This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.

Prof. Göran Finnveden
Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden

Basic Info


Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Environmental Policy
0 Life Cycle Assessment
0 Sustainable Development
0 Assessment methods
0 Sustainable development in higher education

Fingerprints

Life Cycle Assessment
Environmental Policy
Sustainable Development
Assessment methods
Sustainable development in higher education

Honors and Awards

The user has no records in this section


Career Timeline

The user has no records in this section.


Short Biography

The user biography is not available.
Following
Followers
Co Authors
The list of users this user is following is empty.
Following: 0 users

Feed

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2020 in Earth System Governance
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Transitioning to a circular economy requires strategic investments in infrastructure, but it also requires policy coherence, coordination and collaboration among stakeholders across sectors and governance levels. In this paper, we aimed to identify the factors that facilitate or impede governance capacity to adopt circularity in the form of resource recovery from urban organic waste streams. We conducted a literature review and semi-structured interviews using the ‘Governance Capacity Framework’ in a case study of Naivasha, Kenya. Our findings emphasize the importance of leadership from the public sector in co-developing visionary strategies for circularity and using their convening power to facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration. Moreover, we identify a need for bridging theoretical circular economy concepts to initiatives in local communities of practice. The insights in this paper are relevant for advancing the understanding of challenges for governance of the circular economy especially in low-and middle-income country contexts.

ACS Style

Daniel Ddiba; Kim Andersson; Steven H.A. Koop; Elisabeth Ekener; Göran Finnveden; Sarah Dickin. Governing the circular economy: Assessing the capacity to implement resource-oriented sanitation and waste management systems in low- and middle-income countries. Earth System Governance 2020, 4, 100063 .

AMA Style

Daniel Ddiba, Kim Andersson, Steven H.A. Koop, Elisabeth Ekener, Göran Finnveden, Sarah Dickin. Governing the circular economy: Assessing the capacity to implement resource-oriented sanitation and waste management systems in low- and middle-income countries. Earth System Governance. 2020; 4 ():100063.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel Ddiba; Kim Andersson; Steven H.A. Koop; Elisabeth Ekener; Göran Finnveden; Sarah Dickin. 2020. "Governing the circular economy: Assessing the capacity to implement resource-oriented sanitation and waste management systems in low- and middle-income countries." Earth System Governance 4, no. : 100063.

Journal article
Published: 20 May 2020 in Journal of Cleaner Production
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The transition from wastewater treatment plants to wastewater resource recovery facilities has led to research into and development of various new processes. The production from wastewater of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), an intermediate product of anaerobic digestion, is one of these processes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental sustainability of VFA production from dairy wastewater, which is still in the laboratory research phase, and to investigate the discrepancies between lab-scale and conceptual full-scale life cycle assessment (LCA) results. In laboratory-scale LCA, electricity consumption for mixing and heating is the major contributor to all impact categories. The material usage and disposal of these materials also contribute significantly to the environmental impacts. Full-scale LCA results show that heating of the reactor and addition of NaOH during the operation stage are the main contributors. Scenario analysis is conducted for heating device efficiency and operating temperature. The recommendations are to use alternative chemicals to NaOH or to co-treat dairy wastewater with alkaline wastewater, using a heating device with a high efficiency, and to try experiments at lower temperatures. There are discrepancies between the LCA results based on laboratory data and upscale data, meaning that there is a further need for investigation of upscaling for LCA purposes.

ACS Style

Nilay Elginoz; Merve Atasoy; Göran Finnveden; Zeynep Cetecioglu. Ex-ante life cycle assessment of volatile fatty acid production from dairy wastewater. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 269, 122267 .

AMA Style

Nilay Elginoz, Merve Atasoy, Göran Finnveden, Zeynep Cetecioglu. Ex-ante life cycle assessment of volatile fatty acid production from dairy wastewater. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 269 ():122267.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nilay Elginoz; Merve Atasoy; Göran Finnveden; Zeynep Cetecioglu. 2020. "Ex-ante life cycle assessment of volatile fatty acid production from dairy wastewater." Journal of Cleaner Production 269, no. : 122267.

