The dependency of continuous electricity supply is high in the Swedish society today, at the same time no one is willing to pay for a too costly or over dimensioned power distribution system. The owners of the distribution systems are the ones responsible for this balance act of maintaining a high quality of electricity delivery to customers at a reasonable cost.In this master thesis a limited part of the primary distribution system (10 kV), owned by Mälarenergi Elnät AB and located in the city centre of Västerås, was chosen for a deeper analysis of its reliability. Its ability to handle outages of system components (N-1 and N-2 contingency analysis) was investigated to find out potential weak spots and parts of the grid that showed signs of being overdimensioned.The results of the performed simulations showed that in 74 % of the studied N-1 contingencies cases, consisting of outages of a bus bar in a distribution substation, the system could handle this without causing outages in other parts of the grid. For the N-2 contingencies 61 % passed the test. It was also found that one of the two included high voltage substations could alone supply the investigated part of the grid.

The biodiversity of the Swedish forest has degenerated since the beginning of the 19th century when fire suppression and large scale logging first occurred. Together with a changed land use, these actions today have had a negative influence on many forest dwelling species, due to gradual reduction of natural processes, successions and different structures from the forest ecosystem. The Swedish Forest Act, together with different environment certifications, have today encouraged private persons and forest companies, among them Holmen Skog, to work actively to improve nature conservation. The aim of this study was to, by field inventories of already existing nature values, literature studies, recommendations from scientific reports and ecological gap analysis as a basis, make a management plan, for a non-production area, to conserve or improve the prerequisites for biodiversity. ?Storskogsberget? is located in the coastal area of Västerbotten County, 35 km from the city of Umeå.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate animal welfare situation in Ethiopia during slaughter and to investigate chain activities between animal markets and Kera abattoir in Addis Abeba. In total, 442 animals were observed within 52 groups of cattle; both ox and calves with different breeds. The study was divided into four different sets of data collection; behavioural observations, recording of slaughter process, observation during transport and interview. During the behavioural observations, an ethogram was used with 46 behaviours observed, categorised into 5 different groups. The data was calculated using Excel and SAS. The results indicated that a significant correlation (p-value.

Peat  lands  are  a  great  potential  resource  for  increased  forest  growth  in  Sweden, there  are  approximately  6.5  million  hectares  of  peat  lands,  whereof  around  70% produce less wood than one m3sk/ha and year and are therefore classed as forest waste  land.  There  are  over  200  000  hectares  of  peat  land  that  is  already  drained and  wooded,  and  that may  be  suitable  for  fertilization.  Forest  production  on  peat soils  usually  requires  drainage  and  fertilization.  Dewatering  requires  ditching  the area, so that the roots can have access to oxygen. Nitrogen is often abundant in the peat but other nutrients; especially potassium is in short supply. The  purpose  of  this  work  was  to examine  the effects  of  potassium  fertilization  on the  growth  of  spruces  that  were  planted  on  drained  peat  land  and  how  different amount of fertilizers affects the growth. Potassium deficiency is strongly growth inhibiting, since potassium is important for substance  transport  in  the  tree.  Potassium  is  also  important  for  the  carbohydrate formation, and because increasing the sugar content of the cells constitutes a lower freezing temperature does potassium availability in the soil play a major role in the winter  resistance  of  many  species.  Potassium  is  not  found  in  any  organic compounds in the tree, but is present in cell and tissue fluids. A fertilization trial was started in 1978 in Siljansfors Experimental Forest. The plots in the experiment were fertilized with different amounts of potassium and one plot was  left  without  fertilization.  All  plots  that  were  fertilized  with  potassium  grew considerably better than the unfertilized plot. The difference in production between the unfertilized plot and the plot that received the most potassium was 7.2 m3sk/ha and year. The unfertilized plot can still be classified as waste land. The theoretical production capacity was estimated using a Swedish system for site quality  estimation  of  wetlands  after  ditching  (dikningsbonitering).  The  plot  with most  potassium  produced  after  fertilizationaproximately  in  level  with  theoretical estimations.  Key  words:  Peat  land,  Fertilization,  Ditching,  Growth,  site  quality..

AbstractThe dependency of fossil fuels in the transport sector causes large emissions of carbondioxide. This problem can we reduce by using vehicle gas from digested solid manure and leftover of pasture. I have studied the potential for this in the county of Västernorrland. Thepurpose is to investigate how much vehicle gas that can be extracted.One central, large scale digestion and upgrade plant should be placed in Härnösand. Theamount of pasture and manure that is economical and practical available is enough to produce2,7-3,5 millions Nm3 vehicle gas.

The Swedish FSC standard (Forest Stewardship Council) is a level standard used to certify forestry. All the major Swedish forest companies are using the FSC standard, and approximately 50% of the Swedish forests are FSC certified today. In the essay six items within the chapter on environmental issues and biodiversity are examined: the proportion of protected forest, the proportion of annually burnt clear-cut stands, the number of trees with large diameter, the amount of dead wood, the proportion of deciduous trees within a stand and the proportion of deciduous-dominated stands. The FSC standard states a level for all items, and the purpose of the essay is to analyse whether these levels are supported by research within the field of conservation biology. The validity of the levels of the six items is them discussed to evaluate whether changes are required to the next revision of the FSC standard.

The costs of logging and of transportation with truck are dominating the total cost of wood delivered at industry. To support the profitability for the members' forestry the processing and handling with the timber has to be as efficient as possible. Increased length of pulpwood in thinning is one conduct that can result in higher productivity and/or lower costs. The study is scaled as a system analysis with the aim to exemplify the differences between working with 3- and 4-meter as standard length of pulpwood, related to biological aspects, timber receipts, cost of logging and cost of transportation with truck. Important aspects are if the change is technically and biologically feasible and economically profitable.

