Assessing the environmental impact of water consumption by energy crops grown in Spain

The environmental impact of the water consumption of four typical crop rotations grown in Spain, including energy crops, was analyzed and compared against Spanish agricultural and natural reference situations. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used for the assessment of the potential environmental impact of blue water (withdrawal from water bodies) and green water (uptake of soil moisture) consumption. The latter has so far been disregarded in LCA. To account for green water, two approaches have been applied: the first accounts for the difference in green water demand of the crops and a reference situation. The second is a green water scarcity index, which measures the fraction of the soil-water plant consumption to the available green water. Our results show that, if the aim is to minimize the environmental impacts of water consumption, the energy crop rotations assessed in this study were most suitable in basins in the northeast of Spain. In contrast, the energy crops grown in basins in the southeast of Spain were associated with the greatest environmental impacts. Further research into the integration of quantitative green water assessment in LCA is crucial in studies of systems with a high dependence on green water resources.

Direct numerical simulations of interface dynamics to link capillary pressure and total surface energy

The flow of two immiscible fluids through a porous medium depends on the complex interplay between gravity, capillarity, and viscous forces. The interaction between these forces and the geometry of the medium gives rise to a variety of complex flow regimes that are difficult to describe using continuum models. Although a number of pore-scale models have been employed, a careful investigation of the macroscopic effects of pore-scale processes requires methods based on conservation principles in order to reduce the number of modeling assumptions. In this work we perform direct numerical simulations of drainage by solving Navier-Stokes equations in the pore space and employing the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) method to track the evolution of the fluid-fluid interface. After demonstrating that the method is able to deal with large viscosity contrasts and model the transition from stable flow to viscous fingering, we focus on the macroscopic capillary pressure and we compare different definitions of this quantity under quasi-static and dynamic conditions. We show that the difference between the intrinsic phase-average pressures, which is commonly used as definition of Darcy-scale capillary pressure, is subject to several limitations and it is not accurate in presence of viscous effects or trapping. In contrast, a definition based on the variation of the total surface energy provides an accurate estimate of the macroscopic capillary pressure. This definition, which links the capillary pressure to its physical origin, allows a better separation of viscous effects and does not depend on the presence of trapped fluid clusters.

Dynamic models of energy allocation and investment

In dynamic models of energy allocation, assimilated energy is allocated to reproduction, somatic growth, maintenance or storage, and the allocation pattern can change with age. The expected evolutionary outcome is an optimal allocation pattern, but this depends on the environment experienced during the evolutionary process and on the fitness costs and benefits incurred by allocating resources in different ways. Here we review existing treatments which encompass some of the possibilities as regards constant or variable environments and their predictability or unpredictability, and the ways in which production rates and mortality rates depend on body size and composition and age and on the pattern of energy allocation. The optimal policy is to allocate resources where selection pressures are highest, and simultaneous allocation to several body subsystems and reproduction can be optimal if these pressures are equal. This may explain balanced growth commonly observed during ontogeny. Growth ceases at maturity in many models; factors favouring growth after maturity include non-linear trade-offs, variable season length, and production and mortality rates both increasing (or decreasing) functions of body size. We cannot yet say whether these are sufficient to account for the many known cases of growth after maturity and not all reasonable models have yet been explored. Factors favouring storage are also reviewed.

Utilisation of biomass for energy production in the North-West Russian forest industry

Traditionally, fossil fuels have always been the major sources of the modern energy production. However prices on these energy sources have been constantly increasing. The utilization of local biomass resources for energy production can substitute significant part of the required energy demand in different energy sectors. The introduction of the biomass usage can easily be started in the forest industry first as it possesses biomass in a large volume. The forest industry energy sector has the highest potential for the fast bioenergy development in the North-West Russia. Therefore, the question concerning rational and effective forest resources use is important today as well as the utilization of the forestry by-products. This work describes and analyzes the opportunities of utilising biomass, mainly, in the form of the wood by-products, for energy production processes in general, as well as for the northwest Russian forest industry conditions. The study also covers basic forest industry processes and technologies, so, the reader can get familiar with the information about the specific character of the biomass utilization. The work gives a comprehensive view on the northwest forest industry situation from the biomass utilisation point of view. By presenting existing large-scale sawmills and pulp and paper mills the work provides information for the evaluation of the future development of CHP investments in the northwest Russian forest industry.

