Designing New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme

publishedVersio

Hvordan har koronapandemien påvirket barnehagelærerens relasjoner med barna i barnehagen?

Jeg er særlig interessert i å undersøke barnehagelærere sine relasjoner med barna under, og i etterkant av pandemien. Dette er fordi jeg har hørt ulike tanker og erfaringer knyttet til perioden, samtidig som jeg selv sitter med mine egne erfaringer. Problemstillingen jeg først kom frem til har ikke gått gjennom noen særlige endringer underveis i prosjektet, for jeg visste at det var dette jeg ville undersøke. Problemstillingen ble derfor: «Hvordan har koronapandemien påvirket barnehagelærerens relasjoner med barna i barnehagen?»publishedVersio

Consensus, contradiction, and conciliation of interests: the geo-economics of the Energy Union. EPC Policy Brief, 8 July 2015

European Union energy policy calls for nothing less than a profound transformation of the EU's energy system: by 2050 decarbonised electricity generation with 80-95% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, increased use of renewables, more energy efficiency, a functioning energy market and increased security of supply are to be achieved. Different EU policies (e.g., EU climate and energy package for 2020) are intended to create the political and regulatory framework for this transformation. The sectorial dynamics resulting from these EU policies already affect the systems of electricity generation, transportation and storage in Europe, and the more effective the implementation of new measures the more the structure of Europe's power system will change in the years to come. Recent initiatives such as the 2030 climate/energy package and the Energy Union are supposed to keep this dynamic up. Setting new EU targets, however, is not necessarily the same as meeting them. The impact of EU energy policy is likely to have considerable geo-economic implications for individual member states: with increasing market integration come new competitors; coal and gas power plants face new renewable challengers domestically and abroad; and diversification towards new suppliers will result in new trade routes, entry points and infrastructure. Where these implications are at odds with powerful national interests, any member state may point to Article 194, 2 of the Lisbon Treaty and argue that the EU's energy policy agenda interferes with its given right to determine the conditions for exploiting its energy resources, the choice between different energy sources and the general structure of its energy supply. The implementation of new policy initiatives therefore involves intense negotiations to conciliate contradicting interests, something that traditionally has been far from easy to achieve. In areas where this process runs into difficulties, the transfer of sovereignty to the European level is usually to be found amongst the suggested solutions. Pooling sovereignty on a new level, however, does not automatically result in a consensus, i.e., conciliate contradicting interests. Rather than focussing on the right level of decision making, European policy makers need to face the (inconvenient truth of) geo-economical frictions within the Union that make it difficult to come to an arrangement. The reminder of this text explains these latter, more structural and sector-related challenges for European energy policy in more detail, and develops some concrete steps towards a political and regulatory framework necessary to overcome them

Biofuelling the energy transition in Nordic countries: explaining overachievement of EU renewable transport obligations

