| 1. |
- Arushanyan, Yevgeniya
(författare)
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Environmental Impacts of ICT: Present and Future
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- ICT is developing rapidly and is playing an increasingly important role in society. High expectations are placed on ICT in relation to sustainable development. In order to provide basis for decision-making and ensure that ICT is used in the best possible way for enabling sustainable development, the sustainability impacts of ICT need to be studied.This thesis aims to provide new knowledge on the environmental impacts related to ICT, to explore the potential of ICT to contribute to sustainability, and discuss ways of assessing environmental impacts of ICT. In order to fulfill the aim a literature review of existing LCA studies of ICT was done, an LCA case study of printed and online media was performed, a methodological framework for sustainability assessment of scenarios was developed and then applied for environmental assessment of future ICT societies.The results show that manufacturing and use phase are the life cycle stages contributing the most to the ICT environmental impacts. For online newspapers online distribution and content production may give significant contribution to the overall impact. User behavior was observed to be crucial for the results of comparisons of ICT solutions with their traditional counterparts.The following key issues were concluded to influence the environmental risks and opportunities in future ICT societies: energy mix, economic conditions, life styles, technology, and environmental ambitions, incentives and regulation. The potential of ICT for sustainability is affected by these key issues.A new methodological framework (SAFS) was developed for the assessment of future scenarios (societal level). Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used for assessment on a product level. Application of both methods, their benefits, drawbacks, and challenges of assessment were discussed. Both types of assessments were concluded to be important to support decision-making.
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| 2. |
- Umair, Shakila, 1979-
(författare)
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Informal Electronic Waste Recycling in Pakistan
- 2015
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis was to study governance aspects of informal electronic waste recycling and to provide better knowledge of the business in terms of structure, stakeholders, governance aspects and social impacts.The thesis consists of a cover essay and two papers appended at the end of the thesis. The cover essay summarizes the papers and puts them in context. The objective of Paper I is to study the business of informal electronic waste recycling in Pakistan and highlight its governance issues. Paper II assesses the social impacts of this business using UNEP-SETAC Guidelines.The thesis examines these specific questions: Q1) What is the current situation of informal e-waste recycling in Pakistan? Q2) Who are the important stakeholders and what are their roles in this business? Q3) What are the governance issues enabling this informal business? Q4) What are the social impacts for individuals and society arising from this business?Paper I presents the international and local e-waste flows, business structure, the stakeholders involved and the existing governance issues of the business. It shows weak enforcement of legislation, the complexities emerging with numerous stakeholders, the profitability of informal recycling, little concern for the health damaging exposure for workers from poorest and most vulnerable people in society, and the lack of awareness of the hazards involved results in several governance issues. The paper also highlights how this business lacks characteristics of good governance, which makes it a challenge to control this business.Paper II assesses the social impacts of informal e-waste recycling in Pakistan using UNEP/SETAC guidelines for conducting a Social Lifecycle Analysis (SLCA). It showed that this business has positive impacts relating to societal issues and individual/family economics, and in the economic development of Pakistan but otherwise most impacts were negative. The findings of Paper II fill an important data gap and can be integrated with data on other stages of ICT product lifecycle to produce a full SLCA of such products.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Graipe, Anna, 1973-
(författare)
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Bleeding complications after acute coronary syndrome with special reference to intracranial hemorrhage
