Nytt Formas-projekt inom utlysningen FrÄn forskning till implementering för ett hÄllbart samhÀlle 2021

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Cecilia Lalander frÄn energi och teknik och Anders Kiessling frÄn husdjurens utfodring och vÄrd Àr med i ett samarbetsprojekt med partners frÄn hela Sverige som just har beviljats 3,8 miljoner kr frÄn FORMAS för ett pilotprojekt dÀr artificiell intelligens ska stötta utvecklingen till ett hÄllbart urbant livsmedelsproduktionssystem.

Norra Sverige har pĂ„ senare tiden attraherat stora industrier och serverhallar liksom nĂ€sta generations fossilfria stĂ„lindustri (H2 Green Steel), p.g.a. stora tillgĂ„ng till förnyelsebar energi och naturresurser, samt svala klimat. Boden kommun har som mĂ„lsĂ€ttning att till 2025 blir Europas mest resurseffektiva och koldioxidneutrala kommun. Faktum Ă€r att Boden sedan 2020 har initierat ett storskaligt symbiosprojekt kallat Energisymbiosen Boden, som Ă€r en del av Boden Business Park. Ett av initiativen syftar till att skapa en kompetensplattform för urban livsmedelsproduktion som ska anvĂ€ndas som en nationell tillgĂ„ng för att implementera och testa innovativa lösningar för livsmedelsproduktionssystem. Projektet AI för förbĂ€ttrad effektivitet och hĂ„llbarhet hos slutna landbaserade integrerade livsmedelsproduktionssystem – en fallstudie i Boden : iCFPS (intelligent Circular Food Production Systems) kommer att vara en del i den satsningen.

Projektet har som mÄlsÀttning att avgrÀnsa och modellera de olika energiflödena inom ett hypotetiskt akvaponiskt-agrokultur-produktionssystem för livsmedel, och ska utgöras av ett slutet system bestÄnden av fyra trofiska lager: insekter, alger, fisk, och vÀxter. Det slutna produktionssystemet som ska vara grunden för modelleringen antas ligga nedströms H2 Green Steel industrin, serverhallar och battericentraler. FrÄn dessa slÀpps vatten som hÄller lÄg vÀrme ut, och kan, om strategiskt kanaliserade, utgöra en vÀrdefull energikÀlla i det föreslagna slutna livsmedelsproduktionssystemet. De fyra trofiska lagren i det hÀr systemet (insekter, alger, fisk och vÀxter), kan ses som biologiska batterier, med olika lagringskapacitet, som tillsammans buffrar för de stÀndiga fluktuationerna i systemet. Det övergripande mÄlet med detta projekt Àr att med hjÀlp artificiell intelligens (AI) förstÄ sÄvÀl energiflödena som nÀringsströmmarna i detta system, dÀr spillvÀrme och biologiskt nedbrytbart avfall för att skapa ett slutet, cirkulÀrt och hÄllbart livsmedelsproduktionssystem.

Projektet Àr ett samarbete mellan Bodens kommun, SWECO, H2GreenSteel, Ragn-Sells, Ecoloop, ONar AB, Johannas Stadsodlingar, Agtira och Tebrito, samt  ett konsortium av akademiker frÄn LuleÄ tekniska universitet, SLU och UmeÄ universitet.

Det akademiska konsortiet:

  • LuleĂ„ tekniska universitet (LTU) driver projektet och kommer att utveckla en AI-baserad modell för det föreslagna l I gruppen ingĂ„r:
    • Ulrika Rova, Prof. Paul Christakopoulos, Prof Marcus Liwicki, Dr Ali Usman och Michael Nilsson som Ă€r projektledare.
  • UmeĂ„ University (UmU), kommer att ansvara för vĂ€xtdelen av projektet och leds av:
    • Docent Olivier Keech.
  • Sveriges lantbruksuniversitets (SLU) del i projektet Ă€r att producera data för modelleringen rörande de trofiska lagren insekter (ET) och fisk (HUV), samt leda arbetet i referensgruppen bestĂ„nden av representanter för Svenska industriprojekt (HUV). Gruppen utgörs av:
    • Prof Anders Kiessling (HUV) och Docent Cecilia Lalander (ET).

New Formas project in the call From research to implementation for a sustainable society 2021

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Cecilia Lalander from the Department of Energy and Technology and Anders Kiessling from the Department of Animal Nutrition and Management are part of a project with partners from all over Sweden who have just been granted SEK 3.8 million from FORMAS for a pilot project in which artificial intelligence (AI) will support the development of a sustainable urban food production system.

