Fuel produced from renewable resources is of big interest. In this project the difference between a few different renewable materials are compared on the matter of environmental load when ethanol is produced. The renewable materials that are compared are Salix, straw and reed canary-grass (rörflen). The cellulose in the material is cut down to small pieces and then hydrolysed so that the sugar from the cellulose can be fermented into ethanol. Tha amount of ethanols that is studied in this work is the smount of ethanol needed to cultivate 1000 ha. The functional unit in the report is 1000 ha.

The study aims to investigate the feasibility of small-scale electricity production with solar electricity systems, also known as PV (photovoltaic) systems, in Australia. Due to the global warming, sustainable energy has in recent years become an increasingly important issue, both internationally and in Australia. With one of the largest dependencies on fossil energy sources in the world, the country's abundant solar radiation is a possible solution to this issue.Both the technical and the economic feasibility of small-scale PV systems were investigated. On the technological side, the electricity generation, distribution and consumption systems were studied. On the economical side, the parameters that drive the profitability of a PV investment were investigated.

A new build in the Swedish nuclear power system would entail increased re-quirements for the proposed repository, which is adapted after the reactors of today. With a fast reactor, capable of burning nuclear waste, operating in parallel with the light water reactors, the increased requirements on the repository could be reduced.In this thesis, simulations of a light water reactor and a fast reactor have been performed by using the Monte Carlo code Serpent to investigate the changes in the fuel inventory. The light water reactor in the study is a boiling water reactor and the fast reactor of the type sodium-cooled fast reactor and they have been used for three different operation scenarios.By studying the fuel composition and the results from the simulations of the three scenarios conclusions can be drawn. Conclusions regarding the change of the fuel inventory and decay heat in Clab as well as the interim storage facility and in the repository. Depending on the operation alternative the changes dif-fered significantly and especially regarding the mass of burned actinides for different fuels in the fast reactor.The lowest increase of fuel assemblies was meet when using 50 years old fuel with 20MWd/kg U burnout and 2,0 % enrichment for start up of the fast reactor and 30 years old fuel assemblies with 50MWd/kg U burnout and 4,7 % enrichment for the further operation of the reactor.The increase of the number of fuel assemblies was 3174, which is equivalent to 641tons of heavy metal.

The Swedish production of biogas was 1,5 TWh 2011. About half of the production was used as vehicle fuels. The cost for upgrading biogas depends on the size of the biogas plant and its gas production. If the gas flow is low the cost will be high. However, further development of existing upgrading technologies or development of new ones, have good potential to decrease the upgrading cost for small scale biogas plants.

The annual demands for forest fuels increases in Sweden. At present, large unutilized biomass resources is found in young, dense forests from which about five million oven-dry tonnes (ODt) (23 TWh) could annually be extracted as forest fuel. But harvesting small trees give high logging costs and new cost-efficient harvesting techniques are therefore required. The aim was to study the productivity of Vimek 608 BioCombi in forest fuel thinning of Lodgepole pine and to calculate the economy of the harvesting and estimate the thinning quality. The time study was performed in Åmarken in the county of Västerbotten.

BedZED är ett område utanför London som har tagit upp viktiga frågor vad det gäller klimatförändringar. Vad kan befolkningen göra för att minska förstöringen av ozonlagret? Men de försöker även åtgärda andra problem så som: energiförbukning, växthusgasemissioner, vattenförbrukning/-förstörelse, överdrivet utnyttjade av naturresurser för att producera livsmedel, foder och komsumtionsvaror, transportsektorns förbrukning av fossil energi och luftföroreningar etc. En viktig aspekt är att köpa närproducerat för att slippa utsläpp av avgaser vid transport av livsmedlen. Detta arbete visar hur tre typhushåll har tänkt med odlingen av grönsaker och rotfrukter när det är en så pass begränsad yta att odla på. Ytan är sex kvadratmeter.

Cultivable land is a limited resource and agriculture contributes to some of the most serious environmental problems facing the planet like, global warming, eutrophication and loss of biodiversity. The specialized, industrial agriculture with monoculture and extensive input of external energy, commercial fertilizer, and chemical pesticides are all essentially unsustainable. An adaptation to other methods of production is necessary to preserve the environment for future generations. The aim of this study is to describe the factors that distinguish sustainable from unsustainable agriculture. The results will be used to examine if and how the European Union (EU) works in order to create a more sustainable agricultural industry and to analyze the preconditions for such development.

In the EU the amount of waste increased by 14 percent during the years 2000 to 2010. EU?s target to reduce waste generation runs parallel with the aim of increasing the efficiency and profitability aligned with energy recovery. In Sweden the energy recovery through incineration is increasing steadily, and 46 percent of the municipal solid waste (MSW) is treated by combustion. This report aims to examine the profitability of processing MSW into Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from an economic-, energy- and environmental perspective.

Background: A group severely affected by health issues, the experiences of homeless alcohol and drug abusers in the coverage of their medical care needs is not satisfactory. Aim: The aim of the study is to explore which factors experienced by homeless alcohol and drug abusers in Uppsala in regards to their living situation affected their health, their perception of access to healthcare, the character of treatment received and coping strategies used outside of the healthcare system. Method: Nine people who had experienced both homelessness and substance abuse problem were recruited for the study during their visit to Stadsmissionens facilities for the homeless. Data was collected through qualitative, semi-structured interviews including two women and seven men. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis according to Giorgi modified by Malterud.Results: Among homeless substance abusers interviewed experiences of unwelcoming and prejudiced healthcare were described.

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.

To achieve the requirements to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 % by 2020, Swedenneeds to increase its use of bioenergy. In doing so it seems natural that those who already haveaccess to large amounts of biofuels in the form of by-products such as straw, wood chips anddigestible materials take advantage of these assets locally. By combining production of heat withpower production at the farm it may be possible to not only reduce the direct use of fossil fuel forheating but also reduce energy costs.The purpose was to simulate different cases of using a small scale biofueled combined heat andpower plant for farm-based systems. A MatLab-model was developed and used to draw conclusionsabout the costs for production of heat and electricity with different conversion technologies.The model uses climate data to simulate the variations in heat energy demand on a day-to-day basis.The given heat demand is the base of the simulation and from this the possible electric output iscalculated. This study has focused on the impact of the following properties: electric-, heat- andtotal efficiency, fuel, fuel price and specific fuel requirements.

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 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.).

Av två anledningar anses det som mycket viktigt att bryta beroendet av olja, naturgas och kol. Den första anledningen är de uppmärksammade klimatförändringarna. Förbränning av fossila bränslen anges idag som huvudorsak till växthuseffekten. Den andra mindre uppmärksammade orsaken är att oljan och naturgasen snart inte räcker till för att föda en allt energihungrigare värld. Utvinningen ser dessutom ut att ha nåt sin kulmen.

AbstractThe Municipality Council decided in 2010 to develop a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy with financial and methodological support from Energimyndigheten (The Swedish Energy Agency). The strategy should include 3 major parts: an inventory of the 2009 energy use defining the current situation, the 2014 and 2020 goals for energy use, and an action plan for goal achievements. According to Energimyndigheten, the strategy must include all municipal administration premises, vehicles, and all majority-owned companies (as Laholmshem, the municipal housing company).The report describes the inventory work in order to obtain the 2009 energy use and the sources of information used. The inventory values are used as the base year values for the 2014 and 2020 goals. The inventory showed that information about the vehicles is dispersed in the municipal administration and no clear structure exists with respect to mileage and fuels used.