This thesis investigates how energy is used in three public baths today and suggests measures that could reduce the energy demand. The results show that there is a great poteltial for energy savings i public baths, and that it would be interesting to examine some of the proposed measures further..

The purpose of this paper is to understand the climate of the street and how it can be modified to better meet the needs of the street and the user groups. At the same time the conditions of the street and its surroundings also has to be taken into account. To accomplish this it is necessary to have a broad knowledge of the climate conditions in the city. Therefore an overview of the climate elements and how these are modified in the built-up areas are given. The part of the paper which deals with the city climate has a global approach to be able to give an as complete picture as possible.

This thesis concerns an energy audit of a food industry. The company's business consists of boiling and peeling shrimps, and producing mayonnaise-based salads. This type of work involves energy-intensive processes, such as steam generation, compression of air and refrigeration of large spaces. These needs are supplied with electricity. Furthermore, the industry is a major consumer of district heating, particularly for heating the supply air in the ventilation system.

The aim of the study was to install a biogas system consisting of three tubular polyethylene biogas digesters at a rural household in Malawi and to evaluate the constructed biogas system with regards to relevant system parameters. The purpose was to evaluate if the technology is a possible solution to reduce deforestation and support Malawi in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study was carried out in the southern part of Malawi in cooperation with the University of Malawi. Locally available materials were used to construct and install the system. Three different feed materials, cow, goat and a mix of cow and goat manure, were used in order to determine which one was best suited to utilise as a digester substrate. After the installation, measurements of temperature, pH, biogas production, biogas composition and system functionality were made. The results of the study show that a biogas system with tubular polyethylene biogas digesters can be successfully installed at a rural household and that the most suitable feed material is a mix of cow and goat manure.

This master?s degree project concerns the combination of a multi dwelling passive house with solar energy for the generation of electricity and domestic hot water (DHW). Different alternatives with either solar thermal systems or photovoltaic (PV) systems are compared with two reference alternatives producing DHW from electricity or district heating. The economical comparison uses a life cycle cost (LCC) perspective based on the present value of expenditures for investment, energy and annual operating and maintenance.The energy yields from the solar energy systems were calculated by hand and with simulation software. Calculation and dimensioning of PV systems were carried out with a software called PVSYST.

This thesis aimed to investigate how a rising sea level would affect the livable area of the island Fongafale, Tuvalu. Through the IPCC stabilization scenarios it was examined which areas of the island that would be affected by flooding. The local population?s perceptions of the effects of climate change were studied to see how the consequences of a world-wide problem such as global warming affect people's lives. The paper clarified the Tuvaluans place in the discussion of climate refugees, explained IPCC's work and described the results of previous studies concerning people in Fongafales perceptions and concerns about climate-related changes.

This literature review examines different forages which are well suited for suckle cow production in Sweden today. They should also be possible to cultivate in Sweden under the current circumstances. Crops suitable for grazing in Swedish climate but not used in Sweden today, but which may be relevant for Swedish conditions are also mentioned. In Sweden today, mainly grass silage, straw and hay are used as forage, but also wholecrop silage is used to some extent. However, concentrates are not used to a greater extent, since it contains too much energy.

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.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine how locally produced bioenergy may contribute to meet the climate target year 2050 in the municipality of Uppsala. The goal of reduced GHG-emissions from current 6,8 ton CO2-equivalents to 0,5 ton CO2-equivalents per capita and year, year 2050 is based on avoiding harmful penalties of an increased level of GHG in the atmosphere. By estimating available biomass in the county together with examining future technologies and emission factors for the substrates used, four possible future scenarios has been developed focusing either on electricity generation or production of biofuels. GHG-emissions of year 2050 have been calculated using the software LEAP. The conclusion is that bioenergy, depending on how it is integrated in the energy system, may reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 0.6 ton CO2-equivalents and 1.4 ton CO2-equivalents per capita or 12% to 25% compared to 5.5 ton CO2-equivalents in the reference scenario 2050. The greatest reduction is obtained if biofuels are produced in combination with energy efficient heat requirements in buildings..

