| 1. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, et al.
(författare)
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Connecting the resource nexus to basic urban service provision – with a focus on water-energy interactions in New York City
- 2017
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Ingår i: Sustainable cities and society. - : Elsevier. - 2210-6707. ; 31, s. 83-94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urban water and energy systems are crucial for sustainably meeting basic service demands in cities. This paper proposes and applies a technology-independent “reference resource-to-service system” framework for concurrent evaluation of urban water and energy system interventions and their ‘nexus’ or ‘interlinkages’. In a concrete application, data that approximate New York City conditions are used to evaluate a limited set of interventions in the residential sector, spanning from low-flow toilet shifts to extensive green roof installations. Results indicate that interventions motivated primarily by water management goals can considerably reduce energy use and contribute to mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, energy efficiency interventions can considerably reduce water use in addition to lowering emissions. However, interventions yielding the greatest reductions in energy use and emissions are not necessarily the most water conserving ones, and vice versa. Useful further research, expanding the present analysis should consider a broader set of resource interactions, towards a full climate, land, energy and water (CLEW) nexus approach. Overall, assessing the impacts, trade-offs and co-benefits from interventions in one urban resource system on others also holds promise as support for increased resource efficiency through integrated decision making.
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| 2. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, et al.
(författare)
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Corrigendum : Multi-functionality of nature-based and other urban sustainability solutions: New York City study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Land Degradation and Development. - : Wiley. - 1085-3278 .- 1099-145X. ; 33:5, s. 813-814
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the referenced article, Engström R, et al. (2018), the authors would like to report a calculation error. Correcting this error does not alter any of the overarching results or conclusions of the article, but changes the results in the original Table 3 and Figure 3. Two typographical errors were also found in the main article, and are corrected here. The supplementary material has also been updated to reflect these corrections.
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| 3. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, et al.
(författare)
-
Corrigendum to “Connecting the resource nexus to basic urban service provision – with a focus on water-energy interactions in New York City” [31 (May) (2017) 83–94] (Sustainable Cities and Society (2017) 31 (83–94), (S2210670716305947), (10.1016/j.scs.2017.02.007))
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainable cities and society. - : Elsevier BV. - 2210-6707. ; 72, s. 103002-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The authors regret two instances of misinterpretation of input data and one formatting error in the previously published paper as titled above. First, the numerical estimates for water use in NYC electricity and natural gas supply were found to be incorrect due to a conversion error in a data file. This error has now been corrected and the estimates have been changed to correctly correspond to the references on which they are based on. These changes have led to a recalculation of indirect water use reduction potentials in the interventions studied in the paper. Second, two errors due to primary data misinterpretation related to the studied green roof intervention have been found and corrected. The first led to an overestimation of the green roofs’ energy use reduction potential in the previously published paper. The second led to an underestimation of their installation cost. These errors have also been corrected and all numerical results for the green roof intervention have been recalculated. In the updated sections 3 and 4 of the original publication (below), Table 2, Table 3, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are updated with the new results related to both indirect water use reductions and green roof performance and costs. The text in the below sections have been given minor adjustments to clarify this update. These changes make green roofs a less economically favourable intervention in comparison to the previously published results. It also makes indirect water use reductions relatively smaller compared to direct water use reductions. All other results as well as the conclusions of this paper are still valid and unchanged. Lastly, a typo in writing of Eq. (7) in the manuscript text has been corrected. There was no error in the equation used in the analysis; hence, no numerical results have been effected by this correction. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. Corrected writing of Eq. (7), section 2.3.1: [Formula presented] Updated sections of the original publication.
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| 4. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, et al.
