The thick shelled river mussel (Unio crassus) has a fragmented distribution in southern Sweden. It is a threatened and protected species. In both the Swedish red list and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Unio crassus is classified as Endangered (EN). Causes for this classification are for instance differentiated bottom substrate and deterioration in water quality. In this study, habitat preferences of Unio crassus were investigated to assist in future restoration work.

Combustion of fossil fuels is today the dominating source of energy. During combustion,carbon dioxide is formed. The carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere,which raises the global average temperature on earth through the so called greenhouseeffect. The only way to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide from combustionin a coal fired power plant is through carbon capture and storage (CCS).Post-combustion capture is a technology to separate carbon dioxide from the uegas after the combustion for efficient transport and storage. The steady state operationof coal fired power plants with post combustion capture has already beenthoroughly investigated on a pilot scale, however much work remains to investigatethe plants dynamic operation.

The background of this study is the fact that it nowadays is more common to grow wheat after wheat. Usually we plow every autumn to remove the straw, and we wanted to study the effect of alternative methods to do it. We have done this experiment to answer the question if no tillage is better than conventional plowing. The results of the field experiment indicate that there is a link between plant establishment and the choice of equipment, but also a higher weed pressure in experimental plots with only ground tillage. The equipments which left much straw on the top of the ground the problems with fungi were more severe.

ABSTRACT Tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV) is a soilborne plant virus. It is an important pathogen in potatoes where it causes spraing disease. This disease can lead to significant economical loss for the farmer, so it is imperative to get the proper diagnose before planting. TRV is spread naturally by free-living nematodes (Trichodorus and Paratrichodorus). Transference of TRV to a plant occurs when the virus-carrying nematodes feed on plant roots. The relationship between virus, nematodes and plants is complicated, and has to these days not been fully characterized. The diagnostic methods available today do not work sufficiently.

AbstractThe future of ethanol is depending on good solutions for the production. ENA energy power plant produces electrical power and district heating by heating biofuel. By building an integrated bioenergy plant surplus steam could be used to produce ethanol as fuel to vehicle.This would mean that ethanol is produced renewable energy and the energy for the process derives from the surplus of power.  ENA energy, MDH (the University of Mälardalen) and the energy authority has initiated a research project were different bioenergy combinations integrate with existing power plant.  As a part of the project which size an integrated factory should be to gain the best efficiency for the plant was investigated. Consideration will be taken to the cost of the production in order to be competitive to the price of imported ethanol.  Etanolens framtid vilar på bra lösningar för framställning.  I ENA energi kraftverk i Enköping produceras el och fjärrvärme genom eldning av biobränsle.  Genom att bygga ett integrerat bioenergikraftverk där skulle man kunna använda överskottsånga till att framställa etanol som fordonsbränsle.

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether or not it is possible to keep bottlenose dolphins and killer whales in captivity while maintaining good animal welfare. Today, many zoos and aquariums claim that their primary function is to conserve species and educate people about conservation and threatened species. The keeping of wild animals is justified by conservation programs and by the information spread to the zoo visitors. This does however not seem to be the case for marine mammals such as bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) and killer whales (Oricnus orca) since these species are not threatened in the wild and neither of them are listed as threatened in IUCN's Red List. Bottlenose dolphins and killer whales are entirely aquatic carnivores and are distributed in all coastal and pelagic waters from the Arctic ice in the north to the Antarctic ice in the south.

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.

This pilot study examined whether treatment with Vortex Process Technology (VPT) of the irrigation water used on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants had any effect on plant growth. In a block experiment, with two blocks comprising 12 vases containing 1 L water and two tomato plantlets, treatment in which, nutrient solution was based on Vortex-treated water was compared with an control using untreated water. All vases were kept in a static aerated culture system in a daylight chamber for four weeks. The results showed that the effect of the two blocks exceeded the effect of vortex treatment in terms of leaf area and weight of fresh and dry matter. Plant height, stem width and internodal length were significantly different in tomato plants grown in Vortex-processed water compared with the untreated control.

AbstractThe future of ethanol is depending on good solutions for the production. ENA energy power plant produces electrical power and district heating by heating biofuel. By building an integrated bioenergy plant surplus steam could be used to produce ethanol as fuel to vehicle.This would mean that ethanol is produced renewable energy and the energy for the process derives from the surplus of power.  ENA energy, MDH (the University of Mälardalen) and the energy authority has initiated a research project were different bioenergy combinations integrate with existing power plant.  As a part of the project which size an integrated factory should be to gain the best efficiency for the plant was investigated. Consideration will be taken to the cost of the production in order to be competitive to the price of imported ethanol.  Etanolens framtid vilar på bra lösningar för framställning.  I ENA energi kraftverk i Enköping produceras el och fjärrvärme genom eldning av biobränsle.  Genom att bygga ett integrerat bioenergikraftverk där skulle man kunna använda överskottsånga till att framställa etanol som fordonsbränsle.

The purpose of this study was to compare naturally regenerated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris (L.)) against seeded Scots pine in terms of benefits and differences. An inventory was performed at a number of different sites, 4 ? 6 years after soil scarification and data on the number of new established plants, their height growth as well as ground-line diameter was collected. Information about site conditions such as altitude, quarter exposure and frost risk was also collected. A review of previous studies was conducted in addition to the field study.

At SIA TallOil's pellets factory in Latvia wood shavings and saw dust are dried with flue gases from a gas burner. TallOil wants to replace the gas with a biofuel that is available at the pellet plant. The reason for this is the unstable gas market in Europe in combination with the fact that TallOil wants to improve its profile as supplier of renewable bio fuels. In this project the technical and economical possibilities for a fuel conversion to ether bark powder, wood shavings or wood powder have been investigated. These fuels should be burned in one of the following applications: TPS BioSwirl, VTS Multifuel burner or Saxlunds bio fuel combustion plant Due to the fact that the fuel alternatives available are relatively common except for bark powder, the work has mainly been focused on bark powder.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of Verotoxin-encoding bacteriophages in mussels, cultured downstream the sewage treatment plant in Lysekil.Mussels were collected in three growing areas from April 2008 to March 2009. Real-time PCR was performed for detection of vtx1 and vtx2 genes and enrichment of bacteriophages on non Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157: H7 was carried out. All samples in real-time PCR analysis were negative; no presence of Verotoxin-encoding phages was shown. No plaque was formed on blood agar base plates, indicating that no bacteriophages had been taken up by E. coli bacteriaThe levels of Verotoxin-encoding phages and E.coli outside the sewage treatment plant in Lysekil were not high enough to be able to form VTEC in mussels, indicating that the faecal contamination was low.

AbstractThe future of ethanol is depending on good solutions for the production. ENA energy power plant produces electrical power and district heating by heating biofuel. By building an integrated bioenergy plant surplus steam could be used to produce ethanol as fuel to vehicle.This would mean that ethanol is produced renewable energy and the energy for the process derives from the surplus of power.  ENA energy, MDH (the University of Mälardalen) and the energy authority has initiated a research project were different bioenergy combinations integrate with existing power plant.  As a part of the project which size an integrated factory should be to gain the best efficiency for the plant was investigated. Consideration will be taken to the cost of the production in order to be competitive to the price of imported ethanol.  Etanolens framtid vilar på bra lösningar för framställning.  I ENA energi kraftverk i Enköping produceras el och fjärrvärme genom eldning av biobränsle.  Genom att bygga ett integrerat bioenergikraftverk där skulle man kunna använda överskottsånga till att framställa etanol som fordonsbränsle.

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.