Strategic groups and performance: an empirical analysis of strategic groups in the wind energy industry in Europe

The strategic group theory provides an intermediate level of analysis between a single company and the whole industry for identifying issues about the company's competitive position and strategic choices. Strategic groups are companies within an industry with similar strategic characteristics or competing on similar bases. Strategic choices are aligned with the firms’ resources. The purpose of this study was to identify the strategic groups in the wind energy industry in Europe, and study, whether a certain group membership results in financial performance differences. Altogether 80 European wind energy companies were included in the study, which were clustered into four strategic groups according to their age and growth rate. Each group corresponds to a different strategy. The results show that the wind energy companies can be clustered according to the chosen strategic characteristics. Strategic decisions were investigated with characteristic variables. Performance variables were used in the analysis measuring profitability, liquidity and solvency of the groups. These strategic choices of the companies did not have a significant influence on the firms’ performance. The more mature and slower growing group proved to be the most successful. However, the differences between groups were generally not statistically significant. The only statistically significant difference found was in the solvency ratio between Mature Slow and Young Rapid groups. Measured with these variables, more mature and slower growing companies performed better. Therefore, a certain strategic group membership results in performance differences.

The International Distribution of Energy Intensities: some synthetic results

The paper examines the international distribution of energy intensities as a conventional proxy indicator of energy efficiency and sustainability in the consumption of resources, by employing some descriptive tools from the analysis of inequality and polarization. The analysis specifically focuses on the following points: firstly, inequalities are evaluated synthetically based on diverse summary measures and Lorenz curves; secondly, different factorial decompositions are undertaken that assist in investigating some explanatory factors (weighting factors, multiplicative factors and decomposition by groups); and thirdly, an analysis is made of the polarization of intensities when groups of countries are defined endogenously and exogenously. The results obtained have significant implications from both academic and political perspectives.

On Value Creation at an Industrial Intersection – Bioenergy in the Forest and Energy Sectors

The traditional forest industry is a good example of the changing nature of the competitive environment in many industries. Faced with drastic challenges forestindustry companies are forced to search for new value-creating strategies in order to create competitive advantage. The emerging bioenergy business is now offering promising avenues for value creation for both the forest and energy sectors because of their complementary resources and knowledge with respect to bioenergy production from forest-based biomass. The key objective of this dissertation is to examine the sources of sustainable competitive advantage and the value-creation opportunities that are emerging at the intersection between the forest and energy industries. The research topic is considered from different perspectives in order to provide a comprehensive view of the phenomenon. The study discusses the business opportunities that are related to producing bioenergy from forest-based biomass, and sheds light on the greatest challenges and threats influencing the success of collaboration between the forest and energy sectors. In addition, it identifies existing and potential bioenergy actors, and considers the resources and capabilities needed in order to prosper in the bioenergy field. The value-creation perspective is founded on strategic management accounting, the theoretical frameworks are adopted from the field of strategic management, and the future aspect is taken into account through the application of futures studies research methodology. This thesis consists of two parts. The first part provides a synthesis of the overall dissertation, and the second part comprises four complementary research papers. There search setting is explorative in nature, and both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used. As a result, the thesis lays the foundation for non-technological studies on bioenergy. It gives an example of how to study new value-creation opportunities at an industrial intersection, and discusses the main determinants affecting the value-creation process. In order to accomplish these objectives the phenomenon of value creation at the intersection between the forest and energy industries is theorized and connected with the dynamic resource-based view of the firm.

Perspectives for the production and usage of wood chips as a source of energy in the North-West of Russia

The development of bioenergy on the basis of wood fuels has received considerable attention in the last decades. The combination of large forest resources and reliance on fossil fuels makes the issue of wood chips usage in Russia an actual topic for the analysis. The main objective of this study is to disclose the current state and perspectives for the production of wood chips and their usage as a source of energy in the North-West of Russia. The study utilizes an integrated approach to explore the market of wood chips on the basis of comprehensive analysis of documentation and expert opinions. The analysis of wood chips market was performed for eight regions of the North-West district of Russia within two major dimensions: its current state and perspectives in the nearest five years. The results of the study show a comprehensive picture of the wood chips market, including the potential for wood chips production, the specific features of production and consumption and the perspectives for the market development within the regions of the North-West district of Russia. The study demonstrated that the market of wood chips is underdeveloped in the North-West of Russia. The findings of the work may be used by forest companies for the strategic planning.

