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Cities are progressively heightening their climate aspirations to curtail urban carbon emis- sions and establish a future where economies and communities can flourish within the Earth’s eco- logical limits. Consequently, numerous climate initiatives are being launched to control urban car- bon emissions, targeting various sectors, including transport, residential, agricultural, and energy. However, recent scientific literature underscores the disproportionate distribution of climate poli- cies. While cities in the Global North have witnessed several initiatives to combat climate change, cities in the Global South remain uncovered and highly vulnerable to climate hazards. To address this disparity, we employed the Balanced Iterative Reducing and Clustering using the Hierarchies (BRICH) algorithm to cluster cities from diverse geographical areas that exhibit comparable socio- economic profiles. This clustering strives to foster enhanced cooperation and collaboration among cities globally, with the goal of addressing climate change in a comprehensive manner. In summary, we identified similarities, pa􏰀erns, and clusters among peer cities, enabling mutual and generaliza- ble learning among worldwide peer-cities regarding urban climate policy exchange. This exchange occurs through three approaches: (i) inner-mutual learning, (ii) cross-mutual learning, and (iii) outer-mutual learning. Our findings mark a pivotal stride towards a􏰀aining worldwide climate ob- jectives through a shared responsibility approach. Furthermore, they provide preliminary insights into the implementation of “urban climate policy exchange” among peer cities on a global scale.

The present study deals with the use of renewable energy sources (RES) for biofuel production in addition to the power derived from hydroelectric and heat produced by district heating plants. It follows and integrates the main aim to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the considered study area according to the Directive Europe 2020. The possibility to address animal manure and other local biomass to the biogas yield with subsequent upgrading to biomethane was investigated, starting from the production up to the end use. The proposed solution implies the realization of one centralized biogas plant coupled with the upgrading section and one filling station. Details were deepen in order to improve the economic sustainability of the plant, the direct involvement of farmers in the management company and the acceptance level from the residents. Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 2099-2101

SUSTAGRI4.0 will bring digital and marketing skills to small-scale farmers and agribusiness owners towards a sustainable and community-driven future. SUSTAGRI4.0 core aim is to promote a more sustainable agriculture and support sustainable agriculture businesses in their transition to Agriculture 4.0. This report, comprised from three clusters, the highlighting results of the study, focusing on the professional skills of the future European farming community build on the cornerstones of sustainability, digitalization, and entrepreneurship: Best practices at consortium level; digital survey; focus groups. The country analysis is based on critical research of relevant open sources, including, inter alia, data from national and regional/municipal organizations, law enforcement practice, formal education curriculum, scientific publications and NGOs reports. These desk studies have been of high importance for us, balancing academic findings, correcting views and seriously expanding our understanding of youth issues and related processes of digitalization. Moreover, they have served as a pool for ideas, inspiration and practical models for partner organizations [Cluster I]. Digital Survey recap the desk and case studies, providing valuable insights from our target groups – both from youth and stakeholders and enriching us with clarifying first-hand knowledge for preparing the next steps of our project [Cluster II]. Development of focus groups: Research on local producers & sustainable agricultural business owners and VET. After finishing the research phase (national level) has been completed, a number of best practices has been identified and described in order to compare official data and statistics with real implementation of abovementioned tools [Cluster III]

Palm oil is the most demanded vegetable oil in the world. It serves as a raw material for a wide range of products as well as food and energy sources. However, the palm oil supply from Southeast Asian countries has been repeatedly under discussion in the EU Commission for its environmental impacts. To gain a deeper under-standing of the related costs and GHG emissions of the palm oil supply, a comprehensive modelling tool is used to assess the Indonesian supply path to Germany. Starting with the cultivation and harvesting of fresh fruit bunches (FFB), the crude palm oil (CPO) production in an oil mill and the cargo handling in Central Kalimantan, the CPO is transshipped through the seaports of Surabaya and Rotterdam to an assumed landing area in the south of Germany. The overall supply costs and GHG emissions add up to 599.08 €/t and 5,156.86 kg CO2-eq./t CPO. Proceedings of the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 27-30 May 2019, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 1681-1693

