Climate and resources in focus for new professor

A 48-year-old native of Gothenburg, associate professor of Chalmers University of Technology and father of three is VTI’s latest professor. His most important challenge is to analyse and manage the balance between effective climate action and to prevent new environmental problems.

Being new at work means being new at work, even if you are a professor. On Anders Nordelöf’s second day at VTI, the focus will be on logging in, receiving an access card, and getting acquainted with day-to-day procedures – and this interview, as his introduction.

How does it feel? “Great, I’m finally here,” he says after some time spent locating the appropriate meeting room at the VTI offices at Lindholmen in Gothenburg.

“I’m very excited and it’s nice that my schedule is a bit empty. There is space for both introspection and fresh beginnings.”

At VTI, he will be working as a newly appointed professor of environmental systems analysis, which in simple terms is a collection of methods which analyse how nature, society and people are affected by technology at the system level (the best-known is LCA, Life Cycle Assessment). All technological changes – in fact, everything we humans do – affect our surroundings in one way or another.

A main task – both in the future at VTI and in previous research – is the challenge of reducing climate impact without having several undesirable effects at the same time in terms of resource management, the environment and human health. The batteries found in electric automobiles are arguably the most obvious example of how electrification lowers carbon dioxide emissions overall. Yet, some of the metals utilised in the batteries are limited resources.

In addition, the mining of these metals often causes problematic emissions, and battery cell production is also very energy-intensive.
On the same day as this interview was being conducted, Anders Nordelöf was interviewed by Dagens Industri about the battery manufacturer Northvolt being forced to import cathode material from China. He reflects on what he has said – his ambition was to be clear, but not to say any more than he can stand for in a direct dialogue with the company.

“It is not enough to look at climate impact in isolation. We must also consider other environmental impacts and look at environmental and resource issues broadly,” he says.

Is there a risk that we forget other environmental issues because the climate threat is so acute?

“No, I don’t think so. However, it is founded on our research team’s efforts to draw attention to and remind people of all the pertinent environmental and health issues. And with the right technology and resource management, I believe this dilemma can be solved,” he says and adds:

“Then we have to watch out for the opposite too – putting too much emphasis on individual environmental effects and claiming that everything is just as serious and problematic as climate change. The oil extraction industry is happy to do that and use that as a reason to continue as before.

After completing his dissertation at Chalmers, Anders Nordelöf gained seven years of experience as a researcher and research leader, most recently holding the position of senior researcher in environmental systems analysis. He will continue to work part-time at Chalmers, initially 50 per cent, and eventually go down to 20-30 per cent, to be able to continue to be the principal supervisor and to teach.

After graduating from the Master of Science in Engineering Physics programme, his career began at a consulting company with several assignments for Volvo Cars, among others. Anders Nordelöf has worked extensively with electronics and hybrid vehicle technology, often as a project manager, and he was, among other things, team leader for the drivetrain group during the electrification of Volvo’s C30 model. It was fun, challenging and extremely labour-intensive, as he recalls today.

In 2011, he applied for and was accepted as a doctoral student at Chalmers – at an older age than many other doctoral students which was undeniably a sudden change in the direction of his career. Shortly before that, his son, Melker, was born, with Down’s syndrome.

“When a life event of such importance happened, making more significant life adjustments became easier. I was able to spend more time at home than planned and it gave me the opportunity to think. I’ve always been interested in environmental issues and technology, but was I doing the right things as a consultant? I felt that I wanted to understand more and maybe contribute differently and more effectively.”

“After experiencing some upheaval in my life, I understood that I was free to pursue my interests. It’s impossible to predict the future, but you can choose to act on your desires now,” he continues.

Despite his, arguably, late start as a doctoral student, his research career has gone all the faster after that. The highest academic title is now awarded to Anders Nordelöf, seven years after his thesis was defended in 2017. The role and position of professor is both a recognition of a high level of knowledge and an opportunity to create new and important research.

“As a professor, I also have a greater impact and the role carries greater influence in various issues. This applies not least to my third assignment, which is to disseminate knowledge to society,” says Anders Nordelöf, who is relatively often contacted by journalists, for interviews and background research.

The assignment at VTI includes running his own research projects and increasing knowledge in general about environmental systems analysis and life cycle assessments. The assignment also includes building his own research group in the short term with a focus on these issues. This means recruiting both doctoral students and senior researchers as well as acquiring funding.

Even though Anders Nordelöf does not want to reveal any concrete project ideas, he emphasises VTI’s broad expertise and the opportunity to study all the various modes of transport such as cars, heavy road vehicles, ships, planes and trains. We’ll have to see, but it’s perhaps not a wild guess that some projects will take that full range into account.

Text: Mikael Sönne

Four questions to Anders Nordelöf. See a short film below (in Swedish):