| 1. |
- Akram, Asif, 1978, et al.
(författare)
-
AEOLIX Living Labs Operational ImpactsAssessment
- 2019
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This document provides the AEOLIX impact assessment of living labs at the operational level. It is based on three main impacts namely business, environment, and socio-economic impacts. The three impacts are sub-divided further into sub-categories. The report collects data from twelve living labs involved in with AEOLIX. One of the main goals of AEOLIX was to reduce the costs for various logistics activities as implemented in twelve living labs. The expected benefits in the business area are from reducing the consumption of different resources, reducing the time used for various activities, and from increasing the productivity in certain areas. The economic or business benefits came along two dimensions: (i) in terms of time and (ii) in terms of money. In terms of time, AEOLIX facilitated reducing the time spent on various activities at the companies. In terms of money, AEOLIX helped to save the costs of specific logistics activities within the living lab. For the environmental aspect an overall value of 20% was set as target value for reduction in CO2 emission using AEOLIX. Only one of all living labs reached this target value, but there was anyhow a reduction found in all living labs. AEOLIX and its functions have also helped in reducing noise pollution at some of the living labs. In some cases, there was quite a considerable reduction. For the socio-economic aspects the job creation, SME empowerment, and the improved quality of life are addressed. This study has explored the impact of AEOLIX on job creation in terms of drivers’ and operators’ jobs. Since the AEOLIX implementation is still in its initial phases, respondents were unable to estimate how many jobs (drivers and/or operators) were created in the long run. SME Empowerment was measured as the increase in SMEs’ market share and the increase in direct collaboration between SMEs and large organizations. The results were meager both with regard to the market share and the extent of collaboration. The improved quality of life is measured in the way AEOLIX puts more focus on work, the less stress at work and a positive attitude towards people using it. The results reflect that AEOLIX has greatly helped employees to put more focus on work and to reduce stress levels. Managers consider this as a positive side of the return on investment (ROI) as the business processes are improved. AEOLIX impact on various socio-economic aspects is in principle positive but as this process is very slow to emerge it takes time to observe any changes in social aspects. Acceptance and trust on AEOLIX can be captured as a majority of the evaluation managers of the living labs found the AEOLIX functions (dashboard, connectivity engine and toolkit) useful to a great extent. The willingness to continue using AEOLIX functions and their usefulness are directly related to each other. This means that the more useful a function is, the more users are willing to continue using it. The AEOLIX platform, through various services and functions, has a positive impact on society in general and on workers in particular. Although this impact cannot be evaluated financially for the first year of the AEOLIX implementation, numerous studies show that a more satisfying and less stressful job, together with a more welcoming and stimulating environment, have an important economic impact in the long-term period. Therefore, the fact that AEOLIX has a positive impact on society will also prove to be an economic benefit for the different companies.
|
|
| 2. |
- André, Hampus, 1989
(författare)
-
Resource and Environmental Impacts of Resource-Efficiency Measures Applied to Electronic Products
- 2018
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Natural resources such as ecosystems, land, water and metals underpin the functioning of economies and human well-being, and are becoming increasingly scarce due to growth in population and affluence. Metals are increasingly demanded for their specific properties as modern technology develops. The dependence on metals is of growing concern due to the environmental impacts related, for example, to energy use and local impacts from mining, as well as the scarcity risks posed by socio-economic, geological and geopolitical constraints. Thus, there is a clear need to use metals and other natural resources more efficiently. The vision of a circular economy has been proposed as a way to do this, for example by improving durability, reusing, repairing and recycling. Such so-called resource-efficiency (RE) measures are commonly assumed to be environmentally beneficial, although the evidence is not plentiful. It is plausible that focusing on recirculating products and materials could shift burdens to other environmental impacts or life cycle stages. It has therefore been argued that a life cycle-based approach, such as in life cycle assessment (LCA), is useful to critically assess the environmental implications of RE measures. LCA aims to quantify the environmental impacts of products over their entire life cycles - from cradle to grave - assessing a wide range of impacts such as toxicity, climate change and metal resource use. For metal resource use, however, there are a number of perspectives as to what constitutes the actual environmental problem. These perspectives are represented in a variety of life cycle impact assessment methods (LCIA) which have previously been shown to give diverging results. Electronic products are emblematic of metal resource use challenges since they deploy a broad spectrum of scarce metals. This thesis aims to provide knowledge on the potential for RE measures to reduce the environmental impacts of electronic products, by addressing the following research questions: (1) What resource-efficiency measures result in reduced potential environmental impacts and resource use – for what types of products and under what conditions? (2) How does extended use of electronic products through design for increased technical lifetime, reuse and repair affect environmental impacts, particularly metal resource use? (3) How does the application of different LCIA methods for metal resource use influence interpretations of resource-efficiency measures applied to electronic products? This thesis builds on three appended papers which are all based on comparative assessments of resource efficiency, studied as resource use and environmental impacts per function delivered, using LCA and material flow analysis. The results indicate that extended use of electronic products through increasing technical lifetimes, reusing and repairing, is generally resource-efficient. Exceptions may occur, however, if extended use is insufficient to motivate impacts from producing more durable products or spare parts. Use extension of electronic products leads to resource efficiency in two distinct ways: through the intended use extension and by increasingly steering material flows into recycling. Further resource efficiency could be realised by combining RE measures over the entire life cycles of products. With regards to metal resource use, the choice of LCIA method can influence the interpretation of the results of RE measures for electronic products. Therefore, it is advisable to use several complementary LCIA methods to minimise the risks of overlooking potentially important resources issues. Furthermore, better understanding and transparency of such issues is valuable in order to provide more comprehensive information to decision-makers.
