| 1. |
- Ekener, Elisabeth, 1963-, et al.
(author)
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Developing Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment methodology by applying values-based sustainability weighting - Tested on biomass based and fossil transportation fuels
- 2018
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In: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 181, s. 337-351
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The production and use of transportation fuels can lead to sustainability impacts. Assessing them simultaneously in a holistic way is a challenge. This paper examines methodology for assessing the sustainability performance of products in a more integrated way, including a broad range of social impacts. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) methodology is applied for this assessment. LSCA often constitutes of the integration of results from social LCA (S-LCA), environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). In this study, an S-LCA from an earlier project is extended with a positive social aspect, as well as refined and detailed. E-LCA and LCC results are built from LCA database and literature. Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methodology is applied to integrate the results from the three different assessments into an LCSA. The weighting of key sustainability dimensions in the MCDA is performed in different ways, where the sustainability dimensions are prioritized differently priority based on the assumed values of different stakeholder profiles (Egalitarian, Hierarchist, and Individualist). The developed methodology is tested on selected biomass based and fossil transportation fuels - ethanol produced from Brazilian sugarcane and US corn/maize, and petrol produced from Russian and Nigerian crude oils, where it delineates differences in sustainability performance between products assessed. The outcome in terms of relative ranking of the transportation fuel chains based on sustain ability performance differs when applying different decision-maker profiles. This result highlights and supports views that there is no one single answer regarding which of the alternatives that is most sustainable. Rather, it depends strongly upon the worldview and values held by the decision maker. A key conclusion is that sustainability assessments should pay more attention to potential differences in underlying values held by key stakeholders in relevant societal contexts. The LCSA methodology still faces challenges regarding results integration but MCDA in combination with stakeholder profiles appears to be a useful approach to build on further.
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| 2. |
- Lidenmark, Cecilia, et al.
(author)
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Changes with aging in the surface hydrophobicity of coated paper
- 2010
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In: Tappi Journal. - 0734-1415. ; 9:5, s. 40-46
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Time-dependent changes in the surface properties of coated papers were studied as the evolution of surface hydrophobicity of laboratory and commercially coated papers. We measured the apparent contact angles on the papers during several weeks post-production. Hydrophobicity upon aging increased for all samples made from traditional coating colors on mechanical base stock and on base stock made from cotton linters. Accelerated aging by heat treatment intensified the increase of the apparent contact angles and accelerated the time-dependent behavior. A key mechanism in these changes may be the spreading of latex particles in a coating.
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| 3. |
- Englund, Oskar, 1982, et al.
(author)
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Large-scale deployment of grass in crop rotations as a multifunctional climate mitigation strategy
- 2023
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In: GCB Bioenergy. - : Wiley. - 1757-1707 .- 1757-1693. ; 15:2, s. 166-184
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The agriculture sector can contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, sequestering carbon in vegetation and soils, and providing biomass to substitute for fossil fuels and other GHG-intensive products. The sector also needs to address water, soil, and biodiversity impacts caused by historic and current practices. Emerging EU policies create incentives for cultivation of perennial plants that provide biomass along with environmental benefits. One such option, common in northern Europe, is to include grass in rotations with annual crops to provide biomass while remediating soil organic carbon (SOC) losses and other environmental impacts. Here, we apply a spatially explicit model on >81,000 sub-watersheds in EU27 + UK (Europe) to explore the effects of widespread deployment of such systems. Based on current accumulated SOC losses in individual sub-watersheds, the model identifies and quantifies suitable areas for increased grass cultivation and corresponding biomass- and protein supply, SOC sequestration, and reductions in nitrogen emissions to water as well as wind and water erosion. The model also provides information about possible flood mitigation. The results indicate a substantial climate mitigation potential, with combined annual GHG savings from soil-carbon sequestration and displacement of natural gas with biogas from grass-based biorefineries, equivalent to 13%–48% of current GHG emissions from agriculture in Europe. The environmental co-benefits are also notable, in some cases exceeding the estimated mitigation needs. Yield increases for annual crops in modified rotations mitigate the displacement effect of increasing grass cultivation. If the grass is used as feedstock in lieu of annual crops, the displacement effect can even be negative, that is, a reduced need for annual crop production elsewhere. Incentivizing widespread deployment will require supportive policy measures as well as new uses of grass biomass, for example, as feedstock for green biorefineries producing protein concentrate, biofuels, and other bio-based products.
