Ola Eriksson

University of Gävle · Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science

Globally, wind power is growing fast and in Sweden alone more than 3000 turbines have been installed since the mid-1990s. Although the number of decommissioned turbines so far is few, the high installation rate suggests that a similarly high decommissioning rate can be expected at some point in the future. If the waste material from these turbines...

The objective of this paper was to explore long-term costs for a single-family house in Sweden during its entire lifetime. In order to estimate the total costs, considering construction, replacement, operation, and end-of-life costs over the long term, the life cycle cost (LCC) method was applied. Different cost solutions were analysed including va...

Measuring resource efficiency can be achieved using different methods, of which primary energy demand is commonly used. The primary energy factor (PEF) is a figure describing how much energy from primary resources is being used per unit of energy delivered. The PEF for nuclear power is typically 3, which refers to thermal energy released from fissi...

The concept of Circular Economy is a principle aiming to improve sustainable development by reducing resource use and impact on ecological systems. An increasing number of companies are applying this theory on design strategies and business models in order to close, slow and narrow material loops. To highlight the importance, guide practitioners, a...

Previous research has shown a lack of studies with comparisons between primary (virgin) and secondary (re-used) building materials, and their embodied emissions. The creation of different scenarios comparing the environmental impact of virgin vs. re-used materials is also motivated by the scarcity of raw materials in the world and the emergency of...

The aim of this study was to investigate how the carbon accounting of a wooden single-family house is affected by (1) decreasing the carbon footprint by changes in building design, (2) differentiating biogenic carbon from fossil carbon and (3) including external benefits beyond the state-of-the-art system boundaries. The motivation of exploring dif...

Biofuels policy instruments are important in the development and diffusion of biogas as a transport fuel in Sweden. Their effectiveness with links to geodemographic conditions has not been analysed systematically in studying biogas development in a less urbanised regions, with high potential and primitive gas infrastructure. One such region identif...

A commissioned research report that compiles the existing state of knowledge about the societal benefits of offshore wind power. The report is accessible at: http://hig.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1528497/FULLTEXT01.pdf

The configuration of the reactor influences the digestion process and thus the product yields; other factors such as the rate of biogas production or biogas loss also affect the process specifically with high solid configuration. With these in mind, the ORganic WAste REsearch (ORWARE) anaerobic digestion sub-model was modified to be able to study s...

The aim of this study is to assess how the use of fossil and nuclear power in different renovation scenarios affects the environmental impacts of a multi-family dwelling in Sweden, and how changes in the electricity production with different energy carriers affect the environmental impact. In line with the Paris Agreement, the European Union has se...

In developing countries like Turkey, food waste has the highest share compared to other municipal solid waste components. A detailed life cycle assessment has been performed to evaluate different food waste management options (i.e., landfilling, anaerobic digestion, thermal treatment, co-treatment with municipal wastewater) for Istanbul which is th...

Solid-state anaerobic digestion (SS-AD) takes place when solid content of the substrate is higher than 15%. Some advantages of this technology have been recognized as e.g., less required water added to raw feedstock and consequently minimized digester size and cost, higher volumetric organic loading rates (OLR) that may lead to higher efficiency me...

The aim of this study is to assess how different renovation scenarios affect the environmental and economic impacts of a multi-dwelling building in a Nordic climate, how these aspects are correlated and how different energy carriers affect different environmental impact categories. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union has...

People’s beliefs in the actions necessary to reduce anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are important to public policy acceptability. The current paper addressed beliefs concerning how periods of small emission cuts contribute to the total CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, by asking participants to rate the atmospheric CO2 concentration...

The Nordic countries have shown great interest in using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the building sector compared to the past years. Sweden has set up an objective to be carbon neutral (no greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere) by 2045. This paper presents a case study of a single-family house “Dalarnas Villa” in the region Dalarna, Sweden w...

The scope of this study is to assess how different energy efficient renovation strategies affect the environmental impacts of a multi-family house in a Nordic climate within district heating systems. The European Union has set ambitious targets to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030. There is special attention on reducin...

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a beneficial tool to evaluate the performance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and to compare different upgrading options. The main objective of this study is to investigate the environmental impact of upgrading options of a preliminary WWTP in Istanbul, Turkey. The preliminary plant currently consists of mechan...

Urban design professionals are key actors in early design phases and have the possibility to influence urban development and direct it in a more sustainable direction. Therefore, gender differences in environmental perspectives among urban design professionals may have a marked effect on urban development and the environment. This study identified...

A transition to renewable energy sources and a circular economy has increased interest in renewable resources not usually considered as energy sources or plant nutrient resources. Horse manure exemplifies this, as it is sometimes recycled but not often used for energy purposes. The purpose of this study was to explore horse manure management in a S...

