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| 2. |
- Holmberg, John, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Low-carbon transitions and the good life
- 2012
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A transition to a low-carbon economy requires farreaching reductions in emissions, which in addition will have to take place at the same time as the global population is growing. A growing population also makes ever greater demands on welfare, while the ecological, social and economic systems that have to sustain this development are already under severe strain. It is commonly argued that emission reductions in a growing world economy can and should be achieved by technical innovations so that the transition to a low-carbon economy does not imply a negative impact on human well-being.This report discusses whether there might perhaps be another way of understanding the situation. Is the presumed linkage between well-being and climate impact always negative? Could a greater focus on human well-being be a driver of, rather than an obstacle to, sustainable development? This report attempts to identify possible strategies to support both [the good life] and decreased emissions. By adopting this research approach, the authors aim to make a contribution to the discussion of low-carbon transitions in society.
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| 3. |
- Petersson, Jesper, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Defend, Retreat and Attack: Urban Waters and Valuation Practices
- 2022
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Ingår i: Water Alternatives. - : Water Alternatives Association. - 1965-0175. ; 15:1, s. 175-192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores the river landscapes and concomitant values resulting from tensions between flood management and visions of a River City. The aim is to contribute to an understanding of the management of urban waters as valuation practices. We regard valuation practices as co-constitutive of current and future river landscapes. Sweden’s second-largest city, Gothenburg, is located next to the sea, and the Göta River, Sweden’s largest water system, runs through it. Our empirical focus is on how this city approaches increasing risks of flooding. We explore three approaches that have been formulated in relation to flood management: defend, retreat and attack. We ask how these approaches are applied in the management of Göta River flooding and in the city’s vision of a future Gothenburg that embraces the river as a genuinely positive aspect of urban life. We present the case as a journey that takes us upstream from the river’s sea inlet port and through Gothenburg. During our kilometre by kilometre journey, the river’s appearance shifts. The varied river landscape mirrors the diversity in how its waters are valuated, both historically and in present times. The perception of urban waters is shaped by practices of valuation. These valuations are generative. They connect the value of water to other entities, actors, plans, activities and buildings, and they are thus key to the river landscapes that will eventually be realised. By way of conclusion, we identify a number of governance challenges that are particularly relevant to urban rivers.
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| 4. |
- Felton, Annika, et al.
(författare)
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Forage availability, supplementary feed and ungulate density : Associations with ungulate damage in pine production forests
- 2022
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 513
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Populations of large herbivores, including members of the deer family Cervidae, are expanding across and within many regions of the northern hemisphere. Because their browsing on trees can result in economic losses to forestry and strongly affect ecosystems, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how best to mitigate resultant damage. Previous research has highlighted the importance of regulating deer density and the availability of alternative forage to reduce browsing damage levels in conifer production stands. However, often only one or two proxies of forage availability have been used instead of applying a broad foodscape approach and more knowledge is needed to understand which types of alternative forage best mitigate damage. We conducted field inventories of damage that occurred during the previous fall/winter in 112 production stands in southern Sweden, while also measuring forage availability and cervid faecal pellets in the surrounding landscape (16 ha). Local landowners provided data on supplementary feeding. We found that variation in cervid (Alces alces, Capreolus capreolus, Cervus elaphus and Dama dama) browsing damage to top shoots or stems of young Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris, hereon pine), was better explained by the availability of alternative natural forage (using several indices and species of trees and shrubs) than by supplementary feeding. The proportion of damaged pine trees was higher in stands with a lower density of pine stems; in landscapes with a lower density of key broadleaf tree species (genera Sorbus, Salix, Populus and Quercus); and in landscapes with more open land (agricultural fields and paddocks). Damage was also higher in stands where relatively large amounts of moose faeces was found, while not related to the amount of faeces from other cervid species. The amount of supplementary feed (silage or other types such as root vegetables) did not explain variation in pine damage, but the result was possibly affected by relatively few study areas supplying sufficient data on supplementary feeding. The results from our inventory illustrate the efficacy of using naturally growing forage to mitigate browsing damage to young pine trees in managed landscapes. Creation of such forage is also recommended over supplementary feeding because of co-benefits to forest biodiversity and ecosystem services.