Journal article
Published: 15 April 2017 in Energies
Reads 0
Downloads 0

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 shown explicitly which key parameters are most crucial, how much each parameter affects results and conclusions and how different aspects depend on each other. The interconnection between waste incineration and the energy system is elaborated by testing parameters potentially crucial to the result: design of the incineration plant, avoided energy generation, degree of efficiency, electricity efficiency in combined heat and power plants (CHP), avoided fuel, emission level of the avoided electricity generation and avoided waste management. CO2 emissions have been calculated for incineration of 1 kWh mixed combustible waste. The results indicate that one of the most important factors is the electricity efficiency in CHP plants in combination with the emission level of the avoided electricity generation. A novel aspect of this study is the plant by plant comparison showing how different electricity efficiencies associated with different types of fuels and plants influence results. Since waste incineration typically have lower power to fuel ratios, this has implications for further analyses of waste incineration compared to other waste management practises and heat and power production technologies. New incineration capacity should substitute mixed landfill disposal and recovered energy should replace energy from inefficient high polluting plants. Electricity generation must not be lost, as it has to be compensated for by electricity production affecting the overall results.

ACS Style

Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden. Energy Recovery from Waste Incineration—The Importance of Technology Data and System Boundaries on CO2 Emissions. Energies 2017, 10, 539 .

AMA Style

Ola Eriksson, Göran Finnveden. Energy Recovery from Waste Incineration—The Importance of Technology Data and System Boundaries on CO2 Emissions. Energies. 2017; 10 (4):539.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden. 2017. "Energy Recovery from Waste Incineration—The Importance of Technology Data and System Boundaries on CO2 Emissions." Energies 10, no. 4: 539.

Journal article
Published: 19 February 2017 in Energies
Reads 0
Downloads 0

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 presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) model for environmental assessments of scenarios and waste management policy instruments. It is unique by including almost all waste flows in a country and also allow for including waste prevention. The results show that the environmental impacts from future waste management scenarios in Sweden can differ a lot. Waste management will continue to contribute with environmental benefits, but less so in the more sustainable future scenarios, since the surrounding energy and transportation systems will be less polluting and also because less waste will be produced. Valuation results indicate that climate change, human toxicity and resource depletion are the most important environmental impact categories for the Swedish waste management system. Emissions of fossil CO2 from waste incineration will continue to be a major source of environmental impacts in these scenarios. The model is used for analyzing environmental impacts of several policy instruments including weight based collection fee, incineration tax, a resource tax and inclusion of waste in a green electricity certification system. The effect of the studied policy instruments in isolation are in most cases limited, suggesting that stronger policy instruments as well as combinations are necessary to reach policy goals as set out in for example the EU action plan on circular economy.

ACS Style

Yevgeniya Arushanyan; Anna Björklund; Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden; Maria Ljunggren Söderman; Jan-Olov Sundqvist; Åsa Stenmarck. Environmental Assessment of Possible Future Waste Management Scenarios. Energies 2017, 10, 247 .

AMA Style

Yevgeniya Arushanyan, Anna Björklund, Ola Eriksson, Göran Finnveden, Maria Ljunggren Söderman, Jan-Olov Sundqvist, Åsa Stenmarck. Environmental Assessment of Possible Future Waste Management Scenarios. Energies. 2017; 10 (2):247.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yevgeniya Arushanyan; Anna Björklund; Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden; Maria Ljunggren Söderman; Jan-Olov Sundqvist; Åsa Stenmarck. 2017. "Environmental Assessment of Possible Future Waste Management Scenarios." Energies 10, no. 2: 247.

Journal article
Published: 25 October 2016 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Continual environmental degradation and an unfair distribution of environmental burdens and benefits are two great challenges for humanity. Economic growth is often taken for granted when planning for the future. However, it is often argued that maintaining economic growth conflicts with keeping human activities adjusted to ecological boundaries and finite resources, at least for the more-developed countries. With this paper, we present sustainability goals for building and planning in Sweden to be achieved by 2050 in a context of limited or even negative economic growth. These goals should ensure that all groups in society have sufficient resources and a good life within planetary boundaries. We select four goals in a participatory process: two environmental goals related to climate change and land use and two social goals related to welfare and participation. Our results show that achieving the environmental goals will require significant reductions of Sweden’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and land use compared to today’s levels. Regarding the social goals, these are, in many aspects, reasonably well fulfilled in Sweden today, although disparities remain between groups of citizens. The main challenge, however, is to ensure that these goals are fulfilled even within environmental limits and if economic growth should halt.