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| 4. |
- Lindman, Björn, et al.
(author)
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The Subtleties of Dissolution and Regeneration of Cellulose: Breaking and Making Hydrogen Bonds
- 2015
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In: BioResources. - : BioResources. - 1930-2126. ; 10:3, s. 3811-3814
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Cellulose dissolution and regeneration are old topics that have recently gained renewed attention. This is reflected in both applications - earlier and novel - and in scientific controversies. There is a current discussion in the literature on the balance between hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions in controlling the solution behavior of cellulose. Some of the key ideas are recalled.
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| 5. |
- Schmidt, Susann, et al.
(author)
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Low-temperature growth of boron carbide coatings by direct current magnetron sputtering and high-power impulse magnetron sputtering
- 2016
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In: Journal of Materials Science. - New York : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0022-2461 .- 1573-4803. ; 51:23, s. 10418-10428
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- B4C coatings for 10B-based neutron detector applications were deposited using high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) and direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) processes. The coatings were deposited on Si(001) as well as on flat and macrostructured (grooved) Al blades in an industrial coating unit using B4C compound targets in Ar. The HiPIMS and DCMS processes were conducted at substrate temperatures of 100 and 400 °C and the Ar pressure was varied between 300 and 800 mPa. Neutron detector-relevant coating characterization was performed and the coating properties were evaluated with regard to their growth rate, density, level of impurities, and residual coating stress. The coating properties are mainly influenced by general process parameters such as the Ar pressure and substrate temperature. The deposition mode shows only minor effects on the coating quality and no effects on the step coverage. At a substrate temperature of 100 °C and an Ar pressure of 800 mPa, well-adhering and functional coatings were deposited in both deposition modes; the coatings showed a density of 2.2 g/cm3, a B/C ratio of ~3.9, and the lowest compressive residual stresses of 180 MPa. The best coating quality was obtained in DCMS mode using an Ar pressure of 300 mPa and a substrate temperature of 400 °C. Such process parameters yielded coatings with a slightly higher density of 2.3 g/cm3, a B/C ratio of ~4, and the compressive residual stresses limited to 220 MPa.
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| 6. |
- Sedano, Inigo, et al.
(author)
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Full-reference video quality metric assisted the development of no-reference bitstream video quality metrics for real-time network monitoring
- 2014
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In: EURASIP Journal on Image and Video Processing. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1687-5176 .- 1687-5281. ; , s. Art. no. 4-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-quality video is being increasingly delivered over Internet Protocol networks, which means that network operators and service providers need methods to measure the quality of experience (QoE) of the video services. In this paper, we propose a method to speed up the development of no-reference bitstream objective metrics for estimating QoE. This method uses full-reference objective metrics, which makes the process significantly faster and more convenient than using subjective tests. In this process, we have evaluated six publicly available full-reference objective metrics in three different databases, the EPFL-PoliMI database, the HDTV database, and the Live Video Wireless database, all containing transmission distortions in H.264 coded video. The objective metrics could be used to speed up the development process of no-reference real-time video QoE monitoring methods that are receiving great interest from the research community. We show statistically that the full-reference metric Video Quality Metric (VQM) performs best considering all the databases. In the EPFL-PoliMI database, SPATIAL MOVIE performed best and TEMPORAL MOVIE performed worst. When transmission distortions are evaluated, using the compressed video as the reference provides greater accuracy than using the uncompressed original video as the reference, at least for the studied metrics. Further, we use VQM to train a lightweight no-reference bitstream model, which uses the packet loss rate and the interval between instantaneous decoder refresh frames, both easily accessible in a video quality monitoring system.
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| 7. |
- Östmans, Rebecca, et al.