Forest Biomass Resources and Technological Prospects for the Production of Second-generation Biofuels in Finland by 2020

Introduction of second-generation biofuels is an essential factor for meeting the EU’s 2020 targets for renewable energy in the transport sector and enabling the more ambitious targets for 2030. Finland’s forest industry is strongly involved in the development and commercialising of second-generation biofuel production technologies. The goal of this paper is to provide a quantified insight into Finnish prospects for reaching the 2020 national renewable energy targets and concurrently becoming a large-scale producer of forest biomass based second-generation biofuels feeding the increasing demand in European markets. The focus of the paper is on assessing the potential for utilising forest biomass for liquid biofuels up to 2020. In addition, technological issues related to the production of second-generation biofuels were reviewed. Finland has good opportunities to realise a scenario to meet 2020 renewable energy targets and for large-scale production of wood based biofuels. In 2020, biofuel production from domestic forest biomass in Finland may reach nearly a million ton (40 PJ). With the existing biofuel production capacity (20 PJ/yr) and national biofuel consumption target (25 PJ) taken into account, the potential net export of biofuels from Finland in 2020 would be 35 PJ, corresponding to 2–3% of European demand. Commercialisation of second-generation biofuel production technologies, high utilisation of the sustainable harvesting potential of Finnish forest biomass, and allocation of a significant proportion of the pulpwood harvesting potential for energy purposes are prerequisites for this scenario. Large-scale import of raw biomass would enable remarkably greater biofuel production than is described in this paper.

Developing markets of energy biomass – local and global perspectives

The thesis explores global and national-level issues related to the development of markets for biomass for energy. The thesis consists of five separate papers and provides insights on selected issues. The aim of Paper I was to identify methodological and statistical challenges in assessing international solid and liquid biofuels trade and provide an overview of the Finnish situation with respect to the status of international solid and liquid biofuels trade. We found that, for the Finnish case, it is possible to qualify direct and indirect trade volumes of biofuels. The study showed that indirect trade of biofuels has a highly significant role in Finland and may be a significant sector also in global biofuels trade. The purpose of Paper II was to provide a quantified insight into Finnish prospects for meeting the national 2020 renewable energy targets and concurrently becoming a largescale producer of forest-biomass-based second-generation biofuels for feeding increasing demand in European markets. We found that Finland has good opportunities to realise a scenario to meet 2020 renewable energy targets and for large-scale production of wood-based biofuels. The potential net export of transport biofuels from Finland in 2020 would correspond to 2–3% of European demand. Paper III summarises the global status of international solid and liquid biofuels trade as illuminated by several separate sources. International trade of biofuels was estimated at nearly 1 EJ for 2006. Indirect trade of biofuels through trading of industrial roundwood and material by-products comprises the largest proportion of the trading, with a share of about two thirds. The purpose of Paper IV was to outline a comprehensive picture of the coverage of various certification schemes and sustainability principles relating to the entire value-added chain of biomass and bioenergy. Regardless of the intensive work that has been done in the field of sustainability schemes and principles concerning use of biomass for energy, weaknesses still exist. The objective of Paper V was to clarify the alternative scenarios for the international biomass market until 2020 and identify the underlying steps needed toward a wellfunctioning and sustainable market for biomass for energy purposes. An overall conclusion drawn from this analysis concerns the enormous opportunities related to the utilisation of biomass for energy in the coming decades.

Self-Assessement Report for International Accreditation - Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in Energy Technology

Self-Assessment Report was made for the accreditation of degree programmes in Energy Technology. The report includes the following items: the content,concept and implementation of of the degree programmes, the resources, the quality management and further development of the degree programmes.

