• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
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Abstract Activated carbon is commonly used as a material for contaminant-adsorption processes in aqueous systems. However, its use is more restricted to charcoal than to coal, for the most part, in view of the fact of the higher cost (~ 40%) if the mineral is a fossil fuel which needs to be extracted from the earth by mining. For this reason, the peach stone that comes from alimentary industrial tailings can be a good choice for the separation of pollutants from aqueous suspensions and other soluble substances. The purpose of this research was the development of a low-cost filter, using stones to remove atrazine from water. Appraisal and characterization studies were performed along with batch experiments to investigate dosing effects of the activated carbon, atrazine concentration, contact time, and adsorption pH on removal procedures. From the results of the experiment, an excellent removal of the analyte in question was observed under conditions that can be considered as close as possible to the environment, such as pH = 6.5, room temperature and 10 minutes of agitation time, always choosing the best alternative with the lowest cost of energy and time. Batch system application has been recommended as versatile for utilization in seasonal problems such as pesticide contamination.

Heavy trucks contribute significantly to climate change, and in 2020 were responsible for 7% of total Swedish GHG emissions and 5% of total global CO2 emissions. Here we study the full lifecycle of cargo trucks powered by different energy pathways, comparing their biomass feedstock use, primary energy use, net biogenic and fossil CO2 emission, and cumulative radiative forcing. We analyse battery electric trucks with bioelectricity from standalone or combined heat and power (CHP) plants, and pathways where bioelectricity is integrated with wind and solar electricity. We analyse trucks operated on fossil diesel fuel and on dimethyl ether (DME). All energy pathways are analysed with and without carbon capture and storage (CCS). Bioelectricity and DME are produced from forest harvest residues. Forest biomass is a limited resource, so in a scenario analysis we allocate a fixed amount of biomass to power Swedish truck transport. Battery lifespan and chemistry, the technology level of energy supply, and the biomass source and transport distance are all varied to understand how sensitive the results are to these parameters. The scenario spans 100 years into the future. We find that pathways using electricity to power battery electric trucks have much lower climate impacts and primary energy use, compared to diesel and DME based pathways. The pathways using bioelectricity with CCS result in negative emissions leading to global cooling of the earth. The pathways using diesel and DME have significant and very similar climate impact, even with CCS. The robust results show that truck electrification and increased renewable electricity production is a much better strategy to reduce the climate impact of cargo transport and much more primary energy efficient than the adoption of DME trucks. This climate impact analysis includes all fossil and net biogenic CO2 emissions as well as the timing of these emissions. Considering only fossil emissions is incomplete and could be misleading. This dataset contains data on 4 metrics (primary energy use, biomass feedstock use, cumulative CO2 emissions, and cumulative radiative forcing) resulting from scenario modeling of cargo truck use in Sweden powered by different energy pathways. The energy pathways include battery electric trucks powered by bioelectricity, solar photovoltaic electricity and wind electricity, and internal combustion trucks powered by fossil diesel and dimethyl ether. The scenario spans 100 years into the future. The Excel sheet "tables" contains input data for the scenario modeling, with sources listed where applicable. The remaining sheets contains the modeled results and generated figures that are also a published in the associated article Sathre & Gustavsson (2023). Refer to the method description and reference list in the included documentation files for details. Tunga lastbilar bidrar kraftigt till klimatförändringarna och stod 2020 för 7% av de totala svenska växthusgasutsläppen och 5% av de totala globala CO2-utsläppen. Här studerar vi hela livscykeln för lastbilar som drivs av olika energivägar, jämför deras användning av biomassaråvaror, primär energianvändning, biogena och fossila CO2-utsläpp netto och kumulativ strålningstvingning. Vi analyserar batterielektriska lastbilar med bioel från fristående eller kraftvärmeverk och vägar där bioel integreras med vind- och solkraft. Vi analyserar lastbilar som drivs med fossilt dieselbränsle och med dimetyleter (DME). Alla energivägar analyseras med och utan avskiljning och lagring av koldioxid (CCS). Bioelektricitet och DME produceras av skogsavverkningsrester. Skogsbiomassa är en begränsad resurs, så i en scenarioanalys avsätter vi en fast mängd biomassa för att driva svenska lastbilstransporter. Batteriets livslängd och kemi, tekniknivån för energiförsörjning och biomassakällan och transportavståndet varierar alla för att förstå hur känsliga resultaten är för dessa parametrar. Scenariot sträcker sig 100 år in i framtiden. Vi finner att vägar som använder el för att driva batterielektriska lastbilar har mycket lägre klimatpåverkan och primär energianvändning, jämfört med diesel- och DME-baserade vägar. De vägar som använder bioelektricitet med CCS resulterar i negativa utsläpp som leder till global kylning av jorden. Vägarna med diesel och DME har betydande och mycket liknande klimatpåverkan, även med CCS. De robusta resultaten visar att elektrifiering av lastbilar och ökad förnybar elproduktion är en mycket bättre strategi för att minska godstransporternas klimatpåverkan än införandet av DME-lastbilar, och mycket mer primärenergieffektiv. Denna klimatkonsekvensanalys omfattar alla fossila och biogena CO2-utsläpp samt tidpunkten för dessa utsläpp. Att bara ta hänsyn till fossila utsläpp är ofullständigt och kan vara missvisande. Detta dataset innehåller data om 4 mätvärden (primär energianvändning, biomassaråvara, kumulativa CO2-utsläpp och kumulativ strålkraftspåverkan) som härrör från scenariomodellering av lastbilsanvändning i Sverige som drivs av olika energivägar. Energivägarna inkluderar batterielektriska lastbilar som drivs av bioelektricitet, solcellselektricitet och vindkraft samt förbränningsbilar som drivs av fossil diesel och dimetyleter. Scenariot sträcker sig 100 år in i framtiden. På arket "tables" i Excelfilen återfinns den indata som använts i modelleringen med angivna källor där detta är tillämpligt. Övriga ark innehåller resultat samt figurer som också publiceras i den samhörande artikeln Sathre & Gustavsson (2023). Se metodbeskrivning samt referenslista i tillhörande dokumentationsfiler för detaljer.