(författare)
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Cross-Scale Water and Land Impacts of Local Climate and Energy PolicyA Local Swedish Analysis of Selected SDG Interactions
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 11:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper analyses how local energy and climate actions can affect the use of water and land resources locally, nationally and globally. Each of these resource systems is linked to different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); we also explore related SDG interactions. A municipality in Sweden with the ambition of phasing out fossil fuels by year 2030 is used as illustrative case example. The local energy system is modelled in detail and indirect water and land requirements are quantified for three stylised decarbonisation scenarios of pathways to meeting climate and energy requirements (related to SDG13 and SDG7, respectively). Total local, national and global implications are addressed for the use of water and land resources, which relate to SDG6 for water, and SDG2 and SDG15 for land use. We find that the magnitude and location of water and land impacts are largely pathway-dependent. Some scenarios of low carbon energy may impede progress on SDG15, while others may compromise SDG6. Data for the studied resource uses are incoherently reported and have important gaps. As a consequence, the study results are indicative and subject to uncertainty. Still, they highlight the need to recognise that resource use changes targeting one SDG in one locality have local and non-local impacts that may compromise progress other SDGs locally and/or elsewhere in the world.
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| 5. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, 1984-
(författare)
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Exploring cross-resource impacts of urban sustainability measures : an urban climate-land-energy-water nexus analysis
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In an increasingly urban world, cities' global resource uses grow. Two fundamental resources for making cities liveable are water and energy. These resources are also closely interlinked – systems that convert and deliver energy to cities require water, and urban water systems use energy. In addition, these two resource systems affect and are affected by land use and climate change. This ‘nexus’ between climate, land use, energy and water (CLEW) systems has been extensively studied in the past decade, mainly with a focus on national and transboundary CLEW systems. This doctoral thesis develops the CLEW nexus research from an urban perspective.Two quantitative analyses examine how different types of sustainability measures in cities affect intended and unintended CLEW systems. First, the CLEW impacts of a set of sustainability measures in New York City are assessed - from water conservation to emission reductions. Results show that every measure affects (to varying degrees) all studied sustainability dimensions - water, energy and climate - and that the impacts can be quantified through a reference-resource-to-service-system (RRSS).The second quantitative study focuses on how CLEW impacts from a city's sustainability efforts spread beyond local and international borders. It investigates how global water and land use are affected in alternative scenarios to achieve climate neutrality in 2030 in the town of Oskarshamn, Sweden, using an energy systems simulation model. The study finds that both the magnitude and the geographical distribution of land and water requirements vary between scenarios. A strategy to achieve climate neutrality that invests in electrification leads to increased national water use, while a strategy that relies on biofuels has a greater impact on water and land use internationally. When results are translated to interactions between the UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs), they reveal that SDG synergies and trade-offs are 'strategy-dependent': different options for achieving SDGs on energy, sustainable cities and climate action have varying consequences for the advancement of SDGs on sustainable water, food production and biodiversity.To shed light on how data challenges affect quantitative urban nexus studies, uncertainty assessments of selected thesis’ results are conducted and complemented with a thematic analysis of a set of recently published urban nexus papers. Together, they indicate that analytical choices, uncertainties in results and - as a consequence - research foci are influenced by data limitations in both this thesis and in other urban nexus studies.Lastly, the finding from the Oskarshamn analysis – that SDG interactions are strategy-dependent – is deliberated with experts within sustainability sciences and SDG interaction research. From this, a research agenda is proposed with measures to make SDG 'spillovers' visible in local level decision-making.Taken together, the thesis contributes to filling several knowledge gaps on how urban sustainability measures within the CLEW systems interact within and beyond city limits, and proposes analytical approaches to quantify these interactions. It further points out how current data challenges constrain quantitative urban nexus analyses and highlights research needs to improve data management as well as other key efforts to enable consideration of nexus interactions, including SDG 'spillovers', in cities' sustainability work.
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| 6. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, et al.