Waste management and energy systems are often interlinked, either directly by waste-to-energy technologies, or indirectly as processes for recovery of resources—such as materials, oils, manure, or sludge—use energy in their processes or substitute conventional production of the commodities for which the recycling processes provide raw materials. A...

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) states that it is up to the indi-vidual Member States to define and implement the concept of nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB). In early 2014, the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket) was instructed to propose a reasonable definition of NZEB and include this in the nation...

The EU Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings states that it is up to the individual Member States to define and implement the concept of nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB). Given the revised Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings, the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket) has developed more stringent energy requi...

Previous studies on waste incineration as part of the energy system show that waste management and energy supply are highly dependent on each other, and that the preconditions for the energy system setup affects the avoided emissions and thereby even sometimes the total outcome of an environmental assessment. However, it has not been previously sho...

Waste management has developed in many countries and will continue to do so. Changes towards increased recovery of resources in order to meet climate targets and for society to transition to a circular economy are important driving forces. Scenarios are important tools for planning and assessing possible future developments and policies. This paper...

Horse manure consists of feces, urine, and varying amounts of various bedding materials. The management of horse manure causes environmental problems when emissions occur during the decomposition of organic material, in addition to nutrients not being recycled. The interest in horse manure undergoing anaerobic digestion and thereby producing biogas...

Keeping horses causes environmental impacts through the whole chain from feed production to manure. According to national statistics, the number of horses in Sweden is currently 360,000 and is continuing to increase. This result in increasing amounts of horse manure that has to be managed and treated, which is currently done using practices that ca...

Horse keeping is of great economic, social and environmental benefit for society, but causes environmental impacts throughout the whole chain from feed production to manure treatment. According to national statistics, the number of horses in Sweden is continually increasing and is currently approximately 360,000. This in turn leads to increasing am...

The need for new policy instruments supporting the on-going transition from end-of-pipe waste treatment to resource management has been recognized in European policy. Instruments need to be carefully assessed before implementation to promote the desired changes and avoid problem shifting. Mathematical models may assist policy makers in such assessm...

In early design phases, architects, landscape architects and urban planners are key actors whose decisions determine the environmental impact of planning and building projects. Environmental and sustainability assessment tools for buildings and neighbourhoods have been developed to promote sustainable building, but their usage has not been thorough...

The number of horses in society is increasing and today, according to Swedish Board of Agriculture, there are approximately 360,000 horses in Sweden, where three-quarters are found in urban or near-urban environments. All these horses will, according to calcula­tions, give rise to a total amount of manure of up to 1.4 million tons per year. If this...

The number of horses in Sweden is increasing and according to estimated statistics from Swedish Board of Agriculture, there are an estimated amount of 360,000 horses in the country. These horses are found in different types of activities (agriculture, trail riding, trot and canter, etc.) and they generate large quantities of horse manure. Horse man...

The purpose of this project is to compare emissions of greenhouse gases from material recycling with those from virgin material production, both from a material supply perspective and from a recycling system perspective. The method for estimating emissions and climate benefits is based on a review, followed by a selection, of the most relevant publ...

Management of horse manure is seldom subject to energy recovery. In the current project solutions for energy recovery of horse manure, with a focus on biogas production as the process not only recovers energy but also closes nutrient cycles, are identified and asses­sed from an environmental point of view. The number of horses in society is increas...

Sustainable energy in the form of biogas and biodiesel is becoming more and more efficient and economically viable. Biodiesel takes advantage of using current infrastructure for fuelling and vehicles, while biogas, being one of the least polluting vehicle fuels in terms of CO 2 emissions, is one of few fuels that can be produced locally. In the Gäv...

This work focuses on how implementation of well-known refurbishment strategies, applied on multifamily buildings in a post-war housing complex in Sweden can affect the generation of district heating. Both the energy use and the power load were considered. The study was performed in Borlänge municipality, Sweden, where the municipality owns both the...

PROFILE N atural gas and biogas are essentially the same type of gas: methane. In LCA literature natural gas is compared to other fossil fuels like coal and oil or maybe biomass, e.g. Eriksson et al, 2007. Biogas, on the other hand, is mostly compared to petrol or diesel, and possibly with system enlargement, as well as in the production and use of...

Based on facts about Swedish biogas, we will illustrate and try to explain the role of Swedish municipalities in establishing biogas in the society. We will address how municipalities work with biogas and suggest some practical advice on how a municipality can stimulate the growth of biogas. In Sweden, food waste and sludge from wastewater treatmen...

Biogas is a renewable energy option that has great potential, but it does not automatically mean success in the market. It requires information, stakeholder influence, new directives, extensive investments and that there is a great demand. At the University of Gävle, biogas is a principle topic within the group of environmental engineering, with a...

