Margretelund's treatment plant in Åkersberga, like other Swedish sewage treatment plants, faces new challenges in connection with the adaptation to a more sustainable and circular society. In order to contribute to a good local environment with few transports and minimized odors, achieve a high degree of phosphorus recovery, and reduce organic and inorganic pollutants in the sludge, Roslagsvatten, in collaboration with the IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, will evaluate C-Green's OxyPower HTC-technology. 

The HTC-technology is hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) combined with wet oxidation of HTC-water. The wet sludge is taken care of at the treatment plant and converted into a fast carbon-enriched product called HTC-biochar or hydrochar. The HTC-process involves heating the wet sludge (180–260°C) under high pressure and oxygen-free conditions with water present. The hydrochar that is formed can be upgraded to fuel, soil improver or activated carbon. 

In this work, the potential of using hydrochar as a soil improver is studied by examining the biochar's physical and chemical properties. Hydrochar was compared with biochar from pyrolysis, which is also a charring process of biomass at high temperatures (300–650 °C) under oxygen-free conditions but without the presence of water. 

Based on the results of published studies, hydrochar has the potential to replace or supplement mineral fertilizers. Hydrochar improves soil fertility and productivity by e.g. increase overall plant growth, improve nutrient mineralization and phosphorus availability, and provide a slow release of nutrients. 

In  Kenya, lack of clean cooking services affect around 80 % of the population. A range of improved cookstoves (ICS) have been produced to address this. This study aims to investigate the long-term usage of an improved stove, the biochar producing gasifier. The stove was distributed to 150 rural households divided between three regions in Kenya, in a research project in 2016. This follow-up study looked at areas of stove satisfaction and dissatisfaction among participants, as well as identifying key factors which separate users from non-users. All 150 were asked a few questions over the phone and 30 were visited for in-depth, survey-based interviews. Most households used the traditional three stone open fire stove for everyday purposes, sometimes complemented by the gasifier or other ICSs[CS1] [CS2] . 60 % of households used the gasifier at least monthly. Users and non-users rated the gasifier stove similarly. They varied in terms of stove ownership with users owning on average half a stove more than non-users. User households were generally larger. The gasifier was a fuel efficient stove and created little smoke, but was considered too small and required tiresome fuel preparation. The reported problems cannot be fixed unless thoroughly changing the stove design and possibly the gasification process itself, and without addressing them the gasifier is unlikely to replace the three stone stove. The study recognizes the potential of the gasifier as an improved stove, but calls for creative redesign in order to achieve mass adoption.

In off-grid holiday homes, alternative toilet solutions are needed. There is a wide range of dry toilet systems, where urine-diverting systems and incineration toilets are common solutions. Urine-diverting dry toilets require that users need to manage generated fecal fractions. This is often done by private composting or through municipal latrine bucket pick-ups. In this project, fecal management for holiday homes in Sweden is examined from three perspectives by (1) studying the biological phenomenon with composting and how a compost should be managed to generate rich humus, whilst minimizing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the act of composting, (2) examine current user experiences associated with latrine compost management, and (3) map out current latrine management systems, including laws and regulations. The goal was to develop a user-friendly concept for fecal management for urine-diverting toilets, based on this research. The project was carried out in collaboration with Harvest Moon, a company focused on the development of innovative and refined dry toilet systems.

The project was initiated with a literature review, the examination of current fecal management systems, and interviews with composting experts and researchers. The background research showed that there is no such thing as perfect compost management since it depends on what end goals the users have. Research also showed that frequently turning the pile, increases ammonia (NH3) emissions, but reduces methane (CH4) formation. Furthermore, biochar can be added as a bulking agent to aerate the compost mass, and aid the hygienization process of such a mass, since it binds e.g., hormones. Regarding composting methods, a static passively aerated compost is not the fastest process but has the least compost mass reduction, which is desired when using it as a soil enhancer. In addition, it requires the least management. This method was therefore chosen for further development. Furthermore, since temperature and moisture are easily measured with sensors, it was deemed interesting to implement such sensors in a final concept, to alleviate management for the user.

To assure that the final concept would reflect user needs and wishes, a phase of user studies was then initiated. The studies showed that users generally see latrine compost more as something to take care of, rather than as a resource, and therefore have no interest in using composted humus. The research also showed that because many municipalities require 2-year storage of the material in the composter, users experienced scheduling issues, which ultimately led to an inefficien composting system.

