Stump biomass is energy rich and stump harvesting for use as fuel become more and more interesting in Sweden. Swedish Forest Agency (2009) has estimated that stump harvesting in Sweden would respond to an annual energy supply of 57 TWh/year. However, stump has not been recognized as a bioenergy resource in Sweden. Suitable methods for pre-treatment of stump are probably of great importance to make it accepted as fuel. It is therefore rewarding to carry out an investigation in this area for stump. This report represents results from a diploma project, which was aimed to develop a fixed bed reactor for experimental study of biomass torrefaction, followed by TG analysis and kinetic modelling employing Ozawa method and different kinetic models including one-step and three-pseudo-component models.

Background: Goodwill has always been frequently discussed and a lot of scientific research has been done regarding factors that affect companies? impairment of goodwill. Previous research has concluded that companies reporting low results are more prone to do impairments of goodwill than companies reporting better results which possibly can be seen as a form of earnings management.Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to examine if goodwill impairments occur to a greater extent among Swedish listed companies when the companies are reporting lower earnings. A subsidiary purpose is to see if there has been an improvement since 2008 regarding the size of reported goodwill in comparison to equity in the years 2009-2011. And to analyze the development of the companies goodwill impairments in relation to reported goodwill.Methodology: Three quantitative studies have been performed for the years 2009-2011 where all the listed companies on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm have been included.

Hybrid aspen is a crossbreed between European and North American aspen. It is a fast growing tree species that has shown strong growth in the South of Sweden. The follow-ups that have been made on hybrid aspen stands, have mainly been done on plant material in the South of Sweden. In the North of Sweden, only occasional studies have been made, and the knowledge of Northern hybrid aspen stands is, thus, unsatisfactory.In the South of Norrland, land owners have planted hybrid aspen, but what kind of plants it is, and how well these stands have established, is not ascertained, since data has not been compiled on the subject.The objective of this study is to evaluate practical plantations of hybrid aspen in the South of Norrland regarding height growth, survival and damages. The ambition is to increase the knowledge about practical plantations regarding height growth, survival and damages, and from the conclusions thereof, give recommendations for future establishments of hybrid aspen in the area.For the study, eight hybrid aspen stands in the South of Norrland were localised.

Introduction:By insight in the company and by monitoring the management, the board has an important function in creating trust in governance of the company. Furthermore, the board reduces the asymmetry of information between the owners and the management, which also is the function of the auditor, by auditing how the board governs the company and the accounting. In case the board does not effectively monitor the management, the auditor has to extend its monitoring, which increases the owners agency costs through the audit fee. The board composition can affect how effectively the board practices the monitoringProblem: How is the audit fee affected by the board composition?Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain how the board composition affects the audit fee.Method: The study uses a quantitative method, where the data was collected from the annual reports of 112 limited companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX Large and Mid Cap lists on January 2, 2012.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the Management Control System is affected by a change in the owner structure from family owned to not-family owned. The study also tries to identify explaining factors behind the possible effects to the Management Control System. The study is based on a comprehensive case study on the company Alcro-Beckers which, in year 2001, was acquired from the owner Lindéngruppen fully owned by Ulf G Lindén. The acquirer was the non-family owned company Kemira OY, a Finnish stock listed group. The empirical foundation mainly comes from interviews conducted with people who were/are directly connected to the company, either as employees or as representatives for the owner.

In Dar es Salaam, as in many cities in developing countries, green areas are decreasing due to the fact that the growth of buildings, infrastructure and services has become a priority. As the population increases more buildings and infrastructure are needed and much of the building activity takes the form of uncontrolled settlements, which encroaches the public green space. Dar es Salaam has approximately three million inhabitants, of which about 70 percent are living in informal settlements. The aim with this study is to make a design proposal for a park and recreation area where the Msimbazi river basin in the centre of Dar es Salaam is today. The basin consist of a few playing fields, footpaths and some urban farming, but apart from this it mostly consists of unused grasslands, swamps and forests. Because it is an unsafe place and badly connected to the rest of the city infrastructure, it has become a barrier. The annual flood combined with the constant still shallow water creates a good breading ground for malaria mosquitoes.

One of the most crucial entries in the financial statements is revenue. Despite the importanceof revenue a lot of mistakes are made concerning this entry because of the extensive room forjudgements. Especially in the construction companies where a lot of differences exist due tothe fact that different standards are used for similar business transactions.The research concerning IFRIC 15 and the new upcoming standard for revenue recognition isnot very extensive. Studies including both IFRIC 15 and the new standard are even morelimited. Therefore this study aims to compare the effects of IFRIC 15 and the new upcomingstandard for revenue recognition, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, in three Swedishconstruction companies.

Objective: The objective is to examine if long terms of payment are created because of a perceived zero-sum game in the cash-to-cash cycles between companies. The study will also examine if dependence effects the dependent companies Cash-to-Cash-cycle because of long terms of payment. Scientific method: The study uses a qualitative and a quantitative method, where primary data is collected from semi-structured interviews. Additional primary data is collected from an unstructured interview with an expert in the field of which is examined. Additional data has been collected from the studied companies? annual reports.Theoretical references: The primary theory has been Game theory, where the researchers have used this theory to analyze the behaviors of the companies.

