This report is a B.Sc. Forestry thesis work at the school for Forest Management, SLU. The work was an assignment from the forest owners? association Mellanskog. The aim of the work where to investigate the economical result of removing undergrowth trees before first thinning, and a follow-up of the contractors and their compliance with Mellanskog standards. This thesis work was divided in three parts: The first was to find a relation between the net volume from the first thinning and the cost of cleaning undergrowth trees. Secondly there was a follow-up in the field, to investigate whether the contractors have done the undergrowth cleaning according to Mellanskog?s directives.

Stormwater run-off from surfaces such as roads or rooftops is often polluted with heavy metals and nutrients. Many of these substances can cause great damage in biota if they end up in the recipient. In Sweden constructed wetlands and ponds for treatment of stormwater are frequently used, since research has shown that these treatment ponds are reducing stormwater pollution considerably to a low cost. The knowledge of these pollutant removal mechanisms and how follow-up and assessment of the ponds should be performed is still limited.To determine the pollutant removal efficiency of the stormwater ponds it is recommended that flow-weighted water samples are collected from both the inflow and the outflow of the pond. This method demands considerable resources of time and money for installations and analysis.

The arm?s length principle has existed in Swedish law since 1928 but has previously been given little attention. In 2007, documentation requirements were introduced, and the government began to do tax audits regarding transfer pricing. This thesis examines how the documentation requirements and tax audits affect the application of the arm's length principle. The research consists of nine interviews with a total of ten people at the tax authority (Skatteverket) and audit- and consulting agencies. The results of the interviews are analyzed using the agency theory. Many companies are risk averse and prefer having correct transfer pricing instead of taking on challenging strategies that can be risky in case of an investigation by Skatteverket.

In this thesis we investigate the level of deliberative democracy in the current implementation of the 24/7 Agency in the local government. We are interested in how the combination of the two seemingly opposing ideals of Demokratiutredningen and the 24/7 Agency is solved. Our analysis is based on interviews with civil servants from three kommuner in Skåne and a schematic overview of their websites. As a theoretical framework we use New Public Management Theory, Deliberative Democracy Theory, and Citizen Theory.We have found that the local 24/7 Agency is initiated and implemented by public servants. Their experiences and worldview is mirrored in both process and result.

Two elementary schools are now being built in Gråbo (in the municipality of Lerum),Röselidsskolan and Ljungviksskolan, which are both designed with solar thermalcollectors for the schools domestic water heating. During the summer while thelargest amount of solar heat can be generated, the activity hence the domestic wateruse in the schools are heavily reduced. Both schools are connected to the local districtheating system which makes it possible to use the solar collectors to deliver heat tothe district heating.The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the two systems mentioned above and todetermine which system is more suitable to apply on a school. The building whichconditions were used for this evaluation is Röselidsskolan.A solar heating plant of each system type was dimensioned from the expected andknown conditions of the building. The purpose with the dimensioning was to makethe solar plants replace the ordinary energy source as much as possible.

Two elementary schools are now being built in Gråbo (in the municipality of Lerum),Röselidsskolan and Ljungviksskolan, which are both designed with solar thermalcollectors for the schools domestic water heating. During the summer while thelargest amount of solar heat can be generated, the activity hence the domestic wateruse in the schools are heavily reduced. Both schools are connected to the local districtheating system which makes it possible to use the solar collectors to deliver heat tothe district heating.The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the two systems mentioned above and todetermine which system is more suitable to apply on a school. The building whichconditions were used for this evaluation is Röselidsskolan.A solar heating plant of each system type was dimensioned from the expected andknown conditions of the building. The purpose with the dimensioning was to makethe solar plants replace the ordinary energy source as much as possible.

Ground construction has to a large extent been dominated by traditional meth-ods during the last 50 years. Although the construction has been changed meanwhile innovations are not accepted. In collaboration with NCC Ltd Region South, I have examined a modern con-struction methodology that has been developed by NCC for future large pro-jects. The method is divided into two central phases. Phase 1 is? Single Pro-duction? which is a preliminary period for ground constructions to come.

