Tussilago farfara, coltsfoot, is a troublesome perennial weed with deep lying rhizome, which can vegetatively generate new plants. The mechanical control of coltsfoot that is used today, "starvation", which consists of several cultivations of the soil, which fragmentises the rhizome. This results in production of new shoots, which leads to depletion of nutrient resources; as long the new plant is not allowed to establish. However, very little research has been done to investigate how the starving technique affects the regenerative ability of coltsfoot. The purpose of this experiment with coltsfoot was to investigate how fragmentation and burial depths affect the time of emergence, number of emerged shoots per rhizome fragment, number of shoots per node, and if the germination ability within nodes changes during the experiment.

Certain microbial residents from composts are known to possess the ability to suppress soilborne plant pathogens. Trichoderma spp. and Gliocladium spp. are commonly found in composts and are perhaps the most wellknown hyperparasites of fungal pathogens, which may also be naturally present in compost. Trials have many times proven them to be effective against plant diseases caused by soilborne pathogens such as Pythium spp., Phytophthora spp.

To achieve a sustainable development, three aspects have to take equal place in the society; environmental, economical and social. To reduce the impact on the environment and the amount of greenhouse gases supplied to the atmosphere, industrialized countries and less developed countries must start cooperating. Also the use of renewable energy sources, like solar, hydro and wind power, have to increase.Wind power has great potential as a future energy supply. It is cost efficient, quickly developed and the resource is abundant and available worldwide.Examinations made in Sweden, indicates that there are difficulties establishing wind power at the same pace as the environmental goals, set by the Swedish government, requires. Mainly because people living nearby potential areas for wind power farms, appeal against the decision.This study aims to investigate differences between how people in Sweden and Brazil look at wind power as a future energy source and at the establishing process.

The economic development and competitiveness in Europe is heavily dependent on an efficient transport system. Movement of goods and people is essential for a competitive industry and successful trade. As a result of an intensified transport business, consumption of fossil fuels has increased dramatically. As a consequence, there are increased emissions of dangerous greenhouse gases. Transports are often mentioned as an area with high impact on the environment.

In coastal wetlands carbon/organic matter can be stored for long periods of time thanks to, among other things, the presence of water which slows down the decomposition. Because of this, restauration and management of such habitats have the potential to decrease the emission of greenhouse gasses and help mitigate climate. Internationally these environments are called ?blue carbon? ecosystems. In Sweden, alder (Alnus glutinosa and Alnus incanata) covered wetlands along the coast is a nature type that potentially could function as a ?blue carbon? habitat.

Environmental destruction is a growing problem in our world. Almost every day there are new reports concerning that we have to do something about the greenhouse gasses. Simultaneously is the human constantly more eager to have a life with higher standards and therefore uses more energy. The environment is a question that is highly up-to-date and more people try to find solutions on how to save our planet. One way to decrease the energy demand is to build passive houses, where the houses don?t have any active heating.

Abstract Background: In 1997 the Kyoto Protocol was signed, it?s an international agreement which is aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sweden's goal is to reduce energy using in buildings with 20 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2050. This is a comparison with levels from 1995 (Glad, 2006). For Sweden to be able to reach its goals, they need to construct more low-energy buildings (Åhman, Wahlström & Lundblad, 2010).

The most common way to treat wastewater in Sweden today is by a combination of an activated sludge process and a chemical treatment. These processes are not very energy efficient and may not be the most environmentally friendly. That is why it is interesting to evaluate new alternative methods to see if they can be less harmful to the environment and help to a lower resource consumption. New techniques are tested in a pilot installation at Hammarby Sjöstad, Sjöstadsverket. To be able to evaluate these techniques in a wide perspective system analyses are conducted where different impacts can be considered, advantages and disadvantages in the systems.Five system structures for water treatment have been constructed in Matlab/Simulink in this study.

Due to global climate change and the rising levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, the interest for seeking solutions for mitigation has increased. While much attention has been directed towards technical solutions such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), biogenic carbon sinks has also garnered significant attention. Previous studies have shown that coastal ecosystems such as seagrass meadows and mangroves have a much greater capacity for storing carbon (C) compared to terrestrial ecosystems. That raises the question if other coastal ecosystems, such as coastal wetland forests, that previously haven?t been considered as blue carbon habitats also contribute to coastal carbon sink capacity.

To curb greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change is one of the biggest challenges human society face today. Carbon dioxide (CO2) has accumulated rapidly in the atmosphere as a consequence of burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The aim of this study is to explore two methods to store carbon dioxide in geological formations and biological sinks. The aim is also to discuss the two mitigation options from a sustainable perspective and whether it can lead to a better environment and benefits for local and global societies. The research questions are: Which method to store carbon dioxide, geological or biological, is the most effective? Which method to store carbon dioxide, geological or biological, has the greatest potential to promote sustainable development for local communities?The method used is a comparative case study and presents four case studies that explore the potential for CO2 storage offshore in Norway and Brazil; and in tropical forests in Mexico and Brazil.

Today's society is facing major challenges. In order to reduce the climate impact fossil fuels should be replaced with fuels that do not contribute to the greenhouse effect. The growing population generates organic waste originating from industry and households so called organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). Through anaerobic digestion, waste can be utilized to produce energy-rich methane gas. In this way, waste can be a resource instead of a burden on society.

Disinfection methods for drinking-water produced at the two water works of Stockholm Water Co are compared in this study. Three different nethods are compared; disinfection with chlorine gas, disinfection with sodium hypochlorite and disinfection with UV-light and monochloramine. The method used is Life cycle assessment, LCA. LCA is defined as the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impact of a product system shroughout its life cycle. The environmental burden is compared for the three different disinfection methods.

It is important to investigate the potential of biological control measures in agricul-ture, especially where economic issues restrict the use of expensive inputs or when there are environmental concerns about toxicity of agrochemicals. The bacterium Bacillus subtilis has proved promising as a biocontrol agent (BCA) in suppressing various plant diseases and it has also been shown to promote plant growth in certain cases. During this study, the effect of B. subtilis on Fusarium wilt (caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum) on tomatoes, as well as its effect on the earthworm species Pontoscolex corethrurus was investigated. Furthermore, the combined ef-fect of the BCA with P.

The research group Soil and Water Management at the department of Soil and Environment at theSwedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala are studying greenhouse gas emissions fromcultivated peat soils. To measure carbon dioxide emissions from peat soils in the field the researchgroup are now using two portable carbon dioxide meters (Vaisala GMP343). For practical reasons,they plan to acquire a new type of automated field meter. The aim of this study is to evaluate thepresent meters to see how environmental conditions and instrument settings affect the results,which is meant to facilitate the introduction of the new field meter when the meters needs to becompared. As a part of the study the relationship between groundwater level and carbon dioxideemissions from peat soils will be investigated.The evaluation of the two carbon dioxide meters was made by connecting them to one single airtightsystem, with the aim of creating identical measurement environments.

This paper describes a factor analysis applied at the data of the European Union structural indicators. These are the official indicators for wealth and economic development in the European Union with main use to evaluate the outcomes of the year 2000 Lisbon goals for making the European Union the world?s strongest economy by 2010. The purpose of the data is to serve for comparing and ?learning by doing?-policies, but have, due to size and format, so far been hard to use for a good compare between member countries.