| 1. |
- Fakhari Rad, Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
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Including Ecosystem Services in Sustainability Assessment of Forest Biofuels
- 2012
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Ingår i: World Bioenergy 2012 Proceedings. - 9789197762458 ; , s. 75-78
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With increasing demand for forest biofuels the pressures on ecosystem services from forestry practices willincrease. This calls for identification and assessment of tradeoffs between different uses of provisioning and otherecosystem services and establish management practices considering such tradeoffs.
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| 2. |
- Fakhari Rad, Mohammad, et al.
(författare)
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More forest biofuels from Jämtland - ecosystem services tradeoffs
- 2012
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Ingår i: Ecosystem Services - From policy to practice.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With increasing European demand for biofuels, the interest for forest biomass from the northernboreal forests of Sweden will increase. Traditional optimization parameters like carbon footprint orlife cycle energy use will not be enough to ensure the sustainability of forest biofuel production inSweden. Impacts on ecosystem services must also be assessed.Swedish forests today have annual volume growth surpassing harvesting. This is partly thebackground to the fact that land occupation parameters has not been considered relevant when itcomes to forestry in Sweden; the general forms of forest management practices used has made alsoproduction forestry seen as ‘nature’ (e.g. about three quarters of Swedish forests are certified byFSC, PEFC or both). With increasing competition for forest resources, harvesting pressure andintensity of forestry will likely increase, and the view ‘forests is nature’ will have to change.In the Swedish county of Jämtland there is 3.4 million ha of forest area, and forestry is an importantindustry. At the same time the county also has a large tourism industry, to a substantial extent forskiing but also for experiences of undisturbed nature, hiking, hunting, fishing et c. The county is alsomarketing itself as a “Quality Food Area” having a focus on traditional, small scale and localproduction of food products and food experiences, with the clean and uncontaminated environmentfor agriculture, game and fish as a cornerstone. More intensive forestry may create conflictsbetween such enterprises related to cultural ecosystem services and those provisioning servicespushed for biofuel production.We need to make possible the inclusion of negative impacts on ecosystem services from biofuelproduction as well as inclusion of tradeoffs between different types of e.g. cultural ecosystemservices in sustainability assessments of increased forest biofuel harvesting and production inJämtland.Before
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| 3. |
- Fröling, Morgan, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Appearances of Ecosystem Services in Environmental Impact Assessment - learnings from two Swedish case studies
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Linnaeus Eco-Tech 2016.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Ecosystem Services is an increasingly used concept to understand and describe the dependencies of socio-technical systems on the ecosystems in which they exist. We have studied to what extent ecosystem services are appearing in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in two Swedish cases, the improvement of ecological status in a river used for small scale hydropower and the mining operations of the MM mine. In neither of the two cases ecosystem services have been intentionally included in the work with the EIAs. The goal of the studies has been to examine to what extent ecosystem services are appearing anyway in the EIAs, to what extent data in the EIAs are sufficient to perform more structured ecosystem service assessments, and if the use of a more structured ecosystem services review during the EIA process could have contributed positively to the EIA work. Both EIAs in this study holds some information on impacts on ecosystem services, and more information on affected ecosystem functions that could be translated into ecosystems services and probably to full ecosystem service reviews with additional data gathering. Cases of ecosystem functions and services impacting other ecosystem functions and services, sometimes in several stages, were found, indicating that such functions or services could be of special importance to protect and / or support.
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| 4. |
- Fröling, Morgan, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Bio-CCS - a model based case study from the mid Sweden region
- 2015
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Ingår i: Proceedings of Global Cleaner Production and Sustainable Consumption, Sitges Barcelona, November 1-4, 2015.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In its 2014 report, IPCC recommend Carbon Capture and Storage not only for fossil power plants but also for bioenergy to beable to meet the 2 degree target. In a case study, models for CCS applied to a combined heat and power (CHP) plant inÖstersund, Sweden, using wood chips as main fuel was assessed. The goal was to gain knowledge to be prepared to takemore rapid action if policy instruments are implemented in future. More "traditional" technology with absorption inmonoethanolamine (MEA) and subsequent underground storage uses a significant part of produced electricity, and in anenergy system perspective it is not necessarily the most efficient use of a limited wood resource. For processes withcomparatively low net climate impact, like bio-CHP, alternatives significantly more energy efficient per unit of capturedcarbon dioxide but only able to capture part of the total emitted carbon can be considered. One such alternative is to capturecarbon dioxide using microalgae. Key issues for assessment of processes in this case are how to store the carbon captured inthe algae biomass (e.g. in products) and for how long the carbon will be withdrawn from atmosphere with such storage.