Cyanobacterial biomass is important for biofuel and biofertilizer, however, biomass production requires expensive chemical growth nutrients. To address this issue, we explored the useof inexpensive growth nutrient media from an integrated manure-seawater system for cyanobacterial biomass production. Salt-tolerant cyanobacterial strain HSaC and salt-sensitive cyanobacterial strain LC were tested to evaluate the potential of integrated manure-seawater media for sustainable cyanobacterial biomass production. As a prerequisite for seawater experiments, strain HSaC was grown at different NaCl concentrations (0 mM, 60 mM, 120 mM, 180 mM, 240 mM and 300 mM) to identify the optimum salt concentration. The highest biomass yield and photosynthetic pigment contents were obtained at 120 mM NaCl concentration. The highest exo-polysaccharide (EPS) content was obtained at 180 mM NaCl concentration. The treatments for the manure-seawater media were cow manure, pig manure, chicken manure and BG11, each with distilled water, diluted seawater and non-diluted seawater. The highest biomass and photosynthetic pigment yield for cyanobacterial strains LC and HSaC were obtained from 0.5 dS/m and 10 dS/m diluted seawater integrated with cow manure, respectively, but pig and chicken manure performed poorly. Overall, the biomass production and photosynthetic pigment results from cow manure-seawater were relatively better than those from the reference media (BG11). Based on the current findings, it is concluded that the growth nutrients from integrated cow manure-seawater can wholly substitute for the BG11 without affecting cyanobacterial growth, thereby reducing the usage of expensive chemical growth media. Thus,The results of study help to enhance the biomass production of both salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant cyanobacteria for sustainable biofuel and biofertilizer production. Cyanobacterial biomass is important for biofuel and biofertilizer, however, biomass production requires expensive chemical growth nutrients. To address this issue, we explored the useof inexpensive growth nutrient media from an integrated manure-seawater system for cyanobacterial biomass production. Salt-tolerant cyanobacterial strain HSaC and salt-sensitive cyanobacterial strain LC were tested to evaluate the potential of integrated manure-seawater media for sustainable cyanobacterial biomass production. As a prerequisite for seawater experiments, strain HSaC was grown at different NaCl concentrations (0 mM, 60 mM, 120 mM, 180 mM, 240 mM and 300 mM) to identify the optimum salt concentration. The highest biomass yield and photosynthetic pigment contents were obtained at 120 mM NaCl concentration. The highest exo-polysaccharide (EPS) content was obtained at 180 mM NaCl concentration. The treatments for the manure-seawater media were cow manure, pig manure, chicken manure and BG11, each with distilled water, diluted seawater and non-diluted seawater. The highest biomass and photosynthetic pigment yield for cyanobacterial strains LC and HSaC were obtained from 0.5 dS/m and 10 dS/m diluted seawater integrated with cow manure, respectively, but pig and chicken manure performed poorly. Overall, the biomass production and photosynthetic pigment results from cow manure-seawater were relatively better than those from the reference media (BG11). Based on the current findings, it is concluded that the growth nutrients from integrated cow manure-seawater can wholly substitute for the BG11 without affecting cyanobacterial growth, thereby reducing the usage of expensive chemical growth media. Thus,The results of study help to enhance the biomass production of both salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant cyanobacteria for sustainable biofuel and biofertilizer production.

