This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sequality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

The main purpose of this study is to clarify the underlying reasons as to why people choose to travel by car or taxi, and to do so by using people´s choice of transportation to and from Arlanda Airport as an example. Furthermore it is also in our interest to see what changes are needed to make more travellers use the available public transportation.Because of the increasing pollution rate from the means of conveyance headed to and from Arlanda Airport, Luftfartsverket is attempting to decrease the amount of emission from the connecting transportation sources. Luftfartsverket has a pollution limit which is about to be reached in a few years, based on a prognosis made by Arlanda´s office of environmental issues. In order to investigate people´s travel mode choice a survey was conducted at Arlanda Airport, Stockholm. 82 travellers were interviewed on a three day basis inside terminal 4 and 5.

The aim of this work is to develop new conceptual designs for the fairings that are situated between the fin and the rear fuselage on the new version of the JAS 39 Gripen aircraft, called the Gripen E/F. The designs presented should show a profit in the form of lower weight. To achieve weight loss, the possibilities of using other construction materials other than those which are available at Saab today were studied. Therefore, a material survey was carried out in which the market for modern construction materials was studied to get an idea of today?s level of technology.

When the emissions from the diesel trucks today accounts for a large part of the total emissions from the road traffic, the trend with a more extensive use of diesel trucks for transportation will therefore lead to increasing carbondioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Because of the fact that technical progress in the form of optimized engines and shifts in the means of transport sometimes result in even greater emission levels, other solutions to this problem must be studied to decrease the emissions of carbondioxide from the diesel trucks. The purpose of the thesis is to show how a decrease of the carbondioxide emissions from diesel trucks in Sweden can be achieved in a costeffective way by the use of a carbondioxide tax and a differentiated vehicle tax. The method used in order to fullfill the purpose of the thesis is studies of literature, mainly of public government reports. Literature of enviromental economics will be used to show the need of a tax and how to determine the dynamic effective carbondioxide tax in steady-state.

This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sequality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

Freshwater ecosystems have long been neglected as an important part of the global carbon cycle. However, research shows that most of the world?s lakes are net-heterotrophic and consequently emitters of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. In many boreal and north-temperate lakes, most of the yearly emissions usually occur in spring, shortly after ice-thaw. The aim of this study was to quantify the flux of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in three boreal lakes, during this annual event.

Tylö AB is the leading manufactor of sauna cabins in Europe, but there is a lackof a sauna lightning produced by Tylö. The project of developing a new saunalightning series was assigned two students at the developmentengineeringprogram at Halmstad University. The main problem with lightning in the saunais the heat and security aspect. The selection fell on LED technology as thelightning source, thanks to its small measures and low heat emission.The work of constructing of a lightning armature which the capability of coolingdown the LED lightning was carried out during autumn ?06 and spring ?07.

Tylö AB is the leading manufactor of sauna cabins in Europe, but there is a lack of a sauna lightning produced by Tylö. The project of developing a new sauna lightning series was assigned two students at the developmentengineering program at Halmstad University. The main problem with lightning in the sauna is the heat and security aspect. The selection fell on LED technology as the lightning source, thanks to its small measures and low heat emission. The work of constructing of a lightning armature which the capability of cooling down the LED lightning was carried out during autumn ?06 and spring ?07.

With a larger awareness of the climate changes and increasing electricity prices, energy efficiency measures in the industry have become more common. By rationalize the activity and by the same time decrease the emission of greenhouse gases the company can both save money and reduce negative environmental impact. For the Swedish industries the electricity price have traditional been relative low, which has resulted in a considerable larger usage than other European countries. By a deregulation of the European electricity market the electricity price will level off between the countries, which will cause a higher electricity price in Sweden than we are use to. To prevent that the Swedish industry don?t lose competitiveness against the other European countries, it will require energy efficiency activities in all different forms.ABB Sweden has decided to decrease their total energy usage with five percent in two years.

The cost of forwarding corresponds to about one tenth of the forestry industries raw material cost. This gives a motive to do good follow-ups to get a good overview of the forwarding distance and, thus, enable improvements. Follow-ups are also justified by the possibility to make more accurate calculations of the harvesting costs, if better estimations of forwarding distance are achieved. Today (2009) Stora Enso has GPS and vehicle-computers in most of their forwarders. These are used mainly for the forwarder to follow the tracks of the harvester and for the planning leader to see how the forwarder has been driving within the stand.

The design of the building envelope affects the energy consumption of a building. As the energy requirements for new buildings are becoming more demanding, the performance of the building envelope must be improved. Energy efficiency and durability are important attributes to consider.This report includes investigations of the building envelope, moisture and passive solar energy. It is based on the analysis of two different buildings with different designs. These buildings stand as reference for two of the companies who are working on a new, climate smart, residential area in Uppsala, Sweden.Studies and analyses on energy consumption and moisture transportation were made.

The agricultural sector accounts for about 13 percent of the total load of greenhouse gas emissions from Sweden (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 2007). The Swedish objective to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions with 40 percentage units to the year of 2020, based upon the year of 1990, might imply stricter regulations for Swedish farmers. A regulation or other forms of economic incentives is probably necessary to reduce the emissions originating from the agricultural sector. This study aims to investigate the economic and managerial impact on two agricultural firms with differing production system given that a constraint on green house gas emissions is introduced. Gases included in this study are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Three methods of sensitivity and unceartainty analysis have been applied to the operative stormwater- and recipient model StormTac. The study area is the watershed of lake Flaten in the municipality Salem. StormTac?s submodels for stormwater, pollutant transport and the recipient are cosidired. In the sensitivity assessment, the model parametres and inputs were varied one at a time by a constant percentage according to the ?one at a time? (OAAT) method and the response of the outputs were calculated.

For several years Uppsala University together with several companies has been involved in a WISENET project aimed at improving railway transport security. By placing a sensor system near the wheels of each wagon, the temperature of the bearings can be measured and transmitted to a collector placed centrally on the wagon. This in turn transmits the collected data to RFID receivers placed intermittently along the railway.As the signals are transmitted wirelessly, problems may occur as the antennas get dirty or coated with ice and snow. To determine the effects of these coatings, several tests were performed examining the reflection coefficient S11, the impedance Z11 and the efficiency eta of an antenna, and how they varied when various coatings were placed over the antenna. Examined coatings were ice, snow and water to determine the effects of weather, and various metal-based coatings: powdered iron both pure and partially oxidized, and iron ore granules.

Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera om och i så fall hur införandet av en marknad för utsläppsrätter, EU ETS, The European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme, är en effektiv åtgärd för att åtgärda externalitetsproblemet växthuseffekten. Uppsatsens slutsatser är att införande av EU ETS medför större samhällsekonomisk vinst än om EU ETS ej införts. Nuvarande utformning av EU ETS omfattar inte alla verksamheter som bidrar med utsläpp av växthusgaser och måste därför kompletteras med andra styrmedel för att uppnå reduktionsmålet. EU ETS kan bli ett effektivare styrmedel om fler sektorer omfattas i handeln, exempelvis transportsektorn som i Sverige är den sektor som förväntas öka sina utsläpp. Handelsystemet kan även effektiviseras genom att tilldelningen av utsläppsrätter sker via försäljning istället för att vara gratis.