| 1. |
- Dalhammar, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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Addressing resource efficiency through the Ecodesign Directive: a review of opportunities and barriers
- 2014
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The European Union has initiated a number of initiatives to improve resource efficiency in Europe. The Ecodesign Directive is one of the policy instruments that could aid the transition towards a more resource efficient economy. So far, the Directive has mainly been applied to set requirements related to energy efficiency, but there is potential for setting legal standards that increase product durability and promote the future re-use and recycling of components and materials. This paper examines the potential benefits and disadvantages in applying the Directive for this purpose, and analyzes the potential to apply certain types of legal standards. There is a need for continuous development of indicators and methods in order to allow for a broader range of legal standards in the future. The study provides some short and long term recommendations on the way forward.
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| 2. |
- Dalhammar, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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Addressing resource efficiency through the Ecodesign Directive: a review of opportunities and barriers
- 2013
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Ingår i: LCM conference proceedings.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The European Union has initiated a number of initiatives to improve resource efficiency in Europe. The Ecodesign Directive is one of the policy instruments that could aid the transition towards a more resource efficient economy. This paper examines the potential benefits and disadvantages in applying the Directive for this purpose, and reflects on the potential to apply certain types of standards. The research builds on literature studies and interviews. A main conclusion is that some types of legal requirements are more feasible than others, and that the type of product and user patterns are of high importance when legal requirements are assessed.
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| 3. |
- Dalhammar, Carl, et al.
(författare)
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Energy efficiency regulations, market and behavioural failures and standardization
- 2018
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Ingår i: Preventing Environmental Damage from Products : An Analysis of the Policy and Regulatory Framework in Europe - An Analysis of the Policy and Regulatory Framework in Europe. - : Cambridge University Press. - 9781108500128 - 9781108422444 ; , s. 176-228
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction: A large number of policy instruments have been developed to induce energy efficiency and mitigate climate change. Traditional policy evaluations have assessed the performance of individual policy instruments, applying criteria such as target effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, legitimacy and distributional effects. More recently there has been a shift of interest in how policy instruments interact and the role of the policy mix. There is growing recognition that it is difficult to design ‘optimal’ policy solutions, and that the existence of multiple market failures implies that a wider mix of policy approaches are required in order to overcome them. Therefore, more effort is devoted to finding suitable ‘policy packages’, where the instruments work in synergy and inconsistencies are minimized. While carbon pricing policies have often been considered the best option for cutting carbon emissions in the most cost-effective way, this is increasingly questioned. For instance, mandatory regulations offer certain benefits relative to pricing, which could include: (1) they send a clear signal to industries, and provide more information than price signals which are often too diffused, resulting in decisions constrained by bounded rationality; (2) they may have lower transaction costs, as transaction costs are quite high, especially in emission trading schemes; and (3) they may overcome market and behavioural failures such as information asymmetries and computational constraints affecting the transmission and analysis of information, leading to sub-optimal decisions among societal actors. As experience with carbon pricing has also demonstrated, there are political economy constraints with carbon pricing that result in far less effective pricing policies than theory would suggest. Some authors who focus on past technological breakthroughs suggest there is little reason to believe that carbon pricing alone can bring about the technological change needed to significantly reduce emissions. It should also be recognized that the choice of policy instruments is influenced by political and discursive struggles concerning the nature of the problem and its solutions: some actors view climate change mainly as a market failure issue to be corrected by carbon pricing; others primarily consider climate change to be an energy system challenge requiring the decarbonizing of societal systems.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Generosi, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Biogas Production in Zabrze: Closing the Cycle of Organic Waste
- 2012
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Both energy security and the demand for energy, particularly from renewable energy sources, as principle drivers, call for the investigation of renewable energy potential in Poland. The city of Zabrze, located in the Upper Silesia province and urban zone of Katowice, dedicates continuous efforts to the improvement of its waste management against the background of European Union Directives requiring the increased reuse and recycling of waste and the gradual reduction of waste being landfilled. Biogas production presents a rewarding solution by using organic waste as resource for energy production and thereby closing the loop in the life-cycle attached to organic products. This pre-feasibility study explores the potential for biogas production from pig manure and organic household waste, taking into account the prevailing local conditions in Zabrze. From a thorough data analysis, field study visits in the vicinity of Lund in Sweden and in Zabrze and adjoining communities, as well as multiple stakeholder interviews, the feasibility of a 350 kW biogas plant fed by municipal organic household waste and a base load of pig manure, with an electricity generation potential of 2.9 GWhe per year, is deduced. The report concludes that the technical implementation will need to be accompanied, in addition to continuous public awareness raising and educational endeavours, by economic measures and a supportive legal framework, both of which need to be clearly defined for a medium to long term period to allow for predictability on behalf of potential interested operators and businesses.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Machacek, Erika, et al.