acceptedVersio

Exploring paths and innovation in Norwegian carbon capture and storage policy

publishedVersio

Small-scale wind energy, technology and solution development

Det er en enighet blant verdens klimaforskere at menneskeskapte klimagassutslipp er i ferd med å forårsake endringer klimaet som vil medføre alvorlige konsekvenser for menneskeheten og naturen. FNs klimarapport, publisert 9. august 2021, konstaterer det faktum at det er kopling mellom klimagassutslipp og klimaendringer. Følgelig har klimapolitikken satt en rekke kraftige mål for fremtiden for å bremse opp utviklingen og endringene i klimaet. For at disse målene skal nås, må energiforbruket legges om gjennom å erstatte fossil energi med fornybar energi. En energikilde som har blitt brukt i flere tusen år, og som det i dag er et stort og økende fokus på i forbindelse med kraftproduksjon, er vindenergi. I dag finnes det vindturbiner som omdanner vindenergi til elektrisk energi i et vidt spekter størrelser, fra de minste vindturbinene, også kaldt «mikrovindturbiner» som produserer så lite som under 1,0 kW til 50 kW, til de aller største vind-turbinene som produserer omkring 15 MW. Det satses stort på kjempeturbiner, spesielt i sammenheng med havvind. Disse turbinene leverer enormt mye strøm, men ikke uten ulemper. De store vindturbinparkene er kraftige naturinngrep, og må plasseres strategisk med hensyn til vindressurs og samtidig med hensyn til omgivelsene. De store vindturbinene er en trussel for dyreliv, spesielt fugler, de er visuelt forstyrrende i naturen og de produserer akustisk støy som over tid kan være skadelig for mennesker som bor i nærheten. Derfor satses det nå stort på havvind og flytende vindkraftverk. Disse kraftverkene forstyrrer mennesker, natur og dyreliv i mindre grad enn de landbaserte vindkraftverkene, og samtidig er det tilgang på store og stabile vindressurser ute på havet. Ulempen med havvindkraftverk er at det må bygges ekstra strømnett mellom kraftverkene og forbrukerne, som er både kostbart og fører til nettap når strømmen fraktes over lange strekninger. Det er samtidig komplisert og kostbart å bygge og drifte disse vindkraftverkene, spesielt med tanke på beliggenhet og størrelses-spekteret. Grunnlaget for dette masterarbeidet ligger i å finne lokale alternativ til de store vindturbinparkene. Masterarbeidet er derfor fokusert på å utrede muligheter og teknologiske løsninger innen mikrovindturbiner, samt undersøke hvordan de effektivt kan implementeres i samfunnet og produsere elektrisitet mer lokalt og distribuert enn de store vindturbinparkene. Gjennom å produsere elektrisitet i mindre skala og mer lokalt, kan strømproduksjonen bli mer fleksibel, naturvennlig, og redusere tap av energi i strømnettet. Videre er det blitt utviklet en konseptuell løsning for en småskala vindturbin.There is a consensus among the world's climate scientists that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are causing climate change that will have serious consequences for humanity and nature. The UN Climate Report, published on 9 August 2021, states the fact that there is a link between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Consequently, climate policy has set a number of strong goals for the future to slow down development and climate change. In order to achieve these goals, energy consumption must be changed by replacing fossil energy with renewable energy. An energy source that has been used for thousands of years, and which there is today a large and increasing focus on in connection with power production, is wind energy. Today, there are wind turbines that convert wind energy into electrical energy in a wide range of sizes, from the smallest wind turbines, also called "micro-wind turbines" that produce as little as 1.0 kW to 50 kW, to the largest winds. turbines that produce about 15 MW. There are large investments connected to giant turbines, especially in connection with offshore wind. These turbines deliver an enormous amount of power, but not without drawbacks. The large wind farms are big encroachments on nature, and must be placed strategically with regard to wind resources and at the same time with regard to the surroundings. The large wind turbines are a threat to wildlife, especially birds, they are visually disturbing in nature and they produce acoustic noise which over time can be harmful to people living nearby. Therefore, there is now a major investment in offshore wind and floating wind turbines. These power plants disturb humans, nature and wildlife to a lesser extent than the land-based wind power plants, and at the same time there is access to large and stable wind resources out at sea. The disadvantage of offshore wind turbines is that extra power grids must be built between the power plants and consumers, which is both costly and leads to grid loss when the power is transported over long distances. At the same time, it is complicated and expensive to build and operate these wind turbines, especially in terms of location and size range. The basis for this master's thesis lies in finding local alternatives to the large wind farms. The master's thesis is therefore focused on studying opportunities and technological solutions within micro wind turbines, as well as investigating how they can be effectively implemented in society and produce electricity more locally and distributed than the large wind turbines. By producing electricity on a smaller scale and more locally, electricity production can become more flexible, environmentally friendly, and reduce energy loss in the electricity grid. Furthermore, a conceptual solution has been developed for a small-scale wind turbine.M-MP

Institutional context, innovations, and energy transitions: Exploring solar photovoltaics with hydrogen storage at a secondary school in Norway

Public administrative action is crucial in facilitating sustainability transitions. Although organizational structures, cultures and established practices have been shown to lead to differing innovation results and technological diffusion at various levels of governance, little attention has been paid to the role of local government and administration in sustainable energy transitions. This study analyses renewable energy innovation at the local level of public administration in Norway. Drawing on the institutional and entrepreneurial literature, we examine the key formal decisions and organizational culture development that, combined with policy entrepreneurship, ultimately led to an unlikely and risky decision: to include a costly and unusual local energy system in the construction of a new secondary school. Tracing the administrative processes over 20 years, and drawing on document data supported by 14 interviews, we find that the strong and politically shielded administrative section, backed by a firm mandate and an established internal culture of innovation anchored in historic and local identity among the population and local industry, led to this decision. These factors were further facilitated by acts of policy entrepreneurship at crucial moments, shaping the underlying structures and institutional culture. The independence and strong direction of the administrative section can be emulated in other contexts in order to facilitate innovation. With suitable adaptations to other contexts, our findings may help to accelerate energy transitions through system innovations elsewhere.Institutional context, innovations, and energy transitions: Exploring solar photovoltaics with hydrogen storage at a secondary school in NorwayacceptedVersio

Medvirkning mot sin virkning? En studie av brukermedvirkningsprosessen i konseptfasen av et skolebygg.

Masteroppgave i kunnskapsledelse (MKL) - Nord universitet 201