| 41. |
- Alriksson, Stina, 1971-
(författare)
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Conjoint analysis as a tool for communication and corporate environmental decision-making
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Conjoint analysis has been used extensively in marketing, transportation and healthcare for the past 50 years. Since the mid-1990s, it has also been applied to an increasing number of environmental issues. In this thesis, conjoint analysis is applied to environmental objectives of the Swedish steel industry. The aim of the research project has been to develop a method for eliciting stakeholder preferences for environmental issues and to present the results to the stakeholders through the multivariate data analysis method of partial least squares regression. This licentiate thesis is based on three studies: a literature review of all conjoint studies conducted on environmental issues, a pilot study in which a new method was developed, and a main study where this method was tested on four environmental objectives of the Swedish steel industry. Up to the present, 109 environmental conjoint studies have been carried out. Recently, studies in environ¬mental economy have dominated, with investigators trying to estimate a mone¬tary value on environmental values or products. The problem selection has varied widely, from ecosystem management and green products to waste and risk management. One trend among environmental conjoint studies has been to use conjoint methods that report results at a group level. In the pilot study here, conjoint analysis was combined with partial least squares regression to enable presentation of results at individual level. The benefit of individual-level results is that they can be used to initiate a dialogue between an industry and its stakeholders, as well as between different stakeholder groups. The presentation mode also allows the researcher to find segments of respondents that think alike, although perhaps from different groups. In the pilot study, cluster analysis was used successfully to find hidden segments among the respondents. In the main study, the method from the pilot study was used to elicit preferences for four environmental objectives of the Swedish steel industry: reduced use of non-renewable energy, reduced use of non-renewable resources, decreased emission of carbon dioxide and weight reduction of products. Six stakeholder groups participated in the study, and the results showed that decreased emission of carbon dioxide was the environmental objective that most participants prioritised highest. Lowest priority was given to weight reduction of products. Conjoint analysis combined with multivariate data analysis methods such as partial least squares regression, principal component analysis and cluster analysis has been verified as an effective method for eliciting stake¬holder preferences on industry-wide environmental issues.
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| 42. |
- Amatayakul, Wathanyu, 1975
(författare)
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Approaches to scale-up CO2 emissions reduction in the energy supply sector in developing countries
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis, which consists of five papers, addresses two themes related to the need for a scale-up of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction in the energy sector in developing countries: (1) approaches to support developing countries in scaling-up emissions reduction, and (2) an approach to scale-up emissions reduction --cultivation of fuel wood to replace fossil fuels in electricity generation.In the first paper, the potential volume of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction and reduction credits in the electricity sector under a sectoral crediting mechanism based on a sectoral no-lose, non-binding, target in the post-2012 period is assessed for seven high-emitting developing countries by means of different scenarios. To do this assessment, an approach for setting national emissions intensity baselines and targets in the sector is developed. The assessment shows that a significant scale-up of emissions reduction could be achieved in the sector by boosting the efficiency of coal power plants and decreasing the share of coal-based electricity in new generation capacity in the seven countries. Given the set crediting targets, substantial volumes of annual credits could be generated.In the second paper, a hypothesis that carbon credits sale is not a decisive factor for the development of biomass power projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is tested by an empirical analysis using two objective indicators and by an econometric analysis. A decisive factor is also identified using the econometric analysis. The empirical analysis shows that there are indications that carbon credits sale is not a decisive factor for the development of a substantial share of registered CDM bagasse power projects in Brazil and India. The result from the econometric analysis supports the hypothesis. More important than crediting the emissions reduction is allowing access to the national electricity grid to sell electricity. This suggests that supporting developing countries in implementing policies and regulations which enable biomass power developers to sell electricity to the grid at an attractive price could greatly accelerate the development of biomass power projects.The third paper addresses a need for an approach to credit the national biofuel programs in developing countries for their benefit of reducing CO2 emissions rather than crediting just CDM biofuel projects. In this paper, the impact of achieving the target of the national ethanol program in Thailand of replacing all conventional gasoline with gasoline containing ethanol at 10% by volume (gasohol) by 2012 is assessed. The assessment shows that the program could lead to a significant increase in self-sufficiency of gasoline and a significant CO2 emissions reduction. The program could also entail a land-use change (i.e., displacement of areas of food crops). The annual average cost of substituting gasohol for gasoline per ton of CO2 emission reduction is estimated to be higher than the current carbon price.The fourth and fifth papers show that challenges for cultivation of fuel wood for electricity generation in Thailand involve land-use constraints and costs, respectively. In the fourth paper, the characteristics of farmers who commercially plant eucalyptus and the types of land where eucalyptus is planted are analyzed, based on a field survey carried out in Thailand. The factors that determine the farmers’ decision on whether to plant eucalyptus and the size of area to plant with it are identified, based on the survey using an econometric analysis. The analysis shows that farmers with a small farm do not and are not likely to plant eucalyptus wood. In addition, most eucalyptus growers plant eucalyptus on land used for food crops (mainly cassava area). In the fifth paper, the productivity of eucalyptus wood and the levelized cost of eucalyptus wood delivered to the factory gate in Thailand are estimated to be within the middle range of estimates in other developing countries. The cost of CO2 abatement by substituting eucalyptus wood for coal and gas in electricity generation in Thailand is estimated to be much higher than the current carbon price.
