| 1. |
- Feiz, Roozbeh, 1975-, et al.
(author)
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Biogas Potential for Improved Sustainability in Guangzhou, China : A Study Focusing on Food Waste on Xiaoguwei Island
- 2019
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In: Sustainability. - : MDPI. - 2071-1050. ; 11:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As a result of rapid development in China and the growth of megacities, large amounts of organic wastes are generated within relatively small areas. Part of these wastes can be used to produce biogas, not only to reduce waste-related problems, but also to provide renewable energy, recycle nutrients, and lower greenhouse gases and air polluting emissions. This article is focused on the conditions for biogas solutions in Guangzhou. It is based on a transdisciplinary project that integrates several approaches, for example, literature studies and lab analysis of food waste to estimate the food waste potential, interviews to learn about the socio-technical context and conditions, and life-cycle assessment to investigate the performance of different waste management scenarios involving biogas production. Xiaoguwei Island, with a population of about 250,000 people, was chosen as the area of study. The results show that there are significant food waste potentials on the island, and that all studied scenarios could contribute to a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Several socio-technical barriers were identified, but it is expected that the forthcoming regulatory changes help to overcome some of them.
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| 2. |
- A.S.M. Monjurul, Hasan, et al.
(author)
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Biogas potential from municipal and agricultural residual biomass for power generation in Hazaribagh, Bangladesh : A strategy to improve the energy system
- 2019
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In: Renewable Energy Focus. - : Elsevier BV. - 1755-0084. ; 29:June 2019, s. 14-23
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Energy is considered as one of the significant benchmarks towards sustainable growth. Due to the recenteconomic growth, energy demand is increasing day by day in Bangladesh. The power generation mainlyrelies on fossil fuels though there are plans to increase the renewable energy share by the concernstakeholders. Considering the global warming, energy generation from renewable sources is consideredas a sustainable way to mitigate the anthropogenic emission. This study, therefore, addresses thepotentiality of biogas production from municipal waste and agricultural residues in a city territory ofDhaka namely Hazaribagh. The potential sources include wastes from two markets, six slaughterhouses,domestic wastes, one poultry farm and three croplands. The calculations made in this study to estimatethe amount of biogas and electricity from the described sources are done in a simple way, just to illustratethe potential. This study suggests that there is a good potentiality of biogas production and electricitygeneration from municipal wastes and agricultural residues of Hazaribagh. Moreover, this study alsomentions the significant actors like government, future owners, people and so on that are needed to beincorporated to implement biogas solution in a city territory.
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| 3. |
- Ammenberg, Jonas, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Biogas in the transport sector—actor and policy analysis focusing on the demand side in the Stockholm region
- 2018
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In: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - : Elsevier. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 129, s. 70-80
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sweden has ambitions to phase out fossil fuels and significantly increase the share of biofuels it uses. This article focuses on Stockholm County and biogas, with the aim to increase the knowledge about regional preconditions. Biogas-related actors have been interviewed, focusing on the demand side. Biogas solutions play an essential role, especially regarding bus transports and taxis. Long-term development has created well-functioning socio-technical systems involving collaboration. However, uncertainties about demand and policy cause hesitation and signs of stagnating development. Public organizations are key actors regarding renewables. For example, Stockholm Public Transport procures biogas matching the production at municipal wastewater treatment plants, the state-owned company Swedavia steers via a queuing system for taxis, and the municipalities have shifted to “environmental cars”. There is a large interest in electric vehicles, which is expected to increase significantly, partially due to suggested national policy support. The future role of biogas will be affected by how such an expansion comes about. There might be a risk of electricity replacing biogas, making it more challenging to reach a fossil-free vehicle fleet. Policy issues strongly influence the development. The environmental car definition is of importance, but its limited focus fails to account for several different types of relevant effects. The dynamic policy landscape with uncertainties about decision makers’ views on biogas seems to be one important reason behind the decreased pace of development. A national, long-term strategy is missing. Both the European Union and Sweden have high ambitions regarding a bio-based and circular economy, which should favor biogas solutions.
