| 1. |
- Fernqvist, Niklas, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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District heating as a flexibility service: Challenges in sector coupling for increased solar and wind power production in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 172
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With expanding solar and wind power production, the topic of flexibility services attracts increased attention in the Swedish energy system. In this context, the potentials in using thermal storage capacities in district heating (DH) systems have been brought forward, primarily by academic scholars. Using a ‘grounded’ approach, this study investigates if professionals assigned to Swedish DH companies and electricity distribution system operators utilise, or plan to utilise, DH systems as flexibility services for the electricity grid. Original data was collected through semi-structured interviews, held with fourteen individuals affiliated to different actors in the Swedish energy system. These individuals were identified as being experts, or practically engaged, in using DH utilities as flexibility services for the electricity grid. The findings show that although technologies for coupling between DH systems and the electricity grid are already in place, initiatives for using DH systems as flexibility services for the electricity system are rare in Sweden. Coupling challenges stem from ownership and operation legislation frameworks, marginal incentives and a widespread focus on firm benefits rather than energy systems benefits. Identified initiatives for using DH systems for flexibility services are primarily run on a local scale, designed and propelled by small groups of engaged individuals.
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| 2. |
- Fernqvist, Niklas, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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Entrepreneurial Sustainability Engagement of Insiders Initiating Energy System Transition
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050 .- 1548-7733. ; 13:2, s. 1-16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The central point in this article is that energy system transition can be initiated by a team of individuals interacting entrepreneurially beyond their different home-grounds in business, research, or regional development. Such entrepreneurial engagement of insiders with belongings to an established socio-technical system has not been captured in prevalent sustainability transitions or entrepreneurship perspectives. Insiders have mostly been expected to act within (and not outside)of their role expectations. This study investigates who individuals initiating energy transition are, what motives they have, and how they accomplish institutional change. The purpose is to qualify a perspective that can help us better appreciate how transitions, such as in energy systems, can be initiated. The new perspective recognizes the importance of insiders, their personal sustainability beliefs, their choice to teamwork entrepreneurially, and their narratives about the initiative affecting institutional change. It explains how transition in a heavily regulated Swedish energy system can occur. Implications are drawn for research, policy and entrepreneurial teamwork.
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| 3. |
- Fernqvist, Niklas, 1973
(författare)
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Inside out: Individuals’ sustainability engagement in energy system transition
- 2021
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sustainability transitions research has been criticised for being mostly on the system level. To the extent individuals have been recognised, they have mostly been acting in so called niche initiatives, as entrepreneurs, grassroot innovators or users. Not much attention has been paid to individuals connected to established organisations, here called insiders. Through case studies in three different settings, this thesis shows that insiders, who actively and independently choose to engage in sustainability initiatives, can be key enablers of an energy system transition. Engaged insiders, contextualise the value of a sustainability initiative through adding to a new narrative and attracting others to join the narrative. Three contexts in which insiders can choose to engage are introduced and explained: outreach engagement, entrepreneurial engagement and job engagement. Assisted by theories from social psychology, it is also explained why sustainability engagement sometimes does not occur when expected. The main contribution of this thesis is that individuals can choose to engage in a sustainability transition in different contexts in and beyond their organisational home grounds. These individuals are important to see and appreciate if we want to better understand how sustainability transitions are achieved.
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| 4. |
- Fernqvist, Niklas, 1973, et al.
(författare)
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It's all about the functionality: Psychological determinants of acceptance of energy efficient water taps in freshwater abundant urban areas
- 2021
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Ingår i: Energy and Climate Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 2666-2787. ; 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Global climate changes will intensify the competition for fresh water. Technologies for reducing household tap water consumption may be an effective measure for sustainable water consumption. However, such technologies may come with a potential perceived reduction in comfort. This field study thus examines whether and how tenants, who live in apartments in water abundant areas and have a standard cost for water included in their rent, accept reduction in tap-water comfort over a six-month period of technology familiarisation, A repeated questionnaire study (n = 38) was conducted to mesasure changes in acceptance and perceived functionality of water efficient faucets over time. We also tested to what extent motivational factors posited by the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory accounted for acceptance of hands-on experiences in the early-stage of familiarisation. Unlike the familiarisation hypothesis, our results show decreased acceptance for bathroom and kitchen faucets mediated by impaired perceived functionalities (in flow and temperature). No such changes were observed for shower faucets. Moreover, while the casual chain hypothesised by the VBN theory (i.e., moving from values to awareness of consequences to a personal norm of water conservation) is shown to account for acceptance, no ascription of responsibility is disclosed. Overreliance and boundary conditions for familiarisation effects are discussed.