(författare)
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Governance and Risk–Value Constructions in Closing Loops of Rare Earth Elements in Global Value Chains
- 2017
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Ingår i: Resources. - : MDPI AG. - 2079-9276. ; 6:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article addresses a research gap on the challenges—specifically risk and value—connected to realizing the potential for closing loops for rare earth elements (REE). We develop an analytical framework from conceptual elements of the global value chain (GVC) framework and the relational theory of risk to examine several empirical REE industry cases for loop closure. The aim of the paper is to identify how risk–value relationships are constructed by different actors as governance structures form in transactions prior to price setting and how these have impacts on the closure of REE loops. Often, REE loops are not closed, and we find that constructions of the risk–value relationship by industrial actors and by government agencies are unstable as they pursue different motivations, consequently hindering REE loop closure in GVCs. In light of this, we propose that governments mediate against the construction of risk–value relationships by facilitating information on the characteristics of end-of-life materials that qualify these for re-entry into loops.
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| 8. |
- Machacek, Erika, et al.
(författare)
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POTENTIAL FOR RARE EARTH ELEMENT RESOURCE EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS IN PERMANENT MAGNET MOTORS THROUGH AN EXTENSION OF THE ELECTRIC MOTOR PRODUCT GROUP REGULATION UNDER THE EU ECODESIGN DIRECTIVE
- 2013
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Ingår i: LCM 2013 conference proceedings.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It has been proposed that the EU Ecodesign Directive can promote resource efficiency through relevant ecodesign requirements. This paper examines the potential for rare earth element (REE) resource efficiency improvements in the event the current regulation for electric motors under the Ecodesign Directive is to be extended to comprise REE-based permanent magnet motors. The research is based on literature studies, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with representatives from industry and academia. It is found that standards addressing the design and use phase could yield highest resource efficiency improvements of REE in permanent magnet motors. Highly ranked are stricter EU energy efficiency ratings and design for dismantling if and when recycling of REE was to be commercialized.
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| 9. |
- Machacek, Erika, et al.
(författare)
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Recycling of rare earths from fluorescent lamps: Value analysis of closing-the-loop under demand and supply uncertainties
- 2015
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation & Recycling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-3449. ; 104, s. 76-93
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rare earth element (REE) recycling remains low at 1%, despite significant uncertainties related to future supply and demand and EU 2020 energy efficiency objectives. We use a global production network framework of REE flows from mine to REE phosphors in energy-efficient lamps to illustrate the potential of closed-loop recycling for secondary supply under different scenarios of primary supply and forecasted demand for LEDs, CFLs and LFLs. We find that different End-of-Life Recycling Rate scenarios for REE secondary supply range between meeting forecasted REE demand and filling primary supply gaps, and competing with primary supply. Our argument centres on diversifying REE sourcing with recycling and the choice between primary and secondary supply. We stress that secondary REE phosphor supply requires further policy support for lamp collection and a discussion of the value of REE phosphor recycling which underlies its economic feasibility.
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| 10. |
- Peck, Philip, et al.
(författare)
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Circular Economy - Sustainable Materials Management : A compendium by the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University
- 2020. - 2021
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- The scope of the compendium covers many parts of theemerging circular economy. We choose to place considerablefocus on some of the substances that we extract from theground – in particular raw materials and critical materials.We focus on circularity in these areas, because presentlywe use too much, too fast, and we are not re-using nearlyenough. In turn, this approach demands that we look atthe technologies that rely on such materials, and howbusinesses are innovating to make circularity of materialsa reality.This document provides many concrete examples of whatwe mean by sustainable materials management. We presentcutting edge insights on a range of topics.• Why raw material supply chains are important to society?• How circularity can benefit us?• Where changes in our economies are required?• Who needs to be involved?• What businesses are doing to make the circular economya reality?• How governments and regulators can support the circulareconomy?
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