Northern Sweden has recently attracted large industries and server halls as well as the next generation fossil-free steel industry (H2GreenSteel), due to its easy access to renewable energy and natural resources, as well as a cool climate. Boden municipality aims to be Europe’s most resource-efficient and carbon-neutral municipality by 2025. In fact, since 2020, Boden has initiated a large-scale symbiosis project called the Boden Energy Symbiosis, part of the Boden Business Park. In fact, since 2020 Boden has initiated a large-scale symbiosis project called the Boden Symbiosis Cluster, part of the Boden Business Park. One of the initiatives aim at creating an urban food competence platform of commercial size to be used as a national asset for implementing and testing innovative solutions for food production systems.

VÄr senaste publikation om fluglarvskompostering

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Kolla in vÄr senaste publikation i Waste Management Process efficiency in relation to enzyme pre-treatment duration in black soldier fly larvae composting. I denna studie undersökte vi pÄverkan av enzymförbehandlingstid pÄ effektiviteten, gÀllande biomassaomvandlingseffektivitet och materialreduktion, vid fluglarvskompostering av sallad och kÄl (grönsaksavskÀr  frÄn Grönsakshallen Sorunda). Vi fann att direkttillsats av enzym (d.v.s. ingen förbehandlingstid, utan tillsats av enzymerna samtidigt som larverna) var den enda behandlingen som signifikant förbÀttrade processeffektiviteten.

Our latest publication on black soldier fly larvae composting

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Check out our latest publication in Waste Management Process efficiency in relation to enzyme pre-treatment duration in black soldier fly larvae composting. We investigated the impact of enzyme pre-treatment time duration on the efficiency, in terms of biomass conversion efficiency and material reduction, in black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) composting of lettuce and cabbage (vegetable cuttings from Grönsakshallen Sorunda). We found that direct addition of enzyme (i.e. no pre-treatment time, but adding the enzymes as the same time as the larvae) was the only treatment that significantly improved process efficiency.

KarriÀrbidrag till forskare vid institutionen för energi och teknik

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Docent Jennifer McConville vid institutionen för energi och tenik Àr en av fem forskare som av SLU:s rektor tilldelats tre miljoner kronor i ett sÄ kallat karriÀrbidrag.

SLU delar vartannat Är ut karriÀrbidrag till ett antal forskare som befinner sig i början av sin karriÀr. Docent Jennifer McConville vid institutionen för energi och teknik Àr en av Ärets fem mottagare. De tilldelas tre miljoner vardera.

Jennifer McConvilles forskning handlar om systematisk och tillÀmpat hÄllbarhetsanalys som beslutstöd inom planering och beslutsfattande nÀr det gÀller sanitet och avloppshantering. MÄlet Àr att förbÀttra resursÄtervinning frÄn dessa system genom anpassning av teknisk infrastruktur och institutionella arrangemang. Hennes forskning tillÀmpas i Sverige sÄ vÀl som lÄg och mellan-inkomstlÀnder. Hon anvÀnder livscykeltÀnkande, delaktighet och socioteknisk analys för att bÀttre förstÄ och forma planeringsprocesser sÄ att de kan utvecklas mot hÄllbarheten.

KarriÀrbidraget planerar Jennifer McConville att anvÀnda tillsammans med sin forskningsgrupp för att:

  • utveckla och tillĂ€mpa nya tvĂ€rvetenskaplig metod för hĂ„llbarhetsanalys med fokus pĂ„ resursĂ„tervinning
  • öka kunskapen om avvĂ€gningar mellan olika hĂ„llberhetsaspekter
  • ta fram vĂ€gledning för att bytta till sanitetssystem med ökat resurseffektivisering och  rĂ€ttvis tillgĂ„ng för all i vĂ€rlden

Resultatet frÄn Jennifer McConvilles forskning kommer hjÀlpa myndigheter som har ansvar för sanitet och avloppsvattenhantering att öka resursÄtervinning och vÀlja mer hÄllbara system.

Jennifer McConville awarded SLU’s Career Grant

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Docent Jennifer McConville, at the Department of Energy and Technology, is one of the five researchers who has been awarded 3 million SEK as a career grant from the Vice-Chancellor of SLU.

SLU’s Career Grant is launched every second year to award researchers at the early stage of their careers. They receive a grant of 3 million SEK each. Jennifer McConville’s research uses systematic and applied sustainability analysis as decision support in planning and decision-making regarding sanitation and wastewater management. The aim is to improve resource recovery from these systems by adapting technical infrastructure and institutional arrangements. She performs her research in Sweden as well as low- and middle-income countries. She uses life cycle thinking, participation and socio-technical analysis to better understand and shape planning processes so that they can transition towards sustainability.