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| 5. |
- Fernqvist, Niklas
(författare)
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Värdeskapande affärer : Företagens entreprenöriella egenskaper och dess påverkan på det teknologiska innovationssystemet
- 2021
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Inför storskaliga teknikskiften krävs omfattande tekniska och sociala omställningar,inte minst inom den etablerade industrin. Resultaten från det härforskningsprojektet visar att individer inom etablerade energiföretag utgör enmycket viktigare funktion för omställningen av det svenska energisystemet än vadsom tidigare varit känt. I fallstudier visas att individer inom etableradeenergiföretag aktivt och självständigt kan välja att engagera sig i olika former avhållbarhetsinitiativ. Deras engagemang lockar med sig kollegor och andra personerutanför organisationen och bidrar därför successivt till nya normer och värderingar.Forskningen om hållbara omställningar av samhälle och industri har kritiserats föratt mestadels befinna sig på systemnivå. I den utsträckning individer förkommerinom denna forskning har de mestadels beskrivits kopplade till så kallade”nischinitiativ”, t ex som småföretagare, gräsrotsinnovatörer eller slutanvändare.Lite uppmärksamhet har ägnats åt individer som är kopplade till etableradeorganisationer. Denna licentiatavhandling visar att individer som är kopplade tilletablerade organisationer självmant kan välja att engagera sig i tre olikasammanhang: jobb-, temporärt- och/eller ett entreprenöriellt sammanhang. Medhjälp av teorier från socialpsykologi förklaras varför individer engagerar sig menockså varför individer ibland väljer att inte engagera sig. Resultaten visar också attindividers engagemang inte automatiskt bibehålls mellan dessa olika sammanhang.Avhandlingens huvudsakliga bidrag är att individer kan välja att delta i hållbaraomställningar i olika sammanhang, inom och utanför deras organisatoriskahemmiljö. Dessa individer är viktiga att se och uppskatta om vi bättre skall förståhur hållbara omställningar startas och uppnås.
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| 6. |
- Folkeson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Vattenanvändning med energieffektiva blandare
- 2017
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study investigated the short and long term impacts of domestic hot and cold water use and associated energy use when replacing conventional faucets in 100 apartments with energy efficient faucets labeled with energy class A-B according to the Swedish energy labeling system. The study included a behavioural study to increase the understanding of the users’ perception of the faucets and to investigate the underlying reasons for acceptance of the installed products. The results showed a reduction in domestic hot water use and energy use for domestic hot water of 28 %. No reduction of cold water use could be identified although changes in occupancy of the apartments might have contributed to this result. The savings in hot water use did not diminish over the measurement period. The acceptance of the energy efficient faucets did not increase over time, which was likely due to the lack of feedback on the assumption that the faucets provided the indicated savings. It was also indicated that the perception of the faucets differed between contexts in the home. The acceptance was also found to be linked to factors that could not be isolated from the faucet and its function.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Jonasson, Julia, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Projektet TJAFS : Normkritisk Tjänsteutveckling i Avfallssystemet
- 2018
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Sverige har ett av världens mest effektiva avfallssystem ur ett miljöperspektiv. Vi har mycket låg grad av deponi och förbränning och hög grad av källsortering. Men det har visat sig svårt att öka andelen sorterat avfall.Orsaken till bristande sorteringsgrad och nedskräpning sägs ofta vara att brukare inte förstår systemet eller att de medvetet slarvar i hanteringen av sitt avfall och vid sortering vid lokala återvinningsstationer.Men tänk om det inte stämmer. Tänk om det finns orsaker i designen av själva avfallssystemet som avgör brukarens benägenhet och möjlighet att göra rätt.I den här utförliga rapporten ges exempel på vad som händer när designmetoder, tjänstedesign, normkritik och stadsutveckling möts för att utmana det nuvarande avfallssystemet.
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| 9. |
- Lööv, Camilla, et al.
(författare)
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Neutralization of LINGO-1 during In Vitro Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells Results in Proliferation of Immature Neurons
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:1, s. e29771-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Identifying external factors that can be used to control neural stem cells division and their differentiation to neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes is of high scientific and clinical interest. Here we show that the Nogo-66 receptor interacting protein LINGO-1 is a potent regulator of neural stem cell maturation to neurons. LINGO-1 is expressed by cortical neural stem cells from E14 mouse embryos and inhibition of LINGO-1 during the first days of neural stem cell differentiation results in decreased neuronal maturation. Compared to neurons in control cultures, which after 6 days of differentiation have long extending neurites, neurons in cultures treated with anti-LINGO-1 antibodies retain an immature, round phenotype with only very short processes. Furthermore, neutralization of LINGO-1 results in a threefold increase in βIII tubulin-positive cells compared to untreated control cultures. By using BrdU incorporation assays we show that the immature neurons in LINGO-1 neutralized cultures are dividing neuroblasts. In contrast to control cultures, in which no cells were double positive for βIII tubulin and BrdU, 36% of the neurons in cultures treated with anti-LINGO-1 antibodies were proliferating after three days of differentiation. TUNEL assays revealed that the amount of cells going through apoptosis during the early phase of differentiation was significantly decreased in cultures treated with anti-LINGO-1 antibodies compared to untreated control cultures. Taken together, our results demonstrate a novel role for LINGO-1 in neural stem cell differentiation to neurons and suggest a possibility to use LINGO-1 inhibitors to compensate for neuronal cell loss in the injured brain.
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| 10. |
- Norefjäll, Fredric, et al.
(författare)
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Innovationsförmåga för ett hållbart transportsystem : Trafikverket och samverkande aktörers processer för innovations- och omställningsförmåga
- 2019
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Detta dokument sammanfattar arbetet som utförts under förstudien till forskningsprojektet: Innovationsförmåga för ett hållbart transportsystem – Trafikverkets och samverkande aktörers processer för innovations- och omställningsförmåga. Syftet med forskningsprojektet är att bidra till att Trafikverkets innovationsarbete får genomslag för omställningen av transportsystemet. Genom ökad kunskap om hur egna strukturer och processer för innovation påverkar och påverkas av, exempelvis andra aktörer, specifika marknadsvillkor eller normer, stärker detta projekt arbetet för ett hållbart transportsystem.
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