Sustainable agriculture is the backbone of food security systems and a driver of human well-being in global economic development (Sustainable Development Goal SDG 3). With the increase in world population and the effects of climate change due to the industrialization of economies, food security systems are under pressure to sustain communities. This situation calls for the implementation of innovative solutions to increase and sustain efficacy from farm to table. Agricultural social networks (ASNs) are central in agriculture value chain (AVC) management and sustainability and consist of a complex network inclusive of interdependent actors such as farmers, distributors, processors, and retailers. Hence, social network structures (SNSs) and practices are a means to contextualize user scenarios in agricultural value chain digitalization and digital solutions development. Therefore, this research aimed to unearth the roles of agricultural social networks in AVC digitalization, enabling an inclusive digital economy. We conducted automated literature content analysis followed by the application of case studies to develop a conceptual framework for the digitalization of the AVC toward an inclusive digital economy. Furthermore, we propose a transdisciplinary framework that guides the digitalization systematization of the AVC, while articulating resilience principles that aim to attain sustainability. The outcomes of this study offer software developers, agricultural stakeholders, and policymakers a platform to gain an understanding of technological infrastructure capabilities toward sustaining communities through digitalized AVCs.

Plastic film mulching (FM) became a general practice to enhance crop productivity and its net primary production (NPP), but it can increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The proper addition of organic amendments might effectively decrease the impact of FM on global warming. To evaluate the feasibility of biomass addition on decreasing this negative influence, cover crop biomass as a green manure was incorporated with different recycling levels (0-100% of aboveground biomass) under FM and no-mulching. The net global warming potential (GWP) which integrated with soil C stock change and GHG (N2O and CH4) fluxes with CO2-equivalent was evaluated during maize cultivation. Under the same biomass incorporation, FM significantly enhanced the grain productivity and NPP of maize by 22-61 and 18-58% over no-mulching, respectively. In contrast, FM also highly increased the respired C loss, which was 11-95% higher than NPP increase, over no-mulching. Irrespective with biomass recycling ratio and mulching system, negative NECB which indicates the decrease of soil C stock was observed, mainly due to big harvest removal. FM decreased more soil C stock by 57-158% over no-mulching, but its C stock was clearly increased with increasing biomass addition. FM significantly increased total N2O and CH4 fluxes by 4-61 and 140-600% over no-mulching, respectively. Soil C stock changes mainly decided net GWP scale, but N2O and CH4 fluxes negligibly influenced. As a result, FM highly increased net GWP over no-mulching, while this net GWP was clearly decreased with increasing biomass application. However, cover cropping, and its biomass recycling was not enough to compensate the negative impact of FM on global warming. Therefore, more biomass incorporation might be essential to compensate this negative effect of FM.

