| 1. |
- Andersson, Erik, et al.
(författare)
-
Ambio fit for the 2020s
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer Nature. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 51:5, s. 1091-1093
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
|
|
| 2. |
- Axelsson, Lisa, 1984, et al.
(författare)
-
Jatropha cultivation in southern India: assessing farmers experiences
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. - : John Wiley and Sons. - 1932-104X .- 1932-1031. ; 6:3, s. 246-256
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Together with 106 farmers who started growing Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) in 20042006, this research sought to increase the knowledge around the real-life experience of Jatropha farming in the southern India states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Launched as an alternative for diesel in India, Jatropha has been promoted as a non-edible plant that could grow on poor soils, yield oil-rich seeds for production of bio-diesel, and not compete directly with food production. Through interviews with the farmers, information was gathered regarding their socio-economic situation, the implementation and performance of their Jatropha plantations, and their reasons for continuing or discontinuing Jatropha cultivation. Results reveal that 82% of the farmers had substituted former cropland for their Jatropha cultivation. By 2010, 85% (n = 90) of the farmers who cultivated Jatropha in 2004 had stopped. Cultivating the crop did not give the economic returns the farmers anticipated, mainly due to a lack of information about the crop and its maintenance during cultivation and due to water scarcity. A majority of the farmers irrigated and applied fertilizer, and even pesticides. Many problems experienced by the farmers were due to limited knowledge about cultivating Jatropha caused by poor planning and implementation of the national Jatropha program. Extension services, subsidies, and other support were not provided as promised. The farmers who continued cultivation had means of income other than Jatropha and held hopes of a future Jatropha market. The lack of market structures, such as purchase agreements and buyers, as well as a low retail price for the seeds, were frequently stated as barriers to Jatropha cultivation. For Jatropha biodiesel to perform well, efforts are needed to improve yield levels and stability through genetic improvements and drought tolerance, as well as agriculture extension services to support adoption of the crop. Government programs will -probably be more effective if implementing biodiesel production is conjoined with stimulating the demand for Jatropha biodiesel. To avoid food-biofuel competition, additional measures may be needed such as land-use restrictions for Jatropha producers and taxes on biofuels or biofuel feedstocks to improve the competitiveness of the food sector compared to the bioenergy sector.
|
|
| 3. |
- Axelsson, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
-
Performance of Jatropha biodiesel production and its environmental and socio-economic impact – A case study in Southern India
- 2011
-
Ingår i: World Renewable Energy Congress 2011. - Linköping : Linköping University Electronic Press. - 9789173930703 ; , s. 2470-2477
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In India expectations have been high on production of biodiesel from the oil-crop Jatropha. Jatropha is promoted as a drought- and pest-resistant crop, with the potential to grow on degraded soil with a low amount of inputs. These characteristics encourage hope for positive environmental and socio-economic impacts from Jatropha biodiesel production. The purpose of this study was to explore the performance of Jatropha biodiesel production in Southern India, to identify motivational factors for continued Jatropha cultivation, and to assess environmental and socio-economic impacts of the Jatropha biodiesel production. 106 farmers who have or have had Jatropha plantations were visited and interviewed regarding their opinion of Jatropha cultivation. The result indicates that 85 percent of the farmers have discontinued cultivation of Jatropha. The main barriers to continued cultivation derive from ecological problems, economic losses, and problems in the development and execution of the governmental implementation of the Jatropha programme. The Jatropha characteristics were overrated, and the plantations failed to provide income to the farmer. A common factor for the farmers who continued Jatropha cultivation was that they had the economic means to maintain non-profitable plantations. As the Jatropha programme was not as successful as expected, the expected positive environmental and socio-economic impacts have not been realized.
|
|
| 4. |
- Berndes, Göran, 1966, et al.
(författare)
-
Multifunctional biomass production systems - an overview with presentation of specific applications in India and Sweden
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. - : Wiley. - 1932-104X .- 1932-1031. ; 2:1, s. 16-25
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This perspective discusses multi-functional biomass production systems, which are located, designed, integrated and managed so as to provide specific environmental services, in addition to biomass supply. Besides discussing the general concept and outlining a range of different possible applications, we present in somewhat more detail specific applications of such systems for the cases of Sweden and India. The overall conclusion is that the environmental benefits from a large-scale establishment of multi-functional biomass production systems could be substantial. Given that suitable mechanisms to put a premium on the provided environmental services can be identified and implemented, additional revenues can be linked to biomass production systems and this could enhance the socioeconomic attractiveness and significantly improve the competitiveness of the produced biomass on the market. The provision of additional environmental services also contributes to local sustainable development, which is in many cases a prerequisite for local support for the production systems.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Cederberg, Christel, et al.
(författare)
-
Remissvar till Näringsdepartementet - Förändrad markanvändning kan skapa bieffekter
- 2013
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Detta brief baserar sig på ett remissvar till Näringsdepartementet. Remissvaret i februari 2013 kom som följd av Näringsdepartementets inbjudan till remiss på Europeiska kommissionens förslag till Europaparlamentets och rådets direktiv om ändringar av direktiv 98/70/EG om kvaliteten på bensin och dieselbränslen och om ändring av direktiv 2009/28/EG om främjande av användning av energi från förnybara energikällor. Svaret hanterar främst förslaget utifrån hur biodrivmedelsproduktion påverkar markanvändning både direkt och indirekt genom s.k “Indirect Land Use Change” (ILUC).
|
|
| 7. |
- Englund, Oskar, 1982, et al.