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| 4. |
- Ammenberg, Jonas, 1973-
(author)
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Environmental management systems and environmental performance
- 2007
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In: Strategic sustainability. - Sheffield : Greenleaf Publishing Ltd. - 9781874719618 ; , s. 242-257
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Environmental management systems (EMSs) are tools that can be used to steer and controlan organisation’s environmental efforts. This chapter focuses on standardisedEMSs, those that deal with fulfilling the requirements of the international standard ISO14001 (ISO 1996) and/or the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) (EC 2001).These standardised EMSs have been applied for about a decade; the number of organisationsthat are certified in accordance with them worldwide is steadily rising and nowhas reached over 100,000 (ISO World 2007).Early EMS work focused on issues relating to implementation. Often, positive environmentaleffects were taken for granted. More recently, however, questions addressingthe effects of standardised EMSs have become more popular in the research literature.The extent and types of effects of a standardised system are critical issues from anenvironmental perspective. The information presented within this chapter will helpuncover and capture some of the nuances of the connection between EMSs and environmentalperformance. Important lessons learned as a result of this study include arelative lack of understanding of EMSs even after more than a decade of practical application.Additional insights include the extent to which EMSs are useful tools in achievingbetter organisational environmental conditions and identification of the importantfactors influencing the effectiveness and efficiency of such systems. While the focus ofthis chapter is on the use of standardised EMSs to reduce environmental impacts, themethods used in this study build on the author’s findings from several earlier studies—a meta-analytic perspective—and are summarised where appropriate. Some key strategicEMS issues addressed here include:● Environmental aspects, their identification, formulation and assessment● The scope of EMSs, including their relationship with product development● Environmental policy, targets and objectives● External environmental auditing● Continual improvement in environmental performance● EMSs and the supply chain
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| 5. |
- Ammenberg, Jonas, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Industrial symbiosis for improving the CO2-performance of cement
- 2012
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Justification of the paper Cement production is one of the largest contributors to global CO2-emissions. However, the context and characteristics of the production and the cement products vary a lot. A significant part of the production must be characterized as rather linear, for example, to a large extent based on fossil fuels and involving material flows that are not closed. But there are also much more synergistic examples, involving industrial by-products, renewable energy, etc. Clearly, there are opportunities for improvement within the cement industry and it is interesting to analyze to what extent increased industrial symbiosis can lead to improved climate performance. This has been done by studying the production of cement clinker and three selected cement products produced within the Cluster West in Germany, consisting of three cement plants that are owned by the multinational company CEMEX. The methodology is mostly based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), from cradle-to-gate.PurposeThe overall purpose is to contribute to a better understanding of the climate performance of different ways of producing cement, and different cement products. The climate impact is assessed for “traditional”, rather linear, ways of making cement, but also two more synergistic alternatives, where the by-product granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) is utilized to a large extent, substituting cement clinker. It is also shown how the climate performance of the West Cluster has changed from 1997 until 2009 (the main year of study), and investigated how further industrial symbiosis measures could improve the performance.Theoretical frameworkTo a large extent this project has been based on mapping and analysis of relevant flows of material and energy, where LCA methodology has played an important part. Theoretical and methodological aspects related to the fields of Industrial Ecology and Industrial Symbiosis have played an important role. The findings are discussed in relation to some of the key ideas within these fields. The paper generates insight into the methodological challenge of quantifying environmental performance of different production approaches and basically what CO2 improvement potential cement industry has by taking industrial symbiosis measures.ResultsThe results showed that the cement clinker produced at Cluster West is competitive from a climate perspective, causing CO2-eq missions that are a couple of percent lower than the world average. During the twelve year period from 1997 to 2009 these emissions became about 12 percent lower, which was mainly achieved by production efficiency measures but also via changing fuels. However, the most interesting results concern the blended cement products. It was manifested that it is very advantageous from a climate perspective to substitute clinker with granulated blast furnace slag. For example, the CO2-eq emissions were estimated to be 65 percent lower for the best product compared to “ordinary cement”.ConclusionsInformation and measures at the plant level are not sufficient to compare products or to significantly reduce the climate impact related to cement. To achieve important reductions of the emissions, measures and knowledge at a higher industrial symbiosis level are needed.
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| 6. |
- Ammenberg, Jonas, 1973-
(author)
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Miljömanagement : miljö- och hållbarhetsarbete i företag och andra organisationer
- 2012. - 2 [rev.]
