1,720,961 research outputs found
Environmental Impact of Household Food Waste Management in Norway in 2022
Full text linkMatavfall er en av de største avfallsstrømmene globalt, og utgjør en betydelig miljøbelastning på grunn av ressursene som brukes i matproduksjon, samt behandlingen av avfallet. For å håndtere problemet har det blitt innført flere politiske tiltak og mål for å redusere mengden matavfall og utnytte avfallet bedre som ressurs i en sirkulær økonomi. Norge har innført obligatorisk innsamling og materialgjenvinning av matavfall fra husholdninger fra og med 1. januar 2023.
Denne oppgaven undersøker miljøkonsekvensene av å behandle matavfall i Norge for 2022. Materialstrømsanalyse ble brukt for å analysere matavfallsstrømmene og behandlingsalternativene i ulike regioner i Norge. Nordmenn genererte rundt 75 kg matavfall per innbygger i husholdninger i 2022, og 47,8% av avfallet ble sendt til materialgjenvinning. Forbrenning var det vanligste behandlingsalternativet på grunn av den store mengden matavfall i restavfallsdunken. Biogass var det mest foretrukne alternativet for materialgjenvinning. Det ble utført en komparativ livssyklusanalyse for å sammenligne biogassproduksjon, kompostering og forbrenning av matavfall. Resultatene viste store forskjeller i miljøprestasjon, og substitusjon hadde stor betydning for de fleste påvirkningskategoriene. Den totale klimapåvirkningen for matavfallshåndteringen til norske husholdninger i 2022 var i gjennomsnitt 7 kg CO2 ekvivalenter per tonn matavfall.
Nøkkelord: LCA, MFA, matavfallsbehandling, organisk husholdningsavfall, biogass, anaerob utråtning, kompostering, aerob utråtning, forbrenning, materialgjenvinning, biogjødselFood waste is one of the largest waste flows globally and accounts for a substantial impact on the environment due to the resources used in the production of food, as well as the treatment of the waste. To deal with the matter, several policies and targets have been set to reduce food waste and to better utilize the waste as a resource in a circular economy. Norway has introduced mandatory collection and material recycling of food waste from households beginning Jan 1st, 2023.
This thesis examines the environmental impacts of treating food waste in Norway, for the year 2022. Material Flow Analysis was used to analyze the food waste flows and treatment options in the different regions of Norway. Norwegians generated around 75 kg of food waste per capita in households in 2022, and 47.8% of the waste was sent to material recycling. Incineration was the most common treatment, due to the large amount of food waste in the residual waste bin. Biogas was the most preferred material recycling option. A comparative Life Cycle Assessment was performed to compare biogas production, composting, and incineration of food waste. The results showed large differences in environmental performance, and substitution was of great importance for most of the impact categories. The total climate change impact of the Norwegian household food waste management in 2022 was on average 7 kg CO2 equivalents per ton of food waste.
Keywords: LCA, MFA, food waste treatment, organic household waste, biogas, anaerobic digestion, composting, aerobic digestion, incineration, material recycling, biofertilize
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Environmental impacts of treating e-waste in Norway
Full text linkElektronik affald er en meget kompleks affaldsstrøm, der består af forskellige materialer, der indeholder farlige og værdifulde materialer. Disse er vigtige at genindvinde for at undgå miljømæssige konsekvenser ved uansvarlig bortskaffelse af elektronik affaldet. Selvom jern er det mest genindvindelige materiale i forhold til total masse, ligger den største miljømæssige fordel ved metalgenvinding af e-affald i genvindingen af værdifulde metaller som guld, sølv, palladium, kobber og nikkel.
Denne kandidatafhandling undersøger de miljømæssige konsekvenser ved behandling af elektronisk affald i Norge og fokuserer på affaldsstrømme, materiale sammensætning og miljøpåvirkninger årligt. Materialestrømsanalyse bruges som grundlag for at forstå materialestrømmene af elektronik affald i Norge, efterfulgt af en livscyklusvurdering, der undersøger systemets miljøpåvirkninger. Årligt indsamles 107.000 ton elektronik affald i Norge, udført af returselskaber der er organiseret af Udvidet Producentansvar (Extended Producer Responsibility). Elektronik affaldet bliver sendt til forskellige behandlinger, herunder genbrug, materialegenvinding, deponering, energigenvinding, termisk destruktion og anden behandling. Af det samlede indsamlede elektronik affald går 82\% til materialegenvinding, 2\% genbruges og 12\% gennemgår energigenvinding.
