There’s increasing evidence that activities from humans are affecting the earth system to a degree that is crossing the planetary boundaries. During the last decade, Circular Economy has gained attention from both academia, companies, and policymakers and is seen as one way to address economical and sustainability issues. A circular transition requires the implementation of innovative business models, but the uptake of circular business models is still slow. In Sweden, 99,9% of all companies are classified as small and medium-sized enterprises. Those companies play an important role in the circular transition, but the process is however slow due to internal factors like lack of resources and competencies alongside other barriers like regulations, market, and lack of support. Despite a lot happening in the field of circular transition for small and medium-sized enterprises, there's still little research focused on the ongoing state of circular economy in practice. In this exploratory study, semi-structured interviews have been used to explore the ongoing state in Sweden. The aim of the study is to explore how intermediaries are supporting small and medium-sized enterprises with adopting circular economy in Sweden and what kind of challenges and opportunities the intermediaries have experienced along the circular transition process. The results show that we should go beyond the general drivers and barriers for adopting a circular economy. The challenging barriers might not be a lack of resources and regulations, it might be the lack of awareness and interest from companies themselves. What became clear during the interview study was that the environmental benefits of adopting circular economy is not the driving force but rather a result of adopting circular economy. The motivation in the first place for adopting circular economy is that it can create a better and a smarter business. There was a consensus among the intermediaries that when one is workings with companies, one must highlight the business values of a circular economy: profitability, resource efficiency, loyal customers, etc. If companies don’t see the opportunities and benefits of adopting circular economy, they won’t prioritize and allocate resources for it. The complexity of a circular transition also requires collaboration on different levels: between companies, regions, business developers, municipalities, research institutes, policy developers, etc. To enable the overall collaboration, there’s a need for a comprehensive facilitator or coordinator on different levels (national, regional, and local) that can unify the national transition.

Purpose. In Sweden, private commuting accounts for two third of total transportation emissions and 21% of the country’s total. To become net-zero by 2045, Sweden plans to have 2 million electric cars on the roads by 2030. Whereas with current pace, there will be 1 million electric cars by the end of the decade. Cars registered before 2016 (referred to as old cars in the study) make up nearly half of the Swedish car fleet. Thus, replacing the old emission intensive cars with the modern lower or zero emission cars will catalyze the decarbonization of Swedish transport sector. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to probe if it is economical to keep using an old car in the future or to replace it with a new one. Methods. This study first compares the next 13-year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of old V70 (having current milage 200,000 km) with that of new replacement cars. The (selected) replacement are the most registered modern-day cars in Sweden by fuel type having same size as that of V70: V60 (ICE), V60 (PHEV) and Tesla Model 3 (BEV). Moreover, using TCO framework, the study also estimates if the replacement is more economical now or sometime in the future with either new replacement cars or their (4-year) used models. Results. The results show that for next 13-years in Sweden, it is more economical to replace the old V70 with any of the replacement cars. However, Tesla Model 3 is the cheapest option among the new cars and V60 (PHEV) among the used cars. Overall, it is more economical to replace with a used car. In addition, the replacement is most economical if done immediately (in 2022) and gets more expensive by each year of delay- because the owner will have to incur relatively higher V70 costs (vis-à-vis the replacement cars) for an additional year. Sensitivity analysis shows that with higher current salvage value, a V70 gets more expensive to own in next 13 years (due to higher depreciation) whereas the replacement becomes cheaper (utilizing higher salvage value to buy the replacement car). Discussion. The study can be expanded to suggest economical and emission efficient replacement options for other old cars to accelerate the decarbonization of Swedish private transport sector. Furthermore, this study was done in collaboration with Mekonomen Group to see the financial worth of old ICE car replacement by its customers. The study results reinforce the group’s diversification strategy from ICE cars-oriented business model to BEVs as the top focus. Finally, this study is based on the assumption that the total number of cars in Sweden will not increase in future- the old gets replaced by the new. Therefore, from a holistic perspective, the study discusses that a sustainable transportation model should move away from private ownership towards shared mobility to avoid the rebound effects of technological efficiency that increase the overall resource consumption.