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Bleeding complications following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have attracted considerable attention in recent years. The gradual implementation of new evidence-based treatments in patients with ACS, with a focus on anti-ischemic therapy, has reduced the risk of ischemic events (new myocardial infarction or ischemic stroke) but at the expense of increased bleeding risk. Bleeding is associated with both increased morbidity and mortality and, with major bleeding, the risk of death is comparable to that seen in myocardial infarction. Avoidance of bleeding is one possible way to further improve post-ACS outcomes. During the 1990s reperfusion approaches shifted from thrombolysis, with its increased risk of bleeding and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), with an expected lower risk. Treatment recommendations are derived from randomized controlled trials in which high-risk patients are excluded, and observational studies are needed to assess outcomes. Antithrombotic treatment is associated with increased risk of serious bleeding and even more so with the new potent P2Y12 inhibitors. However, their association with ICH is not well studied, and knowledge is limited regarding temporal trends in ICH after ACS. Furthermore, few studies have long-term follow-up for serious bleedings and associated risk factors.Aims: The aims of this thesis were to assess the incidence, temporal trends and factors associated with ICH after acute myocardial infarction (AMI); investigate the impact on ICH risk of changing the treatment regimen from clopidogrel to ticagrelor; estimate the risk of serious bleeding (bleeding requiring hospitalization) after ACS and characterize the type of bleeding; identify factors associated with increased bleeding risk; and assess if serious bleeding is associated with increased mortality. Method: In studies I–III, patients with AMI were identified using the Register of Information and Knowledge About Swedish Heart Intensive Care Admission (RIKS-HIA), and the data were combined with information from the Swedish National Patient Register, 1998–2013 to identify ICH. In study II, we included a matched reference group from Statistics Sweden. Study IV included all patients who were identified with an ACS during the inclusion period of the Nurse-Based Age-Independent Intervention to Limit Evolution of Disease After Acute Coronary Syndrome risk factor trial (2010–2014), and patients were followed until December 2017. Serious bleedings were identified in the local diagnosis registry, and scrutinizing of the medical records validated all diagnoses. Baseline characteristics in all studies were evaluated using the student t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, or the chi-square test as appropriate. In studies I and II, the observational time was divided into periods and in study I the chi-square test for trend was used to evaluate the trend over time. Temporal trends in study II were assessed by Kaplan–Meier analysis and evaluated using log-rank test. To reduce selection bias related to the choice of antiplatelet treatment in study III, the date of the first prescription of ticagrelor was identified in the RIKS-HIA registry and used as a cutoff point, and the study period was divided into two periods of similar length to create two cohorts. The risk in the first with respect to the second cohort was assessed by Kaplan–Meier analysis, and cohorts were compared with the log-rank test. Kaplan–Meier analysis was also used in study IV to assess serious bleeds. Predictors were assessed by Cox regression analyses. Results: The 30-day risk of hemorrhagic stroke decreased from 0.2% in 1998 to 0.1% in 2008. The decrease can be explained by the shift in reperfusion method from thrombolysis to PCI in patients with a ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Age, hypertension and previous hemorrhagic stroke were associated with increased risk. The cumulative incidence of ICH within one year of AMI was 0.35%, which did not change during the 13-year follow-up (1998–2010) despite a considerable increase in the use of dual antiplatelet therapy. The incidence of ICH in the AMI cohort was twice that of a matched reference group. Age, decreased kidney function and previous ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke were associated with increased ICH risk. None of the medications included in the analysis were associated with a significant change in ICH risk. For antiplatelets, ticagrelor is a more potent P2Y12 inhibitor compared to clopidogrel and has previously been associated with increased bleeding risk; however, in this work ticagrelor was not associated with increased risk of ICH compared to clopidogrel. In study IV, during a median follow-up of 4.6 years, 8.6% of patients had a serious bleed after their ACS. This rate was 13.4% in patients aged ≥75 years. The most common location was gastrointestinal, followed by ICH. Risk factors associated with serious bleeding were age ≥75 years, hypertension, and previous heart failure. Bleeding per se was not associated with increased mortality.Conclusion: The shift in reperfusion method from thrombolysis to PCI likely explained the decrease in ICH in the acute phase after an AMI. The incidence of ICH post-discharge was stable over the study period despite increased use of antithrombotic therapy, and the use of more potent P2Y12 inhibitor did not increase the ICH risk. Serious bleeding was relatively frequent in the long term after ACS, and bleeding recurrence was common. Important risk factors for bleeding were age, hypertension, previous ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, decreased renal function and previous heart failure. Individualized assessment of risk factors and comorbidity and individualized intensity and duration of antithrombotic treatment may further improve outcome in ACS patients. Continuous re-evaluation of bleeding risk is needed.