Miljøpåvirkningsvurderingen viser, at det overordnede system til behandling af elektronik affald i Norge resulterer i miljømæssige besparelser i de fleste midtpunktskategorier, hvor genvinding af stål viser betydelig reduktion af klimapåvirkning. Modstridende resultater observeres ved kobbergenvinding, hvilket understreger behovet for yderligere undersøgelser.
Endpoint kategorien fremhæver de negative påvirkninger af stålgenvinding på økosystemer, og effekten på sundhedsmæssige fordele er lavere end effekten for genbrug, aluminiumsgenvinding og genvinding af andre metaller. I LCA-modellen for dette projekt genindvindes guld, sølv og nikkel fra genvinding af andre metaller. Systemet viser høj usikkerhed, især ved genvinding af andre metaller. Ikke desto mindre har det overordnede system til behandling af elektronik affald i Norge årligt et usikkerhedsniveau på 12\%, hvilket indikerer betydelige begrænsninger ved systemmodellen.
Prioriteringen af materielgenvinding baseret på miljømæssige påvirkninger indikerer forsigtighed med hensyn til stålgenvinding på grund af negative konsekvenser for økosystemer, mens aluminiumsgenvinding og genbrug viser positiv præstation for alle endpoint kategorier. Resultaterne fra dette projekt anbefaler prioritering af behandling af mistet affald fra tyveri og eksport og affald fundet i restaffald, da de har et stort potentiale for genvinding. Yderligere forskning er afgørende for at opstille prioriterings strategier og opnå en dybere forståelse af de miljømæssige konsekvenser forbundet med genvinding af forskellige materialer. Resultaterne skal yderligere undersøges og forbedres for at kunne levere indsigt til beslutningstagere og interessenter i udviklingen af effektive strategier for håndtering af elektronik affald i Norge. Det er afgørende at adressere de steder der mangler information om industrien og de usikkerheder der er for at forbedre modellen for behandling af elektronik affald i Norge.E-waste is a very complex waste stream consisting of complex mixtures of different materials containing hazardous and valuable materials. These are important to recover to avoid the environmental impacts of improper disposal. Although iron is the most recoverable element by mass, the greatest environmental advantage in e-waste metal recovery lies in the retrieval of valuable metals such as gold, silver, palladium, copper, and nickel.
This report examines the environmental impacts of treating electronic waste in Norway, focusing on waste flows, material compositions and environmental impacts on an annual basis. Material flow analysis is used as the base of understanding the material flows of e-waste in Norway followed by a Life cycle assessment conducting the environmental impacts of the system. The annual collection of 107,000 tonnes of e-waste is carried out by return companies organised by Extended Producer Responsibilities. The e-waste undergoes various treatments including reuse, material recovery, landfilling, energy recovery, thermal destruction, and other methods. Of the total collected e-waste, 82% is towards material recovery, 2% reused, and 12% undergoing energy recovery.
The environmental impact assessment reveals that the overall system of e-waste treatment in Norway leads to environmental savings in most midpoint categories, with steel recovery demonstrating significant climate change impact reduction. Contradictory findings are observed in copper recovery, highlighting the need for further investigation.
Endpoint categories highlight the negative impacts of steel recovery on ecosystems and the performance of benefitting human health impacts is lower than the performance for reuse, aluminium recovery and recovery of other metals. For the LCA model of this project gold, silver and nickel are recovered from other metal recovery. The system shows high uncertainties for especially recovery of other metals. Nonetheless, the overall e-waste treatment system in Norway annually carries an uncertainty level of 12\%, which indicates high limitations of the system model.