Carbon emissions are one of the primary drivers of climate change and the transport sector accounts for 24% of the global carbon emissions. A shift within the automobile industry towards more eco-friendly modes of transportation is hence needed. Vehicles powered by hydrogen are a carbon emissions-free mode of transportation and have been identified as a viable approach to de-carbonize the transport sector, yet, the number of hydrogen-powered vehicles on the roads in Sweden as of 2022 is relatively low compared to the rest of the world. The aim of this study was both to identify factors that are important for actors to invest in hydrogen technology within the transport sector, and to identify how the collaboration between different actors was formed during the adoption process. The study uses a multiple-case study research design where the five cases of Storuman, Mariestad, Sandviken, Trelleborg and Ljungby were selected. Data was collected through eleven semi-structured interviews over video calls. The study has examined the diffusion process of hydrogen technology within the transport sector of each case according to the diffusion of innovations theory. An analysis of the diffusion of hydrogen technology has not, to the best of my knowledge, been conducted in the examined cases. Gaining an understanding of these processes can provide guidance for other municipalities or actors who aims to reduce their emissions and can play an important role in achieving Sweden´s objective of becoming the world´s first fossil-free welfare nation. The findings of the study were that investments in hydrogen technology within the transport sector are currently not economically profitable. However, investments in the innovation were still motivated in terms of a relative environmental advantage, reception of financial funding, the will to take a leading role in the energy transition, geographical location, long-term economic benefits and indirect economic benefits which mainly include that the municipality can market themselves as green and progressive in order to attract competent workforce and business opportunities. The study also concluded that local political support is an important pre-condition for a successful adoption of the innovation.

The sales of Ground Source Heat Pumps in Sweden and many other countries are having a rapid growth in the last decade. Today, there are approximately 360 000 systems installed in Sweden, with a growing rate of about 30 000 installations per year. The most common way to exchange heat with the bedrock in ground source heat pump applications is circulating a secondary fluid through a Borehole Heat Exchanger (BHE), a closed loop in a vertical borehole. The fluid transports the heat from the ground to a certain heating and/or cooling application. A fluid with one degree higher or lower temperature coming out from the borehole may represent a 2-3% change in the COP of a heat pump system. It is therefore of great relevance to design cost effective and easy to install borehole heat exchangers. U-pipe BHEs consisting of two equal cylindrical pipes connected together at the borehole bottom have dominated the market for several years in spite of their relatively poor thermal performance and, still, there exist many uncertainties about how to optimize them. Although more efficient BHEs have been discussed for many years, the introduction of new designs has been practically lacking. However, the interest for innovation within this field is increasing nowadays and more effective methods for injecting or extracting heat into/from the ground (better BHEs) with smaller temperature differences between the heat secondary fluid and the surrounding bedrock must be suggested for introduction into the market. This report presents the analysis of several groundwater filled borehole heat exchangers, including standard and alternative U-pipe configurations (e.g. with spacers, grooves), as well as two coaxial designs. The study embraces measurements of borehole deviation, ground water flow, undisturbed ground temperature profile, secondary fluid and groundwater temperature variations in time, theoretical analyses with a FEM software, Distributed Thermal Response Test (DTRT), and pressure drop. Significant attention is devoted to distributed temperature measurements using optic fiber cables along the BHEs during heat extraction and heat injection from and to the ground. / <p>QC 20100517</p> / EFFSYS2 / Efficient Use of Energy Wells for Heat Pumps

