| 1. |
- Ahlgren, Serina, et al.
(författare)
-
Review of methodological choices in LCA of biorefinery systems - key issues and recommendations
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. - : Wiley. - 1932-1031 .- 1932-104X. ; 9:5, s. 606-619
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current trend in biomass conversion technologies is toward more efficient utilization of biomass feedstock in multiproduct biorefineries. Many life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies of biorefinery systems have been performed but differ in how they use the LCA methodology. Based on a review of existing LCA standards and guidelines, this paper provides recommendations on how to handle key methodological issues when performing LCA studies of biorefinery systems. Six key issues were identified: (i) goal definition, (ii) functional unit, (iii) allocation of biorefinery outputs, (iv) allocation of biomass feedstock, (v) land use, and (vi) biogenic carbon and timing of emissions. Many of the standards and guidelines reviewed here provide only general methodological recommendations. Some make more specific methodological recommendations, but these often differ between standards. In this paper we present some clarifications (e.g. examples of research questions and suitable functional units) and methodological recommendations (e.g. on allocation).
|
|
| 2. |
- Ddiba, Daniel, 1990-
(författare)
-
Exploring the circular economy of urban organic waste in sub-Saharan Africa: opportunities and challenges
- 2020
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Globally, there is increasing awareness of the importance of applying circular economy principles to the management of organic waste streams through resource recovery. In the urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa which are going to host a significant part of population growth over the next three decades, this is especially relevant. Circular economy approaches for sanitation and waste management can provide incentives to improve infrastructure and consequently contribute resources for water, energy and food that power urban livelihoods. This thesis is situated at the intersection of the circular economy on one hand and sanitation and waste management systems on the other. It aims to contribute to knowledge about the circular economy by investigating the potential contribution of resource-oriented urban sanitation and waste management towards the implementation of a circular economy in sub-Saharan Africa and the opportunities and challenges thereof.In pursuit of the above aim, the thesis employs a mixed methods approach and is operationalized in two case study locations: Kampala (Uganda) and Naivasha (Kenya). The findings reveal the quantities of resource recovery products like biogas, compost and black soldier fly larvae that can be obtained from the organic waste streams collected in a large city, demonstrate the viability of valorizing dried faecal sludge as a solid fuel for industrial applications, and identify the factors that facilitate or impede the governance capacity to implement circular economy approaches to the management of organic waste streams in urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The methods used for quantifying the potential for valorizing organic waste streams and for assessing governance capacity demonstrate approaches that could be applied in other urban contexts with interest in implementing circular economy principles. The discussion highlights some key implications of these findings for sanitation and waste management practices, arguing that it is time for a shift in sub-Saharan Africa from designing sanitation and waste management systems for disposal to designing them for resource recovery.
|
|
| 3. |
- Höjer, Mattias, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
-
Scenarios in selected tools for environmental systems analysis
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 16:18, s. 1958-1970
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A number of different tools for analysing environmental impacts of different systems have been developed. These include procedural tools such as strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental management systems (EMS) as well as analytical ones such as life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the system of economic and environmental accounts (SEEA) including input-output analysis (IOA). Descriptions or scenarios of the future are typically relevant elements in these tools, since they are often used to describe impacts in the future. For futures studies a number of different approaches and techniques have been developed. In an earlier paper we have presented a typology of different types of scenarios that respond to different types of questions. These include predictive scenarios, explorative scenarios and normative scenarios. The aim of this paper is to explore connections between selected tools for environmental systems analysis and different scenario types. Although there is a clear need for futures studies in several tools for environmental systems analysis, it is interesting to note that the literature on methodologies for and case studies of combinations of futures studies and environmental systems analysis tools is rather limited. This suggests that there is a need for further research in this area including both methodoloy and practical case studies.
|
|
| 4. |
- Laurenti, Rafael, et al.
(författare)
-
Analyzing the relationship between product waste footprints and environmental damage - A life cycle analysis of 1,400+products
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 859
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A major problem for the circular economy is monitoring improvements in environmental sustainability. Measuring how much waste reduction efforts contribute to the decrease of environmental impact is difficult, because knowledge on whether life cycle waste amounts correlate with environmental damage is limited. In this article, product waste footprints are used to explore structural similarities and differences in associations with environmental damage. Using the waste flows linked to the production system of 1487 reference products from the Ecoinvent database, we found significant regression equations with R2 of 0.75-0.89 between product waste footprints and potential impact on ecosystem diversity, human health and resource availability using log-transformed variables. For each 1 % increase in solid waste, potential impact on the environment increased by 0.75-0.84 %. This strong association between preconsumer waste and environmental damage is particularly important for advocating for circular economy efforts at the point of consumption, where life cycle waste is invisible to consumers.
|
|
| 5. |
- Persson, Linn, et al.
