The world is facing the challenge of transforming from fossil fuel dependant to a zero-emission econ-omy. This results in multi-fold mineral requirements for technologies such as wind turbines, solar pan-els, and electric vehicles; an exorbitant amount that cannot be fulfilled by recycling alone. In Europe, this challenge is accelerated more by the current Russian conflict in Ukraine and the understanding that not only do we need to decarbonise the European economy, but also become independent from Russian energy and minerals. This transition requires many raw materials and the faster the transition occurs; the more minerals are required to be mined for these important technologies. Before mining can occur, mineral deposits must be discovered during the process of exploration. The success rate of exploration is less than 1 mine from 1000 exploration projects and projects can take decades to convert from discovery to producing mine. On top of this, we are currently searching for lower-grade deposits that are more difficult to find and technically complicated to extract. All this at a time, when environmental legislation is becoming more strict, there’s a requirement for decarbonisation in the mining industry, and the social license to operate is more difficult to obtain. This seemingly impossible task brings into question the efficiency of the business model of exploration companies to determine whether business model innovation can help achieve a more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable industry. This study analyses companies working in lithium exploration, as lithium is a material that is re-quired in significant amounts for the green energy transition. The number of companies operating in this sector has increased significantly in the past few years. Through qualitative content analysis using web content, a cross sectional study of 55 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange was com-pleted to identify themes relating to the business models of each company. Eight overlapping innova-tion categories were identified in 29 of the companies including Environment, Social, Economic, Cir-cular, Collaborative, Lean, Technology and Value Chain innovation.

An improved knowledge regarding what spatial scale temperature data is needed for ice-prediction would improve calculations how ice-coverage has been affected over time. Which by extension would give insight how ice might response to climate change. The purpose of this study was to find out if ice-growth in Sävar River could be explained by both local and regional temperature data, and what factors beyond temperature affect ice-growth. To accomplish this, I analyzed time-lapse photos from Sävar River during a three-month period. I found out that the use of regional temperature data to explain ice-growth on a local scale is limited due to the differences in accumulated degrees. The local temperature data measurement accumulated -2281 °C from ice began to grow until the whole channel was ice-covered and the regional temperature data accumulated -1901 °C under the same period. My findings support the assumption that frazil ice in large concentrations seem to increase ice-growth. Furthermore, no relation between ice-growth/decrease and precipitation or wet spots was found in this study.

Since their conception, plastics have been a dominant product due to the versatility of use, and readily available raw materials. However, the production and consumption of synthetic plastics have continued to increase over the years, leading to a significant rise in plastic waste and its associated environmental impacts, such as the detrimental effects plastic waste has on ecosystems, including the presence of toxic microplastics and risks to marine life, are becoming the focus of criticism. Moreover, the contribution of plastic production to global warming through the usage of petroleum as a raw material cannot be understated. Solutions are being sought after to reduce the impact of this plastic waste, with one such solution being the replacement of the raw materials involved in plastic production. If a biologically degradable plastic product can be produced, then even if the dangers associated with plastic waste cannot be removed, they can be reduced. One method is the production of plastics using polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) as a replacement as these are shown to have similar properties as synthetic plastics while being 100% degradable. PHA production has existed since the 1960’s, but the process has always been too expensive to be a viable alternative to the cheaper petroleum-based products. A reduction of the production costs is needed for PHA to be an economically viable alternative, and there are two areas that contain the highest costs; The usage of expensive monocultural bacteria, and specially crafted carbon sources used to feed these bacteria to stimulate PHA accumulation. By switching to a multi-cultural bacterium and using readily available organic carbon sources can the costs of production be brought down, allowing the prospective biological plastics a chance to compete in the plastic market.  This thesis focuses on the usage of a multi-cultural bacterium collected from the water purification plant of a papermill, and the filtrate from the hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) of sludge as the organic carbon source as materials in the production of PHA. The aim of the thesis is to investigate how successful PHA accumulation can occur using these two readily available waste products, and if successful to analyse the characteristics of any biological plastic that could be produced. The trials were performed in a cylindrical tank; one benchmark trial using acetic acid as the carbon source to be used as a reference for successful PHA accumulation, and five trials investigating the PHA accumulation that occurred using the HTC filtrate as the carbon source. The trials were analysed by extraction, TGA, FT-IR, TOC, and SS. During the trials pH, temperature and concentration of diffused oxygen was monitored. The trials indicated that the accumulation of PHA was possible, with various results. The most successful accumulation was observed in trial I-1, where PHA reached 12.45%, only slightly lower than the benchmark trials accumulation of 13.6%. Trials I-2 and I-3 also showed potential for high PHA content according to FTIR analysis. However, trials F-1 and F-2 failed to accumulate any PHA, and the inhibiting factors behind this were not fully understood. Possible reasons included high ammonia levels, incompatible bacteria, or imbalanced nutrient ratios. Various extraction methods were attempted to isolate the polymers found within the biomass for use in plastic production. While one extraction method was successful and used to analyse the PHA content found in the biomass, the amount of polymer that was extracted via this method was too small for use in plastic production, and as such the characteristic investigation of the plastic was unable to be completed. Overall, the study identified successful PHA accumulation in some trials but faced challenges and uncertainties regarding inhibiting factors and extraction methods. Future improvements should focus on standardizing experimental conditions and optimizing extraction techniques for better results.

