This master thesis in economics discusses the time use of today as well as the observed trends in time use over the last 20 years in Sweden. This is done by analysing time-use and consumption data at the microeconomic level, i.e. by explaining individual behaviour given the economic assumption of a rational behaviour. We reach the conclusion that the value of time is an important explanatory variable concerning the rationality in that time is used differently by different individuals and in the changed use of time. Furthermore, other variables such as social norms and the process benefit of a certain activity, i.e.

This thesis has been made on behalf of SCA Skog AB to assess the need of boron in Swedishforest fertilization. Boron has been added to Swedish forest fertilizers since the beginning of the1980s. This makes the fertilizers more expensive and therefore has the necessity of boron inSwedish forest fertilization been raised.The Swedish bedrock generally contains small amounts of boron. The boron in the bedrock istightly bound to the mineral tourmaline and mostly unavailable for plants. This leads to that thecontribution of boron to the soil from weathering is very low besides soils with marinesediments.

Today?s wind power plants are only compensated for their reactive power consumption at no-load. As the wind power plants grow bigger the amount of reactive power they need also increases. This is no longer a problem that can be ignored, especially as the net owners are beginning to charge the reactive power they transport.In this thesis a couple of different methods of compensation and their prices will be discussed and evaluated. Problems, such as self-excitation, that can occur if one fully compensates the wind power plant will also be brought to surface.

Today?s wind power plants are only compensated for their reactive power consumption at no-load. As the wind power plants grow bigger the amount of reactive power they need also increases. This is no longer a problem that can be ignored, especially as the net owners are beginning to charge the reactive power they transport.In this thesis a couple of different methods of compensation and their prices will be discussed and evaluated. Problems, such as self-excitation, that can occur if one fully compensates the wind power plant will also be brought to surface.

In Sweden surgical treatment of vocal fold lesions in children is fairly uncommon. At Falun hospital they have adapted a more generous attitude towards phonosurgery of children?s vocal folds. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate surgical treatment of organic vocal fold lesions in children and to assess the phonosurgical patient utility. The study was carried out at the Ear-, Nose- and Throat clinic, Falun hospital, Sweden.

Shopping for groceries often means that, as consumers, we travel to the grocery store ourselves, by ear, bike or on foot. At the store we pick out the groceries that we want, go the register and pay for them. During the last couple of years consumers in Sweden have been given the opportunity to let someone else select and transport the groceries to their home instead, so called home shopping. As this report is being written, the possibility to buy groceries this way is somewhat limited, but many forecasters believe that in the near future it will increase immensely. Because of the large volumes of groceries that are being transported, there is great transport work being done in the supply chain.

The question of excessive global energy use needs to be solved. All energy production and usage have negative environmental impacts, which are best solved by reducing energy consumption and by using energy more efficiently. A large part of the Swedish energy use is concentrated to the building sector and to reduce the total energy consumption real efforts need to be made to make buildings more energy efficient.The aim of this study was to investigate how energy is used in one of Göteborg University?s buildings and to find measures that can be taken to improve its energy efficiency. The chosen building Zoologen, is used for research and education.The main method of the study is computer simulations of the present building and of possible energy reducing measures to be made in the future.

The increasing threat of climate change has led to a increased need for models to predict future climat. In these models the changes in the soil carbon pools due to changes in microbiel degradation of the organic matter can lead to both positive and negative feedback-effects. There is however a lack of consensues on the temperature respons on degradation soil organic matter. This paper aim to give a better understanding on the factors controlling the temperature respons. The factors studied were the carbon substrate qualitity and the physiological status of the microorganisms.

Today?s wind power plants are only compensated for their reactive power consumption at no-load. As the wind power plants grow bigger the amount of reactive power they need also increases. This is no longer a problem that can be ignored, especially as the net owners are beginning to charge the reactive power they transport.In this thesis a couple of different methods of compensation and their prices will be discussed and evaluated. Problems, such as self-excitation, that can occur if one fully compensates the wind power plant will also be brought to surface.

