Pulp- and papermills expend vast amounts of water in order to produce pulp, paper and cardboard. Hence, they alsocreate vast amounts of waste water which has to be cleaned before it can be released into the receiving body of water. Insuch a wastewater treatment plant, tremendous amounts of energy are expended by the aeration in the biologicalcleaning process. This aeration is necessary to supply the Microorganisms that shall decompose organic material withoxygen, which they need for their metabolism. The transfer of oxygen from the gas phase to the liquid phase isprimarily inhibited by surface-active substances in the waste water like resin acids or fatty acids.

Hammarby Sjöstad is a new district in southern Stockholm. A main objective with the Sjöstad project was to halve the environmental impact compared to other construction work. The environmental goals involve a halved water consumption rate, a local treatment of storm water and trials aiming to extract nutrients from the waste water. Sjöstadsverket is an experimental treatment plant used for testing new treatment processes for domestic waste water from Hammarby Sjöstad. The results are to be compared with the conventional process used at Henrikdals treatment plant today.

Composting is a process in which organic matter is mineralized by Microorganisms. In January 2005 landfilling of organic waste was prohibited in Sweden. With this prohibition composting has become an important alternative to handle the produced organic wastes. One problem with continuous small-scale composting is the production of organic acids that will inhibit a further composting process. The aim of these theses was to study what effects temperature and dry matter content had on the production of organics acids, and what effect the organic acids had on the mineralisation of the substrate as well as the stability during storage of the product.

Mälaren är Stockholms största dricksvattentäkt och den förser årligen 1,7 miljoner människor med rent dricks-, tvätt- och badvatten genom Stockholm Vattens vattenverk Norsborg och Lovö och Norrvattens vattenverk Görväln. Även om det finns reservvattentäkter som Bornsjön så räcker inte de till om något skulle hända med Mälaren som t.ex. oljeutsläpp från något fartyg som befinner sig i närheten av vattenintagen.Idag förekommer det ständigt föroreningar från alla möjliga utsläppskällor som enskilda avlopp, industrier, avloppsreningsverk, fritidsbåtar, jordbruk m.m. och alla dessa bidrar till en sämre vattenkvalitet.Syftet med den här rapporten är att identifiera och lokalisera möjliga utsläppspunkter för patogena mikroorganismer inom ett område som kan orsaka problem för Stockholm Vattens vattenverk Norsborg och Lovö. Rapporten ska senare användas för att undersöka vilka riskpunkter som utgör de största hoten mot vattenverken.Området innefattar till största del Ekerö kommun och Botkyrka kommun men även Salems kommun finns inom riskområdet.Ekerö släpper ständigt ut renat och orenat avloppsvatten från olika reningsverk och anläggningar som kan innehålla stora mängder patogena mikroorganismer.

Bringing back the nutrients from the city to the country is becoming increasingly important, as the world?s stores of nutrients get more exhausted. Sewage sludge is an unapplied resource, rich in plant nutrients, which could replace parts of the commercial fertilizers used in Sweden today. Sewage sludge may contain large amounts of pathogens, such as Campylobacter and Salmonella, why use can cause severe spreading of infections, both to animals and humans. These pathogens have the ability to survive for a long time in soil and water and therefore some sort of treatment of the sludge is recommended before use.

The interest for locally produced food is increasing due to consumer concern about the environment, distrust of industrial foods and a demand for high quality products. Apple is the predominant fruit crop in Sweden, and by processing apples into cider and vinegar, these products could significantly contribute to the development of the market of local foods.In this study different yeast types and different bacterial cultures were evaluated for their suitability in cider and vinegar production from cloudy apple juice. Ten apple cultivars (Aroma, Baldwin, Belle de Boskoop, Bramley, Cortland, Gravensteiner, Ingrid-Marie, Jonathan, Rubinola and Spartan) were also evaluated for their suitability for production of juice, cider and vinegar. Chemical analyses including total soluble solids, titratable acidity and total phenols were performed on the products along with sensorial evaluation by taste panels.The yeast strains were shown to have an effect on fermentation rate and the resulting content of total phenols in ciders fermented from cloudy apple juice. Dry commercial starter strains gave a higher appreciated cider compared to cider that was spontaneously fermented, and the ale yeast Safale S-04 was concluded to be the most suited for fermentation of cloudy apple juice.For vinegar production, the bacterial culture had an effect on TSS, but not on any other chemical or taste characteristics.

Nedbrytningshastigheten för organiskt material i marken kan komma att förändras vid varmare klimat. I dagsläget råder dock oenighet om hur nedbrytningen av organiskt material kommer att reagera på förändrade temperaturer; forskningsrapporter pekar åt olika håll. För att kunna förutsäga framtida scenarier är det viktigt att vi får kunskap om hur organiskt material kan komma att påverkas. Om koncentrationen av koldioxid i atmosfären ökar och den globala medeltemperaturen stiger kan nedbrytningshastigheten för organiskt material öka. Detta kan leda till en positiv feedback loop där mer koldioxid avgår från marken till atmosfären.

The idea of using algae in different areas and exploring its possibilities is nothing new. Already in the early 1950s microalgae was explored as a possible food resource because of its high protein content. Lately there has been an increased interest in its potential for industrial use. Wastewater treatment is a possible use of algae since the algae grow well on the nutrients present in the water. This offers the possibility to grow algae for nutrient reduction and use the biomass for energy or animal feed since many alga species has a good nutritional value. Approximately 800-1000 m3 water is applied per 1000 m2 of greenhouse area during one season in a tomato production.

Climate changes today are mainly caused by anthropogenic activities and the increased emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and this has raised questions on how to reduce the usage of fossil fuels. Ethanol is a good alternative to conventional gas and has been used in Brazil since the 1970 ?s. In Sweden several newspapers has written about the poor working conditions on many farms thus making the Swedish company SEKAB design a certification for their ethanol to ensure that it can be considered to be a sustainable alternative.Furthermore WWF has developed a certification tool called Bonsucro in cooperation with Coca Cola, Ferrero group, BP and Shell. This is due to the fact that no global certification tool has been available up until now.

High levels of Hg in fish in Swedish lakes have been a problem along time in Sweden. The major concern is production and accumulation of the most toxic form of mercury; methyl mercury (MeHg). Consequently, in about half of our 83 000 lakes fish contain concentrations above the recommended limit for human consumption of 0,5 mg mercury per kg fresh weight (most of it in the form of MeHg). Consumption of fish containing too high levels of MeHg may cause problems for both humans and animals. Three major sources of MeHg in surface waters are: 1) runoff from terrestrial areas, 2) deposition from the atmosphere, and 3) internal production of MeHg in lakes and streams. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of clear-cutting on the concentration of Hg and MeHg into draining streams.