Society faces the double challenge of increasing biomass production to meet the future demands for food, materials and bioenergy, while addressing negative impacts of current (and future) land use. In the discourse, land use change (LUC) has often been considered as negative, referring to impacts of deforestation and expansion of biomass plantations. However, strategic establishment of suitable perennial production systems in agricultural landscapes can mitigate environmental impacts of current crop production, while providing biomass for the bioeconomy. Here, we explore the potential for such “beneficial LUC” in EU28. First, we map and quantify the degree of accumulated soil organic carbon losses, soil loss by wind and water erosion, nitrogen emissions to water, and recurring floods, in ∼81.000 individual landscapes in EU28. We then estimate the effectiveness in mitigating these impacts through establishment of perennial plants, in each landscape. The results indicate that there is a substantial potential for effective impact mitigation. Depending on criteria selection, 10–46% of the land used for annual crop production in EU28 is located in landscapes that could be considered priority areas for beneficial LUC. These areas are scattered all over Europe, but there are notable “hot-spots” where priority areas are concentrated, e.g., large parts of Denmark, western UK, The Po valley in Italy, and the Danube basin. While some policy developments support beneficial LUC, implementation could benefit from attempts to realize synergies between different Sustainable Development Goals, e.g., “Zero hunger”, “Clean water and sanitation”, “Affordable and Clean Energy”, “Climate Action”, and “Life on Land”. I studien har vi utforskat potentialen för fördelaktig markanvändningsförändring genom strategisk perennialisering i Europa. Miljöproblematiken i fler än 81,000 individuella landskap har kvantifierats och potentialen att lindra miljöproblematik med hjälp av strategisk etablering av perenna grödor har uppskattats i varje enskilt landskap. För mer information, se engelsk beskrivning.

Three scenarios of large-scale deployment for riparian buffers and windbreaks, across over 81,000 landscapes in Europe, with quantified corresponding areas, biomass output, and environmental benefits. Abstract: Within the scope of the new Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, in coherence with other EU policies, new incentives are developed for farmers to deploy practices that are beneficial for climate, water, soil, air, and biodiversity. Such practices include establishment of multifunctional biomass production systems, designed to reduce environmental impacts while providing biomass for food, feed, bioenergy, and other biobased products. Here, we model three scenarios of large-scale deployment for two such systems, riparian buffers and windbreaks, across over 81,000 landscapes in Europe, and quantify the corresponding areas, biomass output, and environmental benefits. The results show that these systems can effectively reduce nitrogen emissions to water and soil loss by wind erosion, while simultaneously providing substantial environmental co-benefits, having limited negative effects on current agricultural production. This kind of beneficial land-use change using strategic perennialization is important for meeting environmental objectives while advancing towards a sustainable bioeconomy. Tre scenarier för storskalig etablering av buffertzoner och lähägn, över fler än 81,000 landskap i Europa, med kvantifierad areal, biomassaproduktion, och miljönytta. Se engelsk beskrivning för information om studien.

Bioenergy is considered a sustainable substitute to fossil-fuel resources and the development of a prudent combination of renewable and innovative conversion technologies are essential for the valorization and effective conversion of biowaste to value-added commodities. Here, a negative pressure-induced carbonization process was proposed for the valorization of lignin-enriched biowaste precursor to bio-oil and environmental materials (biochar) at various temperatures. The high heating values (HHV) of the as-prepared biochars from the lignin enriched precursor under negative pressure (low-medium vacuum) were within 25.9-31.5 MJ/kg, which matched satisfactorily to the commercial charcoal. Whereas, the bio-oils produced from the lignin enriched precursor under vacuum conditions was a blend of complex aromatic and straight-chain hydro-carbons, including aldehyde, ketone, phenol, and furans, exhibiting ability as potential heating-oil with HHV within 21.2-28.2 MJ/kg. Moreover, the biochars produced under vacuum environments at higher temperature showed greater stability (22.5-35.9%) than those produced under N2 atmosphere.

Digital Transformations (DT) play an increasingly important role in academia and business, yet their significant Environmental Footprint (EF) is often overlooked, sidelining their potential for Environmental Sustainability (ES). This paper bridges this gap by integrating ES into the discourse of DT, proposing Green Enterprise Architecture (GREAN) as a method for sustainable transformation. Utilizing a Design Science Research approach, we developed an artefact outlining a comprehensive strategy for embedding ES in DT across various layers of an organization. The tool’s need was validated via a systematic literature review (SLR), highlighting the significant research gap in Green Enterprise Architecture. The artefact provides concrete Courses of Action (CoAs) for incorporating ES into the organizational strategy, business, data, application, and technology layers and proposes relevant capabilities to address this. The paper further presents an ES-aware business capability modelling, an innovative business modelling approach that integrates environmental sustainability principles by using (in a novel way) the presentation and analysis methods that capability mapping offers. The proposed artefact serves as a starting point for environmentally sustainable DTs. Future research directions include in-depth exploration of each enterprise layer for ES, real-world validation of our proposed tools and concepts, and the expansion of these into a full framework.