Suchergebnisse

Biomass has become a popular alternative to fossil fuels in energy generation. Especially in Sweden, where vast quantities of forest resources are available, nuclear power is starting to be phased out, there are restrictions on expanding hydro power and there is the political will to "set an example" with respect to carbon dioxide emissions.These are the main drivers for the increased usage of biomass in energy generation. However, an issue often neglected is that domestic forest resources are already, to a large extent, used by the forest industries. By promoting biofuel the consequences for the forest industries need to be considered. This paper attempts to construct and analyze the supply of two types of forest resources, namely, roundwood and forest residues derived from either final harvest or commercial thinning operations. Two separate supply curves are constructed and estimated, one for pulp usable and the other for pulp unusable forest resources. The cost structure is based on an economic-engineering approach where the separate cost components are built up from the lowest cost element into aggregates for labor, capital, materials and overhead costs for each forest resource.The results indicate an untapped potential of 12 TWh of pulp unusable forest residues. However, after this 12 TWh has been recovered it becomes more profitable to use roundwood for energy purposes than to continue extracting further amounts of forest residues. ; Godkänd; 2003; 20070314 (keni)

This paper investigates whether shocks (economic effects) to wood fuel production for 18 countries of the European Union (EU) over the period 1961–2012 are temporary or persistent. A variety of time-series and panel data unit root tests are employed. The presence of structural breaks is taken into account when performing those tests. Wood production in approximately 78% of the countries is found to follow a non-stationary process supported by the result that most of the panel unit root tests also point towards a non-stationary process. This indicates that the economic effect will tend to be persistent and suggests that policies affecting wood fuel production, implicitly or explicitly, will have enduring effects. For instance, forest conservation policies will persistently reduce the wood fuel production level. ; Validerad; 2015; Nivå 2; 20151112 (roblund)

Northern Scandinavia is an area, which is rich in natural resources and energy-intensive base industries covering several branches, e.g., Mining, Iron and Steel, Metal production, Pulp and Paper. They are often part of a community network where a change in one node affects the behavior and efficiency of its neighbors. Improvements in environmental load, energy efficiency etc. cannot simply be achieved by improving the individual units. A system approach is needed. Such methods (Process Integration) have been developed within the Nordic Countries for more than twenty years, e.g. within the Swedish national program that was launched 1989. They are been practically applied e.g. at SSAB in Luleå An excellence center for Process Integration in Steelmaking (PRISMA), with industrial partners from Sweden and Finland, has recently been founded at MEFOS in Luleå. The process integration methods have been developed to handle multi-objective problems. This is because the industry has to answer to a combined demand on energy consumption, emission limits for several substances, climate effects as well as costs. For regional evaluation an economic model has been developed which explicitly returns changing input and output prices due to changes in e.g., production technology, derived input demand or the introduction of market instruments. Especially on smaller regional markets, changes in input demand of fibrous raw material might significantly affect its price. This price effect must be considered whenever extensive changes in the production process are considered so that the project is not, ex post, rendered unprofitable. Another factor of great influence is local and national attitudes. These can influence both market value and political decisions. These effects can be evaluated in stakeholder studies. Co-evaluation with the technical parameters mentioned above is interesting, but an obstacle is the difference in result format. A method (CONJOINT) has been developed, by which these results can be converted into numerical parameters. For the Swedish Steel industry it has been tested within the ECO-Cycle program. An attempt to merge these methods into a combined study is presently carried an ongoing PROCESS INTEGRATION study for a Pulp and paper mill in northern Sweden. The possibility to merge into a combined tool or methodology is discussed. ; Godkänd; 2009; 20091011 (cargri)