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| 5. |
- Gustavsson, Lillemor, 1961-
(författare)
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Change of toxicity during secondary treatment of industrial sludge containing nitroaromatics
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Wastewater treatment plants in Sweden are facing a great challenge due to the prohibition of depositing organic waste which gained legal force in January 2005. Biological and commercial available alternatives to disposal are composting and anaerobic digestion. A promising technique for wastewater and sludge treatment is the use of constructed wetland. In this thesis we have looked at the sludge from a wastewater treatment plant receiving wastewater from industries manufacturing pharmaceutical substances, chemical intermediates and explosives. The wastewater and sludge contains high concentrations of nitro-aromatic compounds and amino-aromatic compounds, both original compounds and degradation products. The degradation of nitroaromatics under different oxygen conditions is well examined and several studies have reported the alteration of nitroaromatics to more potent cytotoxic and genotoxic compounds after degradation. The use of bioassays is a practicable approach to estimate the toxic potency of complex samples such as sludge, since it is difficult to analyse all toxic compounds in a sample by using chemical analysis. The aim of this study was to follow change in toxicity in three different sludge treatment methods; aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion and constructed wetland to follow change in general and mechanism-specific toxicity. In order to detect both lipo- and hydrophilic compounds, different extraction and bioassays are necessary. We used organic solvents and multi-layer cleaned-up samples in the DR-Calux assay to detect the persistent lipophilic compounds causing dioxin-like activity. We also used both water and acetone extracts in the umu-C assay to detect genotoxicity and in the fishegg assay to detect embryotoxicty of water and semi-water soluble compounds in low concentrations. The results showed that anaerobic treatment is less suitable for this particular sludge, since the anaerobic residues showed high induction in all toxicity tests compared to the residues of the aerobic treatment. The anaerobic treatment also transformed the toxicants in the sludge to more lipophilic and persistent forms as well as to more water soluble, genotoxic compounds. This makes the treated material difficult to handle due to the toxic potential of the material as well as of the leachate. The aerobic treated material also showed an increased toxic potential of the material but the leachate showed no toxicity. However, high concentrations of nitrite were formed during both aerobic and anaerobic treatment, which is of environmental concern. The constructed wetlands eluated a non-toxic effluent and had a bed material with lower toxicity than expected considering the sludge concentrations and loaded sludge amount. The bed material contained concentration of TEQ considered as acceptable levels for sensitive ground use such as parks, lawns and other grounds without groundwater protection. However, all three treatment methods need to be optimised and the residual needs further evaluation in order to establish a suitable biodegradation method.
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| 6. |
- Gustavsson, Lillemor, et al.
