Eva Pongracz

Jenni Ylä-Mella: Strengths and challenges in the Finnish waste electrical and electronic equipment recovery system in Finland. Consumers’ perceptions and participation. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series C Technica 548.

The national implementation of the WEEE Directive and the development of WEEE recovery infrastructure in Finland were studied

Consumers’ awareness and perceptions toward the WEEE recovery system were assessed through a survey conducted in Oulu

The role of consumer behaviour in storing electronics at home and its impact were considered.

Available on-line

Jean-Nicolas Louis: Dynamic environmental indicators for smart homes. Assessing the role of home energy management systems in achieving decarbonisation goals in the residential sector. Doctoral dissertation. Acta UO, C 599.

This thesis evaluates the impact of home automation for electricity management in residential sector using environmental and economic indicators.

To this end, a life cycle assessment was performed to evaluate the impacts of the manufacturing, use and disposal phases.

Dynamic environmental indicators using the ReCiPe model were also developed

Available on-line

Pablo Piñero: The metabolism of socio-economic systems : combination of input-output analysis and material flow accounting for footprint-type indicators. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series C Technica 733

This thesis explored innovative ways to improve estimation of material footprint-type indicators in application of Input-Output (IO) analysis to Material Flow Accounting.

The study of material flows at inter- and intra-national level demonstrated that a regional economy can play a twofold role, both as sink or source of raw materials and in value added, depending on its position in the global economic hierarchy.

Available online

Paula Saavalainen: Sustainability assessment tool for the design of new chemical processes. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series C Technica 767

The main contribution of this research is a sustainability assessment tool, developed to foster the sustainability of chemical processes already in their design phases. There are several assessment tools to assess products; however, there is a gap and a lack of tools to be used at the early design phase of chemical production processes.

The work reviews indicators of chemical process sustainability. Sustainability assessment in this context covered the following dimensions: environmental, social including safety, economic and health. For the assessment of chemical hazards, the latest European chemicals regulations and classification databases were used as a baseline.

The tool can be used as a guideline in the early stages of designing a chemical process, to provide a competitive advantage, and offer guidance in the critical target areas of process design. The developed sustainability assessment tool can also guide chemists and chemical engineers in the piloting and manufacturing stages.

Available online

Sanna Hietala: Environmental life cycle assessment of livestock production : the applicability of IPCC and PEFCR methods to Finnish production. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series C Technica 913

In this thesis, the main objective was to gain an understanding of the current level of the Finnish livestock sector’s environmental impacts and on the applicability of different LCA methods when investigating the environmental sustainability livestock products. Here, the climate change impact of Finnish beef, broiler chicken and pork were assessed with liquid organic dairy products and the most important feed crops in non-ruminant production. For the same production systems in variable combinations, eutrophication, acidification, and water scarcity impacts were assessed.

Available online

Victor Pavlov: Arctic marine environmental protection : oil spill response: impacts and challenges. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series C Technica 916.

Protection of the Arctic marine environment is a subject of increasing concern due to the industrial use of local resources and the opening of maritime shipping routes. Thus, there are emerging risks of marine pollution associated with these development trends. The lack of readily available response capabilities, long distances from populated areas, harsh climate with long periods of darkness, extreme cold, and frequent storms make spill response and clean-up operations difficult.

This doctoral dissertation examined the challenges related to oil spill response (OSR) in the Arctic, specifically focusing on the Barents Sea. The study aimed to address Arctic oil spill response technologies, the impact of Arctic weather on response efforts, and the potential ecological impacts caused by oil spill accidents.

Available online

Aida Hosseinian (2024) Progressing circular economy in the Nordic countries : phosphorus recovery from secondary resources. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series C Technica 940.

Circular economy has emerged as a sustainable alternative to traditional, linear economy. Stakeholders from academia, business, and policy-making sectors are all actively participating in driving the transition towards circular economy. A key focus area within the circular economy is the management of nutrients, with particular attention to phosphorus, as a critical raw material.This research investigates the potential of implementing circular economy principles in phosphorus recovery across Nordic countries by applying state-of-the-art and systematic review, and a life cycle assessment study.

The findings of this study suggest that while the importance of circular economy is recognized by different stakeholders, several key areas of this concept are not sufficiently explored. There are several under-explored areas of circular economy research which need the focus of scholars to evaluate and even to integrate it into the geographical context.

The life cycle assessment study determine the environmental impact of four sewage sludge treatment case studies. The results indicate that a combination of anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis is the most sustainable solution.Pyrolysis emerges as an effective approach to treating the sewage sludge that ensures the resources stay in the economy and do not become pollutants in the environment. Moreover, it alines with multiple regulatory frameworks directed at phosphorus recovery.

Available online

Jari Pulkkinen (2024) Assessing the thermal demands and flexibility of buildings under changing climate : typical and extreme weather conditions. Doctoral dissertation. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis, Series C Technica 945.

Buildings in the future are expected to participate in climate change mitigation through the improvement of their energy efficiency levels. Concurrently, a changing climate requires adaptation measures in buildings to ensure healthy living conditions. To ensure the correct end result of these actions, the thermal behavior of buildings under future conditions needs to be evaluated.

This doctoral thesis investigates the thermal demands of future buildings in Finland. The work uses future weather data with a thermal building model to evaluate the total and peak thermal energy demands of different energy efficiency leveled detached houses in the near, medium and long-term in Vantaa and Sodankylä. Then, the benefits of load shifting in the heating of domestic hot water tanks were evaluated.

The results from this work emphasize the need for more local level policies in the future for determining suitable building adaptation measures, while delivering supporting information for the selection of correct energy efficiency levels for buildings to meet climate targets. Overall, this can help in deciding suitable design, operation, and renovation measures for future buildings.

Available online