The international conference on Renewable Energy Self-Sufficiency (RESS), a relatively new scientific field, took place from 14 to 16 September in Freiburg. Organised by the University of Freiburg, the conference attracted scientists and academically interested practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines who are working towards comprehensive strategies to increase the proportion of renewable energies in energy systems. Timo Kaphengst, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, was invited for a key note speech on some of the fundamental questions related to Renewable Energy Self-Sufficiency. The presentation is available for download.

At the International Water Association's Symposium on Anaerobic Digestion of Solid Waste and Energy Crops, Dr. Wolfgang Urban (Ecologic Institute) shared insights into "Experience and Future Perspectives of Biomethane in the Natural Gas Grid in Germany". After presenting the legal framework and economic circumstances of biogas feed-in, he outlined future challenges and introduced selected biogas feed-in projects in Germany. The presentation slides are available for download.

Ecologic Institute hosted the fourth green salon of the American Voices Abroad on the 16^th of August 2011. Three introductory presentations by Lucas Porsch, Tanja Srebotnjak and Rich Rosen on the need for and the challenges of Beyond GDP indicators triggered a lively discussion on the information needs of policy makers that aim at sustainability. To this end, important similarities and differences were examined in the attitudes to welfare measurement in Europe and the US.


<p>On 11 July 2011, Max Grünig, Fellow at the Ecologic Institute, delivered a presentation on the transportation sector: possibilities for substitution and elasticity of demand in mineral oil consumption at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).</p>&#13;

This event was the third stakeholder workshop of the FP7 project IN-STREAM and was organised by the Ecologic Institute Berlin and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP). The focus of this workshop was green growth and green innovation and it brought together experts, statisticians, policy makers and representatives of civil society organisations to discuss and share experiences on how to improve the use of indicators to assess the progresses on economic and sustainability goals. The presentations are available for download.&#13;

At the 2011 Alumni Conference of Lund University’s Master’s Program of International Environmental Science (LUMES) in Lund (Sweden), Elena von Sperber presented and discussed the results of the CALAMAR project, a transatlantic dialogue on marine governance lead by Ecologic Institute, which was concluded in June 2011.

During the VDI conference "Biogas 2011" Dominik Müller and Dr. Wolfgang Urban of the Ecologic Institute spoke on the experiences with the German law to promote renewable energies (EEG) and its imminent revision. They presented the premises of the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the planned substantial changes in the EEG. They also reported on the monitoring results. The presentation slides and script are available for download.

During the European Biomass Conference 2011, Dr. Wolfgang Urban (Ecologic Institut) delivered a presentation on biomethane. From the German government's perspective, he described political goals, especially the Energy Concept 2050. In addition he explained how biomethane could contribute to achieving these aims and to climate protection in general. The presentation slides are available for download.

<p>&#13; Andrew Reid, Transatlantic Fellow at Ecologic Institute, presented the results of the project Cooperation Across the Atlantic for Marine Governance Integration (CALAMAR) to decision-makers, scientists and other maritime stakeholders at the 2011 European Maritime Day in Gdansk (Poland). Examining opportunities for EU/US cooperation on maritime governance, the project was presented as part of a panel on strategies for strengthening maritime clusters in the Atlantic region.</p>

As part of the workshop "Biogas Feed-In", organized by Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Ecologic Institute's Wolfgang Urban gave a speech about "The Legal Framework - Instruments for the Efficient Use of Biomethan". The presentation dealt with political aims regarding renewable energies, results of the monitoring of the Renewable Energies Act and marketing prospects of biomethan. The presentation slides are available for download.

<p>&#13; At the conference on "Water and Climate Change in the MENA-Region", organised by GIZ and BMZ, Rodrigo Vidaurre, Researcher at Ecologic Institute, held a presentation on policies that address the link between human security, water conflicts, and Climate Change. Jennifer Möller-Gulland, Researcher at Ecologic Institute, held a further presentation on innovative benefit assessment methodologies to assess quantitative and monetary benefits from improved water resources use.</p>&#13;