Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the sustainable transition. The current trend within the agricultural sector is that actors are often suppliers of energy. This places the farmer in the intersection between the agricultural and energy systems. The present study assesses the farmers’ role to be part of the transition toward a sustainable agricultural and energy system. Departing from socio-technical theory, it puts the emphasis on the farmer as an actor within the systems. Designed as a case study in Östergötland, Sweden, interviews were conducted with eleven farmers for their perspectives on the sustainable energy system transition and analyzed through Reflexive Thematic Analysis.Funding and the financial aspects of investing in renewable energy sources was seen as crucial. Simultaneously, institutional support was experienced as cumbersome and complicated. Long-term, reliable institutional support for farmers was emphasized and shows the need for policymakers and researchers to further investigate the agricultural energy system and the intersection of the systems. Further analysis showed that the motivation for institutional support is to foster resilience, self-sufficiency and safeguard against uncertainties. Glimpses of tensions within the current agriculture and energy system regimes could be seen and the study suggests that landscape changes related to the energy system can drive niche development and implementation of renewable energy sources.

The European Union intends to reach climate neutrality by 2050, which will require substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Construction is an energy and carbon-intensive sector, which needs further decarbonization. The use of wood in buildings can be effective measures for decarbonization in the sector compared to conventional building materials, such as concrete and steel. Despite Sweden's long history of building with wood-based products and extensive forest cover, the share of multi-storey buildings manufactured with wood frames are low. Wood-based building materials offer a potential for decreasing carbon emissions, storing carbon in buildings for a long-time span and offering high cascading potential. As wood resources are limited, it is important to examine the possibilities of utilizing wood in long-lasting products and plan the use of them to contribute to decarbonization. Therefore, it is important to map and analyse the wood flow from forests to various wood industries and to the building sector. In this study, the wood material flow is mapped based on the mass conservation principle and the availability of wood resources for wood-based building material is investigated. The results show that gross and net felling is predicted to be relatively constant in the coming years, but that the view is that the market for high value wood products, such as wood-frames, textiles etc, will increase and thereby increase competition for the raw material. A significant role in achieving the decarbonization goals can be played by stakeholders in the building industry by choosing low-carbon technologies, including wood-based building materials. It is important to review the perspective of experts with experience of working with wood-based buildings or material from different disciplines within the construction process such as building material companies, architects, designers, and construction companies to identify barriers and drivers associated with the selection of wood as building material. Therefore, in addition to a wood-flow study semi-structured interviews were conducted with a group of these experts in the field to investigate their perspectives of using an increased amount of wood products in buildings and the potential for decarbonization. The main conclusion from these interviews is that the experts see an increase in semi-high-rise wood-framed buildings, and that local initiatives and clear sustainability goals are important drivers. The respondents also emphasize the learning process as well as a continuous need for good examples of successful projects.

I denna studie undersöktes potentialen för etableringen av nya biogassystem inom ett geografiskt område som utgjordes av Region Sörmlands kommuner samt kommunerna Södertälje, Nykvarn, Norrköping och Söderköping. Anledningen till studien är det studerade områdets förhållandevis låga nuvarande biogasproduktion samt den stora potentiella efterfrågan på biogas i området, då SSAB i framtiden kommer behöva biogas till sin fossil-fria stålbearbetning. I studien studerades den tekniska och administrativa potentialen, det vill säga vad som är möjligt att producera under dagens administrativa villkor samt med dagens (och en nära framtids) teknik. Potentialen undersöktes utifrån fyra olika potentialer: rötbar biomassapotential, biogaspotential, koldioxidproduktionspotential och näringscirkulationspotential. Resultatet visar på en biogaspotential mellan 380 och 540 GWh per år vilket skulle motsvara en stor ökning från dagens produktion på mellan 50 och 60 GWh per år. Ytterligare 100 GWh per år skulle kunna produceras av koldioxiden genom biometanisering men då krävs stora mängder vätgas. Angående näringscirkulationspotentialen så kan biogödseln (som samproduceras med biogas i biogasanläggningar) uppfylla cirka tre fjärdedelar av kvävebehovet, nära hela fosforbehovet och fyra gånger kaliumbehovet i det studerade områdets jordbruk. Det studerade området delades upp i fem produktionsområden för att öka upplösningen i studien. Dessa områden valdes för att de skulle kunna utgöra delområden som är stora nog för att etablera biogasanläggning av den storlek som krävs för att förvätska biogasen och samtidigt undvika alltför långa transportsträckor för substrattransporter. Detta svarar upp mot trenden att etablera större och större biogasanläggningar samt ett ökat fokus på förvätskad biogas. Dock kan mindre anläggningar vara nödvändiga för att uppnå vissa delar av potentialen i områden med små, men betydelsefulla, substratmängder. Det produktionsområde med störst potential var Söderköping/Norrköping men det betyder nödvändigtvis inte att det är det mest lovande produktionsområdet att börja mer fokuserade implementeringsstudier i då andra faktorer så som lönsamhet inte undersökts i denna studie. Fortsatta studier bör fokusera på hur lantbruksrelaterade substrat kan användas inom biogasproduktion. Här kan studier fokusera på olika områden, exempelvis hur biogasanläggningar kan drivas stabilt på enbart grönmassa (till exempel vall och mellangrödor) och hur ökad odling för biogasproduktion påverkar mat- och foderproduktion, individuella lantbrukare samt åkermarkens långsiktiga hälsa. Dessutom behövs implementeringsstudier för att realisera potentialen, dessa bör fokusera på att undersöka specifika etableringsmöjligheter utifrån ekonomiska, tekniska, logistiska och administrativa perspektiv.

