The energy sector is facing an impending paradigm shift. Today?s technology enables the end-user to generate their own energy locally at home. Furthermore, recently developed storage technologies make it possible to balance energy demand with stored energy and integrate district heating with the local power grid. This means that in the future heat and electric power will interact and energy flows is converted over energy boundaries.

Vårt syfte med denna studie är att undersöka de kontroverser som uppstått vid vindkraftsetableringar på Västkusten. Detta syfte innefattar frågeställningar om vilka argument och aktörer som är inblandade och vad som formar en aktörs åsikter.Anledningen till att vi valde detta område var på grund av ett förslag vi fick från en konsult inom området. När vi studerat ämnet närmare insåg vi att det existerar kontroverser kring de olika etableringar som skett och även runt de som endast är i planeringsstadiet. Dessutom insåg vi att det inte fanns mycket aktuell forskning inom området.Studien är baserad på material som har insamlats i form av samrådsredogörelser, artiklar, insändare och fyra utförda intervjuer. Tolkning av materialet har skett utifrån en diskursanalys som gett resultat i form av tre olika diskurser inom kontroversen; Miljödiskursen, Lekmannadiskursen och den Ekonomiska diskursen.

At the Skoghall pappermill, sulphatepaper pulp is produced in a continuous digester originally from 1969. To be able to maintain a high level of production there is a need for a process with few disturbances. Variations in how well the wooden chips are packed in the digester is one form of disturbance. Today there are no available measurements on how well the chips are packed. Instead this is regarded as being constant.

The efficiency of the harvesters work is more often reviewed, than the work of the forwarders. In a local Stora Enso office the differences between the harvesters reported volume of timber, and the actual volume delivered to the industry had been noticed. Therefore, the decision was made to do a review on the forwarders work. The review was conducted together with a worker from Vmf Qbera, who is working daily with wood measurement, in order to get a valid evaluation of the logs. Eight sites were included in the survey, and on each site 50 logs were marked. Approximately one third of the marked logs were pulpwood, and the remaining logs marked were timber.

This master thesis sets out to compare the different public transport modes in Stockholm city.Both energy consumption and air pollution are compared. The chosen transport methods are car,bus and metro.Traditionally the rail industry has had environmental arguments as a strong competitiveadvantage when it comes to passenger transportation. However, in recent years the automotiveindustry has been getting more positive media attention regarding environmental issues, forexample Roger Kemp?s statement that the car is the most environmental friendly passengertransportation mode in the UK. This study will show the environmental advantages of railwaytraffic in cities.The energy sources of the world are not endless and the use of the different sources affects theenvironment in different ways.

Today green tree retention, together with leaving dead wood, is a common practice with the aim to reduce negative impacts on biodiversity and environment due to clear-felling. To better understand whether this conservation practice also makes a long-term difference, it is important to know what happens to these trees after harvest. Few studies have made an assessment of what happens to retention trees over a longer time period. In this study I inventoried retention trees that were left at clear-cuts six, twelve and eighteen years ago. I carried out a re-inventory of 57 retention patches (divided into free-standing tree groups, small swamp forests and edge zones) and free standing dead trees, spread over 25 previous clear-cuts in central Sweden.

Valmets own foundry in Karlstad has during a long period of time had problems being profitable. The goal today is to turn this around. Today there are three different productionlines; engine blocks, Yankeecylinders and components for the wind turbine industry. This master thesis has focused on examining if value stream mapping is a useful tool to use in a foundry, and therefore outside the typical manufacturing industry. The target has also been to evaluate if there is a possibility to improve the flow in the foundry and also the results.During the 20 weeks this work has been done at the foundry data has been collected and analyzed.

We have made a litterature study about pain in animals. In this studie we have brought up areas like sign of pains in animals, pain relief and the care perspective. Pain is perceived when body tissue is damaged or nearly damaged by stimuli. Nociceptors, which are receptors placed at nerve endings, responds to a provocation of pain and transmit an impulse along the nerve to the brain via the spinal cord. Pain is urgent or chronic, and can be divided into nociceptive pain (somatic pain and visceral pain) and neuropathic pain. Different pain mechanisms can arise, such as referred pain, which is when signals of pain are referred to other parts of the body.