No description available.

Alteration of river flow regimes due to dams result in modifications of riparian ecosystem, with impacts on vegetation, landforms, and habitats. A key characteristic that differentiates riparian zones from adjacent aquatic and terrestrial environments is the event of periodic flooding and water logging. In the regulated Dalälven and other regulated rivers, the Norway spruce (Picea abies) has been seen to replace deciduous hardwood forests over the years due to decrease in the frequency and duration of floods. This thesis aims to gain knowledge on the inundation duration needed to maintain riparian forests with deciduous hardwood trees along the regulated Dalälven. A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the sensitivity of spruce seedlings to inundation with treatments varying in duration and depth of inundation and level of oxygenation. My hypotheses were that (1) mortality of spruce seedlings would be higher with complete submergence compared to only soils being waterlogged, and that (2) mortality would increase with duration of inundation, and (3) the mortality of spruce seedlings would be higher without oxygenation of water. The data was analyzed by comparing the plant vitality among treatments using analysis of variance using a binary logistic regression. The results indicated that as inundation time increased, the mortality of the seedlings increased. Since the laboratory experiment showed that a large proportion of spruce seedling died after being inundated for 22 and 44 days, reintroductions of floods shorter than the natural spring floods lasting about 1.5 months may be enough to aid in restore riparian forests dominated by oaks and other deciduous hardwood trees, e.g., in the regulated Dalälven river.

Cash crops such as coffee, cotton, and tea have been an important income for farmers especially smallholder farmers in the Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). However, many farmers started to turn in to new cash crops with higher market prices. Vanilla (planifolia) is one of such alternative cash crops which has been attracting more and more smallholder farmers in Tanzania in the past three decades. This study explored vanilla and its sustainability in Tanzania using a Sustainability Opportunity Study (SOS) approach. The aim of this study is to research whether vanilla could bring new opportunities on poverty reduction for smallholders in the SSA. The thesis selected Kagera region in Tanzania as the case study area for being the first and leading vanilla production region in the country. Key stakeholders and their sustainable impacts such as the farmers’ cooperative Maendeleo Ya Wakulima (Mayawa) have been identified. Sustainable vanilla production in Tanzania is defined as generating maximal economic profits for the main stakeholders with minimal harm to the society and the environment. Results illustrate that vanilla is beneficial for smallholder farmers in many ways. However, it is currently not sustainable with a huge gap between the current performance and potential performance for key stakeholders. Both smallholder farmers and Mayawa have the improvement potentials for more income. The opportunity is there but with several serious challenges such as price fluctuations, climate change, smuggling, lacking stable market, and so on. Vanilla farmers cannot stop farming vanilla even when facing an unstable market. This study suggests that smallholder farmers and Mayawa must work together for a sustainable development of vanilla production in Tanzania.