The prioritisation of material recovery based on environmental impacts suggests caution with steel recovery due to negative implications for ecosystems, while aluminium recovery and reuse show positive performance for all endpoint categories. The study recommends prioritising the treatment of lost waste and waste found in residual waste streams, as they hold a high potential for recovery. Further research is essential to refine prioritisation strategies and gain a deeper understanding of the environmental implications associated with different materials and recovery approaches. The findings need to be futher reseached and improved to be able to provide insights for decision-makers and stakeholders in designing effective e-waste management strategies in Norway. Addressing the identified knowledge gaps and uncertainties is crucial for improving the environmental performance of e-waste treatment practices in Norway
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Impact assessment of Norwegian hydropower on freshwater fish species - an LCA approach
Full text linkAccounting for the total environmental impacts associated with energy technologies are becoming increasingly important due to large scale development of renewable resources. In order to assess the trade-offs between large scale development of various technologies, there needs to exist a transparent and efficient quantitative method for such analysis. The goal of this thesis has been to develop an impact assessment of Norwegian hydropower, by constructing a characterization factor that models the relationship between water use for energy production and impacts on freshwater fish species. The thesis presents the importance of hydropower as a renewable energy technology, but focus exclusively on quantifying the negative biodiversity impacts from hydroelectricity production, using the life cycle assessment method. Species-discharge-relationships are calculated for Norway, showing a lower species density per unit of discharge for rivers with high development of hydropower compared to rivers with low development of hydropower. Discharge rates from 97 Norwegian rivers, water efficiency scores, and energy production data, are used to assess the impacts of hydropower. Results single out northern and south-eastern regions of Norway as the main contributors to freshwater fish impacts. The yearly impact of hydropower production from the rivers included in this thesis is estimated to be 0.14 species lost per year. The validity of this estimate is discussed.
In order to evaluate the compatibility of the characterization factor with life cycle assessment, the life cycle inventory data from two EPDs on hydropower stations are used to calculate species impact scores on a per kWh basis. From this we see that the characterization factor is applicable to LCA and provides a species loss estimate relevant for local freshwater fish species. Further development of a connectivity index directed towards including habitat fragmentation into the impact assessment is done and applied to 35 rivers. The inclusion weigh the impact scores of rivers based on the difficulty level of migration due to barriers, as a function of dam development. The applicability of this index is discussed, and further investigation highlighted. Lastly a basic framework for constructing regionally specific characterization factors for species impacts by hydropower is presented, this framework is based on the importance of the parameters that are identified as the most essential for the analysis.
Keywords: Life cycle assessment, LCA, Impact assessment, Hydropower, Norwegian, environment, freshwater fish, species-discharge-relationship
Impact assessment of Norwegian hydropower on freshwater fish species - an LCA approach
No full textAccounting for the total environmental impacts associated with energy technologies are becoming increasingly important due to large scale development of renewable resources. In order to assess the trade-offs between large scale development of various technologies, there needs to exist a transparent and efficient quantitative method for such analysis. The goal of this thesis has been to develop an impact assessment of Norwegian hydropower, by constructing a characterization factor that models the relationship between water use for energy production and impacts on freshwater fish species. The thesis presents the importance of hydropower as a renewable energy technology, but focus exclusively on quantifying the negative biodiversity impacts from hydroelectricity production, using the life cycle assessment method. Species-discharge-relationships are calculated for Norway, showing a lower species density per unit of discharge for rivers with high development of hydropower compared to rivers with low development of hydropower. Discharge rates from 97 Norwegian rivers, water efficiency scores, and energy production data, are used to assess the impacts of hydropower. Results single out northern and south-eastern regions of Norway as the main contributors to freshwater fish impacts. The yearly impact of hydropower production from the rivers included in this thesis is estimated to be 0.14 species lost per year. The validity of this estimate is discussed.
In order to evaluate the compatibility of the characterization factor with life cycle assessment, the life cycle inventory data from two EPDs on hydropower stations are used to calculate species impact scores on a per kWh basis. From this we see that the characterization factor is applicable to LCA and provides a species loss estimate relevant for local freshwater fish species. Further development of a connectivity index directed towards including habitat fragmentation into the impact assessment is done and applied to 35 rivers. The inclusion weigh the impact scores of rivers based on the difficulty level of migration due to barriers, as a function of dam development. The applicability of this index is discussed, and further investigation highlighted. Lastly a basic framework for constructing regionally specific characterization factors for species impacts by hydropower is presented, this framework is based on the importance of the parameters that are identified as the most essential for the analysis.
Keywords: Life cycle assessment, LCA, Impact assessment, Hydropower, Norwegian, environment, freshwater fish, species-discharge-relationship
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