ACS Style

Eléonore Fauré; Åsa Svenfelt; Göran Finnveden; Alf Hornborg. Four Sustainability Goals in a Swedish Low-Growth/Degrowth Context. Sustainability 2016, 8, 1080 .

AMA Style

Eléonore Fauré, Åsa Svenfelt, Göran Finnveden, Alf Hornborg. Four Sustainability Goals in a Swedish Low-Growth/Degrowth Context. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (11):1080.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Eléonore Fauré; Åsa Svenfelt; Göran Finnveden; Alf Hornborg. 2016. "Four Sustainability Goals in a Swedish Low-Growth/Degrowth Context." Sustainability 8, no. 11: 1080.

Journal article
Published: 29 June 2016 in Resources
Reads 0
Downloads 0

A thermodynamic approach based on exergy use has been suggested as a measure for the use of resources in Life Cycle Assessment and other sustainability assessment methods. It is a relevant approach since it can capture energy resources, as well as metal ores and other materials that have a chemical exergy expressed in the same units. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the use of the thermodynamic approach in case studies and to compare the results with other approaches, and thus contribute to the discussion of how to measure resource use. The two case studies are the recycling of ferrous waste and the production and use of a laptop. The results show that the different methods produce strikingly different results when applied to case studies, which indicates the need to further discuss methods for assessing resource use. The study also demonstrates the feasibility of the thermodynamic approach. It identifies the importance of both energy resources, as well as metals. We argue that the thermodynamic approach is developed from a solid scientific basis and produces results that are relevant for decision-making. The exergy approach captures most resources that are considered important by other methods. Furthermore, the composition of the ores is shown to have an influence on the results. The thermodynamic approach could also be further developed for assessing a broader range of biotic and abiotic resources, including land and water.

ACS Style

Goran Finnveden; Yevgeniya Arushanyan; Miguel Brandão. Exergy as a Measure of Resource Use in Life Cycle Assessment and Other Sustainability Assessment Tools. Resources 2016, 5, 23 .

AMA Style

Goran Finnveden, Yevgeniya Arushanyan, Miguel Brandão. Exergy as a Measure of Resource Use in Life Cycle Assessment and Other Sustainability Assessment Tools. Resources. 2016; 5 (3):23.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Goran Finnveden; Yevgeniya Arushanyan; Miguel Brandão. 2016. "Exergy as a Measure of Resource Use in Life Cycle Assessment and Other Sustainability Assessment Tools." Resources 5, no. 3: 23.

Journal article
Published: 26 April 2016 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

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 assessments. This paper presents a set of soft-linked models for assessing the economic and environmental impacts of policy instruments for both the prevention and management of waste and discusses its strengths and limitations. Consisting of (1) a macro-economic model, (2) a systems engineering model for waste management and (3) a life cycle assessment model for waste management, the set is primarily suited to assessing market-based instruments and environmental regulations. Considerable resources were needed for developing and using the set, and there are clear limits as to what can be addressed. However, if only one of the models had been used, neither the range of instruments nor the scope of impacts would have been possible to cover. Furthermore, soft-linked models allow many disciplines to contribute within one harmonized framework. Such integrated assessments may become increasingly useful for continuing the implementation of policy for sustainable governance of society’s material resources.

ACS Style

Maria Ljunggren Söderman; Ola Eriksson; Anna Björklund; Göran Östblom; Tomas Ekvall; Göran Finnveden; Yevgeniya Arushanyan; Jan-Olov Sundqvist. Integrated Economic and Environmental Assessment of Waste Policy Instruments. Sustainability 2016, 8, 411 .

AMA Style

Maria Ljunggren Söderman, Ola Eriksson, Anna Björklund, Göran Östblom, Tomas Ekvall, Göran Finnveden, Yevgeniya Arushanyan, Jan-Olov Sundqvist. Integrated Economic and Environmental Assessment of Waste Policy Instruments. Sustainability. 2016; 8 (5):411.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Maria Ljunggren Söderman; Ola Eriksson; Anna Björklund; Göran Östblom; Tomas Ekvall; Göran Finnveden; Yevgeniya Arushanyan; Jan-Olov Sundqvist. 2016. "Integrated Economic and Environmental Assessment of Waste Policy Instruments." Sustainability 8, no. 5: 411.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2016 in International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making
Reads 0
Downloads 0
ACS Style

Per Sandin; Aron Larsson; Göran Finnveden; Elisabeth Ekener. Operationalising and incorporating ethical considerations into a tool for multi-criteria decision making. International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making 2016, 6, 290 .

