This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using different benchmarking models to measure and compare the efficiency of Swedish gas distributors. It also discusses to which extent the results of a benchmarking study should influence the revenue-cap which will be implemented in the gas distribution sector in Sweden from year 2011. The discussion is based on arguments from both theory and practical applications of benchmarking. The results suggest that benchmarking Swedish gas distributors against distributors in another country using a parametric model is most favorable, but the reliability will be increased if non-parametric models are used also. Partial and total productivity measures could be used to confirm results of other benchmarking analyses.

We were accepted to the field study Dignity and therefore chose to write our thesis in connection with it. Our subject is the oasis of Siwa in Egypt. The society has long been isolated, and therefore, the city has been able to preserve their handicraft methods and values. We chose to study the Ecological and Handicraft Development Center, which is a newly opened center for craft production. We wanted to see how the centre could use storytelling as a marketing strategy.

The purpose of this study is to compare the energy related and environmental consequences of implementing optical sorting as a means of waste collection with those of reducing food waste. In addition to studying the possibility of implementing optical sorting in downtown Stockholm, the yielded amounts of energy from waste collection and reduced wastage will be calculated. This is done by way of literature reviews and interviews. The amount of energy that can be generated through optical sorting and biogas production via anaerobic digestion in downtown Stockholm is 29-44 TJ/year, compared to 118 TJ/year saved by completely eliminating food waste. The generated biogas can replace fossil fuels, but the required food waste contributes to increased greenhouse gas emissions as well as reduced bio diversity and eutrophication during the wasted food?s lifecycle.

In modern society in terms of economics and environmental impact, it is important to ensure that a company is as energy efficient as possible to reduce the amount of energy used. About 10 TWh of electricity used annually to pump drives in Swedish industry. Therefore, pumping system has great potential for energy savings.The objective of this report was to determine how much energy and money that can be saved with the insertion of variable speed drive to six pumps on Bleach plant 4 in Skutskär Mill. The work was performed with electrical measurements during one week, analysis of pump curves and the compilation of production data over a year.The results show that four of these six pumps were profitable and yielded an annual saving of 1172 MWh of electricity and 560 000 SEK. With an economic lifetime of 10 years and a discount rate of 6.8% the final result for the entire life-cycle savings became 3 355 000 SEK.

Increased consciousness about environmental and sustainable issues has led to consumers and companies who are more in favor of reuse and recycle. Even though this is a fact, people today are buying new things more often compared to before. For instance for a mobile phone the functionality lifecycle is eight years which can be related to the economic lifecycle today which is 1.5 years compared to 3 years in 1995. Only 1-2 percent of the mobile phones thrown away in Sweden today are handed in for recycling. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether an international company within the recycling and reuse of mobile phone industry has a market in Sweden.

Graphic design is an integrated part of the public spaces we move through in our daily lives. This thesis explores the emotional aspects of graphic design, with a focus on environmental graphics for the public space. The goal is to find ways in which the emotional aspects of a design solution can be varied without compromising the practical aspects, i.e. affect the conveyance of information. This goal is pursued through an analysis of historical and contemporary literature as well as by design practise.

Tidigare forskning har visat att individers omgivning (klimat, natur) har relativt stor inverkan för hur pass stor vemodet blir vid byte till en ny omgivning. Omgivningen anses även påverka och forma individens personlighetsdrag. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vilka individtyper som är mest villiga till att byta ort för ett lämpligt arbete, i relation till deras huvudsakliga uppväxtort. Undersökningen bestod av 250 deltagare. Resultatet redovisade signifikanta samband mellan både uppväxtort och attityd till att arbeta i stora och mindre städer.

Politiska och ekonomiska svängningar samt geografiska förutsättningar präglar stadens fysiska planering samt dess uttryck och form. För Lund och Köpenhamns räkning har planeringsprocessen under drygt femtio år tillbaka skett utifrån ett antal plandokument, upprättade för att kontrollera stadens utveckling. Studier av dessa dokument visar hur städerna fysiskt brett ut sig i landskapet samt argumenteringen kring denna tillväxt. Under 50- och 60-talen bredde städerna ut sig för att kunna erbjuda fler och bättre bostäder under devisen ?välfärd åt alla?.

