Habtamu Alem
Research Scientist
Attachments
CVBiography
Alem holds Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Economics from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). He works as a research scientist at the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) in the Department of Economics and Society. Alem was a researcher for the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and an executive officer for the Norwegian Institute of Agricultural Research. He is now the project coordinator for the SYSTEMIC project, which covers eight EU nations.
His research interest is food and nutrition security; Environmental and production economics; Climate change; Econometrics; impact assessment; circular economics; cost benefit analysis; consumer economics; Risk analysis; and topics related to development economics (developing and developed countries)
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
Decarbonising electricity does not necessarily translate into lower economy-wide fossil-energy use because coal, oil and natural gas can remain embedded in transport, heating and industry. This study assesses how low-carbon electricity portfolios are associated with economy-wide fossil-fuel dependence across 26 European Union member states during 1990–2024. The main outcome is the fossil share of total primary energy, complemented by robustness outcomes for fossil primary energy per capita and absolute fossil primary energy to distinguish changes in the fossil share from changes in fossil-energy quantities. Two-way fixed effects, Driscoll–Kraay inference and pooled common-correlated-effects estimation are combined with temporal-ordering, sub-period, multicollinearity, sample-restriction and country-heterogeneity diagnostics. Non-bioenergy renewable and nuclear electricity show the most consistent negative associations with fossil dependence. A ten-percentage-point increase in non-bioenergy renewable electricity is associated with approximately 2.9–3.2 percentage points lower fossil dependence; the corresponding nuclear association is approximately 3.5–3.9 points. The negative associations also persist for fossil energy per capita and absolute fossil energy, reducing concern that the headline result is driven solely by the denominator of the primary-energy share. Bioenergy evidence remains inference- and period-sensitive. The renewable lead is positive, but its statistical significance varies with the covariance estimator, reinforcing rather than resolving the endogeneity boundary. The results therefore support comparative system assessment of lower fossil reliance, electrification, flexibility and resilient low-carbon capacity, but not causal technology claims. © 2026 The Author(s).
Authors
Desalegn Chala Diress Tsegaye Alemu Habtamu Alem Belachew Asalf Tadesse Melesse Eshetu_Moges Nega Tassie Abate Ayalew Wondie Aklilu Tilahun Tadesse Abebayehu Aticho Alemu Gonsamo Lanhui Wang Erick Lundgren Jeffrey Kerby Jens Christian SvenningAbstract
Abstract Water hyacinth is among the world’s most damaging aquatic invasive plants, forming dense mats that disrupt ecosystem functioning, fisheries, navigation, and livelihoods across tropical and subtropical freshwater systems. Its rapid spread is driven by clonal propagation, short life cycles, and prolific seed production, particularly under nutrient-enriched conditions. Although mechanical, chemical, and biological control methods are widely applied, their long-term effectiveness remains uncertain when underlying eutrophication persists. Here, we present a large-scale, one-time water hyacinth removal campaign in Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest lake and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, as a representative nutrient-rich tropical freshwater system. Using high-resolution satellite imagery, we quantified coverage one month before removal, one month after removal, and one year later. We integrated SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis with a socio-ecological system map to assess mitigation mechanisms and identify sustainable management pathways capable of providing long-term solutions to halt water hyacinth proliferation in freshwater bodies. The campaign removed over 75% (~1271 ha) of water hyacinth, yet within one year the plant resurged to levels ~18% higher than pre-removal. This rebound highlights the ecological resilience of water hyacinth and the limitations of short term, noncontinuous control strategies. Our analysis identifies unmanaged catchment nutrient inputs as the primary driver of proliferation. Lake Tana serves as a model system demonstrating that water hyacinth functions less as a traditional invader and more as a bioindicator of eutrophication. We propose a transferable conceptual and methodological framework combining continuous removal, catchment-based nutrient management, and circular bioeconomy approaches, offering globally relevant lessons for sustainable management of nutrient-enriched tropical freshwater systems.
Authors
Emmanuel Tetteh Jumpah Habtamu Alem Bekele Hundie Kotu Selorm Ayeduvor Vladimír Verner Abdulai Adams Miroslava BavorováAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Division of Food Production and Society
From Waste to Wisdom (WaWi) Accelerating Circular Biowaste Solutions through North–South Partnerships
WaWi project accelerates circular biowaste solutions through a dynamic North-South and South-South partnership involving leading institutions from Norway, Ethiopia, Namibia, South Africa, Sweden, and the USA.
Division of Forest and Forest Resources
Co-developing Decision Support System for Coastal Mangrove-based Socio-ecological Systems in Eastern and Western Africa (CoastMan)
Coastal Mangroves in Eastern and Western Africa offer coastal communities much-needed ecosystem services and protection against key climate change risks, including risks to low-lying coastal-ecological systems, risks to terrestrial and ocean ecosystems, and as a result, risks to food security.
Division of Food Production and Society
FoodsecURe: Food security through better sanitation: the case of urine recycling
Human urine contains essential plant nutrients. Hence, urine can serve as a “free” and locally available fertiliser. Successful, low-cost urine-diverting toilets (UDTs) that separately collect urine have been developed in Scandinavia and Europe and manufactured at large scale in Africa. A solution for stabilising urine into a solid fertiliser has also been developed. But why can't we recycle urine at scale? In Sweden UDTs are used in some cottages, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU) has developed a method to stabilise and dry urine into a fertiliser product, urine-based fertiliser (UBF). FoodSecure aims to implement this technology at a medium scale in Ethiopia.
Division of Food Production and Society
Agricultural mitigation measures and the value of water quality improvements
Agriculture is one of the main sources of water pollution in Norway, and an important contributor to GHG emissions.