Climate change may cause significant changes to our relationship with nature, triggering large impacts on ecosystems and the societies dependent on their ecosystem services. Forests are seen as a mitigating solution for their abilities to store carbon, provide forest products, enhance biodiversity along with other forest ecosystem services (FES). Forest’s natural systems have shown resilience against climate-induced disasters and have been acknowledged as an important tool to mitigate climate change. However, to ensure the continued supply of these services requires adaptable management of forest ecosystems through policy. This study aims to analyse how Swedish and Scottish public FES-related policy integrates the adaptive and mitigating methods used in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Nature-based Solutions (NBS). The method of this analysis relied on three theoretical approaches; Policy integration, Environmental policy integration and Frames to see how the concepts and methods of NBS and DRR are implemented within Swedish and Scottish forest policy. The results showed that the main message from both Swedish and Scottish public FES-related policy is that humans are dependent on FES, therefore the protection of forest land and species cannot be under-prioritised. Both countries’ goals focus on becoming climate neutral by 2045 with an increased (Scotland) or sustained (Sweden) bioeconomy to be achieved alongside carbon sequestration, increased biodiversity, and diversified usage of forests. Both countries recognise and use ecosystem services as a NBS to mitigate climate change and reduce disaster risk. The increase of biodiversity through afforestation, green infrastructure, and conservation as a method to create resilience is a common method of NBS within the policy documents, and its ability to prevent risks along several areal and hierarchical scales show methods of DRR. However, vague goals on the strategy to achieve this are seen within both countries’ policy which question their determination and ability to succeed. Their difference in forest ownership structure and history diverges their application of community engagement in FES management. It is now essential that both Sweden and Scotland implement a sustainable balance between their national strategy objectives for the sake of the environment and use the considerable political traction by methods of NBS and DRR to reach resilient forest ecosystems. Future research could further assess the results and consequences of the policy strategies to see if they have achieved inclusive, integrated forest resilience through adaptive policy.

To eat or not to eat meat? That has become a central question in the sustainability conversation. There is growing scientific consensus that the global meat consumption issocially and ecologically unsustainable. Planetary and human health concerns aside, there is also a moral dimension to meat, that is, the rights and responsibilities we have towards the animals that make the meat. While there is, indeed, mounting ethical discomfort with meat consumption, scientific and public moral inquiries tend to omit on-farm perspectives.  This thesis zooms in on the moral sustainability of cattle farming and does so from the perspective of lived experience. Two Swedish cattle farms are selected as case studies and the question is how rearing animals for food is morally possible. Combining discursive and non-discursive methods of research, I uncover the narratives behind the farms’ different farming practices. For the analysis, I build an eclectic conceptual framework that draws on practice theory, the concept of morality, and human-animal studies. I show how human values, the physical environment of the farm, and understandings of animality interplay to create a specific farming practice. In these practices, certain human-animal relationships are possible while others are impossible. The nature of the human-animal relationships has implications for what is perceived as moral when animals are reared for human food.  By showing how ideas of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in our relationships with nonhumans form, the study broadens the meat discussion beyond concerns for human and planetary health. The aim is to equip the reader with tools to reflect over what human-animal relationship the meat we eat represents and, ultimately, what relationship we want it to represent.

An important question in determining species composition in a lake is what species has had the chance to reach the lake in the first place. The aim of this study was to examine natural stream connectivity limitations for whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) between lakes, and to contribute to the development and evaluation of GIS-based methods to answer this question. 497 lakes with identified downstream source lakes, were classified as naturally colonized or introduced whitefish populations, reflecting the possibilities for whitefish to reach the lake naturally. Data of maximum stream slope and stream length between each lake pair was generated by Stefan Blumentrath, NINA. Maximum stream slope was measured on two different resolutions of stream length for comparison, one on slope over 10 m and one over 150m. A subset of lakes was manually examined in geographic information systems and compared to maps and aerial photos to evaluate the data and compare the results with the full dataset. False slope maximums were corrected and streams with much human alteration around a possible natural slope maximum was removed from the small dataset. The two datasets were analyzed using logistic regression models. Akaikes information criterion (AIC) showed that the optimal model, for both datasets, was the one using only slope maximum as predictor, and slope over 150m gave better results than 10m. A k50-coefficient, the value of a predictor that results in 50% probability of colonization, was introduced as an approximate of when the predictor forms a connectivity hinder. The k50-corefficient was estimated to 2,08±0,22° (±standard error) for slope over 150m for the big dataset and 2,58±0,20 for the small. Weaknesses in the data were distinguished and improvements for future fish connectivity studies are suggested.