The purpose of this essay is to describe how Boverkets Byggregler has affected the cost ofnewly built houses from 2003 to 2012, to Boverkets Vision 2025. The purpose is also to findagent-principal relations in the construction sector.When investing in an energy efficient house the operating costs are reduced compared to aconventional house. But due to the lower operating costs, the investment cost rises. In thisstudy, we find out if it is economically viable to invest in an energy efficient house comparedto a conventional house from the customer's perspective.The study's approach has been qualitatively where we in collaboration with Derome Hus hadaccess to three conventional reference houses and a passive house and data that was necessaryto conduct viability assessments on houses. We conducted five interviews with people fromDeromekoncernen and Varbergs kommun.The calculation methods we have used in this study are present value method, annuity methodand a sensitivity analysis.

In the year of 2005 the international standard IAS 40 came in to use in Sweden, this lead to an opportunity for the corporations to choose either to evaluate their investment properties according to the historical cost accounting principal. The model contains the obtaining price with reduction for the planned writing off. The alternative that IAS40 offers is the fairvalue principal, which evaluate the investment properties by consideration of the income versus outcome and surrounding factors for every accounting periodSince the fairvalue is buildt on numbers the corporations them self choose what to publish and for how long the value depreciation should be lasting before it should be taken up as an unrealized value change in the reporting material. This means that there is a big chance that the evaluation can be distortedSince we just recently have had strong cyclical variation and are on our way from an excess boom into a weak economic climate, this will be the first study performed about fair value in a weak economic climate since the adoption of IAS40.The purpose of the essay is to find out how well the booked value of investment properties owned by corporations listed on the Swedish stock market accord with the fairvalue that the market and the Swedish property index indicates on. To be able to test this connection we gathered information from the corporation?s annual reports which we compiled to see how the market comprehends.

Boliden Mineral Ab's mine in Garpenberg, Dalarna is going through a massiveexpansion. The annual ore production is being increased from 1,4 million tons to 2,5million tons in less than two years period of time. Along this expansion thedepartment of mining techniques is administrating a project of optimizing the shortterm planning for the mining production. Garpenberg have since mid 90s storedinformation from all mining processes in a database.The information consists of time data from all the different activities required in themining process, for example charging, blasting, loading etc. The database also containstime data of delays that are affecting the production.

Problem formulation? Are there any factors affecting the choice of marketing strategy?? What is it that determines the degree for the company to use a standardized or a adapt marketing strategy?? How profitable is Scania's marketing strategy in each country?Objective: The overall aim of this study is based on local adaptation and global standardization to compare the degree to which the company Scania chooses to adapt or standardize its marketing to the South American and Asian markets.We also aim to compare and describe any factors that affect the countries' differences in marketing strategies and to evaluate and measure the profitability of marketing strategies in each market.Methodology: The study is limited to Scania's marketing in the truck market in Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia and Singapore from 2006 to 2010. In order to answer the study's problem formulation and purpose we have chosen to combine a qualitative and quantitative approach. Four interviews were conducted with marketing executives from Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia / Singapore and Sweden. We have also chosen to examine Scania's annual report and include figures on the market shares of Scania in the respective countries and the number of sold Scania truck which is then compared against the number of registered vehicles by country.

The municipal forests of Sala cover an area of 6 000 hectares, starting in the vicinity of the city and reaching north. At the same time as residents make abundant use of the areas closest to the community for outdoor activities and recreational purposes, the forest is of great economic value and also worth protecting for environmental reasons. These conditions make forestry in periurban woods more complex than conventional forestry, why a good understanding of the needs and demands on the forest and silviculture program is required. The purpose of this study is to depict the usage of the forests owned by the municipality of Sala, to set forth the common view of the silviculture program implemented by the municipality and to chart the expectations the community has on the forests and forestry of the future in the municipality of Sala. The survey part of this paper consists of the interviews of thirteen individuals representing nine interest groups. As expected the views of these individuals varied widely but some results were expressed by more or less all of them.

Lately it has become more common to question the companies? actions in how they affect their surroundings. Today, the expression ?Corporate Social Responsibility? often is mentioned in this connection. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is a concept whereby companies voluntarily integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operation.In Sweden there is a big difference between different businesses when it comes to their Corporate Social Responsibility.

Throughout many years there have been discussions within the European Union (EU) regarding harmonization and improvement of accounting rules for companies with listed shares or other securities. The ambition exists to adopt, the within the union applied accounting standards, to those applied globally. These discussions lead the year 2002 to adoption by the council and parliament of international accounting standards (IFRS). The ordinance meant that all listed European companies have to adopt international accounting standards, accepted for application within the EU, for their consolidated accounts.During July 2003 the Swedish Government Official Reports issued a report (SOU 2003:71) stating, among other things, the differences and oppositions of implementing IFRS on a corporate level in Sweden, since corporate disclosure is regulated in Swedish law by Bokföringslagen (BFL) and Årsredovisningslagen (ÅRL). One of the main obstacles for the full implementation of IFRS is that a company?s annual report underlies the governmental taxation and an implementation of IFRS would affect this balance.