De första skogsägarföreningarna bildades under 1910- och 1920-talen för att i första hand främja en bättre skötsel av böndernas skogar. Under skogsägarföreningarnas snart hundraåriga historia har deras roll sedan förändrats. På grund av skogsindustrins starka ställning gentemot bönderna kom virkesförmedlingen ganska snart få en viktig roll i föreningarna.Det var dock först genom andra världskrigets brännvedshantering som skogsägarföreningarna kunde nå en större del av landets bönder och skogsägare. När skogsägarrörelsen växte och blev allt större kom tanken om att en egen industri i föreningarnas regi skulle förstärka skogsägarnas position på virkesmarknaden ytterligare. Brist på kapital gjorde dock att en industrisatsning drog ut på tiden.

Många arter påverkas idag negativt av skogsbruket. Detta visar sig dels i ett växande antal arter på den svenska Rödlistan. I Norrbottens län är idag närmare 500 skogslevande arter rödlistade, och dessa är fördelade över flera olika organismgrupper. Det stora antalet rödlistade arter i skog innebär att det är svårt att direkt utifrån Rödlistan utforma effektiva naturvårdsåtgärder samt generell hänsyn inom skogsbruket. Genom att sammanställa och strukturera information om de rödlistade arternas krav på livsmiljö och hotsituation kan Rödlistan som verktyg utvecklas.

Reducing the CO2-pollution, resulting from the combustion of fossil coal for energyproduction, is important to affect environmental changes. One way to achieve a reductionis to use the oxy-fuel technology. The technology uses O2 and re-circulated flue gasduring the combustion which results in a flue gas mainly consisting of CO2. The flue gascould then be compressed and stored without environmental effects. A problem thatfollows from the compression is the risk of acidification in sensitive parts of the process.Acidification can occur because of reactions following from the contact of condensedwater and sulphur- and nitrogen-oxides which are also present in the flue gas.This report compiles and evaluates the basis of a scientific unit with the purpose ofexploring the possibilities of extracting impurities of SOx and NOx from the flue gases.The dimensions of the unit are based on basic conditions, defined for an existing oxy-fuelprocess at Chalmers, and on the results of computer modelling.

The fork lifter chipper truck is a concept which has been developed for harvest and transport of bio fuel. The system consists of one fork lifter chipper truck and 1, 2 or 3 transport lorries, usually two, which serves the fork lifter chipper truck. The system is driven by the fork lifter chipper truck that produces chipped material into a container on the truck. When the container has been filled the truck drives to the landing site where it?s offloaded.

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is not considered to be a native species to Swedish forests. It´s origin is the pacific coast of Northern America, an area that is dominated by a coastal climate which makes it likely to believe that it would be well suited for growing in the south-west of Sweden. This study aims to investigate the gain in production that can be reached by growing sitka spruce instead of Norway spruce (Picea abies) in the county of Halland. A regression model based on data from forest experiments was produced to explain the gain in production. This model was based on elevation and annual precipitation. The model was then used to create a map layer in arcGIS that shows the gain of volume in comparison to Norway spruce in percent. An analysis was carried out to find what share of the forestland in Halland county that fell into four different classes of production gain.

The demand for food, feed, fibre and fuel has increased in Uganda over the past 50 years due to population growth. Recurring extreme climate events such as drought and flooding, in combination with large-scale land degradation, have led to declining crop yields. Lack of equipment, money and socio-economic issues has contributed to low yields. However, the soils in Uganda have the potential to produce much higher yields than they do today. This study, which was carried out in April-June 2013 in Kkingo District, south-east Uganda, examined the effects of agroforestry on yield of cooking bananas in small-holder farming systems. Six farms practising agroforestry and six farms with no agroforestry, which were chosen in cooperation with the NGO Vi Agroforestry, were compared.

During consultation procedures between forest owners and the Sámi, data on, e.g., reindeer lichen biomass on the current site is needed. Hitherto, the existing methods of measuring lichen cover and biomass has been either objective methods such as the Point Intercept method, which is time consuming, or some sort of subjective visual estimation, which is faster but less accurate. However, both these methods are sensitive to different observers and/or to different inventories. This paper addresses the further development and evaluation of a photographical inventory method that uses colour distribution in images to estimate lichen biomass. During the autumn of 2011 six different locations, with different grazing pressure and lichen cover, in Norrbotten county were inventoried using both the Point Intercept method and the photographical method, complemented with collection of biomass samples.

Dagens transportsektor är beroende utav fossila drivmedel. Detta är problematiskt eftersom fossila bränslen är en ändlig resurs samtidigt som användningen utav dessa bidrar till den förstärkta växthuseffekten. Enligt EU:s klimatmål ska utsläppen av växthusgaser reduceras med 20 procent till år 2020. Handeln med utsläppsrätter, som flygsektorn inkluderas i från och med år 2012, har införts som ett styrmedel som skall verka för att företag ska minska sina utsläpp. Flygföretag kommer härigenom att ha ökade incitament att blanda in en viss procenthalt biojetbränsle i det fossila jetbränslet.