|
|
| 3. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989
(författare)
-
Towards empirically grounded guidance for resource efficiency: Applying, developing and synthesising environmental assessments
- 2021
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Numerous solutions have been proposed to mitigate environmental damage, including resource efficiency and the vision of circular economy. Suggested solutions are often formulated as guidelines and heuristics like in the EU waste hierarchy, so-called R-hierarchies for resource efficiency and various guidelines for circular business models. However, these are often formulated on a conceptual basis without empirical support. Hence, it is often unclear in what contexts they are valid and how they can be interpreted for different types of products and applications. Systemic environmental assessments are necessary, and have been widely employed, to provide more solid empirical support for guidelines and for investigating the efficacy of suggested solutions. There is also a need for the results and learnings of those assessments to be easily understandable and usable for guiding decision-making towards reducing environmental impact within, say, product design and business management. The purpose of this dissertation is to 1) formulate empirically grounded guidelines for resource efficiency and 2) test existing guidelines and heuristics in specific cases. The first aim is addressed by synthesising assessments of resource efficiency measures in literature. This revealed in what circumstances each measure can yield environmental benefits, depending on product characteristics, as well as when there are possible trade-offs and limitations. Several product characteristics were identified as of key importance for the efficacy of measures, including whether products are durable or consumable, active or passive, used for their full technical lifetime, used frequently or not and finally the product’s complexity and pace of development. The second aim is addressed by carrying out a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) scrutinising the expectations of metal 3D printing for reducing automotive environmental impacts. The results showed that 3D printing can potentially reduce future life cycle impacts, by allowing redesign of components for lower weight and thus lower fuel consumption. However, this is only valid with low-fossil electricity for the printing process and developments towards printing with low-impact materials like low-alloy steel. The second aim is further addressed by testing the potential environmental benefits of alternative business models. The method business model LCA method (BM-LCA) was developed for this purpose, taking the business itself as the object of analysis. The method uses economic performance as the basis of comparison, thus allowing a business to calculate the environmental consequences of business decisions. BM-LCA was applied to an apparel company, comparing selling and renting jackets. The results show that renting enabled sustained economic performance while reducing environmental impacts. This depended, however, on the sustainability of the transport and energy systems, as well as on business model parameters like price and rental efficiency, and on customer habits. This dissertation shows that environmental assessments can be used to provide an empirical foundation for improved resource efficiency guidelines and to test the validity of heuristics Two key contributions and innovations are emphasised. The first is the formulation of empirically grounded guidelines based on key product characteristics. The second is the formulation and testing of BM-LCA, a method for assessing decoupling business from environmental impact.
|
|
| 4. |
- Santén, Vendela, 1978
(författare)
-
Exploring logistics actions enabling environmentally sustainable freight transport
- 2013
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To curb unsustainable freight transport trends; such as transport growth, larger dependency on road transport and generally an increased share of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector, actions needs to be taken among actors in the logistics system. The purpose of this thesis is to explore logistics actions that enable environmentally sustainable freight transport. This explorative research, based primarily on empirical data from interviews, focus groups, and a case study, adopts the perspectives of different actors in the logistics system: transport buyers, freight forwarders, transport operators, and authorities. The thesis identifies a wide range of actions in the logistics system to potentially enable environmentally sustainable freight transport. The perception from actors regarding what actions are important to adopt indicate that more knowledge among actors regarding how transport and traffic work can be reduced and how different actions affect each other are needed; especially how transport buyers acting affect the transport operations performed by freight forwarders and transport operators. By exploring what hinders environmentally sustainable freight transport in the interface between transport buyers and providers, it can be concluded that closer co-operation can provide better internal conditions for actors and new business solutions. Open dialogue, information sharing, and proactivity among both transport buyers and transport providers are essential. Furthermore, in order to increase load factor in practice, actions can be taken by transport buyers in the area of packaging, loading, and booking efficiency. More flexible time requirements will potentially increase the load factor. Gaining positive environmental effects from these changes is dependent on the freight forwarder’s actions in terms of consolidating with other transport buyers’ goods, route planning, and the positioning of vehicles. Since improvements in one actor’s system may not necessarily yield positive effects at a higher system level, it is important to also have a holistic view when aiming for environmentally sustainable freight transport. This thesis contributes with knowledge about how logistics actors can work toward environmentally sustainable freight transportation by providing insight for managers of transport buying and transport providing companies by exemplifying the interactions between actors and actions and their potential effects.
