The purpose of this study is to examine which factors played an important role in the food price crisis of 2007-2008. Theories used are Microeconomic theory, explaining changes in supply and demand, and Macroeconomic theory, explaining the impact of changes in exchange rate on prices. A theory regarding speculation is also used to explain the impact of speculative activities effects on price. The method used is multiple regression analysis in order to determine the effects which Ethanol production, oil price and dollar exchange rate had on the surge in the price of corn, rice and wheat.The data used is in monthly observations during the period 2005-2008. However, other factors are taken into consideration during the study, such as production quantity, stock size, economic growth, speculative activity and population growth.

Climate changes today are mainly caused by anthropogenic activities and the increased emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and this has raised questions on how to reduce the usage of fossil fuels. Ethanol is a good alternative to conventional gas and has been used in Brazil since the 1970 ?s. In Sweden several newspapers has written about the poor working conditions on many farms thus making the Swedish company SEKAB design a certification for their Ethanol to ensure that it can be considered to be a sustainable alternative.Furthermore WWF has developed a certification tool called Bonsucro in cooperation with Coca Cola, Ferrero group, BP and Shell. This is due to the fact that no global certification tool has been available up until now.

Safety and risk management currently have a starting point based on the negative outcome of safety, thus the lack of safety. The starting point for the thesis is to find a way to measure the positive outcome of safety through ergonomic aspects regarding chemical plants that are covered of the Seveso II Directive.Through a literature study of safety and ergonomics fourteen key aspects of safety were found. Safety Performance Indicators (SPI's) are used to assess the fourteen identified proactive indicators of safety. An analysis in three steps - called risk status assessment - is design to give an SPI its value. A pilot study of the risk status assessment was performed at the Ethanol producer Lantmännen Agroetanol in Norrköping, Sweden..

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: Alcohol consumption after training and its effects on muscle gain and recovery adult menAuthor: Frida Carlstedt, Puck JanssonSupervisor: Frode SlindeExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: April 09, 2014Background: Today, the Swedish population exceeds the recommendations for alcohol intake while advised to move at least thirty minutes a day. It is well established what happens if you drink alcohol before a workout or if you workout the day after an alcohol intake, but it is less well established how muscle gain and recovery are affected by an intake of alcohol in the phase of recovery.Objective: The objective of this review is to investigate if there is a relation between alcohol intake after a workout and effected recovery and muscle gain. This was performed by measuring the outcomes cortisol, testosterone, creatine kinase as well as different measures of muscle strength. The issue was ?Does an intake of alcohol after training affect recovery and muscle gain??Search strategy: A systematic review in the databases PubMed and Scopus with the MeSH-terms: exercise, muscles, recovery of function, training, athletic performance, performance, sport, alcohol drinking, alcohols, alcohol and Ethanol.Selection criteria: Criteria for articles to be included in this review were that they would be RCT- and human studies in healthy subjects as well as containing an Ethanol intake after a physical activity that consisted of weight training in the form of resistance training or other forms of activity that promotes strength.Data collection and analysis: A systematic search for literature as mentioned above (search strategy) was performed as well as an analysis with the SBU quality review template for randomized studies, and a quality review for each measure of outcome according to Gothenburg University summarized evidence template for measures of outcome.4Main results: Many studies are authored by the same group of researchers and/or are of a lower quality.

Scandinavian Biogas is involved in the planning of a combined Ethanol and biogas factory in Karlskoga, Sweden. Besides biogas and Ethanol large amounts of digester residues will be produced, about 450 000 liquid tonnes residue (~7,3 % Dry Substance( DS)). The objective of this thesis was to investigate possible uses of the residue from the biogas production process ScandgasEthanol developed by Scandinavian Biogas, and to derive a methodological approach how to evaluate and compare handling systems. Three systems where proposed and compared in this thesis; spreading of the untreated residue as fertilizer (system 1), dewatering to a higher DS content to reduce transportation before spreading as fertilizer (system 2) and production of a solid fuel by dewatering and drying the residue (system 3). The general conditions for the proposed systems were investigated in terms of practical viability, economical aspects, environmental impact and energy inputs/outputs.

För att skydda den europeiska produktionen av bränsleetanol har EU satt upp höga tullar på importerad etanol. Vi har analyserat hur marknaderna för socker och etanol fungerar i Brasilien och EU, därefter försökt förutse vilka samhällsekonomiska effekter ett borttagande av importtullen i EU kan ha. Vi finner att etanolpriset i EU sjunker, därmed ökar efterfrågan. Bensinkonsumtionen ökar på kort sikt i både EU och Brasilien, då ett lägre etanolpris medför ett lägre pris på bensin via den inblandningskvot av etanol som finns i vanlig bensin. På längre sikt kan så kallade ?flex fuel?-bilar bli allt vanligare och bensinkonsumtionen kan avta.