Biogas mainly consists of methane and carbon dioxide, where methane is theenergy-rich gas, and is naturally created when organic matter breaks down in absenceof oxygen, also known as anaerobic digestion. A biogas plant re-creates the anaerobicconditions inside a digester where the organic substrate is fed into and digests toproduce biogas. The gas is then used to produce energy by combustion and can beseen as a completely renewable fuel.Today, energy from biogas is used primarily by major stakeholders such asmunicipalities and thus the plants become very large with high investment- andconstruction costs. There are currently few small plants in Sweden, even though thepotential for agriculture and medium-sized to smaller farms to become self-sufficientin terms of electricity and heat is great. Farms have a natural stock of digestibleorganic material in form of manure or crops for example, which are constantlyavailable.

If you keep cattle in a herd outside all year round on big varying grounds, their possibilityto perform their natural behaviour increases. This way of keeping cattle requires that youprovide them with their other needs, like shelter and a dry and clean resting place.According to the animal welfare authority´s regulations on livestock farming, only animalsthat are suited to stay outside during the cold season are allowed to be kept outside. Theyshould also have access to a shelter or another building that gives them protection from theweather and wind and provides a dry and clean resting place.Research has shown that as long as cattle do not get exposed to precipitation and wind theywill manage low temperature well. Some of the things that will affect how well the animalshandle different climates are the isolation ability of the fur, the animals´ body size and thefeed intake. A dry lying place that is both insulating and moisture absorbent is also of greatimportance.

Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på hur mycket biologi man kan få in i verksamheten genom att uppmärksamma när ämnet naturligt visar sig hos barnen under utomhusvistelse, i deras egna lekar, upptäckter och utforskande. Bakgrunden till min undersökning är att den svenska förskolan sägs befinna sig i en brytningstid, med större fokus på ämneskunskaper och att läroplanen samtidigt poängterar vikten av att ta tillvara barns perspektiv, frågor och idéer. För att få svar har jag gjort observationer på två olika förskolor/avdelningar. Även enkäter har skickats till de medverkande pedagogerna. Resultatet av mina observationer visar att barnen ofta uppmärksammar olika djur och växter och andra områden inom ämnet biologi när de vistas ute i naturen.

This report presents an investment calculation based on an assumed initial investment of a new saw line to an existing sawmill. In order to get as close to reality as possible, we have received data material from northern forest owners who recently made an initial investment in their sawmill in Kåge. In order to calculate and evaluate investments are several different methods, but we, we have chosen to use the discounted cash flow method. The method sums up with the help of a fixed cost of capital together with any future costs and revenues, thereby giving a present value of the investment. We also do a sensitivity analysis to examine how selected factors affect the investment research they change. The study is carried out to a fictitious investment, and therefore the result should not only be studied as a result of the figures. The purpose of this study was that with the help of an investment calculation studying the profitability of a hypothetical investment, and by means of a sensitivity analysis to study the sensitivity of investment to changes. The result demonstrates that the calculations according to the present value method requires a lot of information of the prospective investment.

The worldwide industrial demand of energy, often in form of fossil fuel, is continuously growing and at the same time these resources are coming to an end (Hamamre, 2013). The interest and focus in renewable sources are then more important than ever and plants are suggested to be a good alternative for production of raw material for industrial purposes (Nilsson et al., 1998). But the world is also facing an increasing world population which also increase the nutritional needs, plants therefore need to be suitable for both industrial and nutritional purposes. To achieve this, common plants need to be improved but it also need new potential crops to be developed and introduced (Carlsson et al., 2009). Modern technology like gene engineering is an important tool to achieve these challenges (Carlsson et al., 2011). This work focused on analyzes and evaluation of different transgenic lines of field pepperweed (Lepidium campestre L.).

In the town of Väderstad which lies in the middle of Sweden, called Östergötland is Väderstad-Verken situated. It´s an international company which produce machines for land processing and sown to farmers all over the world. Väderstad-Verken is an expansive company with 750 employees. The turnover is 1.4 billion sek. Rapid seed-sower has become a popular machine since it was introduced in 1991.

Every year, KTH participates in the Shell Eco Marathon, a competition whose goal is to design a vehicle that can go as far as possible using only the equivalent energy of one liter of petrol fuel. This year, one of KTH?s contributions to this race is the Agilis prototype; a car powered by a uniquely configured HCCI-engine developed at the university. The engine is dependent of several subsystems in order to work properly, among other, systems for cooling and lubrication.Combustion engines are in need of a cooling system that reduces the heat developed during the combustion. In general, two main types of cooling systems are employed; either air cooling, where the outside of the cylinder is exposed to a flow of the surrounding air, ore water cooling, where water flows in tubes around the engine, and the heat are transferred by the water to the surrounding air through a heat exchanger.The purpose of the lubrication system is to prevent the friction that builds up in the interference between moving parts in the engine.