Sulfidförande berg förekommer på många platser i Sveriges berggrund. När sulfidförande berg losshålls frigörs nya ytor som utsätts för kontakt med syre och vatten, vilket oxiderar sulfidmineralen och berget vittrar. Vittringsprodukten kallas surt lakvatten. Syftet med arbetet har varit att undersöka hur det sura lakvattnet påverkar den omgivande miljön, och hur spridning av det kan förhindras, samt vilka teoretiska möjligheter och risker det finns för användning av sulfidförande berg i infrastrukturprojekt. När lakvattnet kommer i kontakt med omkringliggande vattendrag orsakar det försurning och förhöjda metallhalter. Det kan också orsaka geotekniska skador. För att på ett säkert sätt kunna återanvända bergmaterialet bör provtagning och provanalys utföras enligt representativa metoder och bedömning av omgivningens förutsättningar ske. De metoder som idag används är i stor grad utvecklade för gruvnäringen och behöver därför anpassas. Om materialet bedöms lämpligt för återanvändning eller om sulfidbärande bergmaterial oavsiktligt använts finns en mängd metoder för att minska negativ påverkan på omgivningen. Mest effektivt är förhindrande av bildning av lakvatten genom övertäckning eller mikroinkapsling. Det finns även metoder för att förhindra spridning av surt lakvatten, såsom kalkning eller olika typer av barriärer eller dräneringsbäddar. För att det losshållna berget ska kunna återanvändas behöver hänsyn tas till en mängd olika lagar och regler.  Inom ramen på projektet utfördes en fallstudie av ett område där sulfidförande berg losshållits och oavsiktligt använts som fyllnadsmaterial i lokala vägar. Detta har lett till att vattendraget som rinner genom området kraftigt förorenats med metaller och på vissa platser har mycket låga pH-värden. Sex metaller (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) och sex andra parametrar (pH, Fe, fosfat, nitrat, sulfat och DOC) valdes ut för korrelationsanalys mellan metallerna och parametrarna med Kendall's Tau i fyra olika provpunkter. Statistiskt säkerställda korrelationer förekom mellan samtliga metaller och parametrar, men inte i alla punkter. Korrelationerna med pH och DOC var starkast, men även korrelationer med järn, fosfat och sulfat förekom enligt förväntan. Korrelationer med nitrat förekom med samtliga metaller men med oregelbundenhet och utan mönster. Biotillgänglighetsmodellering med verktyget bio-met utfördes för Cu, Ni, Pb och Zn. Biotillgängligheten var starkast relaterad till DOC-halten, men även samband med pH kunde statistiskt säkerställas. Ni och Zn var de metaller med högst biotillgänglighet. I vissa fall översteg den biotillgängliga koncentrationen HC5, gränsvärdet för skydd av 95 % av organismerna i vattendraget. I flera av punkterna över- eller underskred pH och kalciumhalten modellens godkända intervall. En utveckling av modellen för inkludering av fler förutsättningar och metaller är därför något att eftersträva. / Sulfide-bering rock is found in multiple places in Swedish bedrock. When blasted, new surfaces is exposed and weathering occurs. This has the consequence that Acid Rock Drainage (ARD), water with low pH and high concentrations of heavy metals is spread to local watercourses, the environment becomes toxic. The aim of this project was to investigate theoretical possibilities and risks with recycling of sulfide-bering rock in infrastructure projects, as well as to examine how ARD affects the surrounding environment and how spreading of ARD can be prevented. To safely recycle the rock, it needs to be sampled and analysed by proper methods and the conditions of the sorrounding environment evaluated. Methods for applying this in infrastructure projects is currently being developed. If used, there is multiple methods to prevent or mitigate the spreading of ARD. The most effective way is to prevent its forming by covering or microencapsling, but prevention of spreading can also be dealt with by liming or drainage beds. A case study was made of an area affected by ARD. Correlation analysis with Kendall's tau was conducted between six metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) and six other parameters (pH, Fe, phosphate, nitrate, sulphate and DOC). The correlations between the metals and pH as well as DOC was the stongest. It was difficult to find a pattern in the correlations with nitrate. Bioavailability modelling with the Biotic Ligand model bio-met was also made. Ni and Zn hade the highest bioavailable concentrations and exceeded the limit for protection of 95 % of species in one (Zn) or two (Ni) measuring stations. Expanded models for bioavailability is needed, since they have narrow boundaries for water chemistry conditions and only exist for few metals.

