Environment friendly transports are one of the main topics in the industry and society today.Shell organizes an annual university competition called Shell Eco Marathon. The goal is to buildthe car that consumes the least fuel during a race. KTH participated for the first time in 2006.The engine for this competition, DoubleTwo, has been developed within the school. Theprinciple is a two stroke counter piston HCCI engine with variable compression ratio. HCCIstands for homogenous charge compression ignition.

The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge about whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) ecology to enhance the ability to predict and also to prevent the crop damage they cause. The largest proportion of damage in Sweden has been reported at stopover sites during spring migration in February, March and April. Therefore, this study focused on an important stopover site, Lake Tysslingen, situated in south-central Sweden. Specifically, the relation between the duration and period migrating swans stage at the stopover site and mean temperature (measured at three different weather stations) for the years 2001-2010 was studied. Furthermore, the swans´ selection for certain fields in relation to field type, distance to roosting site, a supplemental feeding site and forest edge within agricultural land surrounding the lake was analyzed.

Soils in a metal contaminated site on Stångberget in Gusum in southeastSweden were investigated and compared to relatively unaffected soils a fewkilometres away. Pollution came from historical release of untreated flue gasesfrom a brass mill. The objective was to find information on how high the metalconcentrations are, if metals from the polluted soil affect the surroundings andif the metal contamination affects the microbial community. The soil wasinvestigated using several different methods, such as field XRF measurements,chemical analysis of metal, carbon and nitrogen content, pH, acid neutralizingcapacity, texture, soil depth, field leach tests, sequential extraction and microbialfunctional profiles. The study showed that copper and zinc concentrationswere above Swedish Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for lesssensitive land use on the entire investigated area.

The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge about whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) ecology to enhance the ability to predict and also to prevent the crop damage they cause. The largest proportion of damage in Sweden has been reported at stopover sites during spring migration in February, March and April. Therefore, this study focused on an important stopover site, Lake Tysslingen, situated in south-central Sweden. Specifically, the relation between the duration and period migrating swans stage at the stopover site and mean temperature (measured at three different weather stations) for the years 2001-2010 was studied. Furthermore, the swans´ selection for certain fields in relation to field type, distance to roosting site, a supplemental feeding site and forest edge within agricultural land surrounding the lake was analyzed.

Denna rapport består av information och data som har samlats in i syfte att kunna presentera en genomförbar konvertering av linfärjan Toras framdrivningssystem, som idag utgörs av dieselelektrisk drift, till bränslecellsdrift. Den bränslecell som behandlas i rapporten är PEMFC och är en bränslecellstyp som drivs av ren vätgas. Resultaten tjänar som en informationskälla för en potentiell konvertering och presenteras för Trafikverket, som ett alternativ i linje med Sveriges regerings mål att reducera mängden CO2 utsläpp på en nationell nivå. Informationen i rapporten har insamlats via mail- och telefonkontakt samt ett besök på Tora på plats i Stockholm. Ett genomförande av konverteringen är fullt möjligt men mer kostsamt än dieseldrift i dagsläget med avseende på höga bränsle- och inköpskostnader utav bränsleceller.

Sweden is a country with few native tree species. According to Govt. 2007/08: 108, exotic tree species may be seen as an opportunity to increase the growth of tree volume in Sweden. Potential areas where explored In this work for cultivation with Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm., Larix sukaczewii Dylis, Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt., Populus × wettsteinii Hämet-Ahti (tremula x tremuloides) and Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton et.al.

In 1993, Sweden signed the Convention on Biological Diversity and thus agreed to conserve our indigenous biological diversity. As a part of the convention, Sweden is obliged to conserve a number of domestic animal breeds and among them the Linderöd pig. In 1952, the zoo, Skånes Djurpark, took care of a pregnant sow that was regarded to be related to the old "forest pig". The old forest pig was thought to have been extinguished by the early 20th century as a result of the ban on boars not approved by state inspectors. However, according to later accounts, several farmers still kept some of these non-approved pigs.

This qualitative study examines how emergency people are framed in Swedish evening-, and local newspapers during the forest fire in Va?stmanland, Sweden 2014. The study also includes if there is any difference between the framing due to the location of the newspaper. The study is based on qualitative text analysis. The theoretical basis is representation, framing theory, media image, media logic and a few conceptions from crisis communication theory.