|
|
| 5. |
- Adl-Zarrabi, Bijan, 1959, et al.
(författare)
-
Sustainability Assessment of Infrastructure Elements with Integrated Energy Harvesting Technologies
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Energy and Environment. - : Wiley. - 9781119307761 ; , s. 221-234
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The possibility of integrating energy harvesting devices into the bridge/tunnel structures along Coastal Highway Route E39 has been investigated in a feasibility study by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). The main advantage of integrating energy conversion devices in a structural element is the reduction of costs compared to stand-alone devices. The construction could be used as a foundation, a mooring point and provide a dry environment for electrical devices. Easy access to the production site could also reduce the cost for installation, operation and maintenance. Two important challenges related to harvesting renewable energy by infrastructure elements, without concerning about the energy source, are to store it or feed the energy to the grid. In the second case, tailoring generation to demand is of critical importance. Tasks such as supply and demand management, for instance, peak hour management, what kind of storage should be used - electrical or thermal - need be solved. Furthermore, integrating energy production devices in a structure might cause negative environmental impacts and affect the life expectancy and maintenance costs of such structures. The potential environmental impacts associated with renewable technologies are the consequences for bird life or marine fauna at the fjord crossing locations, as well as noise and visual impact. Thus, a sustainability assessment should be performed in order to quantify the ecological, economical and societal impacts of the suggested alternatives.
|
|
| 6. |
- Arvidsson, Rickard, 1984, et al.
(författare)
-
Using industrial default values for prospective modeling of new materials production – the case of photon upconversion materials for solar modules
- 2021
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several approaches to upscaling of materials production processes in the context of prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) have been proposed. Often, such approaches are bottom-up, departing from laboratory-scale descriptions of production processes and from that creating a model of future large-scale production. While such approaches make use of the material-specific knowledge available at the time of the assessment, they often neglect emergent aspects that may be present at factory level. An alternative, more top-down approach is to use industrial default values, i.e. average or typical values of inputs and outputs reflecting materials production today. Since production facilities normally do not change drastically over at least 10 years, such values might be relevant in prospective LCAs, at least given modest time horizons. Such default values can also be modified based on assumptions about future changes, such as increased energy recovery or novel solvent recovery processes. We applied previously derived industrial default values for fine chemical production when modeling the production of two materials with potential use in photon upconversion applications: lead sulfide (PbS) and lead selenide (PbSe) nanoparticles. Photon upconversion means that two low-energy photons are converted into one higher-energy photon utilizable by a solar module. While we used some material-specific values, such as synthesis-specific yields, most auxiliary input and output values (e.g. solvents, inert gas, heat, electricity and emissions) instead represent factory-scale values for current fine chemical production. Considering the availability of both best- and worst-case default values, it was possible to derive ranges for the likely future environmental impacts of the two materials. We conclude that the approach is feasible, but the availability of more up-to-date industrial default values would make it even more relevant in prospective LCAs.
|
|
| 7. |
- Brynolf, Selma, 1984, et al.
(författare)
-
Sustainable fuels for shipping
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Sustainable Energy Systems on Ships: Novel Technologies for Low Carbon Shipping. ; , s. 403-428
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to reduce the total annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 and to phase them out as soon as possible. Decarbonized shipping represents a considerable challenge since the GHG emissions are estimated to increase by 2050 in several scenarios [1]. Decarbonization of shipping is important and urgent, but at the same time it is also important to make sure that other environmental impacts and sustainability concerns will not increase as a result. It is important to have a wide systems perspective when searching for solutions so that a sustainable shipping industry can be reached considering environmental, social, and economic dimensions and following the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This chapter starts by defining fuel, energy carriers, and primary energy sources in Section 9.2 followed by a description of the main primary energy sources that can be used to produce sustainable shipping fuels in Section 9.3 and potential energy carriers for ships in Section 9.4. Section 9.5 describes some of the pros and cons of different future fuels for shipping against technical, environmental, economic, and other criteria. Final reflections on how to choose future fuels are presented in Section 9.6.