River-ice break-up in high-latitude regions, despite its brevity, is a fundamental process, representing the most dynamic and complex period of fluvial processes. Moreover, ice break-up has significant cascading ecological effects, with a different severity for mechanical vs. thermal break-up, and thus, motivates the importance of monitoring efforts. Classical research methods, such as fieldwork or analysis of photographs and aerial imagery, offer a general perspective on the timing of ice break-up but have safety and logistic issues caused by the dangers of unstable ice cover, the lag times between event occurrence and observation, and the frequent low visibilities. The emerging field of environmental seismology, which studies surface processes through seismic signals, provides an alternative solution to these shortcomings by continuously recording high temporal resolution data. Seismic sensing can potentially record any event within a set distance if the produced signal is powerful enough. Three geophones had monitored the subarctic Sävar River reach for 185 days to test the efficiency of seismic methods to capture ice-cracking events, and based on their characteristics, to identify thermal vs. mechanical ice break-up. With visual and multivariate analysis, seismic methods provided a conservative set of 2 228 events, detected at milliseconds precision, described, and located. Besides, both trigger lag times and principal component analysis depicted correlations between environmental drivers and ice-cracking events. The automatic picker based on duration and trigger thresholds required manual supervision because of the initial numerous false signals that accounted for 96% of total initial events. Ice-cracking signals as short as 0.2s and frequencies of 8-40 Hz with an average power of -117 dB were statistically defined, classified, and described by case events as two types, associated, based on their spectral and temporal patterns, with the two ice break-up modes. With an estimated Rayleigh wave velocity of 680 m/s, all ice-cracking signals' locations were within the instrumented area. Trigger lag times analysis improved detection and showed a strong link between ice-cracking events and drivers of lag times less than three hours, including near-immediate responses (&lt; 2s). With multivariate analysis, the lag times showed a mainly climatic control for thermal melting and a primarily fluvial control in mechanical ice break-up. The combination of statistical and seismic analysis provides, despite the considerable manual screening, a valid and potentially site-transferable method to extract and describe ice-cracking signals and thus identify ice break-up modes in northern rivers.

The development of the European water policy has been in a continuous improvement process during the last fifty years. The adoption of Water Framework Directive (WFD) enabled the consolidation of a fragmented policy to comprehensive approach with a focus on sustainability. The floods Directive was developed as acomplement to the WFD and promoted their integration. However, several opportunities have been identified in the implementation and in achieving integration. This paper identifies integration gaps faced by practitionersand develops an assessment framework which can be used by diverse stakeholders from policy makers to water users to understand the degree of integration in a systematic way. Indicators within the framework can shed light on the progress and optimize the development of action plans to address integration gaps and achieveefficiency gains. Although not a remedy for the complex challenges, establishing measuring systems is a first step to ensure integration of current and future directives.