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The database presents the scenario results of an exploratory research, carried out at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA): the Low Energy Demand (LED) study (Grubler et al. 2018). The LED scenario explored how far transformative changes that combine technological changes, end-use efficiency, and new business models for energy service provision can lead for lowering energy demand, and how these changes could drive deep decarbonisation in the long-term. The scenario development methodology included a bottom-up analysis of how currently existing, though often embryonic, social, institutional, and technological trends could become mainstream with resulting step-changes in efficiency and resulting lowered energy demand. The bottom-up demand estimations were then further explored for their supply side and emissions and climate implications with a top-down modeling framework drawing on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) framework (Riahi et al. 2017). The results show that global final energy demands can be drastically reduced in 2050, to around 245 EJ/yr, or 40% lower than today, whilst significantly expanding human welfare and reducing global development inequalities. According to the knowledge of the authors, LED is the lowest long-term global energy demand scenario ever published. The LED scenario meets the 1.5°C climate target in 2100 without overshoot and keeps the global mean temperature increase below 1.5°C with a probability of more than 60%, without requiring controversial negative emission technologies, such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), that figure prominently in the emission scenario literature (Rogelj et al. 2015, Anderson and Peters 2016, Creutzig et al. 2016, Smith et al. 2016). Furthermore, the beneficial impacts of the LED scenario on a range of other sustainable development goals are also shown, demonstrating that efficiency of energy services provision plays a critical role in reaching low-energy futures without compromising increased living standards in the Global South, while at the same time reducing adverse social and environmental impacts of climate mitigation strategies that focus predominantly on large-scale supply-side transformations. The research is published in a peer-reviewed article in Nature Energy (Grubler et al. 2018) with ample supplementary information. Water consumption and withdrawal data are published in Parkinson et al. (2018). The data is available for download from the LED Database. The content of the LED database and any derived analysis may only be used for non-commercial scientific publications, articles, educational purposes, figures and data tables provided that the source reference pursuant to section 'Required citation' is included and all relevant publications are correctly cited. Partial reproductions of the database content may be stored in online repositories, if this is necessary to comply with a journal's data archiving and access requirements. Such reproductions must be limited to the scope of the manuscript in question, and must include a hyperlink to the source database hosted at https://db1.ene.iiasa.ac.at/LEDDB and the download date from the source database. However, any wholesale duplication, translation, reworking, processing, arrangement, transformation, or reproduction through the internet or any other channels, of the https://db1.ene.iiasa.ac.at/LEDDEB for commercial or non-commercial purposes is not permitted without the explicit written approval of IIASA.

The objective of sustainable development will require active participation from the citizens, and from this perspective the private consumption has come into focus. The experience of consumption and sustainable development has this far been a disappointment. The individual’s consumption habits and preferences are difficult to change, as well as localizing shopping malls in the outskirts of cities and increasing the reliance of cars. There are a lot of different barriers which could be an obstacle for the principles of a sustainable development to have an impact on the private consumption behaviour. The study “Sustainable Citizenship 2009” focuses on how the Swedish citizens of today consider their own role as consumers in the context of the principles of sustainable development. This makes it possible to analyse which role knowledge and value has on the consumptions possibilities and obstacles to contribute to a sustainable development. “Sustainable Citizenship” deals specifically about how citizens use and value information, and about personal responsibility for sustainable development. Purpose: To contribute with new knowledge about the obstacles and possibilities which affect how Swedish citizens could act in a sustainable way. Målet om en hållbar utveckling kräver medborgarens aktiva medverkan och detta har gjort att inte minst den privata konsumtionen har kommit i blickfånget. Erfarenheterna kring konsumtion och hållbar utveckling har hittills varit mycket nedslående. Individers konsumtionsvanor är svårföränderliga samt att lokaliseringen av köpcentrum i utkanten av tätorter som leder till mer biltrafik. Det finns många olika slags barriärer som hindrar principerna om en hållbar utveckling att få genomslag i de privata konsumtionsmönstren. Studien "Hållbart medborgarskap 2009" fokuserar på hur dagens svenska medborgare uppfattar sig själva i sin roll som konsumenter i ljuset av principerna för hållbar utveckling. Detta gör det möjligt att granska vilken roll kunskap och värdering spelar för konsumtionens möjligheter och hinder för att bidra till en hållbar utveckling. Specifikt handlar det om hur medborgaren använder och värderar information, personligt ansvar för hållbar utveckling samt hur individens värdesystem påverkar dess praktiska handlande. Syfte: Att bidra med ny kunskap om de hinder och möjligheter som påverkar hur svenska medborgare kan agera på ett hållbart sätt.

The study on Rural Energy and Household Forest Values under Varying Management Regimes was conducted in Ethiopia. The general objective of this survey is to study household behavior regarding sustainable land use. Households were selected from the main four regions of Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray) in 2009. The data was generated by researchers at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute and Gothenburg University. The general objective of this survey is to study household behavior regarding communally managed forest resources. The datasets submitted here consist of different data files in Stata format. Each file corresponds to a section in the questionnaire. The study on Rural Energy and Household Forest Values under Varying Management Regimes was conducted in Ethiopia. The general objective of this survey is to study household behavior regarding sustainable land use. Households were selected from the main four regions of Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray) in 2009. The data was generated by researchers at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute and Gothenburg University. The general objective of this survey is to study household behavior regarding communally managed forest resources. The datasets consist of different data files in Stata format. Each file corresponds to a section in the questionnaire.

