Thesis supervisor: József Popp
Location of studies (in Hungarian): John von Neumann University Budapest Abbreviation of location of studies: NJE
Description of the research topic:
Many industries around the world are investing enormous energy in exploiting the benefits of circular economy. In the EU, the strategy on the circular economy and bioeconomy accelerates the transition to a circular economy. Today, the linear economy prevails, and 100 billion tons of raw materials minerals, metals, fossil fuels and biomass – are used worldwide every year. Only 8-9% of global raw material consumption is recycled, thus the global economy is 8-9% circular.
According to the UN forecast, the world's population will increase from 7.8 billion people in 2020 to 9.7 billion people by 2050. Today, 56% of the world's population lives in cities, and according to forecasts, this proportion will rise to 70% of the global population by 2050. Parallel to the growth of the world population the demand for raw materials is expanding, as the use of fossil fuels as well, however, replacing them with renewable energy sources is the key to sustainable development. The circular economy is based on 5 main business models and/or their combination. Its tools are sustainable design, maintenance and repair, sharing, renovation, remanufacturing, recycling and reuse, thereby increasing the lifespan of natural resources while minimizing waste, i.e. treating them as more than one-time use products.
In the EU, the reduction of 50-60% energy dependence and the rapid replacement of fossil energy sources with renewable energy sources are the subject of serious economic and political considerations. The EU has undertaken to reduce GHG emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 2005, and by 2025, the emission trading system for carbon will be extended to the transport sector and the construction industry in addition to the heavy industry. The aim of the European Green Deal is for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050, and at the same time it shows a way out of the crises into which humanity has drifted globally. The European Green Deal did not originally serve the purpose of building peace and security, but it has now become clear that a common energy strategy and an energy union are also needed in the EU. If we reduce the use of fossil-derived inputs with the implementation the circular economy and bioeconomy, we increase biodiversity and ecosystem services, but changes in social behavior and consumption habits can also make a significant contribution to the protection of biodiversity.
Possible research directions:
• The impact of the circular economy on food-, energy- and environmental security.
• The possible role of renewable energy in the EU's decarbonization process by 2050.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS OF THE TOPIC ANNOUNCER IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCS TOPIC:
1. Ladeja Godina Košir and George Sakellaris and József Popp and Malgorzata Zimniewska and Rando Värnik (2021): BIOEAST Foresight Exercise - Sustainable Bioeconomies towards 2050, ISBN 978-615-5673-64-1, 137 p. European Commission’s Horizon 2020 project Grant Agreement No. 862699, BIOEASTsUP. https://bioeast.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BIOeast-Report-2021_FINAL_compressed.pdf
2. József Popp and Sándor Kovács and Judit Oláh and Zoltán Divéki and Ervin Balázs (2021): Bioeconomy: Biomass and biomass-based energy supply and demand. New Biotechnology, 60, 76-84, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2020.10.004 (Q1 és IF: 4,67).
3. Mohammad Fazle Rabbi and József Popp and Domicián Máté and Sándor Kovács (2022): Energy Security and Energy Transition to Achieve Carbon Neutrality. Energies, 2022, 15(21), 8126; pp. 1-19, https://doi.org/10.3390/en15218126
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