In line with Sloan (1996) but on European data (STOXX 600) we are investigating whether stock prices reflect information about future earnings contained in the accrual and cash flow components. The extent to which current earnings performance persists into the future earnings performance is shown to depend on the relative magnitudes of the cash and accrual components of current earnings. Moreover, we still find a significant positive excess return (Jensen?s alpha and size-adjusted return) by replicating Sloans (1996) hedge portfolio by taking a long position in the stock of firms reporting relatively low levels of accruals and a short position in the stock of firms reporting relatively high levels of accruals. However, we find no evidence of negative excess returns for companies with relatively high accruals, this somewhat lower the total excess returns for all the portfolios.

This study is based on a statistical analysis of fundamental key ratios on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the period 2004-2012. In total 35 financial ratios of 90 companies were tested, ultimately five ratios remained within the 5% significance level. These ratios were ROA, P/B, Total Yield, EV/EBIT and Operating Margin. A custom made investment model was created based on the purpose to achieve a risk-adjusted excess return. The results in general did not show any significant difference in return between the model's portfolio and index.

The goal of this master thesis project was to develop computer models of some plausiblepretreatment techniques and to assess the potential benefits/costs of using pretreatment andanaerobic digestion for waste management of organic waste from a system perspective. Forthis purpose a computer program called ORWARE has been used. ORWARE (organic wasteresearch) is a program for making life cycle assessments of waste management. As the mainpart of the project work the ORWARE system has been provided with three new models ofpretreatment techniques. The additions consist of: One model of pretreatment with ultrasound,one model of thermal hydrolysis and one model of a screw press.

Hammarby Sjöstad is a new district of southern Stockholm built with focus on reduced environmental impact by recirculation of materials and sustainability. The environmental goals aim to cut the water consumption by half and a separate storm water treatment. Thus, the wastewater will be more concentrated and will originate from the households only. The Sjöstad project includes the idea of a local treatment plant for the household wastewater. To evaluate this possibility, Sjöstadsverket, an experimental treatment plant was constructed.

In the next few years the pollutants loading at the Slottshagen wastewater treatment plant in Norrköping is going to increase due to the reason that one of the waste water treatment plant in the district will be shut down.A survey of how these different pollutants are divided in the treatment process is therefore necessary for mapping out both the loading and treatment efficiency.This can be achieved by studying mass balances.Mass balances were carried out for the water treatment process for the mechanical/chemical,biological and the chemical stage.The mass balance studies show that the treatment efficiency was very good. However in order for the mass balances to be quite consistent and to ensure complete coverage of results and conclusions i.e. more reliable results, sludge samples should be collected and taken at different times per day and the influent rate should be investigated.In this work mass balance has been set up in order to illustrate and identify the factors that should be considered and taken care of for further estimation using mass balances in the future. Furthermore this survey results in a calculating model for the mass balances at thisplant.This calculating model is used as a tool to facilitate future calculations for mass balances for the water treatment process at Slottshagens wastewater treatment plant.Moreover it provides a basis for carrying out further estimation of the treatment process in the near future.In this project the importance of some operating parameters was also taken in consideration.This calculating model can be modified so that calculations of such operating parameters i.e. sludge loading and sludge age can be easily performed.Such information can be used further to evaluate different operation alternative in order to ensure an optimal use of the treatment process with in the plant..

Hallsta paper mill uses large amounts of water during the pulp and paper making processes. The wastewater is treated in two separate activated sludge processes referred to as BIO 1 and BIO 2. The main aim is to reduce the organic substance content, measured as COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) before the wastewater is released into the environment. Since the effluent produced is very rich in organic substances, the addition of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are necessary to give satisfactory treatment results. Problems with sludge bulking sometimes occur which lead to increased levels of suspended matter and nutrients in the effluent.

Over a long period of time, there has been a rich debate in the academic and financial world if active management can generate an excess return. Many experts say that the current active management strategies is nothing more than a money grab that produces large gains, for banks and investment firms, through high management fees while producing no excess value for the individuals buying their service. In short, an effective market makes it almost impossible for fund managers to produce value for their clients in the long run.No argument has only one side though, other experts say that active management has a role to play because not all investors are rational. This irrationality can lead to mispricing on financial assets in the marketplace and in turn lead to an ineffective market where active management can fill a much needed role. The purpose of this study is therefore to see if active management strategies can create a higher risk adjusted return, taking management fees into consideration, during times of high volatility when the uncertainty is at its peak.