|
|
| 8. |
- Böckin, Daniel, 1989
(författare)
-
Learning from assessments of resource efficiency measures and their impact on resource use and the environment - Based on a case of additive manufacturing and a review of assessment studies
- 2018
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Resource efficiency measures have the potential to reduce the environmental and resource impacts of the current linear economy by decreasing the physical flows of material and energy associated with producing and using products and services. In order to investigate this potential, there is a need for assessments from a systems perspective, which for example enables the identification of possible trade-offs between different measures and aspects of resource efficiency depending on the product characteristics. The research was carried out in two parts, firstly by synthesising the learnings from a large number of assessment studies. The analysis was built on typologies formulated for mapping resource efficiency measures and product characteristics to the environmental and resource outcomes of the measures in each case. This resulted in a number of findings detailing under which conditions that resource efficiency measures yield environmental and resource benefits, as well as when there are possible trade-offs and limitations. Furthermore, some product characteristics were identified that are key in determining when resource efficiency measures are effective, namely whether products are durable, consumable, complex or whether they have significant impacts from extraction and material production or from their use. Products with significant impacts from the use-phase are called active products and give rise to trade-offs that are discussed in detail, specifically regarding under which conditions there are environmental and resource benefits from extended use or from reducing use-phase impacts. The second part of the research was a life cycle assessment of one such active product, namely 3D-printed truck engines. The aim was to investigate the resource efficiency potential of this emerging technology. Results showed that 3D-printing could lead to net improvements in life cycle impacts, by allowing redesigns of components for lower weight and thus lower fuel consumption. However, the conclusions were only valid under certain conditions, such ascareful material choice and a low-fossil electricity mix for the printing process, without which 3D-printing resulted in environmental deterioration compared to conventional manufacturing. Some results could be generalised to other applications and industries, for example the importance of a low-fossil electricity mix for 3D-printing, which is valid for any application of 3D-printing. In conclusion, useful knowledge on resource efficiency measures was produced both by synthesising many assessment studies and carrying out a single assessment study, especially on the topics of active products and additive manufacturing.
|
|
| 9. |
- Chordia, Mudit, 1985
(författare)
-
Taking stock of large-scale lithium-ion battery production using life cycle assessment
- 2022
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Battery electric vehicles are being increasingly favored as an alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). This is mainly due to their lower environmental impact when compared to ICEVs over the vehicle’s lifetime. Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies focusing specifically on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have identified battery cell production as an environmental hotspot in the BEV’s life cycle. However, lack of primary or industrial data, different technical scopes, and varying data quality, limit a thorough understanding of the environmental impacts of cell production. Further, with scaling-up of battery production (to meet the rising demand for BEVs), the source and level of impacts are expected to change. In response, the main aim of this thesis is to explore and understand the implications of upscaling in battery production. An example of such a change is provided at the mining sites where raw materials for lithium used in batteries are extracted and produced. As mining continues, over time, the ore grades at these sites decline. Thus, this thesis also aims to investigate the effect of declining ore grades on the overall impacts from cell production. A sub-goal is to understand the relevance of background data in LCA studies and its effect on overall results. The technical scope of this thesis is the production of a graphite-NMC:811 21700 type cylindrical cell. To assess the environmental impacts of upscaling, production in a small-scale facility is compared to production in a large-scale facility. Next, the impact of declining ore grades on overall cell production is estimated by analyzing the data from multiple mining sites for lithium, with varying ore grades and different types of sources – spodumene and brine. To assess the effect of background database on overall results, the LCA model for cell production was coupled with different versions of the Ecoinvent background database. Lastly, a physics-based model platform, developed in cross-disciplinary collaboration, is proposed with the objective of filling data gaps in LCA of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The model platform will help link the cell design aspects such as power or energy optimization to changes in the individual cell production processes. Further, the model platform will help expand the technical scope to broadened set of cell geometries and chemistries, and increase the precision in use phase modeling as well. The results show that the upscaling leads to a reduction in environmental impacts from cell production. This is due to higher energy and material efficiency of cell production at large scale. Further, when low-carbon intensive sources are used, then the impacts from cell production shift almost entirely to the raw material extraction and production phase. In the context of declining ore grades, the type of source and grade of lithium account for 5-15% of the global warming impacts from cell production. This implies that future environmental impacts from LIB production could increase, due to increased chemical and energy inputs, in response to declining ore grades at mining sites. The changes in the background data have a significant bearing on the overall results. These are due to evolving technical systems and an improved representation of these systems in terms of data quality and geo-spatial representativeness. Lastly, preliminary results from the physics-based model platform show that accounting for variations in cell design can further add variability in results.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