With increasing wine consumption and a growing assortment at available to Swedish consumers, there is an interest in understanding the decision making process of Swedish wine consumers. In this thesis the expert phenomenon is studied with respect to wine through wine critic reliability: grading objectivity, understanding the process of wine criticism and possible critic influence on consumer behavior. Two studies were performed; a qualitative in-depth session of interviews with industry connoisseurs and a quantitative analysis of 589 online wine reviews. Our results indicate that wine reviews are highly subjective and defy prediction through analysis of external variables. Critics are likely to judge differently based on what information they have at hand, suggesting that expectations affect grading.

In this paper the authors aim to examine the effects on consumers using different strategies in a campaign within social marketing. A model by Evans et al (1996) has been used in order to see the different steps in which advertising catches the viewers? attention and eventually leads to action or purchasing. However, in the case of this thesis, the intention of the chosen campaign is to change the consumers? attitudes and behavior towards alcohol.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to examine the portrayals of class in four Swedish contemporary novels that have been mentioned as working class literature in the literary public sphere. During the 20th century, society has undergone vast changes due to globalization and technology development. The rise in standards of living for most people in the Western societies has led to changed consumption patterns. In consequence, there has been increased emphasis given to cultural rather than materialist explanations of social stratification.

In this study I have compared two systems of handling TMR, self-propelled/ self loading mixers and conventional towed mixers, what has been investigated is the time for filling, mixing and feeding TMR as well as maintenance and fuel consumption. The background of this study is the structural rationalization within the Swedish milk production that has put focus on efficiency and reducing of costs. Forage and labour are the two biggest costs in milk production today. The study has been performed by visiting three farms and with a stopwatch measured the times for filling, mixing and feeding TMR. At the time for the visits, the users have been interviewed regarding maintenance and fuel consumption. They have also had an opportunity to give comments of how they experience the mixers. The result of the study after processing is that the average stock in the study can save 74000 SEK a year by reducing time for filling, mixing and feeding TMR to cows with a self propelled/ self loading mixer . The conclusion I can make of this study is that it?s not the size of the stock that decides whether it?s interesting to invest in a self propelled/ self loading mixer, but the presumptions on the farms, for instance forage logistics and mechanical equipment..

Roughly 130 000 dwellings have been officially registered since Norway as of summer 2009 passed their bill ?Energimerkeforskriften? on energy performance certificates in buildings. The main objective is to decrease the total amount of national energy consumption by producing a methodology of calculation of the integrated energy performance of buildings as well as proposing cost effective measures to lower each building?s energy consumption. As the measures should not contravene nor be incompatible with the intended quality and character of the building, the ?Energimerkeforskriften? exempts buildings that due to their historical and cultural values are protected cultural heritage legislation. The current system offers a couple of professional certification alternatives, but when two online semi-automatic methods developed specifically for non-professionals are by far the most used, and since the methods of calculation primarily have focused on modern building materials and construction, the rest of the historical building stock stands literally unprotected by incorrect performance certificates and high-risk energy efficient measures. The objective of this thesis is to identify if the current Norwegian energy certificate system poses a threat to older buildings.

An increased awareness about the global warming has created a demand for more information on how the climate is affected by different activities.This master thesis was initiated by Tricorona, a Swedish company that offers its customers analysis and calculation of their climate impact. Tricorona also supplies climate neutralisation with CERs, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol and controlled by the UN. This work demands updated emission factors for greenhouse gases. An emission factor gives information about the greenhouse gasintensity of a service or a product [kg CO2-eq./ functional unit].The purpose of this thesis is to examine how electricity, district heating, hotels, taxis, food and materials affect the climate and how emission factors for these areas can be calculated.This was done by reviewing and comparing different studies and by interviewing experts. The information was evaluated and recommendations on calculations and emission factors were made.The consumption of energy is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions for district heating, electricity, hotels, taxis and materials.