Background: Alignment (i.e., the process of creating fit between elements of the inner and outer context of an organization or system) in conjunction with implementation of an evidence-based intervention (EBI) has been identified as important for implementation outcomes. However, research evidence has so far not been systematically summarized. The aim of this scoping review is therefore to create an overview of how the concept of alignment has been applied in the EBI implementation literature to provide a starting point for future implementation efforts in health care. Methods: We searched for peer-reviewed English language articles in four databases (MEDLINE, Cinahl, Embase, and Web of Science) published between 2003 and 2019. Extracted data were analyzed to address the study aims. A qualitative content analysis was carried out for items with more extensive information. The review was reported according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Results: The database searches yielded 3629 publications, of which 235 were considered potentially relevant based on the predetermined eligibility criteria, and retrieved in full text. In this review, the results of 53 studies are presented. Different definitions and conceptualizations of alignment were found, which in general could be categorized as structural, as well as social, types of alignments. Whereas the majority of studies viewed alignment as important to understand the implementation process, only a few studies actually assessed alignment. Outcomes of alignment were focused on either EBI implementation, EBI sustainment, or healthcare procedures. Different actors were identified as important for creating alignment and five overall strategies were found for achieving alignment. Conclusions: Although investigating alignment has not been the primary focus of studies focusing on EBI implementation, it has still been identified as an important factor for the implementation success. Based on the findings from this review, future research should incorporate alignment and put a stronger emphasize on testing the effectiveness of alignment related to implementation outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to describe the creation of a scale-the iLead scale-through adaptations of existing domain-specific scales that measure active and passive implementation leadership, and to describe the psychometric properties of this scale. METHODS: Data collected from a leadership intervention were used in this validation study. Respondents were 336 healthcare professionals (90% female and 10% male; mean age 47 years) whose first-line and second-line managers participated in the intervention. The data were collected in the Stockholm regional healthcare organisation that offer primary, psychiatric, rehabilitation and acute hospital care, among other areas. The items for measuring implementation leadership were based on existent research and the full-range leadership model. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the dimensionality of the scale, followed by tests for reliability and convergent, discriminant and criterion-related validity using correlations and multilevel regression analyses. RESULTS: The final scale consists of 16 items clustered into four subscales representing active implementation leadership, and one scale signifying passive implementation leadership. Findings showed that the hypothesised model had an acceptable model fit (χ2(99)=382.864**, Comparative Fit Index=0.935, Tucker-Lewis Index=0.911, root mean square error of approximation=0.059). The internal consistency and convergent, discriminant and criterion-related validity were all satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: The iLead scale is a valid measure of implementation leadership and is a tool for understanding how active and passive leader behaviours influence an implementation process. This brief scale may be particularly valuable to apply in training focusing on facilitating implementation, and in evaluating leader training. Moreover, the scale can be useful in evaluating various leader behaviours associated with implementation success or failure. ; Bio4Energy

BACKGROUND: Leadership is a key feature in implementation efforts, which is highlighted in most implementation frameworks. However, in studying leadership and implementation, only few studies rely on established leadership theory, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions regarding what kinds of leadership managers should perform and under what circumstances. In industrial and organizational psychology, transformational leadership and contingent reward have been identified as effective leadership styles for facilitating change processes, and these styles map well onto the behaviors identified in implementation research. However, it has been questioned whether these general leadership styles are sufficient to foster specific results; it has therefore been suggested that the leadership should be specific to the domain of interest, e.g., implementation. To this end, an intervention specifically involving leadership, which we call implementation leadership, is developed and tested in this project. The aim of the intervention is to increase healthcare managers' generic implementation leadership skills, which they can use for any implementation efforts in the future. METHODS/DESIGN: The intervention is conducted in healthcare in Stockholm County, Sweden, where first- and second-line managers were invited to participate. Two intervention groups are included, including 52 managers. Intervention group 1 consists of individual managers, and group 2 of managers from one division. A control group of 39 managers is additionally included. The intervention consists of five half-day workshops aiming at increasing the managers' implementation leadership, which is the primary outcome of this intervention. The intervention will be evaluated through a mixed-methods approach. A pre- and post-design applying questionnaires at three time points (pre-, directly after the intervention, and 6 months post-intervention) will be used, in addition to process evaluation questionnaires related to each workshop. In addition, interviews will be conducted over time to evaluate the intervention. DISCUSSION: The proposed intervention represents a novel contribution to the implementation literature, being the first to focus on strengthening healthcare managers' generic skills in implementation leadership. ; Bio4Energy

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to evaluate the iLead intervention and to investigate whether or not transfer of training can be supported by contextualising the intervention (recruiting all managers from one branch of the organisation while focusing on one implementation case, as well as training senior management). DESIGN: A pre-evaluation-postevaluation design was applied using mixed methods with process and effect surveys and interviews to measure the effects on three levels. SETTING: Healthcare managers from Stockholm's regional healthcare organisation were invited to the training. PARTICIPANTS: 52 managers participated in the iLead intervention. Group 1 consisted of 21 managers from different organisations and with different implementation cases. Group 2, representing the contextualised group, consisted of 31 managers from the same organisation, working on the same implementation case, where senior management also received training. INTERVENTION: iLead is an intervention where healthcare managers are trained in implementation leadership based on the full-range leadership model. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Reactions, knowledge and implementation leadership are measured. RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that iLead was perceived to be of high quality and capable of increasing participants' knowledge. Mixed effects were found regarding changes in behaviours. The contextualisation did not have a boosting effect on behaviour change. Hence, group 2 did not increase its active implementation leadership in comparison with group 1. CONCLUSIONS: iLead introduces a new approach to how implementation leadership can be trained when knowledge of effective leadership for implementations is combined with findings on the importance of environmental factors for the transfer of training. Even though managers reported general positive effects, transfer was not facilitated through the contextualisation of the intervention. There is a need to further develop approaches to help participants subsequently apply the learnt skills in their work environment.