Understanding how Building Environmental Assessments Tools (BEATs) measure and define "environmental" building is of great interest to many stakeholders, but it is difficult to understand how BEATs relate to each other, as well as to make detailed and systematic tool comparisons. A framework for comparing BEATs is presented in the following which f...

The aim of this paper is to suggest and discuss policy instruments that could lead towards a more sustainable waste management. The paper is based on evaluations from a large scale multi-disciplinary Swedish research program. The evaluations focus on environmental and economic impacts as well as social acceptance. The focus is on the Swedish waste...

Denna rapport slutrapporterar förstudien Hantering av slam och organiska restprodukter i Gästrikeregionen. Syftet med projektet var att utforma en hållbar strategi för hantering av slam och organiska restprodukter i regionen där kommunerna Gävle, Hofors, Ockelbo, Älvkarleby och Sandviken ingår. Målsättningen med den här förstudien var att: 1. Ta fr...

The overall aim of the project was to study the conditions, opportunities and constraints for the development of the market for biogas from waste in Sweden. Seven areas of importance to the development have been identified in previous projects. The areas are: market and competition, supply and demand for waste, environmental benefits of biogas util...

A thorough assessment of the sustainability performance of a product, a system, or a decision requires expertise on environmental, economic, and social aspects. In an assessment that involves researchers from different disciplines, communication is challenging because of different background knowledge, terminology, research traditions, etc. In the...

Measures that challenge the generation of waste are needed to address the global problem of the increasing volumes of waste that are generated in both private homes and workplaces. Source separation at the workplace is commonly implemented by environmental management systems (EMS). In the present study, the relationship between source separation at...

An on-going interdisciplinary Swedish research programme, Towards Sustainable Waste Management aims at assessing policy instruments that may contribute to a more sustainable waste management, shifting it towards the upper levels of the waste hierarchy -to waste prevention and material recovery. 15 policy instruments have been chosen for final asses...

Due to increased environmental awareness, planning and performance of waste management has become more and more complex. Therefore waste management has early been subject to different types of modelling. Another field with long experience of modelling and systems perspective is energy systems. The two modelling traditions have developed side by sid...

An ongoing Swedish research program, Towards Sustainable Waste Management (TOSUWAMA), funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency during 2006-2012, aims at formulating and assessing policy instruments that may contribute to the development of a more sustainable waste management, shifting waste management upwards in the waste hierarchy. Th...

Management of municipal solid waste is an efficient method to both increase resource efficiency (material and energy recovery instead of landfill disposal) and to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources (waste is renewable in itself to a large extent as it contains paper, wood, food waste etc.). The paper presents the general outline and...

Management of municipal solid waste is an efficient method to increase resource efficiency as well as to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. This is due to that (1) waste to a large extent is renewable in itself as it contains food waste, paper, wood etc. and (2) when energy and materials are recovered from waste treatment, fossil f...

Inom psykologi och etnologi studeras företeelser ur perspektiv som återfinns hos den enskilda individen samt i det lokala eller sociala sammanhanget. I studien har olika styrmedel bedömts från ett etnologiskt och psykologiskt perspektiv. Studien har därvid inneburit nya arbetsmetoder – i varken psykologi eller etnologi brukar man arbeta med att för...

A number of waste life cycle assessment (LCA) models have been gradually developed since the early 1990 s, in a number of countries, usually independently from each other. Large discrepancies in results have been observed among different waste LCA models, although it has also been shown that results from different LCA studies can be consistent. Thi...

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) are well-established methods used for many years in many countries for system analysis of waste management. According to standard LCA procedure the assessment should include improvement analysis, in many cases this is performed by simple sensitivity analyses. An obstacle to perform more thoro...

There are tools that are developed for the assessment of the environmental impact of buildings (e.g. ATHENA). Other tools dealing with the indoor and outdoor environmental quality of building properties (referred to as real estates in other literature) are also available (e.g. GBTool). A platform where both the aspects of quality and impact are pre...

Varje svensk kommun är skyldig att upprätta en avfallsplan som redogör för hur avfallet som uppkommer i kommunen skall omhändertas. Den nuvarande avfallsplanen för Gästrikeregionen (som omfattar kommunerna Gävle, Sandviken, Hofors, Ockelbo och Älvkarleby) gäller för peri-oden 2011-2020. Avfallsplanen arbetades fram under 2009-2010 med Högskolan i G...

Syftet med detta projekt (Systemstudie Avfall - Borås) är att ur ett systemperspektiv utvärdera nya och förbättrade tekniker för behandling av avfall från hushåll och verksamheter. Fokus för systemstudien ligger på Borås avfalls- och fjärrvärmesystem. För att göra systemstudien fullständig krävs dock även analyser för omkringliggande system som påv...