Biogas is a renewable energy source that is produced by anaerobic digestion of organic mate-rial. In Sweden, biogas predominately comes from sewage water sludge and landfills or from organic waste of households and industries. Small scale digestion plants at farms are espe-cially expected to contribute to increased biogas production in the future. Biogas can be ob-tained directly in it?s raw form and used as fuel in a combustion chamber.

SNA Europe?s handsaw concept is called ?Bahco Handsaw System? and is constituted by a saw handle with the possibility to switch between different saw blades. The sales of ?Bahco Handsaw System? products have not achieved the desired results probably due to the high price. Developing a more cost efficient handle, enabling a lower consumer price of the product, is assumed to increase the sales volume.

In this thesis an explorative study was undertaken with the aim to study how a number of private care providers, as well as politicians and officials from councils in and around the Stockholm and Uppsala counties, think about the future of the Swedish elderly care from a property perspective, i.e. homes for the elderly. The analysis shows that there is a demand for capacity in 6 out of 16 municipalities, and that the property is an important part of this capacity, and the fulfillment of it. This was mainly due to the cost of capital, but also because of several other factors such as lack of land, a wish to guide the design, ideology, and in many cases a wish to use the property as an instrument of domination to control private health care providers.Also, the property was show to be connected to economic competition, to freedom of choice, and to quality. The problems related to the property in the market for elderly care still remains to be solved.

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea and Swedish lakes remains a major problem despite many years of effort to reduce the emissions of nutrients. One major source is waste water systems, especially private sewage systems. These sewages accounts for a very large share of nutrients per capita in comparison with citizens connected to larger sewage treatment plants. Norrtälje community has the greatest number of private sewage systems in Sweden. Discharges of nutrients, especially phosphorus, to the Baltic Sea from these sewage systems are significant.

Two elementary schools are now being built in Gråbo (in the municipality of Lerum),Röselidsskolan and Ljungviksskolan, which are both designed with solar thermalcollectors for the schools domestic water heating. During the summer while thelargest amount of solar heat can be generated, the activity hence the domestic wateruse in the schools are heavily reduced. Both schools are connected to the local districtheating system which makes it possible to use the solar collectors to deliver heat tothe district heating.The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the two systems mentioned above and todetermine which system is more suitable to apply on a school. The building whichconditions were used for this evaluation is Röselidsskolan.A solar heating plant of each system type was dimensioned from the expected andknown conditions of the building. The purpose with the dimensioning was to makethe solar plants replace the ordinary energy source as much as possible.

In order to reduce the number of casualties and injured from accidents the rescue service must become more efficient and flexible. It is noted that far more people is injured and killed in traffic accidents than from fires. During the daytime the number of accidents in about three times higher than during the night, even so today the number of fire fighters on duty is the same day and night.Two computer models for simulation of different locations of the rescue services are used to determine the best options for placement of the rescue services. A cost-benefit analysis is also used to determine if today's fire stations are efficient for the society from an economical point of view.The results of the different models are that the fire station in Lund is misplaced. The number of ladders in Malmö can be reduced.

This essay examines the process of fair value accounting of financial assets in a Swedish commercial bank, in contrast to the theoretical approach stated by IASB. The theoretical background contains a review of the academic standpoint on fair value accounting and historical cost accounting, a detailed description of fair value accounting according to current and future IASB regulation and on the American FAS 157 regulation. The empirical case study describes the process of valuing and classifying financial assets into level 1 and level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. The analysis describes how the legal requirements for classification are interpreted and applied in practice when valuing bonds and derivatives. The authors provide an explanation as to why the majority of financial assets are valued mark to model rather than mark to market as well as a suggestion on how the share of market valued assets can be increased..

In electricity markets evolving towards liberalisation and internationalisation, green certificates are seen as an important tool to promote production of renewable energy. In a green certificate market producers sell certificates received per unit of electricity generated from renewable energy. Trade in renewability is thereby decoupled from the the physical electricity trade. Tradable green certificates in combination with renewables obligation are implemented or planned in several EU member states. Integration at EU leveland the creation of a common certificate market seem like a possible next step.