(författare)
-
Indicators for national consumption-based accounting of chemicals
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 215, s. 1-12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Increased chemical use is causing a growing number of environmental problems and chemical products are pervasive in societies within animal and crop-based agriculture, in industrial processes and in households. National environmental targets, as well as the global chemical-related goals in the 2030 Agenda, call for the monitoring of chemical use and emissions. The growing international trade of goods, where use and regulation of chemical inputs vary highly between countries, complicates measurements. This paper addresses these issues by deriving a set of indicators on chemical use and emissions and connect the global impacts to a country's total consumption, here using the case of Sweden. The indicators are based on a hybrid model combining the multi-regional input-output analysis database EXIOBASE with data from the Swedish System of Economic and Environmental Accounts together with a novel set of environmental extensions. A review of databases is conducted and discussed in relation to the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework for indicators. Five indicators are calculated, showing the chemical use and emissions connected to consumption, both within a country and abroad. The indicators are: use of hazardous chemical products, use of pesticides, use of antimicrobial veterinary medicines, emissions of hazardous substances, and of the potential toxicity of these emissions. The results show that the impact of Swedish consumption in terms of use and emissions of hazardous substances is largely taking place outside the Swedish borders. Only 10e24% of the pressure from Swedish consumption is shown to occur within Sweden's borders, depending on the indicator. The use of hazardous chemical products and veterinary medicines related to Swedish consumption primarily takes place in other EU countries, whereas the use of pesticides as well as reported emissions of pollutants occur mainly in countries outside the EU. The results highlight the need for improved international accounting of chemical flows, as well as for strengthened policy frameworks to address cross-border impacts of consumption of hazardous chemical products.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, et al.
(författare)
-
The Zinc Paradox – a Problem for USETox-based indicators of national chemical footprint
- 2016
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Considering the immense problem of chemical pollution worldwide, there is a great need for methods that can be used to calculate indicators of chemical footprints. Such indicators can be calculated for products and services using life cycle assessment (LCA), but also for whole nations. Indicators of natio- nal chemical footprints may include emissions within the nation’s borders only, or also emissions related to consumption (thus having a life cycle perspective). A limited number of studies (< 5) have attempted to calculate indicators of national chemical footprints using the USEtox consensus model for toxicity impact assessment in LCA. One of these is our calculation of indicators of a national chemical footprint for Sweden. Two other studies have made similar assessments for Europe. Using the national perspective of these studies enables a rough validation of USEtox results, since the indicators of national chemiABSTRACTS 62 63 cal footprint based on USEtox can be compared to non-LCA toxicity assessments done on national levels. Such validations are not possible for LCA studies of single products. Notably, the results of existing assessments of indicators of national chemical footprints, including our Swedish study, all pinpoint zinc as the dominating substance. Zinc typically accounts for >50% of the toxicity impacts for both ecotoxicity and human toxicity. For ecotoxicity, this is not unreasonable considering the notable toxicity of zinc to aquatic organisms. For human toxicity, this result is more surprising. Zinc is an essential trace element for humans that many take as a dietary supplement to prevent zinc deficiency. Non-LCA sources describe zinc as “relatively harmless” to human health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) does not list zinc among the top ten chemicals of major public health concern, although there are other metals on the list (mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic). These contradictory claims about zinc’s health impact seem to constitute a paradox. We present a review of existing studies assessing indicators of national chemical footprints, and of toxicological research related to zinc. We further discuss potential causes of this zinc paradox, as well as implications for assessments of indicators of national chemical footprints with USEtox.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Börjeson, Lena, et al.
(författare)
-
Scenario types and techniques : Towards a user's guide
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 38:7, s. 723-739
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Various scenario typologies have been suggested in attempts to make the field of futures studies easier to overview. Our typology is based on the scenario user's need to know what will happen, what can happen, and/or how a predefined target can be achieved. We discuss the applicability of various generating, integrating and consistency techniques for developing scenarios that provide the required knowledge. The paper is intended as a step towards a guide as to how scenarios can be developed and used.
|
|
| 10. |
- Ddiba, Daniel Isaac Waya, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
-
A review of how decision support tools address resource recovery in sanitation systems
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Journal of Environmental Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4797 .- 1095-8630. ; 342
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Globally, there is increasing interest in recovering resources from sanitation systems. However, the process of planning and implementing circular sanitation is complex and can necessitate software-based tools to support decision-making. In this paper, we review 24 decision support software tools used for sanitation planning, to generate insights into how they address resource recovery across the sanitation chain. The findings reveal that the tools can address many planning issues around resource recovery in sanitation including analysis of material flows, integrating resource recovery technologies and products in the design of sanitation systems, and assessing the sustainability implications of resource recovery. The results and recommendations presented here can guide users in the choice of different tools depending on, for example, what kind of tool features and functions the user is interested in as well as the elements of the planning process and the sanitation service chain that are in focus. However, some issues are not adequately covered and need improvements in the available tools including quantifying the demand for and value of resource recovery products, addressing retrofitting of existing sanitation infrastructure for resource recovery and assessing social impacts of resource recovery from a life cycle perspective. While there is scope to develop new tools or to modify existing ones to cover these gaps, communication efforts are needed to create awareness about existing tools, their functions and how they address resource recovery. It is also important to further integrate the available tools into infrastructure planning and programming processes by e.g. customizing to relevant planning regimes and procedures, to move them beyond research and pilots into practice, and hopefully contribute towards more circular sanitation systems.
|
|
