myEcoCost - a Revolution for Environmental Accounting
A global software system for accounting product-related environmental data is developed
Today's problems of data availability and quality in life cycle assessment and other environmental analyses hinder evidence based policy decisions as much as green business management and sustainable consumer decision making. The innovative software system "myEcoCost" provides a mechanism to bridge this gap by calculating and communicating environmental and resource consumption data of products and services, individually for each product, covering its global value chains in real time.
With myEcoCost it is possible to build a global network of environmental cost accounting nodes, which efficiently process and communicate the environmentally relevant data throughout the value chain of a product. The system works in a highly automated way with the logic of financial accounting. Therefore it provides the basis of a new innovative environmental cost accounting for businesses and households. myEcoCost has been designed as concept and software prototype by a research consortium in a European research project of the same name, funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7) with a budget of 3.8 million EUR. The prototype of the system was developed and tested in close collaboration with large and small companies.
The results of the three-year project will be presented today at a meeting of a cluster of European FP7 projects dedicated to resource efficiency in Brussels. The one-day event is organized by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation), with the purpose of sharing the results achieved by the different consortia and discussing future potential synergies among the members of the cluster. A brochure with an overview of myEcoCost and its potential contributions in plain language and additional information are available for free download from the project homepage at www.myecocost.eu.
The Wuppertal Institute has contributed to the myEcoCost project, in particular to the development of the resource accounting framework and methods. It coordinated the work of the Project Advisory Board and the dissemination of project results.
Press release by Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Responsible: Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind, President
Contact: Dorle Riechert, Public Relations
Tel. +49 202 2492-180, Fax +49 202 2492-108
E-mail: dorle.riechert@wupperinst.org