AMA Style

Per Sandin, Aron Larsson, Göran Finnveden, Elisabeth Ekener. Operationalising and incorporating ethical considerations into a tool for multi-criteria decision making. International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making. 2016; 6 (4):290.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Per Sandin; Aron Larsson; Göran Finnveden; Elisabeth Ekener. 2016. "Operationalising and incorporating ethical considerations into a tool for multi-criteria decision making." International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making 6, no. 4: 290.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2016 in International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making
Reads 0
Downloads 0
ACS Style

Elisabeth Ekener; Aron Larsson; Goran Finnveden; Per Sandin. Operationalising and incorporating ethical considerations into a tool for multi-criteria decision making. International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making 2016, 6, 290 .

AMA Style

Elisabeth Ekener, Aron Larsson, Goran Finnveden, Per Sandin. Operationalising and incorporating ethical considerations into a tool for multi-criteria decision making. International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making. 2016; 6 (4):290.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Elisabeth Ekener; Aron Larsson; Goran Finnveden; Per Sandin. 2016. "Operationalising and incorporating ethical considerations into a tool for multi-criteria decision making." International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making 6, no. 4: 290.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2016 in Environmental Impact Assessment Review
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified: both have a bias for procedure and feature indicators over indicators that assess actual performance; performance demands are set according to a relative understanding of sustainable development; the focus is on internal sustainability, while upstream and downstream impacts of construction are disregarded; the number and distribution of mandatory issues do not cover essential sustainability aspects; and the disproportionately large number of non-mandatory issues makes benchmarking difficult and signals that sustainability aspects are exchangeable. Altogether, this means that an area can be certified without being sustainable. Moreover, the lack of continuous development of certification requirements in the systems means that they risk exerting a conservative effect on urban development, rather than pushing it forward.

ACS Style

Josefin Wangel; Marita Wallhagen; Tove Malmqvist; Göran Finnveden. Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify? Environmental Impact Assessment Review 2016, 56, 200 -213.

AMA Style

Josefin Wangel, Marita Wallhagen, Tove Malmqvist, Göran Finnveden. Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify? Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 2016; 56 ():200-213.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Josefin Wangel; Marita Wallhagen; Tove Malmqvist; Göran Finnveden. 2016. "Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify?" Environmental Impact Assessment Review 56, no. : 200-213.

Journal article
Published: 25 May 2011 in Journal of Industrial Ecology
Reads 0
Downloads 0

One of the key features of environmental policy integration in Sweden is sector responsibility. The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning is responsible for the building and real estate management sector and should, as a part of this responsibility, assess the environmental impacts of this sector. The aim of this study is to suggest and demonstrate a method for such an assessment. The suggested method is a life cycle assessment, based on an input‐output analysis. The method can be used for regular monitoring and for prioritization between different improving measures. For the assessment to sufficiently cover the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives, complementary information is needed, in particular with respect to the indoor environment. According to the results, the real estate management sector contributes between 10% and 40% of Swedish energy use; use of hazardous chemical products; generation of solid waste; emissions of gases contributing to climate change; and human toxicological impacts, including nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates. Transport and production of nonrenewable building materials contribute significantly to several of the emissions. Heating of buildings contributes more to energy use than to climate change, due to the use of renewable energy sources. To reduce climate change, measures should therefore prioritize not only heating of buildings but also the important upstream processes.

ACS Style

Susanna Toller; Anders Wadeskog; Göran Finnveden; Tove Malmqvist; Annica Carlsson. Energy Use and Environmental Impacts of the Swedish Building and Real Estate Management Sector. Journal of Industrial Ecology 2011, 15, 394 -404.

AMA Style

Susanna Toller, Anders Wadeskog, Göran Finnveden, Tove Malmqvist, Annica Carlsson. Energy Use and Environmental Impacts of the Swedish Building and Real Estate Management Sector. Journal of Industrial Ecology. 2011; 15 (3):394-404.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Susanna Toller; Anders Wadeskog; Göran Finnveden; Tove Malmqvist; Annica Carlsson. 2011. "Energy Use and Environmental Impacts of the Swedish Building and Real Estate Management Sector." Journal of Industrial Ecology 15, no. 3: 394-404.