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| 5. |
- Fröling, Morgan, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Ecosystem services tradeoffs when striving twoards a biobased future [Eco-Tech'12]
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of ECO-TECH 2012, 26-28 November, Kalmar, Sweden.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With increasing demand for bio-based materials and forest biofuels the pressures on ecosystem services from forestry practices will increase. This calls for identification and assessment of tradeoffs between different uses of provisioning and other ecosystem services and establish management practices considering such tradeoffs. Traditional optimization parameters like carbon footprint or life cycle energy use will not be enough; impacts on ecosystem services must also be assessed.The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment concludes that ecosystems and their ability to provide humanity with ecosystem services are under severe stress. Increased use of bio-based materials and biofuels must be furnished in ways not unnecessary worsening the situation, or locally destroy the provisioning of essential ecosystem services.The Swedish county of Jämtland is used as an example, with 3.4 million ha of forest area and forestry as an important industry. At the same time the county has a large tourism industry - for skiing but also for experiences of undisturbed nature, hiking, hunting, fishing et c. The county is also marketing itself as a “Quality Food Area” having a focus on local food production and food experiences, with the clean and uncontaminated environment for agriculture, game and fish as a cornerstone. More intensive forestry may create conflicts between enterprises related to cultural ecosystem services and those provisioning services pushed for biofuel production.We need to make possible the inclusion of tradeoffs between different types of e.g. cultural ecosystem services in sustainability assessments of increased forest biomaterial harvesting and production in Jämtland.
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| 6. |
- Fröling, Morgan, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
-
From environmental problems to sustainable development and towards resilience : Development over time of a university program inenvironmental science aiming for action competences
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction:During the latest decades society has developed from an environmental awareness, with reactive thinking, of the “preBrundtland age” into having sustainability as the goal for human development after the Rio declaration. Lately, within the environmentalscientific sphere, the concept of resilience is increasingly superimposed on the sustainability paradigm. It is seen as important both forunderstanding of the present situation as well as a necessity for societies to survive in times of rapid change. During this period from “preBrundtland” until today when resilience is in focus, the environmental science program of Ecotechnology started, developed and changed inresponse to changes in society. A goal, from the very beginning of the educational program, has been to empower students to take action.The types of action and how action competence has been perceived, has changed over the three decades the program has been running.Objectives: Environmental science and sustainability is often difficult to teach since it demands an interdisciplinary approach stretching overthe traditional faculty division of natural, social, and engineering sciences. At Mid Sweden University these three branches have beenintegrated in Ecotechnology education for 30 years. The purpose of this paper is to describe the interdisciplinary teaching with special focuson the development of the student’s action competence for sustainable development, in the light of how the environmental issues havedeveloped.Methods: The paper has a descriptive approach exploring the experiences from the 30 years of interdisciplinary teaching.Results: Different teaching methods and strategies have been employed over time, partly in sync with changing overarching societal goals.Conclusion: Some observations are 1) a key element to develop action competence is to push students to a self-propelled learning behaviorrather than traditional teaching of facts, 2) to not too easily provide the students with answers will develop problem solving skills, 3) “doingbefore-reading” teaching is more time consuming but seem to give deeper knowledge.
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| 7. |
- Grönlund, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Ekoteknik (Ecotechnics / Ecotehcnology) – 30 Years of Experience in Interdiciplinery Education
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 20th International Sustainable Development Research Conference Trondheim 18-20 June 2014. - Trondheim : Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Product Design. - 9788291917344 ; , s. 17-21
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- An important part of a society’s resilience is how prepared it is to cope with the changing conditions during the alpha and omega phases according to resilience theory. Lars Thofelt, an academic from the mid Sweden region, early recognized this need for students to develop skills needed for a societal change, and devoted his life to pedagogy suitable for this. The main outcome of his achievement was the interdisciplinary university program in Ecotechnics/Ecotechnology (Ekoteknik in Swedish), at Mid Sweden University. Ecology, economy and technology in cooperation for sustainable development were the original approach, and still are.Thofelt’s ideas had a main focus of helping students develop their inherent capabilities of solving problems and overcome obstacles. After Thofelt’s 12 years at the program his ideas were carried on by former colleagues and students, and the teaching further developed with a mix of the Thofelt tradition and other experiences brought in by new employees. This paper describes this interdisciplinary teaching approach with special focus on development of resilience capacity in students.It was concluded that 1) a key element to develop resilience skills in students is to push them to a self-propelled learning behavior rather than traditional teaching, 2) not too easily provide the students with answers will develop their problem solving skills, 3) doing-before-reading teaching is more time consuming but seem to give deeper knowledge, 4) interdisciplinary teaching will in the long run benefit from having the interdisciplinary team within the department, rather than as a conglomerate of several departments.