Sweden is often identified as one of the countries where implementation of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development goals (SDGs) is high. There is still, however, considerable room for improvements, especially considering the mitigation of climate change, and in addition, the reinterpretation of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs have been proven challenging in Swedish sustainability governance. Infrastructure, responsible for approximately 80%, has been identified as an area where strategies for climate change mitigation are likely to have a significant impact. Simultaneously, infrastructure development has been identified as key in driving human development and fulfilling Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. As sustainable infrastructure is becoming increasingly important, understanding what constitutes sustainable infrastructure is essential. Using a case study approach, this study explores the conceptualization and integration of sustainability in Sweden, explicitly focusing on road culvert replacements in northern Sweden. The findings reveal a lack of a shared understanding of what constitutes sustainable transport infrastructure but show a partially shared understanding of what constitutes sustainable road culvert replacement practices. The analysis highlights challenges faced by public organizations in implementing sustainability and emphasizes the importance of stakeholder collaboration and knowledge exchange. This research provides insights into strategies for integrating sustainability into road culvert replacements and highlights the importance of stakeholder collaboration for sustainable outcomes, contributing to future sustainable infrastructure development.

The threat of global climate change has brought on the need for a transition towards renewable energy sources and electrification, thereby creating a significantly increased demand for energy minerals and metals. Despite being on a path towards an energy system with net-zero emissions, the European Union (EU) is currently highly dependent on the import of these minerals and metals from outside of the Union. In addition to constituting a supply risk, the sourcing of energy minerals and metals form outside of the EU also leads to the displacement of the impacts that mining has on the environment, society, and the economy in places where pre -existing environmental and social vulnerabilities often enhance these damages. This study sets out to explore how the mining industry of the EU could contribute to the sustainable supply of energy minerals and metals,considering the current state of the industry and the interactions of different associated environmental, social, and economic sustainability aspects on different spatial scales. It is empirically explored from the perspective of the potential mining of battery minerals and metals in Sweden. Media articles on the subject are reviewed and stakeholders of such a potential mining sector are interviewed. Both sets of data are analysed using the frameworks of systems theory and environmental justice, as well as theories on the resistance to and acceptance of mining. The analyses of the empirical findings suggest that there are some unavoidable trade-offs associated with mining, where the global need to mine is put against local concerns. It is concluded that while there is potential for the EU mining sector to produce energy minerals and metals more sustainably than is currently the case, some environmental, social, and economic damages cannot be avoided. To enable the energy transition, there is a need to make trade-offs between different aspects of sustainability. However, there is a lack of guidelines for how these trade-offs, which often involve more than one spatial scale, should be made.Ultimately, the sustainability contributions of a EU energy mineral and metals mining sector is dependent on how sustainable mining is defined and which spatial boundaries are applied. To deal with the limitations of the sustainability concept, it is proposed that the question is also approached from a perspective of justice.

No description available.

Stable isotope analysis of iron and oxygen isotopes in magnetite of Kiruna-type from Sweden and Chile have been conducted to further the understanding of the formation, and advance the analysis methods of these deposits. For this, data from SIMS (secondary ion mass spectroscopy), EBSD (electron backscatter diffraction) and triple oxygen analysis (by laser fluorination) are used. Some researchers have found that crystal orientation can affect the oxygen and iron isotope ratios when analysing magnetite by SIMS, complicating the process. EBSD analysis therefore aided by finding the orientations of the crystals prior to SIMS analysis. Magnetite from Kiruna have been tested for use as SIMS reference material, but it did not prove to be suitable at present time. Further homoegeneity tests can be useful before declaring the sample as unsuitable. Preliminary iron isotope results from SIMS on magnetite from Kiirunavaara indicate an internal variation of δ 56 Fe between -0.72-0.70 per mil, with an uncertainty of 0.38 per mil (1σ). The variations could not be determined to match crystal orientations. Triple oxygen analyses show very low ∆'17 O on Kiruna samples, -357 to -171 ‰, indicating a strong MIF-O (mass-independently fractionated oxygen isotope composition) component. The MIF-O signal is also present in ∆'17 O records in evaporites from similar ages (1.7 - 1.9 Ga) (Crockford et al. 2019), which are known to partly contain oxygen derived from atmospheric O 2 . The MIF-O signal was not present in the Chilean magnetite samples, however, they are within the ∆'17 range of evaporites (Crockford et al.2019) from a similiar age (0 Ma vs 2 Ma). It is proposed that magmatic fluids interacted with evaporites, exchanging oxygen isotopes, before forming magnetite of Kiruna-type, thereby allowing the magnetite to contain part of the atmospheric isotopic record.