The representative democracy has become weakened during the last decades. At the same time the United Nations declared at the Rio de Janeiro meeting in 1992 that environmental problems can best be solved by involvement of all concerned citizens in decision-making. The main purpose of this study has been to examine if citizens panels is a possible way to involve citizens in environmental decision-making and what the outcomes can be. Furthermore the study has investigated what the participation has contributed to environmental politics and how representative the results have been. This has been carried out by investigating the Piteåpanel in the municipality of Piteå by conducting interviews.The result of the study shows that the involvement of the citizens in the decision-making influenced the environmental politics of the municipality.

When constructing a building, a number of aspects must be harmonized in order for it to fulfill requirements ? a building must fulfill requirements such a load-bearing, conservation of energy and a good indoor environment by means of, among other things, moisture proofing .Moisture problems in buildings can affect health negatively. As we are increasingly staying in indoors, demands on a good indoor environment are higher.This work starts with examining moisture problems in slab-on-ground solutions, and then links the various scenarios to moisture problems in a concrete slab of a real building. The building with moisture problems is located in Årby by in Borlänge and moisture damage was found in the slab at an apartment adjoining wall.By reviewing literature written within the field of moisture problem, making hand calculations and modeling in the program Comsol Multiphysics, judgments are made to find explanations as to why the rise of moisture occurred in the building in Årby by.Generally, the following guidelines may be used to reduce the risk of moisture problems in slab-on-ground constructions:Drying of construction moisture before laying the floor material.Using draining layer beneath the slab, to prevent capillary suction.Using insulation under the slab, partly for comfort and to establish the temperature difference between the ground and the concrete slab.Avoid direct contact between the wood and concrete, due to degradation and fouling smells that normally occurs.If necessary, use additional vapor barrier.In addition to the above, there are various methods for moisture-proof and moisture-monitoring by design or by the method ByggaF suited for the entire construction process various events..

Efficient energy use in the housing sector is crucial for achieving a sustainable society. The expansion of this sector only represents a fraction of the existing houses, hence it?s within the existing houses the potential for energy savings lie. This potential has been analyzed in order to determine if it?s possible to cut the current energy demand in half.

The company Sol & Energiteknik wanted to examine the possibility to make a standardhouse totally energy independent. Based upon this I have, during the spring of 2007,examined the possibilities available at the market today through litterature studies, contactwith several companies and reading reports at the internet.The first thing to examine has been to determine the energy consumption for a standardhouse, and find out if there are better technologies to be used for energy conservation.My conclusion in this matter is that there are possibilities today for building a house moreenergy efficient.When I had reached the point at which my design for the house was decided, I also hadto choose the different products to use to produce energy as well as to store that energy.To produce heat and electricity to the house I decided to use a wind turbine and a solarwater heater.The most difficult part of designing a house that is energy independent is that theproduced energy must be stored somehow. Storing the heat is relatively easy beacuse theheat can be stored in a large water tank. The electricity is a bigger problem beacuse itmust be stored in batteries, which today are too expensive to be used in a standard house.In the future producing and storing hydrogen might be used to produce electricity, buttoday that technology is both expensive and not tested enough.My final conclusion is that a standard house can not be built to be totally energyindependent today, unless it is very expensive to connect the house to the electricitynetwork. As an alternative solution I came up with a proposal for a house which isconnected to the electricity network and have some amount of own produced energy.This house prooved to be a good investment if you choose to build it today, and it couldbe a very good investment in the long run beacuse energy prices increase every year..

In Sweden, the demand for bio energy has increased in recent years due to the current energy and climate debate. In 2008, the energy supply of Sweden was 612 TWh, biofuels accounted for 123 TWh of these. Stumps have been highlighted as a potential fuel in recent years and the Swedish Forest Agency expects a technically and biologically feasible potential of 20.7 TWh annually between 2010 and 2019. The idea of utilize stumps is not new. During the 19th century stumps were used for tar production and during the 70?s and 80?s attempts were made to use stumps in the pulp industry.

Changes in the climate and the environment are largely consequences of human influences. Resources are given to teach adults about the environment. However, there are problems in focusing on adults because it is difficult to influence people when they already have created a lifestyle. We have instead chosen to focus on teaching children about changes in the climate and the consequences of this.Many of the toys available on the market today encourage children to consume. Luxury cars and dolls with hundreds of accessories are often made of materials that has have a negative effect on the environment.Another problem we often encountered during the year is the declining interest in technology and science.