This qualitative study examines how emergency people are framed in Swedish evening-, and local newspapers during the forest fire in Va?stmanland, Sweden 2014. The study also includes if there is any difference between the framing due to the location of the newspaper. The study is based on qualitative text analysis. The theoretical basis is representation, framing theory, media image, media logic and a few conceptions from crisis communication theory.

IT-organisationer börjar ta större och större plats i bolags affärsverksamhet, och är idag även en av de största kostnadsposterna. I samband med detta ökar kraven på den IT som levereras där bland annat fler vill ha bättre insyn i vad som levereras och hur mycket leveransen kostar. Detta behov av insyn återfinns både hos IT-leverantören och hos deras kunder. Problem finns emellertid att göra IT mätbart i finansiella termer.  IT Financial Management (ITFM) är ännu i sin linda, men är en arbetsprocess som tar sig an denna problematik; Att kunna ge finansiell data på IT-tjänster. ITFM är en del av det vidare begreppet IT Service Management, vilket syftar till att beskriva hur IT som tjänst levereras på bästa sätt till en kund.

This thesis calculates and compares the values of improved environmental quality due to future possible investment alternatives in biogas production facilities at Käppalaförbundets Reningsverk (Käppala Sewage Treatment Works) in an attempt to determine which alternative yields the highest such value. Käppala faces three investment alternatives for the usage of biogas. The alternatives are production of vehicle fuel, district heating and thirdly, heat and power production. Estimates of the value of environmental change are calculated for each of the three investment alternatives, and these estimates are then compared. The environmental change in question is the change in discharge levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particle matter.

Biofuels are getting more important as EU plans to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. Because of that Sveaskog has chosen to invest in developing the handling process of logging residue. The company has a joined organisation for handling both round wood and logging residue. They are also working at integrating the forwarding of the logging residue with the rest of the harvesting team. Sveaskog is currently extracting 44 % of the available amount of logging residue.

During 2006 SNVDB (the national road data base for forestry) is being introduced to Holmen Skog. This data base contains all information about Holmen Skogs road systems. The information will then be used in different kinds of optimisation models which only produce correct and reliable results if the input data are of the adequate quality. Today there are reasons to believe that road data is of various qualities. The forest roads are often in a bad condition and have to be improved before a planned harvest. The cost of maintenance and construction of new roads is a large part of the total harvesting cost.

In the following study I probe the social world of hard-rock music. By conducting interviews with four young male enthusiasts of this music I try to develop a general picture of this social world, as well as of the basic elements on which this particular subculture is constructed. The identity of a hard-rocker is based upon a number of factors beyond just a preference for that music. Throughout the interviews I encountered many implicit norms that one must followed in order to be able to see oneself as a true hard-rocker. I also found that from the respondents? perspective, the mainstream culture has, throughout the history of metal music, used various ways to counter the spreading of this genre.

Research suggests that society's vulnerability to natural disasters along coasts could increase as a result of climate change, which is likely to lead to elevated sea levels and possibly an increase in the occurance of meteorological phenomena such as storms and tropical cyclones. Following the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, both of which received considerable media attention, empirical data has indicated that coastal vegetation might be able to protect and reduce damages to coastal communities during tsunami events and tropical cyclones.The aim of the essay has been to study the function of coastal ecosystems as protection against tsunami waves and storms from a risk management perspective, meaning that I have, through an overview of scientific articles, compiled current research on how coastal ecosystems can attenuate storm surges and tsunami waves, and analysed how this knowledge can be put into practice in coastal communities from a risk management perspective, i.e. if coastal ecosystems are a viable risk reduction measure, are practically applicable, and if so, how they could be applied.There is empirical evidence suggesting that coastal ecosystems, particularly mangroves, can reduce the strength of a tsunami wave, but full scientific consensus on this issue has not yet been reached. With regard to protection against storm surges, there is extensive scientific evidence that coastal vegetation can mitigate damages and reduce the height of a storm surge, although the wave has to traverse several kilometres inland through thick vegetation for the protection to be effective. A synthesis in the form of a figure regarding the many physical factors that influence wave development through coastal ecosystems has been created in an attempt to simplify and explain the phenomenon.The conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems can be justified from a risk management perspective, but planting new forest belts for the purpose of disaster mitigation is quite unrealistic and can rarely be sustainable, since, for protection to be effective, the forest belt must extend several kilometres inland from the coast, and would thus likely prove difficult to implement along coastal societies..