(författare)
-
Multi-functionality of nature-based and other urban sustainability solutions : New York City study
- 2018
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Ingår i: Land Degradation and Development. - : Wiley. - 1085-3278 .- 1099-145X. ; 29:10, s. 3653-3662
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In an increasingly urban world, developing sustainable cities is crucial for global sustainability. Urban nature-based solutions (NBS), such as green infrastructure, are often promoted for their potential to provide several urban services. These include stormwater mitigation, improving energy efficiency of buildings, and carbon emissions mitigation, but few studies have compared the multifunctionality of NBS to conventional urban solutions providing similar services. Fewer yet have acknowledged the indirect resource (specifically climate, land, energy, water [CLEW] nexus) impacts that these solutions may have. This paper analyzes these aspects, employing a simple CLEW nexus accounting framework, and attempts a consistent comparison across different resource systems. The comparison includes direct and indirect impacts of a set of stylizedand diversesolutions, each with different primary objectives: green roofs, representing a multifunctional urban NBS; permeable pavements targeting mitigation of stormwater flows; window retrofits targeting energy efficiency; and rooftop PV installations targeting CO2 emissions mitigation. The results highlight both the direct and total (CLEW nexus) impacts of green roofs on stormwater retention, energy use, and CO2 emissions. However, also for the studied conventional solutions with primarily a single direct function, CLEW nexus impacts spread across all measured dimensions (energy, water, and CO2) to varying degrees. Although the numerical results are indicative and uncertainty needs to be further assessed, we suggest that the development of this type of multifunctional, multisystem assessment can assist urban sustainability planning, with comprehensive and consistent comparison of diverse (NBS and conventional) solutions.
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| 7. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, et al.
(författare)
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Research and Innovation Needs to Decarbonise European Cities : DEEDS Policy Brief Number 4
- 2020
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Annan publikation (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Sustainable and inclusive decarbonisation of European cities is a pre-requisite for achieving carbon neutrality at the EU level. As melting pots and demand hubs, cities are responsible for a majority of greenhouse gas emissions. For a transition towards zero-carbon cities, in the EU as elsewhere, a holistic approach and extensive collaboration is needed that can move city action beyond simply increasing the number of localized low-carbon solutions. This DEEDS Policy Brief outlines key features of EU research and innovation needs and proposes policy measures to promote zero-carbon European cities.
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| 8. |
- Engström, Rebecka Ericsdotter, et al.
(författare)
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Succeeding at home and abroad: accounting for the international spillovers of cities’ SDG actions
- 2021
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Ingår i: npj Urban Sustainability. - : Springer Nature. - 2661-8001. ; 1:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cities are vital for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), but different local strategies to advance on the same SDG may cause different ‘spillovers’ elsewhere. Research efforts that support governance of such spillovers are urgently needed to empower ambitious cities to ‘account globally’ when acting locally on SDG implementation strategies.
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| 9. |
- Fuso-Nerini, Francesco, et al.
(författare)
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A Research and Innovation Agenda for Zero-Emission European Cities
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 11:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Paris Agreement and SDG13 on Climate Action require a global drop in Green House Gases (GHG) emissions to stay within a "well below 2 degrees" climate change trajectory. Cities will play a key role in achieving this, being responsible for 60 to 80% of the global GHG emissions depending on the estimate. This paper describes how Research and Innovation (R&I) can play a key role in decarbonizing European cities, and the role that research and education institutions can play in that regard. The paper highlights critical R&I actions in cities based on three pillars: (1) innovative technology and integration, (2) governance innovation, and (3) social innovation. Further, the research needed to harmonize climate mitigation and adaptation in cities are investigated.
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| 10. |
- Höjer, Mattias, et al.
(författare)
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Experiences of the development and use of scenarios for evaluating Swedish environmental quality objectives
- 2011
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Ingår i: Futures. - : Elsevier. - 0016-3287 .- 1873-6378. ; 43:4, s. 498-512
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents and evaluates a method for encouraging long-term thinking and for considering a variety of scenarios in environmental policy processes. The Swedish environmental policy is based on 16 environmental quality objectives (EQOs) that national authorities are obliged to observe. These objectives are reviewed annually and evaluated in depth every four years. Here we describe and explore a futures study project for introducing more long-term thinking into work on the EQOs, which we tested in the in-depth evaluation in 2008. We found it difficult to design a collective scenario for a case with a wide variety of objectives and individuals with different backgrounds. However, this difficulty makes it even more important to incorporate futures studies into the work of the relevant authorities. Scenario work is often subcontracted, leading to a constant lack of futures studies expertise and thinking within authorities. Despite the difficulties, we found that experts within the authorities did begin to recognise the opportunities provided by futures studies. The project revealed an interest and need for futures studies within the authorities in charge of Swedish environmental quality objectives and our findings show that the authorities need to build up their own skills in futures studies.
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