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| 5. |
- Holmgren, Kristina, 1970-
(författare)
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A System Perspective on District Heating and Waste Incineration
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Energy recovery by waste incineration has a double function as waste treatment method and supplier of electricity and/or heat, thereby linking the systems of energy and waste management. Both systems are undergoing great changes, mainly due to new regulations. Important regulations within waste management in Sweden are a ban on landfill of combustible waste and organic waste, and a tax on landfill of waste. New waste incineration facilities are being built in order to increase capacity to meet these demands.The aim of this thesis is to investigate impacts on Swedish district heating systems of increased use of waste as a fuel in economic and environmental terms, the latter mainly by assessing emissions of carbon dioxide. Of importance is the influence of various policy instruments. To highlight the connection between the energy and waste management systems and how these influence each other is another goal, as well as the function of district heating systems as user of various waste heat supplies. An important assumption for this thesis is a deregulated European electricity market, where the marginal power production in the short term is coal condensing power and in the long term natural gas based power, that affects the conditions for combined heat and power in district heating systems. The method used is case studies of three Swedish municipalities that utilise waste in their district heating systems. In two papers, the scope is broadened from the energy utility perspective by comparing the energy efficiency of energy recovery and material recovery of various fractions, and the effect of including external costs for CO2 as well as SO2, NOx and particles. The ambition is that the results can be part of the decision making process for energy utilities and for policy makers in the energy sector and waste management.It is economically advantageous to use waste as a fuel in the energy sector and regulations in the waste management sector and high taxes on fossil fuels contribute to profitability. Waste incineration plants are base suppliers of heat because they derive revenue from receiving the waste. Economic conditions for waste incineration are altered with the introduction of a tax on incinerated municipal waste. A conflict may arise between combined heat and power production in district heating systems and waste incineration, since the latter can remove the heat sink for other combined heat and power plants with higher efficiencies. Combined heat and power is the main measure to decrease carbon dioxide emissions in district heating systems on the assumption that locally produced electricity replaces electricity in coal condensing plants. It can be difficult to design policy instruments for waste incineration due to some conflicting goals for waste management and energy systems. Comparing the energy efficiency of material recovery and energy recovery is a way to assess the resource efficiency of waste treatment methods. From that perspective, if there is a district heating system which can utilise the heat, biodegradable waste and cardboard should be energy recovered and plastics and paper material recovered. To put costs on environmental effects, so called external costs, is a way to take these effects into regard in traditional economic calculations, but the method has drawbacks, e.g. the limited range of environmental effects included and uncertainties in the monetary valuation of environmental effects.
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| 6. |
- Kullberg, Kerstin, 1953-
(författare)
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Food in older men with somatic diseases : Eating habits and approaches to food-related activities
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim was to improve the knowledge and understanding of eating habits of older men with somatic diseases, and the men's perceptions about managing food-related habits, such as grocery shopping and cooking. A total of 67 men between 64 and 89 years of age were visited in their homes on two occasions with 1-2 weeks in between. The participants were diagnosed with one of the three diseases Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, or stroke. A food survey, with repeated 24-h recall, was used to assess food intake and meal patterns. Interviews with 18 participants were conducted with open-ended questions. The interviews were further analysed with a thematic framework approach.The findings showed that eating events were distributed over a 24-h period.Further, co-living men had a significantly larger number of eating events over the day (p=0.001). No differences in daily energy intake were observed between co-living and single-living men. Co-living men’s hot eating events were compared with those of single-living men more often cooked from fresh ingredients (p=0.001), including a greater mix of vegetables/roots (p=0.003).Thematic analysis revealed three different approaches to food-related activities(FRA), namely ‘Cooking as a pleasure’, describing joy in cooking; ‘Cooking as a need’, indicating no habits or skills in cooking; and ‘Food is served’, that is, being served meals by a partner. The men's approaches to FRA were affected in particular by gender-related roles, but also by changed life circumstances, activity limitations, personal interests, and a wish to maintain continuity and independence. Further adaptive strategies were used among the men in attempts to maintain continuity and independence in FRA. In conclusion, single-living older men, especially those with activity limitations, were identified as being a vulnerable group from a nutritional perspective. Further, health care efforts in promoting FRA should preferably be individualised with respect to the older man’s approach to these activities.