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| 8. |
- Grönlund, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Emergy as a measure to assess sustainable development
- 2016
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 13 – 15 July 2016.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Emergy accounting is one of the methods in the sustainability assessment toolbox. In its use of stocks and flows of energy and matter it has similarities with Material Flow Analysis (MFA), Substance Flow Analysis (SFA), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), but Emergy accounting also includes stocks and flows of money and information. In its methodological approach of relating to a global baseline of renewable flows Emergy accounting is similar to Ecological footprints in that it is not just revealing which of two alternatives is using more or less of different stocks or flows but also comparing the use to available renewable flows on a global annual basis.This paper address the contribution of three different aspects of emergy accounting (emergy analysis, emergy synthesis) to the overarching goal of sustainable development. The discussed aspects were: 1) the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI), 2) emergy as a normalizing measure, and 3) emergy as a network measure.It was concluded that the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI) is an interesting measure but does not catch the full range of the sustainability concept. The emergy accounting approach, with the ESI as part of it, has a lot more to say about sustainability than just what is captured by the ESI. An interesting outcome is that the traditional triple-bottom-line of environmental, economic and social sustainability emerges very easily from the emergy assessment conceptual diagram approach. Emergy accounting holds a promise of clarifying the fuzziness often connected to how to classify economic, social, and socio-economic domains of sustainability. These are in practice often difficult to distinguish between, as are their connections to the ecological/environmental sustainability. The reason why the ESI captures only a small part of what is interesting from a sustainability point of view in the full emergy assessment may be that it has the focus on the traditional load and yield components. Many of the interesting parts from emergy evaluation in the sustainability context may instead come from the capability of emergy accounting to capture network properties.
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| 9. |
- Grönlund, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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The use of Emergy to assess sustainable development
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 20th International Sustainable Development Research Conference Trondheim 18-20 June 2014. - Trondheim : Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Product Design.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A major problem since long within science has been the gap between social and natural science (described for example by C.P. Snow, 1959: The Two Cultures. Cambridge University Press, London). From a qualitative point of view this problem has been met by creating interdisciplinary groups of specialists from both ‘cultures’. The quantitative outcomes has however stayed within the ‘cultures’ framework. Emergy is a relatively new measure that surprisingly has showed the ability to integrate at least economic flows and physical flows of kilograms andEmergy assessment (emergy analysis, emergy synthesis) produces quantitative results on a broad scale covering both ecological and socio-economic systems. In this paper is investigated how such results fits into different views on sustainability and sustainable development.Emergy is a measure based on systems science and thermodynamics. From its methodological foundations quantitative values of both ‘natural’ and socio-economic flows are delivered. These quantitative results form an interesting base to view sustainability or sustainable development. Different possible interpretations are discussed in the paper from different sustainability paradigms, as well as the limitations and possibilities of the Emergy method.Several authors have used an ‘Emergy Sustainability Index’ in their papers. Although an interesting index, it is considered too narrow to claim capturing sustainability, and it is suggested that this index is renamed.Resilient societies need inter- and trans-disciplinary methodological approaches. Quantitative methods covering both economic and ecological flows are rare in this context. Emergy as one of the few measures of this type is therefore interesting.
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| 10. |
- Grönlund, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Wastewater Treatment and Recycling with Microalgae in Cold Climate
- 2014
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 20th International Sustainable Development Research Conference Trondheim 18-20 June 2014. - Tronheim : Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Product Design. - 9788291917344 ; , s. 317-324
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Resilient societies need technology with high recycling possibilities, as well as possibilities to treat wastewater with local ecosystem services as dominating driving forces.Modern wastewater treatment often suffers from the problem of being a linear system, rather than a recycling system. From a recycling point of view the nutrients in the wastewater is of highest interest.The use of microalgae has been proposed as collection systems for the nutrients, with several potential advantages: 1) they treat the wastewater further from a pathogenic point of view, 2) they produce a sludge of interesting biochemical quality depending on the species present in the treatment ponds, 3) they use the naturally occurring ecosystem services available at the wastewater treatment site in the form of sunlight, wind, and regional biodiversity of phytoplankton.The academic focus regarding microalgae use for wastewater treatment has to a large extent been on the “sunbelt”, between latitudes 35 North and South, respectively. However, a few investigations have been performed on northern and southern latitudes. This paper summarizes experiences from using microalgae for waste water treatment at northern latitudes in Sweden and present suggestions for further research.
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