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| 43. |
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| 44. |
- Andersson, Claes, 1973
(författare)
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Urban Evolution
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In nature, objects formed from a dynamics on one level often form yet new objects and new dynamics on a new level. This process generates a hierarchical organization of nature that is particularly tall for objects that are of biological or human origin. This begs the question of what the ordering principle responsible for the formation of new levels in such hierarchies is. For biological systems external Darwinian adaptation is invoked while internal teleological adaptation is typically viewed as being responsible for objects of human origin. Over the last decades an evolutionary approach to social sciences and in particular economics has seen an upswing. The biological analogy dates back to the dawn of evolutionary biology and economics but it has proved hard to cash in on. The advent of computer technology has however changed this and today the complexity of technologic, economic and social systems can be addressed more directly. In this thesis a hierarchical perspective is presented where the problems of including internal adaptation in scientific models is emphasized and Darwinian evolution is proposed as a universal ordering principle for the entire hierarchical structure of adaptive phenomena of the world. In this framework urban systems are discussed as being largely non-adaptive structures formed from an underlying adaptive process of primarily firms and persons as well as mental representations of these objects. This puts the work presented in the enclosed articles in a broader model ontological perspective which allows for an improved picture of the place and role of models in general and these models and their possible extensions in particular.
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| 45. |
- Andersson, Eva Ingeborg Elisabeth, 1956
(författare)
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Benefits of Integrated Upgrading of Biofuels in Biorefineries - Systems Analysis
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As a result of increasing concerns about climate change, there is considerable current interest in increasing use of CO2-neutral biofuel in the energy system. Increased use of biomass fuel requires that it be upgraded in order to facilitate transportation and distribution to end-users. Advanced level upgrading is necessary if biomass is to be used as a transportation fuel. Biomass upgrading requires energy, and the conversion efficiency can be maximized if achieved in energy-efficient biorefinery processes. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze biorefinery concepts with respect to energy efficiency, profitability and CO2 emissions. Special attention is paid to integrated biorefinery concepts in which a biofuel upgrading production process is integrated with another process enabling exchange of useful energy or material streams. The thesis aims at quantifying the extent to which such integrated concepts are more profitable, energy efficient and CO2-lean than stand-alone production units.The biorefinery processes evaluated are pellet production and hydrogen production from gasified black liquor integrated with a pulp mill, and hydrogen production from gasified biomass integrated with a natural gas combined cycle heat and power plant. These processes are evaluated using different possible future energy market scenarios.Pellet production integrated with a pulp mill is shown to be beneficial from a CO2 perspective. The economic benefits depend on the biomass dryer technology used for integrated pellet production, which tend to be more costly compared to the Stand-alone pellet production. However, integrated pellet production benefits from surplus material, common personnel and infrastructure available at the site.If gasified, black liquor can be used for increased electricity production or for synthesis of e.g. methanol and hydrogen. Hydrogen production from gasified black liquor has the greatest potential for net CO2 reduction in four of five future energy market scenarios used for the evaluation. This indicates that for many possible future scenarios, hydrogen production from gasified black liquor will be an efficient way to use biofuel. Hydrogen production enables pre-combustion carbon capture and storage and this contributes to profitability and CO2 emissions reduction.A final conclusion is that it is important to adopt a systems perspective when performing studies to identify the most effective ways to use limited biomass for resources when developing sustainable energy system solutions for the future.
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| 46. |
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| 47. |
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| 48. |
- Andersson, Klas, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Process evaluation of an 865 MWe lignite fired O2/CO2 power plant
- 2006
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Ingår i: Energy Conversion and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0196-8904. ; 47:18-19, s. 3487-3498
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from large point sources, new technologies can be used in capture plants for combustion of fossil fuel for subsequent capture and storage of CO2. One such technology is the O2/CO2 combustion process (also termed oxy-fuel combustion) that combines a conventional combustion process with a cryogenic air separation process so that the fuel is burned in oxygen and recycled flue gas, yielding a high concentration of CO2 in the flue gas, which reduces the cost for its capture. In this work, the O2/CO2 process is applied using commercial data from an 865 MWe lignite fired reference power plant and large air separation units (ASU). A detailed design of the flue gas treatment pass, integrated in the overall process layout, is proposed. The essential components and energy streams of the two processes have been investigated in order to evaluate the possibilities for process integration and to determine the net efficiency of the capture plant. The electricity generation cost and the associated avoidance cost for the capture plant have been determined and compared to the reference plant with investment costs obtained directly from industry. Although an existing reference power plant forms the basis of the work, the study is directed towards a new state of the art lignite fired O2/CO2 power plant. The boiler power of the O2/CO2 plant has been increased to keep the net output of the capture and the reference plant similar. With the integration possibilities identified, the net efficiency becomes 33.5%, which should be compared to 42.6% in the reference plant. With a lignite price of 5.2 $/MWh and an interest rate of 10%, the electricity generation cost increases from 42.1 to 64.3 $/MWh, which corresponds to a CO2 avoidance cost of 26 $/ton CO2.
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| 49. |
- Andersson, Klas, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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The CO2 avoidance cost of a large scale O2/CO2 power plant
- 2005
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies 5– September 2004, Vancouver, Canada. ; , s. 1787-1790
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This work evaluates the fixed and running costs together with the CO2 avoidance cost of an O2/CO2 combustion process. The work is based on a comprehensive process study applied to commercial process data from an 865 MWe lignite fired reference power plant and large scale air separation units (ASU), in combination, with a detailed design study of the flue gas treatment and CO2 compression train (FGTCC) [1]. All costs for the process layout proposed in [1] are gathered from industry. Although an existing reference power plant forms the basis of the work, the study is directed towards a new state-of-the-art lignite-fired O2/CO2 power plant.
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| 50. |
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