Jennifer McConville plans to use the career grant together with her research group to:

  • Develop and apply new transdisciplinary methods for sustainability analysis with a focus on resource recovery
  • Increase knowledge of trade-offs between different sustainability aspects
  • Develop guidance for transitioning to sanitation systems with increased resource efficiency and equitable access for all

The results of Jennifer McConville’s research will help authorities responsible for sanitation and wastewater management to increase resource recovery and choose more sustainable systems.

PhD Defence of Prithvi Simha on Alkaline Urine Dehydration, 2nd of June

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The public defence of the doctoral thesis for Prithvi Simha, entitled “Alkaline Urine Dehydration. How to dry source-separated human urine and recover nutrients?” is scheduled –

When? 2nd of June at 13:00 Where? Room Framtiden at MVM-hus at SLU in Uppsala and via Zoom Click this URL to join via Zoom: https://slu-se.zoom.us/j/69422000884 with Passcode: 732271

External reviewer: Professor Nancy Love, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Examining committee: Professor Annelie Hedström, LuleÄ University of Technology, LuleÄ, Sweden; Docent Sebastian Schwede, MÀlardalen University, VÀsterÄs, Sweden; and PhD Surendra Pradhan, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopia, Finland

The thesis is openly available at: https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/23473/1/simha_p_210511.pdf

Prithvi Simha’s pre-dissertation PhD seminar

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On 5th of March, Prithvi had his pre-dissertation seminar: Alklaine Urine Dehydration – how to dry urine and recover nutrients. David Gustavsson from VA SYD/Sweden Water Research was Prithvi’s opponent at the seminar and he quizzed Prithvi on his published papers as well as his preliminary thesis (or kappa). Overall, it was very interesting and long discussion ranging on topics like reactive nitrogen and ammonia capture, the use of different alkaline substrates, the use of IoT in sanitation and global sanitation outlook. With this successful seminar, Prithvi will now proceed further and have his PhD defence which is scheduled to be held on the 2nd of June in Uppsala and via zoom online. We thank David again for his thorough and insightful discussion on the topic!

Using MgO for Alkaline Dehydration of Human Urine Collected in Source-Separated Sanitation Systems

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We recently published a new paper on the use of Magnesium Oxide as an alkaline substrate for dehydrating urine in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2020.619901/full

Abstract: Fresh human urine, after it is alkalized to prevent the enzymatic hydrolysis of urea, can be dehydrated to reduce its volume and to produce a solid fertilizer. In this study, we investigated the suitability of MgO to alkalize and dehydrate urine. We selected MgO due to its low solubility (<2 gL−1) and relatively high saturation pH (9.9 ± 0.2) in urine. Using a laboratory-scale setup, we dehydrated urine added to pure MgO and MgO mixed with co-substrates (biochar, wheat bran, or calcium hydroxide) at a temperature of 50°C. We found that, dehydrating urine added to a mixture of MgO (25% w/w), biochar, and wheat bran resulted in a mass reduction of >90% and N recovery of 80%, and yielded products with high concentrations of macronutrients (7.8% N, 0.7% P and 3.9% K). By modeling the chemical speciation in urine, we also showed that ammonia stripping rather than urea hydrolysis limited the N recovery, since the urine used in our study was partially hydrolyzed. To maximize the recovery of N during alkaline urine dehydration using MgO, we recommend treating fresh/un-hydrolysed urine a temperature <40°C, tailoring the drying substrate to capture NH+4 as struvite, and using co-substrates to limit the molecular diffusion of ammonia. Treating fresh urine by alkaline dehydration requires only 3.6 kg MgO cap−1y−1 and a cost of US$ 1.1 cap−1y−1. Therefore, the use of sparingly soluble alkaline compounds like MgO in urine-diverting sanitation systems holds much promise.

Contact: Prithvi Simha

Global survey of food consumer attitudes towards urine recycling

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The findings from our multinational study that surveyed the attitudes of about 3800 people from 16 different countries, are now published in Science of the Total Environment and available here:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144438.

Highlights:

– Cross-cultural & country-level factors explanatory of respondent attitudes identified
– Respondents had positive intention overall but were unwilling to pay price premiums
– Social norms and cognitive awareness of urine’s benefits & risks featured strongly
– Building consumer trust via context-specific messaging can improve acceptance

Our main findings are best summarised by this picture below, which shows the strengths of association for factors explaining attitude of food consumers towards human urine as fertiliser. Factors are grouped by demographics, social norms, benefit/risk perception, substances that respondents believed are normally excreted in urine, and environmental outlooks. Dots are proportional and indicate the strength of association (CramĂ©r’s V values); dashes indicate categories that could not be analysed due to insufficient data.

Picture inserted shortly.

Contact: Prithvi Simha