Abstract Svalbard’s main urban centre, Longyearbyen, is a town in constant transition. Established as a coal mining camp, it developed into a mono-industrial company town, was then transformed into a “normal” Norwegian family town, and is today profoundly impacted by climate change and undergoing economic, social and cultural changes at high speed. In this chapter, I examine urban planning and development in Longyearbyen, looking at historical developments and discussing current challenges. I trace the development of the town and show how the societal transformations beginning in the 1970s led to an institutionalization and formalization of urban planning. I then discuss three main issues and challenges related to community development today, brought about by rapid climate and socio-economic change: securing the town against environmental changes, the housing crisis, and a changing identity. I argue that throughout its history, Longyearbyen’s function for the Norwegian state as an upholder of presence and legitimation of sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago has set the premises of urban development and planning. This makes for a complex planning context, in some cases limiting local control and participation. The chapter draws on existing literature, policy and planning documents, as well as ethnographic fieldwork in Longyearbyen.

In globalized commodity markets, the orientation of the economy towards bio-economy and the energy transition to renewables, biomass is gaining importance as raw material and energy source. The regional gap between demand and supply is currently overcome by global biomass trade flows as shown for agricultural products and for wood fuels. Due to the increasing demand of biomass for energy and biofuels, these trade flows will expand in the future. A comprehensive model was developed to evaluate these supply chains for biomass on industrial scale and gain a detailed understanding of its related costs and GHG emissions (± ILUC). It consists of sub-models, such agricultural or forestry production, preconditioning and processing, road, rail and water transportation, transshipment and storage. The model was applied to six exemplary biomass production and supply paths with the target destination in Central Europe (Germany) – namely ethanol from Brazil, wheat and wood pellets from Canada, soybeans from the USA, palm oil from Indonesia and round wood from Russia. This represents the broad variety of biomass sources, supply regions and transportation distances of 6,200 to 17,900 kilometers. Proceedings of the 30th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 9-12 May 2022, Online, pp. 291-308

The common way of handling sludge from pulp and paper (P&P) mill.s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is combusting it at the site. Combustion is rather a way to dispose the sludge than take advantage of its energy content. This case study assesses the potential to convert the wet low-value feedstock, specifically WWTP.s secondary sludge, to a more valuable bioenergy product called HTC biocoal through hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) combined with wet oxidation using C-Green.s innovative OxyPower HTC technology. We assess the integration to a Nordic sulphate pulp mill as a retrofit and compare it to baseline scenario of combusting sludge in the recovery boiler. The approach contains assessment of effects of integration to pulp mill.s mass and energy balance, and market, economic and environmental assessments. The results show that the retrofit has positive impacts on the pulp mill.s mass and energy balance, such as reduced evaporator and recovery boiler load. Greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 77% compared to baseline scenario proved the environmental benefits of the retrofit. However, it is challenging to find an economic case for HTC biocoal production in P&P industry due to efficient sludge treatment already taking place. Furthermore, End-of-Waste status is needed before entering the markets. Proceedings of the 29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 26-29 April 2021, Online, pp. 954-960

Fuelwood is the primary and traditional energy source for cooking mostlyin developing nations. Consumption of fuelwood depends upon climatic conditions, number of family members, geographical elevation and socio-economic conditions. Everyday collection of fuelwood is time consuming, which affects rural people, as they have to spend most of their qualitative time on it. This study focuses on three case studies from Nepal, India and Ghana. In this analysis, detailed production chains of different energy resource were prepared and then the time required for collecting, transporting and processing the wood was collected. Outcomes of the analysis show that, in both cases, just transforming wood into charcoal or briquette and burning in an open traditional cookstove is not saving wood or hours, but with intervention of improved cookstove, the demand for wood and time saves eventually. Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 178-184

Sustainable development has been a concept, a movement, and a commitment, one of a kind. In its short lifetime, it has been subject to many changes and improvements. Many countries have joined under the umbrella of sustainable development and its goals, but the definition of sustainable development has remained ambiguous. In this paper, the ambiguity of this definition with a postmodern look has been studied to deconstruct it with the hope of finding the roots of skepticism about this concept. Here it has been argued that instead of ignoring the skepticism, we must acknowledge its causes and try to eliminate them. Nevertheless, the result of deconstruction is not a definitive answer it shows us the path to do this by making sure that any invention we hope might come under this vision was compatible with current rules and procedures at the same time. (The article is now accepted for publication in the journal: World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development. Before publication, due to journal policy, the prior-to-peer-review manuscripts can not be publicly available.) (The article is now accepted for publication in the journal: World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development. Before publication, due to journal policy, the prior-to-peer-review manuscripts can not be publicly available.)