It is essential to reuse- and recycles residues to decrease the amount of deposit materials and reach sustainable energy use. Two ways to work towards this is to recycle wood ashes to the forest as nutrient compensation and extract biogas from combustion of biomass.The aim with this study was to decide whether wood ashes that been used for biogas upgrading with accelerated carbonation also can be used as a nutrient compensation in the woods according to recommendations from the Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen).The ashes that were used in this study came from Johan Andersson who works at JTI in Uppsala, who also treated the ashes with biogas. The ashes have, in both untreated and treated condition, been analyzed in this study according to contents of elements, leaching properties, hardening properties and contents of crystalline phases, to evaluate what impact carbonation with biogas has on the ashes.The accelerated carbonation led to hardening of the ash, and decreased amount of CaO- and increased amount of CaCO3. The CO2-uptake also entails a dilution of the elements, and the content of nutrients and trace elements decreases. However the results show an indication of an uptake of S from the biogas to the ash, since the dilution had a smaller impact on S than the rest of the elements.

DinBox Sverige AB säljer fastighetsboxar på den skandinaviska marknaden och har produktionen utlagd till en leverantör Kina. Företaget startades i slutet på 2007 och är med andra ord relativt ungt. Den logistiska delen från beställning till leverans av produkt, är en mycket viktig och vital del av verksamheten som måste fungera. Det logistiska flödet fungerar idag inte helt felfritt och det uppstår problem med leveranser.Jag fick som uppgift i mitt examensarbete inom supply-chain management, att undersöka det logistiska flödet närmare för att hitta olika förbättringsförslag.Syftet med uppgiften är ta reda på vilka fel som uppstår, kartlägga vilka typer av kostnader dessa fel innebär och utreda hur man kan undvika fel i fortsättningen. Examensarbetet ska resultera i ett passande förbättringsalternativ som ökar kontrollen av logistikflödet från beställning till leverans.Resultatet i examensarbetet har uppnåtts genom en grundlig nulägesanalys, framtagande av ett flödesschema och identifiering av problem i processerna.

Kitron had wishes to be able to test and measure how disturbance affects their vehicle electronic units before they have been verified by SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden in Borås. This work started with the writing of a demand specification together with Kitron for a product PSQS, Power Supply Quality Simulator, which can generate some test pulses according to a standard for electronic units to Volvos vehicles. A design proposal was developed with the help the demand specification and was verified with the help of simulations. All electric schematics was designed with the guide of the design proposal. The pulses realized in the works of this thesis are those which Kitron experienced that they have a need to test in their own premises and which are possible to generate with the means available.

In this thesis an energy analysis of ethanol production at the ethanol plant of Lantmännen Agroetanol in Norrköping has been performed. The ethanol plant has been studied in combination with Händelöverket, the combined heat and power plant which provides the ethanol process with steam. The purpose of this study was to determine the energy consumption for the whole production chain from grain to ethanol. The analysis has included the energy consumption for cultivation of grain, production of chemicals, the production chain for wood chips, the steam production and the ethanol plant. The grain and wood chips are both considered raw materials there for the energy content in these are not included as energy input in the system.

In this thesis an energy analysis of ethanol production at the ethanol plant of Lantmännen Agroetanol in Norrköping has been performed. The ethanol plant has been studied in combination with Händelöverket, the combined heat and power plant which provides the ethanol process with steam. The purpose of this study was to determine the energy consumption for the whole production chain from grain to ethanol. The analysis has included the energy consumption for cultivation of grain, production of chemicals, the production chain for wood chips, the steam production and the ethanol plant. The grain and wood chips are both considered raw materials there for the energy content in these are not included as energy input in the system.

To build high-rise buildings made of timber has for long been limited by national laws, due to the lack of knowledge in engineering solutions. Frame structures made of wood has for a long time been associated with major fire hazards and consequently lower safety and this connection is still being made today. The increased environmental awareness in recent years has contributed to the exploitation of indigenous building materials, including wood from our own Swedish forests and has become increasingly common. Increased knowledge about how structures behave in fire and how they can be protected in order to achieve safe timber structures has resulted in a growing interest in these structures in the construction industry. Research in the area is constantly updated and new laws allow any number of storeys in wooden buildings in Sweden as long as the performance requirements are fulfilled.The main part of this work has involved calculations of the fire resistance and load bearing capacity of floor and wall constructions.

The main goal with this thesis report was to come up with ideas of how to make the use of energy more effective and thus save money for the company.First a survey was made to find out where and how the energy consumers were divided within the company. The results were then used in calculations to find out how much money that could be saved and how long it would take to get back the investments.There is a big potential in saving money by recovering heat from the UV-lamps with a heat exchanger. It would also even out the pressure in the factory which is a source to heat loss and a cause for discomfort amongst the employees. It?s possible to save 105 000 kr in a year and the money needed for the investments is 600 000 kr.By using the recovery air more effectively the company could save up to 250 000 kr a year in lowered heat purchases, but this would require the use of automatic dampers.If you reschedule the running times for the wood chipper and invest in some kind of load management, for example Sydkraft?s ?Energidirigent? you can save at least 42 000 kr.

Water is an important food and an important natural resource. In order to protect these are the Environmental Code and the EU directive given to water protection and related water protection regulations will be established for all water sources until 2010. Those who will prepare a water protection and related water protection regulations is the municipality or person responsible for water supply. The person then decides and declares the area as water protection and related water protection regulations are municipal or provincial government. The idea of creating a water protection is to protect the water supply and the body of water against pollution caused by point sources, diffuse sources and accidents combined.