This thesis purpose was to contribute to knowledge which could explain the driving forces behind Corporate Social Responsibility in corporate Sweden and their strategic impact from a management perspective. The method used to archive this research was a qualitative interpretative study conducted by interviews. The thesis is based on descriptive theories of drivers for CSR, concepts of strategy and CSR and normative/instrumental theories suggesting a strategic approach to CSR and stakeholder management. The empirical study is based on interviews with Swedish business managers in a strategic board position as well as consultants working with CSR strategies, supported with internet information from companies? webpage.

This thesis aims to present the essential background on how to perform climate changeimpact assessments, and to present the results from a climate impact assessment on waterbalance and nitrate leaching for an arable Swedish soil. The soil is a sandy soil in southwesternSweden, grown with spring cereals. This study is meant to be a benchmark example,and cannot be seen as a regional or national assessment for Sweden, rather as an approachto present and analyze the most important parts of these kinds of assessments.A dynamical simulation model (COUP, Jansson and Karlberg, 2004) was used for thisstudy. The model was parameterized and calibrated against data from an experimental site,located in Mellby in Hallands county, south western Sweden. Measurements were carriedout between 1st of April 1988 and 1st of April 1991.

Vindkraft för generering av el har under de senaste åren vuxit kraftigt i Sverige och utbyggnaden väntas fortsätta. Ett viktigt steg när nya vindkraftsparker skall byggas är att göra en vindanalys för det aktuella området. Vindanalysen är ett viktigt underlag för att avgöra om en investering i vindkraftverk kommer vara ekonomiskt lönsamt på den aktuella platsen.     Som underlag till vindanalysen sätts vanligen mätutrustning upp i området och vindförhållandena på platsen mäts upp. Att installera och underhålla mätmaster är kostsamt och därför mäts vindarna på ett begränsat antal platser i det intressanta området.

This thesis aims to present the essential background on how to perform climate changeimpact assessments, and to present the results from a climate impact assessment on waterbalance and nitrate leaching for an arable Swedish soil. The soil is a sandy soil in southwesternSweden, grown with spring cereals. This study is meant to be a benchmark example,and cannot be seen as a regional or national assessment for Sweden, rather as an approachto present and analyze the most important parts of these kinds of assessments.A dynamical simulation model (COUP, Jansson and Karlberg, 2004) was used for thisstudy. The model was parameterized and calibrated against data from an experimental site,located in Mellby in Hallands county, south western Sweden. Measurements were carriedout between 1st of April 1988 and 1st of April 1991.

Idag fokuseras det politiska intresset på klimatfrågor och det visade sig inte minst när Nobels fredpris tilldelades Panel of Climate Change och Al Gore år 2007. Klimatfrågor med fokusering på bland annat energifrågan, biologisk mångfald och hållbar utveckling kommer att vara nyckelfrågor under andra halvan av 2009 när Sverige är ordförandeland för EU.Bidragande orsaker till klimatförändringar är mänskliga utsläpp av växthusgaser. Arbetet med att minska utsläppen sker bland annat genom Kyotoprotokollet, där 160 stater deltar, innehållande bindande åtaganden att minska utsläppen med 5 % fram till 2012. I och med arbetet med att minska växthusgaser är främjandet och utvecklandet av förnyelsebar energi en viktig del, särskilt i form av vindkraft. Kommunernas fysiska planering spelar en viktig roll i detta, t ex i framtagandet av lämpliga områden för etablering av vindkraft.Gävle kommun används som fallstudie och detta arbete ska underlätta förfarandet att ta fram bra beslutsunderlag som varje planerare behöver göra.

Glass has sophisticated front properties and are used as facades in high buildings. During cold periods, these glass facades could cause thermal discomfort, due to cold downdraught. Cold downdraught can be countered by placing heaters under glass surfaces. Nowadays technology offers highly insulating windows, which is why there is an interest to investigate the indoor climate with only underfloor heating. The research in this area is limited, and few empirical methods are available.

My final essay is a design proposal for a schoolyard that pertains to the senses. The proposal consists of an illustration plan and this paper. The design proposal takes start in sense stimulation to create a varied environment. The title leads to the concept ?surprisingly predictable?.