Business is changing and so are society?s expectations. Companies are expected to take responsibility for their trade and the context they are operating in, by looking at socially, economically and environmentally aspects. Many companies handle it by implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) to their line of action. This is often handled by collaborating with other organisations, such as non-governmental organisations.

The purpose of this study was to compile when and why piglets die during the suckling peri-od. Piglet mortality is an important factor influencing the profitability of piglet production. There are many factors that play a role and interact whit each other. This study summarizes when the piglets die during the suckling period and reasons why the piglets die. The infor-mation given is crushed, illness, management/environmental, genetic influence and piglet birth weight/farrowingprocess.

Biological diversity is one out of four dimensions, characterizing the subject of Biology ac-cording to the school curriculum. As a concept, biological diversity had its break through at the UN environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the convention about bio-logical diversity, named CBD, was signed. According to the convention, almost all the na-tions of the world have engaged themselves to preserve the national diversity of species, in-cluding the diversity of genetics and ecological systems.This thesis focuses the biological diversity from the perspective of school books. The aim is to find out how the biological diversity is presented in biology books for students aged 12-15 years.In 1994, the current Swedish secondary and high school curriculum called LPO-94 was pre-sented. The biology books used in this study were published between 1994 and 2007, all of them exist in many editions and are published by three different publishers.The conclusion of the study is that all the biology books that were examined have reached different levels of the development in the field of biological diversity..

Background: Following an increased awareness concerning social and environmental aspectsin society, more enterprises establish sustainability reports in order to inform theirstakeholders about the company?s sustainability duties. A previous study indicates that themetal sector is enjoying relatively limited increases in business opportunities and/or financialvalue of corporate responsibility. Another study suggests that there is a gap in expectationsbetween producers and users of sustainability reports due to an uncertainty regarding whatinformation such reports should contain and what audience such reports should target. Thequestion is whether or not a gap in expectations concerning sustainability reporting is acontributing factor to the limited increases in financial value in the metal sector?Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine how a sustainability report should becarried out by a company in the steel industry given what information the company and thestakeholders consider as essential in a sustainability report.Methodology: To accomplish the purpose of the study, a deductive approach was used due tothe availability of suitable theories.

I detta examensarbete undersöks vad som lockar med bilen som vardagligt transportmedel hos invånare i Malmö. Som en del i detta, identifieras faktorer bakom valet av transportmedel. Malmöbors tankar kring sin egen miljöpåverkan samt vilka utmaningar vi står inför när det gäller att gå emot ett mindre bil-dominerat samhälle diskuteras. Metoden bestod i att genomföra samtalsintervjuer med sex personer som samtliga bor i Malmö och som har körkort och tillgång till bil. Resultaten tyder på att bilens attraktion består i de fördelar den tillhandahåller, såsom lastutrymme, sparad tid, frihetskänsla och oberoende.

The aim of this study has been to, through a couple of chosen theories, examine in what way and for what purposes Japan has used its international aid system, How can the nation have been said to have implemented and acted in lines with the philosophies and principles set forth in the ODA declaration. What approaches, concerning positive and negative aid sanctions in the matters of aid to Cambodia and Burma, have been chosen and what have the motives for these choices been. What have been the determining factors of the outcome related to these sanctions - economic, political and/or matters of identity? I have found that a concern for possible decrease in economic profit and investment related areas, combined with a feared loss of political prestige and worsened diplomatic relations to the neighbouring countries in the Asian society, have come to overtrump the notion of advocating democracy, human rights, environmental and anti-militaristic issues..

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse a group of young adults? childhood experiences of the intervention "contact family". The used methods were qualitative interviews and a standardised formulary with life questions, to strengthen the interviews and to compare data. The theoretical frame was taken from Bronfenbrenner?s child development theory and Antonovsky?s salutogenic perspective, which we supplemented with Hilchen Sommerschild?s theory about the "conditions of control".