(författare)
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Fate of Ah receptor agonists during biological treatment of an industrial sludge containing explosives and pharmaceutical residues
- 2004
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. - 0944-1344 .- 1614-7499. ; 11:6, s. 379-386
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- GOAL, SCOPE AND BACKGROUND:Sweden is meeting prohibition for deposition of organic waste from 2005. Since 1 million tons of sludge is produced every year in Sweden and the capacity for incineration does not fill the demands, other methods of sludge management have to be introduced to a higher degree. Two biological treatment alternatives are anaerobic digestion and composting. Different oxygen concentrations result in different microbial degradation pathways and, consequently, in a different quality of the digestion or composting residue, It is therefore necessary to study sludge treatment during different oxygen regimes in order to follow both degradation of compounds and change in toxicity. In this study, an industrial sludge containing explosives and pharmaceutical residues was treated with anaerobic digestion or composting, and the change in toxicity was studied. Nitroaromatic compounds, which are the main ingredients of both pharmaceutical and explosives, are well known to cause cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. However, little data are available concerning sludge with nitroaromatics and any associated dioxin-like activity. Therefore, we studied the sludge before and after the treatments in order to detect any changes in levels of Ah receptor (AhR) agonists using two bioassays for dioxin-like compounds.METHODS:An industrial sludge was treated with anaerobic digestion or composting in small reactors in a semi-continuous manner. The same volume as the feeding volume was taken out daily and stored at -20 degrees C. Sample preparation for the bioassays was done by extraction using organic solvents, followed by clean up with silica gel or sulphuric acid, yielding two fractions. The fractions were dissolved in DMSO and tested in the bioassays. The dioxin-like activity was measured using the DR-CALUX assay with transfected H4IIE rat hepatoma pGudluc cells and an EROD induction assay with RTL-W1 rainbow trout liver cells.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:The bioassays showed that the sludge contained AhR agonists at levels of TCDD equivalents (TEQs) higher than other sludge types in Sweden. In addition, the TEQ values for the acid resistant fractions increased considerably after anaerobic digestion, resulting in an apparent formation of acid resistant TEQs in the anaerobic reactors. Similar results have been reported from studies of fermented household waste. There was a large difference in effects between the two bioassays, with higher TEQ levels in the RTL-W1 EROD assay than in the DR-CALUX assay. This is possibly due to a more rapid metabolism in rat hepatocytes than in trout hepatocytes or to differences in sensitivities for the AhR agonists in the sludge. It was also demonstrated by GC/FID analysis that the sludge contained high concentrations of nitroaromatics. It is suggested that nitroaromatic metabolites, such as aromatic amines and nitroanilines, are possible candidates for the observed bioassay effects. It was also found that the AhR agonists in the sludge samples were volatile.CONCLUSIONS:The sludge contained fairly high concentrations of volatile AhR agonists. The increase of acid resistant AhR agonist after anaerobic digestion warrants further investigations of the chemical and toxic properties of these compounds and of the mechanisms behind this observation.RECOMMENDATION AND OUTLOOK:This study has pointed out the benefits of using different types of mechanism-specific bioassays when evaluating the change in toxicity by sludge treatment, in which measurement of dioxin-like activity can be a valuable tool. In order to study the recalcitrant properties of the compounds in the sludge using the DR-CALUX assay, the exposure time can be varied between 6 and 24 hours. The properties of the acid-resistant AhR agonists formed in the anaerobic treatment have to be investigated in order to choose the most appropriate method for sludge management.
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| 9. |
- Hansson, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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A framework for evaluation of flood management strategies
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4797 .- 1095-8630. ; 86:3, s. 465-480
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The resulting impact of disasters on society depends on the affected country's economic strength prior to the disaster. The larger the disaster and the smaller the economy, the more significant is the impact. This is clearest seen in developing countries, where weak economics become even weaker afterwards. Deliberate strategies for the sharing of losses from hazardous events may aid a country or a community in efficiently using scarce prevention and mitigation resources, thus being better prepared for the effects of a disaster. Nevertheless, many governments lack an adequate institutional system for applying cost effective and reliable technologies for disaster prevention, early warnings, and mitigation. Modelling by event analyses and strategy models is one way of planning ahead, but these models have so far not been linked together. An approach to this problem was taken during a large study in Hungary, the Tisza case study, where a number of policy strategies for spreading of flood loss were formulated. In these strategies, a set of parameters of particular interest were extracted from interviews with stakeholders in the region. However, the study was focused on emerging economies, and, in particular, on insurance strategies. The scope is now extended to become a functional framework also for developing countries. In general, they have a higher degree of vulnerability. The paper takes northern Vietnam as an example of a developing region. We identify important parameters and discuss their importance for flood strategy formulations. Based on the policy strategies in the Tisza case, we extract data from the strategies and propose a framework for loss spread in developing and emerging economics. The parameter set can straightforwardly be included in a simulation and decision model for policy formulation and evaluation, taking multiple stakeholders into account.
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