_{This study aims to provide insights into the factors shaping electricity demand in Swedish industrial sectors using the nonlinear version of the autoregressive distributed lag model (NARDL). This approach captures the complex short- and long-run relationships between uncertainty and electric power use in Swedish industrial sectors. The results reveal sector-specific responses to uncertainties and asymmetries in electricity use patterns. By examining the entire industrial sector in Sweden, this approach uncovers underlying issues and hidden patterns, while also providing insights into the functioning and behaviour of industrial systems. The rapid electrification and new green industrialisation initiatives in Sweden, coupled with the integration of a circular economy, underscore the importance of understanding the dynamics of electricity use in the face of uncertain shocks. This knowledge is vital for ensuring, amongst other things, grid stability, mitigating the need for costly peaking capacity, and identifying potential challenges in the interconnection of energy and material circular flows}

According to the European Commission’s 2050 Climate Strategy, renewable electricity is the most important driver for decarbonising the energy system. The intermittent nature of wind and solar creates a demand for dispatchable electricity production that can contribute to a stable and steady supply all year. This supply can be provided, for example, by biomass boilers with combined heat and power production. This paper analyses the potential for small-scale electricity production in Organic Rankine Cycle systems (ORC) in different geographical contexts. The focus is on installing ORC systems with existing biomass-fired boilers in district heating (DH) systems or industry, and with industrial excess heat streams. Economic and climate effects are studied in three countries with different climates and energy-market conditions, namely Sweden, the United Kingdom and Brazil. The results show that there is the potential to install ORC systems around the world that are both economically viable and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Equipment size has a large effect on the profitability of the investments. Moreover, the benefits of tax exemptions and certificates for renewable electricity production significantly impact profitability, particularly for smaller equipment sizes.

In 2019–2020, Bangladesh imported 5.2 million metric tonnes of petroleum products, worth 2.5 billion USD, and 50% of the imports were consumed by the transportation sector. Having limited natural oil reserves and being heavily dependent on oil imports, the country is vulnerable to shocks in the international oil market, which can jeopardize its consistent economic growth. The Government announced a 5% blending of bioethanol with gasoline in 2017, with broken rice, maize, and molasses as the feedstocks, but sourcing biofuel from food crops can hamper the country’s food security. This study explores second and third generation feedstocks e.g., organic plants, seeds, agricultural residues, and waste animal fat or skin that can be collected and processed for the extraction of biofuels. Technical potential of biofuel from the feedstocks is analysed which shows that Bangladesh has a potential to extract 44.4 million metric tonnes of bioethanol in a year from agricultural residues with rice residue having the highest potential (71%). Ground nut and rubber seeds can be major feedstocks for biodiesel production having a potential of 61,000 and 42,000 metric tonnes per year, respectively. Waste chicken skin can be another promising feedstock for the extraction of biodiesel. Biofuels extracted from these non-edible feedstocks and blended with existing transport fuels can lessen Bangladesh’s import bills through a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner.

In Bangladesh, despite available feedstock for producing biogas, the development of biogas production has been very slow. The objective of this research was to study the drivers for and barriers to biogas technology implementation in the country. As the research involved different types of stakeholders related to biogas production, the outcome provides clarity about the factors influencing the profusion of biogas production in Bangladesh. The outcome of the study identifies poor research and development, lack of coordination among stakeholders, an immature biogas market, lack of awareness and no feed-in tariff policy as the main barriers. In the case of drivers, the motivation of producing biogas as an efficient way of using waste, the availability of local experts, the attractiveness of a growing renewable energy market and the contribution of biogas technology in adaptation to climate change were found to be the most important factors. The study’s outcomes are found to be similar to other studies from developing countries with similar socio-economic status. In accordance with the important drivers and barriers identified in this study, recommendations for increasing the diffusion of biogas in Bangladesh are also presented at the end of the article.

The Paris Agreement sets a framework to reach a goal of limiting the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Actions to reduce greenhouse emissions include increasing the share of renewable electricity production and improving energy efficiency. 

However, this implies challenges related to the intermittent nature of wind and solar power. One way to enable an increased share of intermittent electricity production is to increase flexibility on the demand side. A district heating system that includes centrally controlled heat pumps and combined heat and power plants, together with load management of industrial processes, can provide a platform for an increased share of intermittent renewable power generation. 

Previous studies have analysed technical potentials for flexible operations that can increase the share of intermittent renewable electricity production. However, the view of the actors involved has not been analysed. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyse the industry’s and the energy sector’s perceptions of the potentials and challenges related to flexible operations.

Actors from industry and energy companies in Sweden were interviewed to appraise and evaluate how they perceive the potentials and challenges regarding sector coupling and flexible operations. Challenges identified are trade-offs between balancing the electricity grid and cost-optimisation at company level, and that the strategy requires a smart control system and targeting regulations. 

The results from the study can guide policymakers when formulating policies that can stimulate marketplaces for flexible operation that will enable an increased share of intermittent renewable electricity production and reduce the risk of power capacity shortages.