(author)
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Solidified water at room temperature hosting tailored fluidic channels by using highly anisotropic cellulose nanofibrils
- 2024
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In: Materials Today Nano. - : Elsevier BV. - 2588-8420. ; 26
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Highly anisotropic cellulose nanofibrils can solidify liquid water, creating self-supporting structures by incorporating a tiny number of fibrils. These fibrillar hydrogels can contain as much as 99.99 wt% water. The structure and mechanical properties of fibrillar networks have so far not been completely understood, nor how they solidify the bulk water at such low particle concentrations. In this work, the mechanical properties of cellulose fibrillar hydrogels in the dilute regime from a wt% perspective have been studied, and an elastoplastic model describing the network structure and its mechanics is presented. A significant insight from this work is that the ability of the fibrils to solidify water is very dependent on particle stiffness and the number of contact points it can form in the network structure. The comparison between the experimental results and the theoretical model shows that the fibrillar networks in the dilute regime form via a non-stochastic process since the fibrils have the time and freedom to find contact points during network formation by translational and rotational diffusion. The formed, dilute fibrillar network deforms by sliding fibril contacts upon straining the network beyond its elastic limit. Our results also show that before macroscopic failure, the fibril contacts are restored once the load is released. The exceptional properties of this solidified water are exploited to host fluidic channels, allowing directed fluid transportation in water. Finally, the microfluidic channels formed in the hydrogels are tailored by the layer-by-layer technique to be interactive against external stimuli, a characteristic envisioned to be useful in biomedical applications.
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| 8. |
- Börjesson, Pål, et al.
(author)
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Biomass Transportation
- 1996
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In: Renewable Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0960-1481. ; 9:1-4, s. 1033-1036, s. 1033-1036
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extensive utilisation of logging residues, straw, and energy crops will lead to short transportation distances and thus low transportation costs. The average distance of transportation of biomass to a large-scale conversion plant, suitable for electricity or methanol production using 300 000 dry tonne biomass yearly, will be about 30 km in Sweden, if the conversion plant is located at the centre of the biomass production area. The estimated Swedish biomass potential of 430 PJ/yr is based on production conditions around 2015, assuming that 30% of the available arable land is used for energy crop production. With present production conditions, resulting in a biomass potential of 220 PJ/yr, the transportation distance is about 42 km. The cost of transporting biomass 30-42 km will be equivalent to 20-25% of the total biomass cost. The total energy efficiency of biomass production and transportation will be 95-97%, where the energy losses from transportation are about 20%. Biomass transportation will contribute less than 10% to the total NOx, CO, and HC emissions from biomass production, transportation, and conversion.
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| 9. |
- Börjesson, Pål, et al.
(author)
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Future Production and Utilisation of Biomass in Sweden: Potentials and CO2 Mitigation
- 1997
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In: Biomass & Bioenergy. - 1873-2909 .- 0961-9534. ; 13:6, s. 399-412
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Swedish biomass production potential could be increased significantly if new production methods, such as optimised fertilisation, were to be used. Optimised fertilisation on 25% of Swedish forest land and the use of stem wood could almost double the biomass potential from forestry compared with no fertilisation, as both logging residues and large quantities of excess stem wood not needed for industrial purposes could be used for energy purposes. Together with energy crops and straw from agriculture, the total Swedish biomass potential would be about 230 TWh/yr or half the current Swedish energy supply if the demand for stem wood for building and industrial purposes were the same as today. The new production methods are assumed not to cause any significant negative impact on the local environment. The cost of utilising stem wood produced with optimised fertilisation for energy purposes has not been analysed and needs further investigation. Besides replacing fossil fuels and, thus, reducing current Swedish CO2 emissions by about 65%, this amount of biomass is enough to produce electricity equivalent to 20% of current power production. Biomass-based electricity is produced preferably through co-generation using district heating systems in densely populated regions, and pulp industries in forest regions. Alcohols for transportation and stand-alone power production are preferably produced in less densely populated regions with excess biomass. A high intensity in biomass production would reduce biomass transportation demands. There are uncertainties regarding the future demand for stem wood for building and industrial purposes, the amount of arable land available for energy crop production and future yields. These factors will influence Swedish biomass potential and earlier estimates of the potential vary from 15 to 125 TWh/yr.
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| 10. |
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