10 May 2011: The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has released its Annual Report for 2010, which provides an overview of the activities, accomplishments and resources related to the JRC’s work carried out during 2010, including figures on staff, budget and publications.

The report presents highlights of the JRC’s work in different areas, such as energy, safety of food and consumer products, open and competitive economy or sustainable management of natural resources. It also presents the JRC mission and its implementation, the scientific activities and external relations, as well as the JRC input to the various stages of the EU policy cycle.

Highlights on climate change and related issues include: verification of European methane emissions based on atmospheric monitoring and inverse modeling; a workshop on climate information services needed to deliver decision relevant information on climate change to policy makers; and reports on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in maritime transport and from permafrost soils in the circumpolar region.

Activities under the thematic area “development of a low carbon society” focused, among other issues, on photovoltaic standards, development of a pan-European infrastructure for carbon capture and storage; assessment of indirect land use emissions, and emission legislation for alternative fuels.

The report also features a number of activities relating to renewable energy, such as smart grids, sustainable biofuels and the Photovoltaic Status Report. [JRC Press Release][Publication: Joint Research Centre – Annual Report 2010]