The effects of location, feedstock availability, and supply-chain logistics on the greenhouse gas emissions of forest-biomass energy utilization in Finland

Forest biomass represents a geographically distributed feedstock, and geographical location affects the greenhouse gas (GHG) performance of a given forest-bioenergy system in several ways. For example, biomass availability, forest operations, transportation possibilities and the distances involved, biomass end-use possibilities, fossil reference systems, and forest carbon balances all depend to some extent on location. The overall objective of this thesis was to assess the GHG emissions derived from supply and energy-utilization chains of forest biomass in Finland, with a specific focus on the effect of location in relation to forest biomass’s availability and the transportation possibilities. Biomass availability and transportation-network assessments were conducted through utilization of geographical information system methods, and the GHG emissions were assessed by means of lifecycle assessment. The thesis is based on four papers in which forest biomass supply on industrial scale was assessed. The feedstocks assessed in this thesis include harvesting residues, smalldiameter energy wood and stumps. The principal implication of the findings in this thesis is that in Finland, the location and availability of biomass in the proximity of a given energyutilization or energy-conversion plant is not a decisive factor in supply-chain GHG emissions or the possible GHG savings to be achieved with forest-biomass energy use. Therefore, for the greatest GHG reductions with limited forest-biomass resources, energy utilization of forest biomass in Finland should be directed to the locations where most GHG savings are achieved through replacement of fossil fuels. Furthermore, one should prioritize the types of forest biomass with the lowest direct supply-chain GHG emissions (e.g., from transport and comminution) and the lowest indirect ones (in particular, soil carbon-stock losses), regardless of location. In this respect, the best combination is to use harvesting residues in combined heat and power production, replacing peat or coal.

Homogeneous assay technologies in drug screening: Quenching Resonance Energy Transfer (QRET) technique

Information gained from the human genome project and improvements in compound synthesizing have increased the number of both therapeutic targets and potential lead compounds. This has evolved a need for better screening techniques to have a capacity to screen number of compound libraries against increasing amount of targets. Radioactivity based assays have been traditionally used in drug screening but the fluorescence based assays have become more popular in high throughput screening (HTS) as they avoid safety and waste problems confronted with radioactivity. In comparison to conventional fluorescence more sensitive detection is obtained with time-resolved luminescence which has increased the popularity of time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) based assays. To simplify the current TR-FRET based assay concept the luminometric homogeneous single-label utilizing assay technique, Quenching Resonance Energy Transfer (QRET), was developed. The technique utilizes soluble quencher to quench non-specifically the signal of unbound fraction of lanthanide labeled ligand. One labeling procedure and fewer manipulation steps in the assay concept are saving resources. The QRET technique is suitable for both biochemical and cell-based assays as indicated in four studies:1) ligand screening study of β2 -adrenergic receptor (cell-based), 2) activation study of Gs-/Gi-protein coupled receptors by measuring intracellular concentration of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cell-based), 3) activation study of G-protein coupled receptors by observing the binding of guanosine-5’-triphosphate (cell membranes), and 4) activation study of small GTP binding protein Ras (biochemical). Signal-to-background ratios were between 2.4 to 10 and coefficient of variation varied from 0.5 to 17% indicating their suitability to HTS use.

Commercialization of Modern Renewable Energy

The threat of global warming and its consequences are widely recognized, and the question of how to proceed with the long transition towards fossil fuel -neutral economies concerns many nations and people. At the same time the world’s primary energy use is predicted to increase significantly during the next decades as a result of global population and welfare increase. Improved energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy sources in the world’s energy mix play important roles in the future energy production and consumption. The objective of this thesis is to study how novel renewable energy technologies, such as distributed small-scale bio-fueled combined heat and power production and wind power technologies could be commercialized efficiently. A wide array of attributes may contribute to the diffusion of new products. In general, the bioenergy and wind power technologies are in emerging phases, and the diffusion stage varies from country to country. The effects of firms’ technology choices, collaboration and alliances are studied in this thesis. Furthermore, the roles of national energy infrastructure and energy support schemes in the commercialization of new renewable energy products are explored. The empirical data is based on energy expert interviews, financial and patent data, and literature reviews of different case studies. The thesis comprises two parts. The first part provides an overview of the study, and the second part includes six research publications. The results reveal that small-scale bio-fueled combined heat and power production and wind power technologies are still in emerging phases in their life cycles, and energy support schemes are crucial in the market diffusion. The study contributes to earlier findings in the literature and industry by confirming that adequate energy policies and energy infrastructure are fundamental in the commercialization of novel renewable energy technologies. Firm-specific issues, including business relationships and new business models, and market-related issues will have a more significant role in the market penetration in the future, when the technologies mature and become competitive without political support schemes.

Targeted Annotation of Scientific Literature and Data Resources in Invenio Digital Libraries

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014