Regional climate and energy planning in Sweden has long been fairly weak. Starting in 2008, however, the regional administrative level was strengthened, when the County Administrative Boards (CABs) were commissioned to develop regional climate and energy strategies. Coordinating and involving various stakeholders in the strategy work was essential to the assignment. The process of developing these

To improve the properties and functionality of starch, it is important to understand the physicochemical and structural characteristics as raw material, after being modified to increase its characteristics and/or during changes due to the processing conditions. For this reason, the objective of the present thesis is to improve the understanding of characteristics and molecular properties like mola

Industrial energy efficiency is one of the most important means of reducing the threat of increased global warming. Research however states that despite the existence of numerous technical energy efficiency measures, its deployment is hindered by the existence of various barriers to energy efficiency. The complexity of increasing energy efficiency in manufacturing industry calls for an interdiscip

People building their own houses have, at least theoretically, substantial autonomy when choosing, for example, a heating system and windows. In this article, focus is on the process of building new single-family houses and how energy efficiency and energy-efficient technology are incorporated into the building process. The conclusions emphasize energy as only one factor in housing purchase decisi

This article focuses on how Sweden's largest tenant-owners' organization, HSB, deals with energy efficiency. The aim is to examine HSB's energy goals, how they are determined and how they should be implemented at four levels: the national association, the regional office, the local housing co-operatives and the tenant-owners. Representatives of all four levels were interviewed. Achieving energy go

Achieving ambitious international energy-saving targets calls for more powerful instruments and will entail changes both in society as a whole and for individual actors. Besides developing increasingly efficient technology, the field of energy behaviour holds the greatest potential of energy conservation. This contribution considers households and how technology and design can support them in both

The Arctic is often perceived as the new resource frontier in a resource hungry world. Many actors both inside and outside the region are eager to know what opportunities lie under the ice, and many claim a say in the future development of the Arctic. In Greenland, a national economy based on natural resources will lessen the dependence on the former colonial power Denmark. Many consider this an i

Ferromagnetic semiconductor thin layers of the quaternary (Ga,Mn)(Bi,As) and reference, ternary (Ga,Mn)As compounds, epitaxially grown under either compressive or tensile strain, have been characterized from a perspective of structural and magnetization homogeneity. The quality and composition of the layers have been confirmed by secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). A thorough evaluation of the

In this article, we discuss how energy-efficient technology is adopted and domesticated in households. To reach the political goals on energy efficiency, both technological and behavioural changes are needed. We will discuss how new technology is integrated in families' everyday lives and which barriers and enablers arise in relation to technology diffusion. Energy saving issues are illustrated us

In order to reach the EU: s 20-20-20 primary energy savings target, energy efficiency needs to increase. Previous research on energy use and energy efficiency has focused mainly on the diffusion of energy efficient technologies. The discrepancy between optimal and actual implementation of energy efficient technologies has been illustrated in numerous articles and is often referred to as the energy

This article examines the environmental management of Stockholm's large brownfield development Hammarby Sjöstad through the concept of negotiating sustainabilities. An Environmental Programme injected exceptional aims into an ongoing, ordinary planning process involving developers, consultants, contractors and other stakeholders. In parallel, a project team was established and given the task of re

In this book, energy consumption in the household sector is examined. Barriers to and enablers of energy efficiency in households in relation to governmental policy formulation, the implementation and appropriation of technology are discussed. This represents a shift away from the conventional focus on energy supply toward a focus on energy use in everyday life. This shift is urgently needed, sinc

In this article, we discuss Swedish crisis management from the perspective that public administration has evolved from a government steering structure to a governance structure. The power to govern crisis policy has been partly transferred from "government" to autonomous policy networks, which may include both public and private actors. Geographic area responsibility is assigned to the Government

The Swedish energy sector has gone through a number of major changes over the last 15 years. In 1996, the electricity market was deregulated, and at the same time the prerequisites for district heating were changed, as the heat was now supposed to be sold at market price rather than self-cost price. In this chapter we analyse the process of market transformation in the district heating sector foll

Analysing and understanding energy consumption from the household activity perspective is vital for developing policy that promotes sustainable everyday life. Doing so entails learning how to connect policy with household activities and everyday life. We use a time-geographic visualization to analyse several dimensions of everyday life as a totality. From household members' time diaries, we can an

A new electricity-production concept attracted massive media attention in Sweden during 2008 when companies be-gan marketing small-scale photovoltaic panels (PVs) and microwind turbines. The products were launched by their simplicity: the components are so easy to install that anyone can do it. How, then, do households perceive these products? Why would households choose to buy them? What do house

The need to analyze and understand energy consumption in relation to households' activity patterns is vital for developing policy means that contribute to an energy efficient life and what people would deem as a "good" everyday life. To do this we need to learn more about how energy use is a part of everyday life; this article contributes to that objective. We use the time-geographic diary approac

Energy is an important resource in society and we often depend on energy in our everyday life. Energy-related emissions constitute at the same time a major environmental load, and we need to use energy more efficiently. To develop sustainable energy systems users need to transform their behaviour and start reflecting on their energy use. The aim of this paper is to discuss different methods to vis

This paper combines engineering and social science approaches to enhance our understanding of industrial energy efficiency and broaden our perspective on policy making in Europe. Sustainable development demands new strategies, solutions, and policy-making approaches. Numerous studies of energy efficiency potential state that cost-effective energy efficiency technologies in industry are not always