Giant reed (Arundo Donax L.) is a perennial, non-food and low-input energy crop representing a promising solution to produce renewable energy at low cost, especially in marginal areas - i.e. low profitable areas which are prone to land abandonment. This research investigates the effect of two levels of irrigation (100% ETm and rainfed) on a 20-year old plantation of 40 genotypes of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) collected around Southern Italy. The experimental methanogenic potential of the biomass was defined trough the BMP test (Biochemical Methane Potential). The trial shows that several genotypes maintain high biomass yield and thus high biomethane potential yield even from old plantations. The variability of biomass yield and biomethane potential yield among genotypes is high. Giant reed genotypes show a positive response to the irrigation, which represent the main limiting factor in Mediterranean environments. Proceedings of the 28th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-9 July 2020, Virtual, pp. 234-237

Treball Final de Grau en Finances i Comptabilitat. Codi: FC1049. Curs acadèmic: 2018/2019 The financial system has a key role today, the fight against climate change. The financial system is working towards a circular and low carbon economy entering financial instruments such as green bonds into its markets. Green bonds are in constant expansion and are a great support to finance investments and projects that promote the mitigation of climate change. This report is divided into two parts: in a first phase the concept of green bond is introduced and an analysis and description of the current European and Spanish market is carried out; in the second phase, a quantitative analysis of the green bonds issued by Repsol, one of the main companies with the highest emission of greenhouse gases in Spain, is done. The results of the analysis show that the financial system has a concern for the environment and that it is working constantly to create standards, regulations and labels that lead to a solid development of the market of green financial instruments.

Losses and gains in canopy cover of the world’s tree canopies affect carbon stocks, species habitats, water cycles, and human livelihoods. Consistent and multi-decadal global data on tree-canopy cover dynamics are needed for modelling climate scenarios, tracking progress towards restoration targets, and diverse other research, management and policy applications. However, most data only map binary ‘forest’/‘non forest’ distinctions that are regionally restricted or biassed by data gaps, and those mapping tree-canopy cover are limited to the 21st century. Here, we present an annual and global time-series of tree-canopy cover between 1992 and 2018. To develop these data, we integrated complementary products, using their respective strengths to compensate for weaknesses, and exploiting path dependencies in change processes to derive predictions into the data-sparse 1990s. Our model validation indicates we can accurately map tree-canopy cover (r2=0.95 [±0.01], RMSE=6.75% [±0.08], F1-score=0.97 [±0.0]) and our time-series agree well with national forest statistics (r2=0.94 [±0.0]). This repository contains the Global Tree-Canopy Cover Change dataset (GTCCC), which consists of a global time-series on per-pixel tree-canopy covers estimated at a 300-m resolution between 1992 and 2018. The repository contains the following: GTCCC_canopyDensity.tar.gz - Annual GeoTiffs on per-piel tree-canopy cover estimates (EPSG:4326) GTCCC_uncertainty.tar.gz - Annual GeotiFFs with per-pixel estimates of the 95% confidence interval of the the predictions of each RFReg decision tree. GTCCC_change.tar.gz - Multiple outputs describing changes in tree-canopy cover between 1992 and 2018. The contents are described in a README.txt file found within. modelling_infrastructure.tar.gz - Infrastructure to generate the GTCCC dataset, including code, and some intermediary outputs, such as reference samples and the predictive model. The contents are described in a README.txt file found within. The predictors used to generate the GTCCC are provided separately given large volume, and can be reached by clicking here.

This data set belongs to a research project that was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG, project number 404790484. We analysed the international sustainability standard DETOX, that was launched by Greenpeace in 2011. The data set includes interviews and archival data from the standard setter and a standard taker, spanning a period of 8 years (2011-2019). Data is in German and English. Further information about the project in German language can be found here: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/404790484

The three different future scenarios showed an increase in mean temperature for all months between 0.5-2.4°C and a reduction in precipitation (by 4-7%) for the period 2030-2059 (MPI, KNMI, SMHI). The results of the present work show that climate change will bring a reduction of water resource availability and some alterations in the hydrological regime. The SWAT model, which proved to be a valuable operational tool for evaluating the potential impact of climate change on water resources, estimates a reduction of total water yield and a shift of the flow regime towards drier conditions, although the river type classification will probably remain essentially unvaried. A sever reduction of snowfall in the mountainous part of the basin was also estimated that is expected to impact the flow regime. However, it is important to take into account that several sources of uncertainties, which depend both on the used hydrological models and on the climate change scenarios, affect the predictions of the hydrological response of a river basin under climate change. In addition, some of the assumptions made (i.e. that land use does not change in the future) could be incorrect as climate change could also result in a significant alteration of land cover. Hence, we have to consider projections not as a predictive method, but as a tool that may be used to assess changes in process dynamics.

Recent growth in biodiesel production by transesterification reaction has produced a significant surplus of glycerol, it being the main byproduct of such process, thus destabilizing the market and making necessary to find new glycerol applications to support the eco-sustainability of the global process of biomass transformation. An appealing strategy is represented by the transformation of glycerol into oxygenated fuel additives to gain benefits both in terms of environmental compliance and efficiency of diesel engines. Etherification of glycerol in presence of an O-alkylant agent, like isobutene (IB), leads to a mixture of tert-butylglycerol ethers, but only poly-ethers are suitable additives due to their good miscibility with diesel. In presence of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), to overcome thermodynamic constraints related to the water formation, the use of a proper catalyst based on Hyflon ionomer and a permselective membrane coupled with a batch reactor allows to reach a poly-ethers yield of about 80%, a value threefold higher than that reported in literature. The use of bio-ethanol or bio-butanol which are renewable reactants could be an interesting alternative to valorize derived glycerol. Anyway, they are less activated alcohols than TBA, thus the reaction results to be thermodynamically more difficult. Proceedings of the 22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 23-26 June 2014, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 847-854