Journal article
Published: 01 February 2011 in Risk Management
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Risk Management aims to generate ideas and promote good practice for those involved in the business of managing risk through the exchange of information and expertise across countries and disciplines

ACS Style

Karin Alverbro; Göran Finnveden; Per Sandin. Ethical analysis of three methods for destruction of ammunition. Risk Management 2011, 13, 63 -79.

AMA Style

Karin Alverbro, Göran Finnveden, Per Sandin. Ethical analysis of three methods for destruction of ammunition. Risk Management. 2011; 13 (1):63-79.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Karin Alverbro; Göran Finnveden; Per Sandin. 2011. "Ethical analysis of three methods for destruction of ammunition." Risk Management 13, no. 1: 63-79.

Journal article
Published: 31 December 2007 in Waste Management
Reads 0
Downloads 0

In assessments of the environmental impacts of waste management, life-cycle assessment (LCA) helps expanding the perspective beyond the waste management system. This is important, since the indirect environmental impacts caused by surrounding systems, such as energy and material production, often override the direct impacts of the waste management system itself. However, the applicability of LCA for waste management planning and policy-making is restricted by certain limitations, some of which are characteristics inherent to LCA methodology as such, and some of which are relevant specifically in the context of waste management. Several of them are relevant also for other types of systems analysis. We have identified and discussed such characteristics with regard to how they may restrict the applicability of LCA in the context of waste management. Efforts to improve LCA with regard to these aspects are also described. We also identify what other tools are available for investigating issues that cannot be adequately dealt with by traditional LCA models, and discuss whether LCA methodology should be expanded rather than complemented by other tools to increase its scope and applicability.

ACS Style

Tomas Ekvall; Getachew Assefa; Anna Björklund; Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden. What life-cycle assessment does and does not do in assessments of waste management. Waste Management 2007, 27, 989 -996.

AMA Style

Tomas Ekvall, Getachew Assefa, Anna Björklund, Ola Eriksson, Göran Finnveden. What life-cycle assessment does and does not do in assessments of waste management. Waste Management. 2007; 27 (8):989-996.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tomas Ekvall; Getachew Assefa; Anna Björklund; Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden. 2007. "What life-cycle assessment does and does not do in assessments of waste management." Waste Management 27, no. 8: 989-996.

Journal article
Published: 28 February 2007 in Energy Policy
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The aim of this consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) is to compare district heating based on waste incineration with combustion of biomass or natural gas. The study comprises two options for energy recovery (combined heat and power (CHP) or heat only), two alternatives for external, marginal electricity generation (fossil lean or intense), and two alternatives for the alternative waste management (landfill disposal or material recovery). A secondary objective was to test a combination of dynamic energy system modelling and LCA by combining the concept of complex marginal electricity production in a static, environmental systems analysis. Furthermore, we wanted to increase the methodological knowledge about how waste can be environmentally compared to other fuels in district-heat production. The results indicate that combustion of biofuel in a CHP is environmentally favourable and robust with respect to the avoided type of electricity and waste management. Waste incineration is often (but not always) the preferable choice when incineration substitutes landfill disposal of waste. It is however, never the best choice (and often the worst) when incineration substitutes recycling. A natural gas fired CHP is an alternative of interest if marginal electricity has a high fossil content. However, if the marginal electricity is mainly based on non-fossil sources, natural gas is in general worse than biofuels.

ACS Style

Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden; Tomas Ekvall; Anna Björklund. Life cycle assessment of fuels for district heating: A comparison of waste incineration, biomass- and natural gas combustion. Energy Policy 2007, 35, 1346 -1362.

AMA Style

Ola Eriksson, Göran Finnveden, Tomas Ekvall, Anna Björklund. Life cycle assessment of fuels for district heating: A comparison of waste incineration, biomass- and natural gas combustion. Energy Policy. 2007; 35 (2):1346-1362.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ola Eriksson; Göran Finnveden; Tomas Ekvall; Anna Björklund. 2007. "Life cycle assessment of fuels for district heating: A comparison of waste incineration, biomass- and natural gas combustion." Energy Policy 35, no. 2: 1346-1362.