techniques.

HELIO's involvement in MAXIMA was to ensure civil society input and participation by:

• identifying relevant NGOs to participate at meetings and workshops
• giving presentations from a civil society perspective on energy externalities, including non-monetisable costs.

Click here read HELIO's paper on non-monetisable costs (en francais cliquez-ici)

To read more about the MAXIMA project and to see workshop agendas and presentations.

For information about the European Union's work on energy externalities, click here.