The tomato is an important crop worldwide, and in recent years it has received great attention due to its rich content of carotenoids, which in studies indicate to have health benefiting properties. Many studies have been done in this area of research and in how to optimize the carotenoid content in tomatoes and tomato products. The objectives of this essay were to summarize present data in this field. The results were as follows:There are nine different carotenoids identified in tomatoes. Lycopene and ?-carotene are the ones that have been given the greatest attention.

During installation and operation of a geothermal heat pump system leakage of an antifreezing agent can appear in a borehole and leak out in surrounding groundwater. To guarantee high quality drinking water for generations to come Sweden has dedicated some areas as water protection areas. The local authority gives permits for the installation of heat pump systems within water protection areas. Before giving a permit the local authority makes an evaluation of the risks involved in installation and operation of the system within the area. By keeping a certain distance between the protected object in the area and the heat pump system the risk of polluting the protected object with an anti-freezing agent can be reduced.This thesis makes a comparison between three different methods of calculating an appropriate distance between the protected object and the heat pump system.

Soybean meal from South America is the most common protein feed used for animal production in Sweden. Production of soybean has negative effects on the environment and the transports from South America to Sweden causes considerable CO2 emissions. Therefore it is a growing interest in locally produced protein feed in Sweden. Protein feeds that are possible to grow in Sweden are rapeseed, peas, faba beans and lupins. Those are adapted to the Nordic climate and are perfect to grow in cereal rotations.

Since the turn of the millennium a sharp increase in the interest for bio energy has been observed. Important reasons for this growing interest can be due to the fact that fossil fuels are a finite resource. A net discharge of greenhouse gases occur when fossil fuels are burned. The discharge of greenhouse gases are considered to be the main reason to the greenhouse effect. Means of control to increase the use of bio energy has been introduced and, as intended, the use of bio energy has increased. As a result of the legal provisions the ability to pay for bio energy has increased, which the forest industry view as a problem.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the content of glucose, fructose, sucrose and fructan (WSC) varied in silage, haylage and hay harvested from the same field and at the same time of harvest. The study also investigated if differences in the WSC-fraction in the forages caused differences in composition of WSC in the colon of horses fed the forages. Hay, haylage and silage were harvested in the first week of June 2005 and stored for about nine months before feeding. Horses that were fistulated in right ventral colon and caecum were used, but only the colon fistula was used for sampling. The fresh crop and the conserved hay, haylage and silage were analyzed for chemical composition and WSC-fraction.

Examensarbetet studerar möjligheterna att använda en statisk cross hedge för att prissäkra etanol. Situationen som analyseras är hämtad från Lantmännen Agroetanol. Agroetanol är Sveriges största producent av etanol och driver den första anläggning i Sverige där vete omvandlas till etanol. Anläggningen är Sveriges största och byggs för närvarande ut så att kapaciteten kommer under år 2008 kommer att öka med 300 procent. Priset på spannmål har stigit dramatiskt under år 2007 samtidigt som etanolpriset har sjunkit något.

Fast pyrolysis is a method for converting biomass into three energy rich products: char, gas and bio-oil, where the latter is most interesting.  Pyrolysis is an endothermic process where biomass is heated in an anaerobic environment and, with the right operating conditions, up to 80 %wt bio-oil can be extracted. Key parameters for fast pyrolysis are: stable reactor temperature (~500°C), short residue time for gas in the reactor (<2 s) and a very high heating rate for the biomass. Today there are several different process solutions for fast pyrolysis, where fluidized beds and rotating cones are most developed. Bio-oil has compared to fossil oil: lower heating value, low pH and also polymerizes with time. Because of this upgrading is desirable for increasing competitiveness.

This report covers the conceptual design of a new one person hybrid vehicle that is to be fast and convenient to drive on the roads. The vehicle is most of all supposed to be used as a commute vehicle but can also be used at other occasions as well.During the work with this project the group has focused on three larger areas, the outer design (body), wheel chassis and an ergonomically designed interior. The group was not able to just create these parts in 3D to get a trustworthy vehicle, hence number of other components and details were also created to get a better entirety.The outer design starts with idea generation and sketches and ends with a 3D model which is rendered to show how the final product is going to look. The design of the body has been going on during the entire work process due to new ideas and improvements that seemed interesting and had to be changed.The wheel chassis also started with idea generation, research and sketches. It ended up with a simulated 3D model which later on was mounted on the vehicle body to show how the vehicle is going to perform during usage.

The prevailing food and energy crisis of the world, due to the declining reserves of fossil energy and a never ending rise of consumption, forces us to look into new fields to supply our energy demand. The boom of bio energy is criticized, as food crops are used to provide biodiesel and Ethanol and the volumes are ridiculously small to supply world demand. Algae are one of the world?s oldest life forms and exist in many different phyla, providing a great variety to choose from, for different purposes. Cultivating microalgae offer a way to produce energy at great volumes without competing with food production and at the same time the algae offer a way to use our expensive nutrients in a more efficient way, besides this the algae are carbon dioxide neutral since their carbon source can be supplied by the atmosphere and the additional energy required can be supplied by algal oil or other renewable sources.