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| 7. |
- Liljenström, Carolina
(författare)
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Life cycle assessment in early planning of transport systems : Decision support at project and network levels
- 2018
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Swedish Climate Policy Framework implies that the Swedish transport sector must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to nearly zero by 2045. Previous studies have – using life cycle assessment – shown that indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle and infrastructure life cycle are significant and should be considered in transport policy and planning of transport systems, in addition to direct emissions of vehicle operation.The aim of this thesis is to contribute with knowledge on climate impact and primary energy use of transport systems for decision-support in early planning at project and network levels, and evaluate and demonstrate how life cycle climate impact and primary energy use can be assessed in early planning. This thesis includes three papers that contribute to achieving this aim. Paper I developed a methodological approach to assess annual climate impact and primary energy use of Swedish road, rail, air, and sea transport infrastructure at a network level. Paper II then expanded this system to the assessment of the Swedish transport system at a network level, including national and international freight and passenger transport by road, rail, air, and sea. At the project level, Paper III examined how LCA can be used as decision-support in choice of road corridor, considering the practical prerequisite of data availability in early planning and usefulness of results in the decision-making process.Paper I showed that the annual climate impact of Swedish transport infrastructure is around 3 million tonnes CO2 equivalents and that the annual primary energy use is around 27 TWh. Road infrastructure accounted for the largest proportion of impacts – around 70% of the climate impact and around 80% of the energy use. Paper II showed that the annual climate impact of the Swedish transport system was around 44 million tonnes CO2 equivalents and the primary energy use was around 178 TWh. Road transport and aviation together accounted for 90% of the climate impact and primary energy use. Indirect impacts were significant, especially for road and rail transport, accounting for 30% of the total climate impact and primary energy use. Paper III found that (1) collection of project specific data should focus on parameters that differentiate the road corridors, that can be influenced in early planning, and that are not directly related to the road length and (2) life cycle assessment based models used in early planning should include nation specific generic data approved by the national road authority.
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| 8. |
- Liljenström, Carolina
(författare)
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Life cycle assessment of transport systems and transport infrastructure : Investigating methodological approaches and quantifying impacts at project and network levels
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector is a key challenge to reach global climate targets and limit global warming to below 2 ºC. The use of life cycle assessment (LCA) may provide knowledge about the environmental impacts of transport systems so that emission reduction measures can be identified.The aim of this thesis is to investigate how LCA can contribute with knowledge that can be used to support specific decisions in the context of transport system policy and planning, to demonstrate how LCA can be conducted at project and network levels, and to contribute with knowledge of direct and indirect climate impact and primary energy use of the Swedish transport infrastructure and the Swedish transport system at a network level.The thesis includes four papers that contribute to achieving this aim. Paper 1 demonstrates an approach for the identification of hotspots in Swedish road, rail, air, and sea transport infrastructure at a network level. Paper 2 demonstrates this approach for the full transport system at a network level, including national and international freight transport and passenger travel by road, rail, air, and sea. At the project level, Paper 3 investigates how LCA can be used as decision-support in choice of road corridor, considering prerequisites of data availability and usefulness of results for decision-making. Paper 4 maps approaches used to quantify impacts of the maintenance stage in 92 project-level LCAs of road and rail infrastructure and discusses their applicability in policy and procurement.Paper 1 estimated that the annual climate impact of Swedish transport infrastructure is about 3 Mtonne CO2 equivalents and that the corresponding primary energy use is about 27 TWh. Road and rail infrastructure contributed to 90% of these impacts. Additional hotspots identified were reinvestment of roads and railways and production of asphalt, concrete, and steel. Paper 2 estimated that the annual climate impact of the Swedish transport system is about 40 Mtonne CO2 equivalents and that the corresponding primary energy use is about 196 TWh. Road transport and aviation together accounted for 85% of these impacts. Indirect impacts were significant, accounting for about a third of the impacts. The main causes of indirect impacts were fuel production for road passenger travel and manufacturing of passenger cars.Paper 3 found that LCA-based models used in early planning should include generic data that are nation specific (preferably approved by the national road authority) and that can be replaced by project specific data when needed. Further, both traffic and infrastructure should be included at a level of detail that allows the identification of improvement measures and the assessment of uncertainty in the results. Results should be presented relative to a reference alternative and complement results from other decision-support used in planning. Paper 4 found a variety of approaches to quantify impacts of the maintenance stage in LCA. The analysis period was often determined based on the infrastructure’s service life. The maintenance frequency was commonly estimated based on the current practice of maintenance in a region or on performance prediction modelling. Only two of the reviewed papers included the effects of climate change on results of the LCA. How the approaches can be implemented in decision-making depends on their abilities to be standardised for use in procurement and to incorporate multiple scenarios.Stakeholders involved in transport system policy and planning can use these results as support in considering life cycle impacts in their decision-making practice to reduce environmental impacts in line with national and international targets.