(författare)
-
Environmental Impact Assessments: Suitable for supporting assessments of biofuel sustainability?
- 2011
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The European Union requires that 10% of the energy in the transport sector shall come from renewable sources by 2020. In addition, biofuels used for transport need to fulfill certain sustainability requirements set out in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). To meet these requirements, the EU will need to produce and import large amounts of sustainable biofuels. Therefore, there is a need for ways to verify the sustainability of imported biofuels, so that unsustainable biofuels can be avoided. One strategy may involve analyzing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports (EIRs) conducted for specific biofuel projects. For EIRs to be useful as such information sources they need to be sufficiently comprehensive in relation to the RED but also sufficiently reliable.In this study, 19 biofuel project EIRs are analyzed with respect to how they cover the RED sustainability considerations. In addition, EIA legislation, requirements, quality, and enforcement are discussed to determine not only whether EIRs can be sufficiently comprehensive, but also sufficiently reliable for supporting information to studies intended to assess the sustainability of biofuels, from an RED perspective.Notable differences between EIRs for different types of projects were found. EIRs for projects including both plantation establishment and the construction of a biofuel plant had better RED coverage than EIRs for projects including either the plantations or the biofuel plant. As might be expected, EIAs for “plantation projects” generally leave out features related to biofuel processing, and EIAs for “biofuel plant” projects generally leave out features related to feedstock production.In general, EIA legislation is insufficient and most target countries seem to have rather low potential to enforce legislation. Several additional EIA-related problems need to be overcome in order for EIRs to be regarded as sufficiently reliable information tools.
|
|
| 8. |
- Ferrer-Balas, D, et al.
(författare)
-
An international comparative analysis of sustainability transformation across seven universities
- 2008
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. - : Emerald. - 1467-6370 .- 1758-6739. ; 9:3, s. 295-316
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the key aspects of transformation of universities towards sustainability, such as the ideal characteristics of the “sustainable university”, and the drivers and barriers in the transformation, by comparing the strategies of seven universities world-wide. Design/methodology/approach – A systems transformation analysis of seven case studies has been applied through a self-evaluation based on the tridimensional Framework-Level-Actors (FLA) method. Findings – The study shows that none of the three dimensions of change is predominant over the others. The main barrier to be overcome is the lack of incentive structure for promoting changes at the individual level. The main drivers for change are the presence of “connectors” with society, the existence of coordination bodies and projects, and the availability of funding, all of which are important for progress. Enhancing interdisciplinarity is a strategic objective at almost all of these universities, while transformative learning is less present. A common characteristic for most of the institutions is establishing and supporting networks of expertise within the universities. These universities show important strategic efforts and initiatives that drive and nucleate change for sustainable development, the result of a combination of drivers. Practical implications – The FLA-method has proved useful for being used at the level of comparing case-studies through a bird's-eye perspective. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the application of a simple tool that gives a global perspective on transformational strategies used in seven cases world-wide in the search for commonalities and differences.
|
|
| 9. |
- Hageback, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
-
Climate variability and land-use change in Danangou watershed, China : Examples of small-scale farmers' adaptation
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Climatic Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0165-0009 .- 1573-1480. ; 72:1-2, s. 189-212
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With global concern on climate change impacts, developing countries are given special attention due their susceptibility. In this paper, change and variability in climate, land use and farmers’ perception, adaptation and response to change are examined in Danangou watershed in the Chinese Loess Plateau. The first focus is to look at how climate data recorded at meteorological stations recently have evolved, and how farmers perceived these changes. Further, we want to see how the farmers respond and adapt to climate variability and what the resulting impact on land use is. Finally, other factors causing change in land use are considered. Local precipitation and temperature instrumental data and interview data from farmers were used. The instrumental data shows that the climate is getting warmer and drier, the latter despite large interannual variability. The trend is seen on the local and regional level. Farmers’ perception of climatic variability corresponds well with the data record. During the last 20 years, the farmers have become less dependent on agriculture by adopting a more diversified livelihood. This adaptation makes them less vulnerable to climate variability. It was found that government policies and reforms had a stronger influence on land use than climate variability. Small-scale farmers should therefore be considered as adaptive to changing situations, planned and non-consciously planned.
|
|
| 10. |
- Hageback, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
-
Climate variability and land-use change in Danangou watershed, China
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Climatic Change. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-1480 .- 0165-0009. ; 72:1-2, s. 189-212
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With global concern on climate change impacts, developing countries are given special attention due their susceptibility. In this paper, change and variability in climate, land use and farmers’ perception, adaptation and response to change are examined in Danangou watershed in the Chinese Loess Plateau. The first focus is to look at how climate data recorded at meteorological stations recently have evolved, and how farmers perceived these changes. Further, we want to see how the farmers respond and adapt to climate variability and what the resulting impact on land use is. Finally, other factors causing change in land use are considered. Local precipitation and temperature instrumental data and interview data from farmers were used. The instrumental data shows that the climate is getting warmer and drier, the latter despite large interannual variability. The trend is seen on the local and regional level. Farmers’ perception of climatic variability corresponds well with the data record. During the last 20 years, the farmers have become less dependent on agriculture by adopting a more diversified livelihood. This adaptation makes them less vulnerable to climate variability. It was found that government policies and reforms had a stronger influence on land use than climate variability. Small-scale farmers should therefore be considered as adaptive to changing situations, planned and non-consciously planned.
|
|