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Book (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- Boken ger läsaren kunskap om viktiga förutsättningar när det gällerföretags, och andra typer av organisationers, arbete med miljö- och hållbar utveckling. Det gäller både förutsättningar utanför och inom organisationer. Boken behandlar även relevanta strategier, metoder och koncept inom området.I den första delen – Omvärlden – behandlas områden som främst påverkar företag och andra typer av organisationer utifrån. Inledningsvis beskrivs exempelvis miljöproblematiken och ”hållbar utveckling”. Därefter behandlas miljöpolitik, miljölagstiftning, de ekonomiska systemen samt etiska frågor.I den andra delen – Hållbarhetsstrategiskt arbete med fokus på miljö – behandlas delar i miljö- och hållbarhetsarbetet som ofta berör hela organisationen. Först introduceras intressentperspektivet och därefter grunderna avseende strategiskt arbete. Vidare finns en kort introduktion till organisationsteori med en beskrivning av hur miljö- och hållbarhetsarbete kan organiseras och genomföras. Därefter följer två kapitel om ledningssystem, först ges en allmän introduktion för flera olika områden och sedan en mer ingående beskrivning. Den andra delen avslutas med ett kapitel om miljöarbete i olika typer av organisationer.I bokens tredje del – Viktiga delar i miljö- och hållbarhetsarbetet – berörs andra ”områden” i miljö- och hållbarhetsarbetet, som kan vara mycket viktiga men ofta inte är lika övergripande. Det innefattar miljörevision; miljöarbete med fokus på produkter; miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar; riskhantering; samt marknadsföring och extern kommunikation.Boken är i första hand skriven för kurser i miljömanagement eller miljöledning vid högskolor och universitet, men kan också användas för utbildningar på företag och inom andra typer av organisationer.
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| 7. |
- Ammenberg, Jonas, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Systematic assessment of feedstock for an expanded biogas production : A multi-criteria approach
- 2017
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Biogas solutions can contribute to more renewable and local energy systems, and also involve other essential aspects such as nutrient recycling. From a theoretical feedstock perspective there is a great biogas potential in Sweden, but the development has been relatively slow as many biogas producers face challenges of different types. Among the many influencing factors, the choice of feedstocks (biomass) is of strategic importance. Within the Biogas Research Center (BRC), hosted by Linköping University in Sweden, a research project focused on feedstock has been ongoing for several years. It has involved researchers, biogas and biofertilizer producers, agricultural organizations and others. The main aim has been to develop a method to assess the suitability of feedstock for biogas and biofertilizer production, and to apply this method on a few selected feedstocks. A multi-criteria method has been developed that covers potential, feasibility and resource efficiency, operationalized via 17 indicators directed towards cost efficiency, technological feasibility, energy and environmental performance, accessibility, competition, policy and other issues. Thus the method it is relatively comprehensive, yet hopefully simple enough to be used by practitioners.The main ambition, applying the method, has been to collect and structure relevant information to facilitate strategic overviews, communication and informed decision making. This is relevant for development within the biogas and biofertilizer industry, for policymakers, to define and prioritize among essential research projects, etc. This report presents some essential parts of this project, focusing on the multi-criteria method and results regarding ley crops, straw, farmed blue mussels and food waste (and stickleback to some extent). It clarifies how the method can be applied and highlights barriers, drivers and opportunities for each feedstock. Comparisons are also made. The results indicate that biogas production from food waste and ley crops is the most straightforward, and for straw and farmed blue mussels there are more obstacles to overcome. For all of them, the dynamic and very uncertain policy landscape is a barrier. In the final chapter, some conclusions about the method and its application are drawn.
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| 8. |
- Lindfors, Axel, 1993-, et al.
(author)
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Using national environmental objectives in green public procurement : Method development and application on transport procurement in Sweden
- 2021
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In: Journal of Cleaner Production. - Amsterdam, Nederländerna : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 280:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Green public procurement can play an important role in reducing the environmental impact of societies. While its uptake is continuously growing, barriers to its use still remain. One barrier previously identified in literature is related to the lack of accessible and easy to use tools that help standardize the development of criteria in green tenders. In this paper, to help overcome this barrier, a method is presented that can be used to develop green public procurement tools that follow previous studies recommendations about including life-cycle assessment-based data and basing procurement criteria on national environmental objectives. The method was then applied to develop a procurement tool for green procurement of public transport services in Sweden based on the Swedish environmental quality objectives. Results from the assessment of 18 pre-defined fuel systems are shown together with an illustrative example of how the tool can be used in the process leading up to procurements to set relevant criteria and during the procurement to adjust incoming tender prices. The results showed that waste-based biomethane and hydrogenated vegetable oil systems were well aligned with the Swedish environmental quality objectives due to being able to contribute positively to several objectives. Crop-based biofuels, on the other hand, performed worse due to negative effects from agricultural practices. The performance of the electric vehicle systems depended in large on how the electricity was generated, where renewable sources and low carbon sources performed better than non-renewable alternatives.
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