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| 9. |
- Miliutenko, Sofiia, 1984-
(författare)
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Consideration of life cycle energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for improved road infrastructure planning
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Global warming is one of the biggest challenges of our society. The road transport sector is responsible for a big share of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, which are considered to be the dominant cause of global warming. Although most of those emissions are associated with traffic operation, road infrastructure should not be ignored, as it involves high consumption of energy and materials during a long lifetime.The aim of my research was to contribute to improved road infrastructure planning by developing methods and models to include a life cycle perspective. In order to reach the aim, GHG emissions and energy use at different life cycle stages of road infrastructure were assessed in three case studies using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). These case studies were also used for development of methodology for LCA of road infrastructure. I have also investigated the coupling of LCA with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the possibility to integrate LCA into Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).The results of the first case study indicated that operation of the tunnel (mainly, lighting and ventilation) has the largest contribution in terms of energy use and GHG emissions throughout its life cycle. The second case study identified the main hotspots and compared two methods for asphalt recycling and asphalt reuse. The results of the third case study indicated that due to the dominant contribution of traffic to the total impact of the road transport system, the difference in road length plays a major role in choice of road alternatives during early planning of road infrastructure. However, infrastructure should not be neglected, especially in the case of similar lengths of road alternatives, for roads with low volumes of traffic or when they include bridges or tunnels.This thesis contributed in terms of foreground and background data collection for further LCA studies of road infrastructure. Preliminary Bill of Quantities (BOQ) was identified and used as a source for site-specific data collection. A new approach was developed and tested for using geological data in a GIS environment as a data source on earthworks for LCA. Moreover, this thesis demonstrated three possible ways for integrating LCA in early stages of road infrastructure planning.
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| 10. |
- Miliutenko, Sofiia, 1984-
(författare)
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Life Cycle Impacts of Road Infrastructure : Assessment of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Road infrastructure is essential in the development of human society, but has both negative and positive impacts. Large amounts of money and natural resources are spent each year on its construction, operation and maintenance. Obviously, there is potentially significantenvironmental impact associated with these activities. Thus the need for integration of life cycle environmental impacts of road infrastructure into transport planning is currently being widely recognised on international and national level. However certain issues, such as energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the construction, maintenance and operation of road infrastructure, are rarely considered during the current transport planning process in Sweden and most other countries.This thesis examined energy use and GHG emissions for the whole life cycle (construction, operation, maintenance and end-of-life) of road infrastructure, with the aim of improving transport planning on both strategic and project level. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to two selected case studies: LCA of a road tunnel and LCA of three methods for asphalt recycling and reuse: hot in-plant, hot in-place and reuse as unbound material. The impact categories selected for analysis were Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and Global Warming Potential (GWP). Other methods used in the research included interviews and a literature review.The results of the first case study indicated that the operational phase of the tunnel contributed the highest share of CED and GWP throughout the tunnel’s life cycle. Construction of concrete tunnels had much higher CED and GWP per lane-metre than construction of rocktunnels. The results of the second case study showed that hot in-place recycling of asphalt gave slightly more net savings of GWP and CED than hot in-plant recycling. Asphalt reuse was less environmentally beneficial than either of these alternatives, resulting in no net savings of GWP and minor net savings of CED. Main sources of data uncertainty identified in the two case-studies included prediction of future electricity mix and inventory data for asphalt concrete.This thesis contributes to methodological development which will be useful to future infrastructure LCAs in terms of inventory data collection. It presents estimated amounts of energy use and GHG emissions associated with road infrastructure, on the example of roadtunnel and asphalt recycling. Operation of road infrastructure and production of construction materials are identified as the main priorities for decreasing GHG emissions and energy use during the life cycle of road infrastructure. It was concluded that the potential exists for significant decreases in GHG emissions and energy use associated with the road transport system if the entire life cycle of road infrastructure is taken into consideration from the very start of the policy-making process.
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