Chemical stabilization of mine waste from Ljusnarsbergsfältet with sewage sludge and calcium carbonate residuesMine waste from Ljusnarsbergsfältet in Kopparberg, Sweden, is considered to constitute a great risk for human health and the surrounding environment. Some of the waste rock consists of sulphide minerals. When sulphide minerals come into contact with dissolvedoxygen and precipitation, oxidation may occur resulting in acid mine drainage (AMD) and the release of heavy metals. The purpose of this study has been to characterise the waste material and try to chemically stabilize the waste rock with a mixture of sewage sludge and calcium carbonate. The drawback of using organic matter is the risk that dissolved organic matter can act as complexing agents for heavy metals and in this way increase their mobility.

According to a decision of the European Commission, measures are to be taken to reduce the use of energy in the EU. The goal is to reduce it by 20 % compared to the current use. This shall be done to the year 2020 (European Commission, 2011). One industry that use large amounts of energy is the construction of buildings which account for almost a third of the energy use (Brogren, 2012). The major part of the energy that is used in the construction industry is not used when the buildings are built, but rather during the rest of their subsequent lifetime.

AbstractThe dependency of fossil fuels in the transport sector causes large emissions of carbondioxide. This problem can we reduce by using vehicle gas from digested solid manure and leftover of pasture. I have studied the potential for this in the county of Västernorrland. Thepurpose is to investigate how much vehicle gas that can be extracted.One central, large scale digestion and upgrade plant should be placed in Härnösand. Theamount of pasture and manure that is economical and practical available is enough to produce2,7-3,5 millions Nm3 vehicle gas.

This thesis examines different methods for the cooling of data centers. Several means of cooling with the refrigeration cycle have been studied, as well as the feasibility of using free cooling in different parts of Sweden. In addition, the possibilities of transferring excess heat to a nearby district heating system were investigated. It was found that in all investigated cases except two, the data center could be cooled solely with free cooling for at least 300 days a year when only the outside air temperature was considered as a constraining factor. The limit was then set to 20 °C.The vast majority of all district heating systems in Sweden get little to none of their heat from other excess heat sources.

Mine waste from Ljusnarsbergsfältet in Kopparberg, Sweden, is considered to constitute a great risk for human health and the surrounding environment. Some of the waste rock consists of sulphide minerals. When sulphide minerals come into contact with dissolved oxygen and precipitation, oxidation may occur resulting in acid mine drainage (AMD) and the release of heavy metals. The purpose of this study has been to characterise the waste material and try to chemically stabilize the waste rock with a mixture of sewage sludge and calcium carbonate. The drawback of using organic matter is the risk that dissolved organic matter can act as a complexing agent for heavy metals and in this way increase their mobility.

In a sustainable society the use of renewable energy and recycling of materials is of high importance. Wastewater treatment plants use large amounts of energy in the processing of wastewater. This study seeks to evaluate wastewater as an energy resource and to examine treatment plants potential to become sustainable energy producers. The study is based upon the internal processes of Himmerfja?rdsverket.

A renewed application for environmental permit for the Hovgården landfill in Uppsala shall be submitted before December 2004, therefore the municipality of Uppsala needs improved knowledge of the contents, mostly organic compounds in the leachate and they also want to find a method to minimize the emissions of these compounds. The purpose of this study was to find a practical and economical method based on chemical oxidation using oxidants. The oxidants investigated are Fenton's reagent, hydrogen peroxide, Oxypro, potassium permanganate and potassium persulfate. The study was made on untreated leachate and leachate that has been treated in an aerated dam followed by sedimentation dams collected from the Hovgården landfill, and alson on sludge water from sludge storage cells. The effects of the five oxidants have been established by analysing the UV absorbance at the wavelengths 253,7 nm and 260,0 nm at different pH values. The UV absorbance was used to indicate the amount of aromatic hydrocarbons in the water. Also analyses of iron and manganese were done after the experiments with potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide and Fenton's reagent.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate whether accounting quality is a priced factor by investors. The event studied is the release of year-end result and the release of the annual report. To assess accounting quality a sample of 30 companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during 2003 to 2007 are studied. We assess accounting quality by the absolute size of discretionary accruals using the modified Jones model developed by Dechow et al. (1995).