The third perspective that was investigated, was the management systems of today and how they are regulated by laws. Each municipality has its own requirements on how latrine composts should be managed. These requirements are based on the Environmental Code, as well as Naturvårdsverket’s recommendation for the implementation of the law. Apart from the compilation of these regulations, this investigation showed that pyrolysis, as well as the centralization of hygienized feces, could be future alternatives to latrine composting and latrine pickup. But due to the short Time-to-Market, and the project's limited time scope, product development towards system innovation was deemed unrealistic within this project. 

Insights from these three perspectives created a framework for the concept development phase, which was finalized with building a full-scale functional prototype. During detailed design, the concept was further developed in CAD. The final concept presented in this project is a modular, user-friendly latrine compost that can be adapted to follow different municipal regulations. It has an inner mesh that aerates the compost mass to reduce methane gas formation. The mesh is constructed with hexagonal perforated acid-proof steel. The composter has a push latch mechanism on the lid together with two gas struts, which makes it easy to open since the user only needs to push the lid once, for it to open. Temperature and moisture sensors make it easier for the user to manage their compost correctly, and a front door allows for ergonomic emptying of the finished compost humus.

Future development to reduce production costs, simplify the construction, continue the CAD model development, find suitable sensors, develop product instructions as well as perform user tests with the physical prototype should be further investigated.

Biochar is a product that is created through the pyrolysis of sustainably sourced biomass. The production of biochar is considered a negative emission technology and can be used to mitigate climate change and contribute to sustainable development. The aim of this project was to determine how Stockholmshem AB in an efficient and climate friendly way can produce biochar from the garden waste generated by their own activities. To determine this, an assessment was carried out using a simplified comparative life cycle assessment of three scenarios, which were differentiated by scale, for how Stockholmshem could produce biochar. The scenarios were also compared in relation to a reference scenario designed to mirror the company’s current management of garden waste, which relied on incineration for district heating. To furthermore assess the effectiveness of the scenarios, a simple costing analysis was executed as well as an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. 

The assessment indicates that implementation of biochar in Stockholmshem’s operation in all scenarios results in reduced emissions compared to the reference scenario. An important factor for environmental performance was shown to be the scale of biochar production. A high-tech and large-scale pyrolysis unit both contributed to decreased emissions from pyrolysis and a larger amount of produced biochar which in turn led to more sequestrated carbon with further improvements in climate performance. In terms of economics, the most efficient way of producing biochar for the company can be assumed to involve internalized production due to reduced costs for waste disposal. Implementation of biochar production can potentially both lead to reduced and increased costs regarding disposal of garden waste for Stockholmshem. 

Sweden's ambition is to achieve net zero emissions of fossil CO₂ by the year 2045. To reach this target, Sweden aims to reduce its emissions by 85%, while so-called supplementary measures will be taken to compensate for the remaining 15%. This study investigates Sweden's work with negative emissions as a complementary measure with a focus on the technologies bio-energy for carbon capture and storage (Bio-CCS in Swedish), Direct air capture for carbon capture and storage (DACCS) and biochar. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), which can help make industrial plants CO₂-neutral, has also been studied. During the project, a literature study and interviews with researchers, politicians, industry and company representatives as well as authorities were carried out, which formed the basis of the report. 

For CCS and Bio-CCS, which include separation of CO2 from point source emissions, there are four different separation strategies called post-, pre-, and oxyfuel combustion as well as chemical looping. Among these, post combustion is highlighted as the most developed. In the case of DACCS, either absorption or adsorption is applied to separate CO₂ from the atmosphere. CCS, Bio-CCS and DACCS all have in common that the captured CO₂ must be stored in deep geological formations once it has been separated. Biochar is produced by heating biomass in a pyrolysis plant and can be used as a soil improver and carbon sink. Today Sweden has a domestic biochar production on a commercial scale, which means that biochar differs from the other three technologies that have yet to reach that stage of development. However, there are several pilot projects within Bio-CCS and CCS in Sweden. 

Sweden's well-established bioeconomy means that the conditions are good for biochar and Bio-CCS to contribute to negative emissions in relation to the 2045 target. DACCS, on the other hand, is not considered relevant as a supplementary measure to the year 2045 due to its technical immaturity and high cost. From interviews with researchers, authorities, companies, industry organizations and politicians, it is clear that there is a consensus between the different actors on which factors need to be addressed in order to enable large-scale implementation of the technologies. Common to all technologies is that financial incentives are required to enable large-scale implementation. The CCS technologies also require regulatory changes to facilitate the transport of CO₂.