Globala klimatförändringar med en ökad havsnivå leder till att flacka landområden översvämmas, vilket drabbar värdefulla livsmiljöer och ekosystem längs med kusten. Den här undersökningens syfte är att genom en fjärranalys i ett geografiskt informationssystem kartlägga omfattningen av havsstrandängar i Blekinge län som hotas att försvinna till följd av en stigande havsnivå på 0,5 m respektive 1 m. För att vidare identifiera spridningsmöjligheter och en möjlig framtida utbredning för habitatet inåt land vid en förändrad havsnivå. Slutligen kommer fjärranalysens tillförlitlighet i avseendet att hitta spridningsmöjligheter utvärderas efter fältstudier i två utvalda referensområden. Resultatet visar att 98 % av Blekinges befintliga havsstrandängar hotas att försvinna till följd av en ökad havsnivå – men att det finns spridningsmöjligheter inåt land. Undersökningen har lokaliserat spridningsmöjligheter på mark med naturliga förutsättningar för att bli havsstrandäng, vilket anses vara en tillförlitlig tolkningsmetod som pekar på att habitatets utbredningsområde i länet kommer att minska. Det är därför viktigt att Länsstyrelsen i Blekinge arbetar för att så tidigt som möjligt skyddar och hävdar tänkbar utvecklingsmark tillsammans med dagens befintliga havsstrandängar för att underlätta arternas spridning i landskapet och bevara ett biologiskt värdefullt habitat till kommande generationer. 

This paper aims to start a discussion about the forest as a producer of quality building materials, where the cultural heritage of planed panels is the gateway to a deeper understanding of future building- and forestry culture in Sweden. Using a qualitative research method, carpenters, foresters and raw materials processors have been asked to give their views on the current situation and the future of sustainable use of forest resources through sustainable construction. The paper aims to give a landscape perspective on experiential construction. Building with wood is regarded as better from a climate point of view than building with concrete. The paper broadens the conclusion that it could even be more sustainable to build with tradition and thus quality timber.

At the opposite of numerous countries in the world, despite its natural assets and its enormous surface and underground water potential, Cameroon is still trying to put down effective policies for the supply of safe drinking water for its rural population. Many initiatives to supply these communities through a national water distribution network have remained for the most dead letters or fruitless. A very high number of people still endanger their life daily by relying on archaic water supply techniques – when they are working – and by consuming unsafe water.

This study therefore investigates if fog and rainwater harvesting could help in securing safe drinking water to these same rural communities, leaving the remaining demand - if any - to be provided by the existing but too often non-reliable supply system. Two pilot sites have been selected for their different climatic conditions; a village in the mountainous Western Province and another in the low-lying area of the Far-North Province of Cameroon. Average climatic data and basic topographical information from each location were used to determine the size and number of required collectors. The potential monthly water-yield at each site was then assessed using an actual climatic data series (8 years) and the theoretical performance simulated based on an increasing per capita daily consumption (10 – 40 l.d-1). An estimate of implementation cost is provided as part of the discussion on the feasibility of using both fog and rainwater harvesting as low-cost approaches to securing safe drinking water in Cameroon.

 In this study, laboratory wastewater containing organic matters, heavy metals and aromatic compounds, was treated by vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides) as a phytoremediation method to remove the above three groups of pollutants. Sewage effluent, as a source of nutrient supply for plant growth, was firstly fed to two wetland systems: mini horizontal subsurface flow (HSSF) and floating raft (FR) wetlands. Next, laboratory wastewater was added gradually to mix with sewage. Nominal hydraulic retention time in both wetlands are 12 hours. Pollutants removal efficiencies were monitored. Microbial community change corresponding with each stages of sewage only and mixture with laboratory wastewater was also examined. The examined microbial community includes Nitrogen-fixing (N-fixing) bacteria, Phosphate-solubilizing (P-solubilizing) microorganism, Pseudomonas sp., and Zoogloea sp. 

In HSSF wetland, base materials (gravel and sand), algae, and vetiver root were in turn investigated for pollutant removal efficiencies. The results reveal that even with the presences of heavy metals and aromatic compounds, vetiver presented reasonable removal efficiencies of about 62%, 68.6%, and 58.3% for BOD, TN, and TP removal, respectively. Base materials showed almost no effect on pollutant removal. Algae was slightly responsible for approximate 6.3%, 16.6%, and 19.7% of BOD, TN, and TP removals, respectively. On the other hand vetiver roots, in term of heavy metals, had an impressive removal efficiencies of 99.2, 95.8, 96.2, and 96.7% of Cr+6 (in K2Cr2O7), Mn (MnSO4), Fe (FeSO4), and Cu (CuSO4), respectively. For aromatic compounds, the wetland is responsible for 96.8 and almost 100% of correspondingly phenol and benzene removal efficiencies. For microbial aspect, N-fixing microorganisms (e.g. Azospirillum sp., Azotobacter sp.) and Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (Bacillus sp.) increased gradually in population during domestic wastewater feeding stage. When laboratory wastewater was added, N-fixing and P-solubilizing bacteria were quantitatively decreased slightly while population of Pseudomonas sp. increased. Besides, Zoogloea sp. was also found increasing through out the experiment and keeping a stable growth even during laboratory wastewater adding. 

In FR wetland, both algae and vetiver root were also investigated for BOD and aromatic compounds and heavy metals. The outcomes show similar tendencies in treatment and microbial behaviours as in HSSF wetland. Vetiver grass, mainly responsible for organic matters and nutrients removal, presented slightly lower removal efficiencies than those in HSSF wetland. The average values of removal efficiencies are 59%, 63.5%, and 53.0% for BOD, TN, and TP removal, respectively. Algae, also, took minor responsibility for approximate 3.3%, 9.1%, and 8.9% of BOD, TN, and TP removals, respectively. Heavy metals of Cr+6 (in K2Cr2O7), Mn (MnSO4), Fe (FeSO4), and Cu (CuSO4) were found removing less than in HSSF wetland with average removal efficiencies values of 92.4, 85.1, 91.8, and 91.5%, respectively, by 

vetiver root. Algae show almost no effect on heavy metals and aromatic removals. The vetiver root likewise plays important role in phenol and benzene removals with values of 91.5 and 96% in efficiency, respectively. N-fixing and P-solubilizing microorganisms, Pseudomonas sp., and Zoogloea sp. presented similar responses tendencies to different living condition when domestic and laboratory wastewaters, in turn, were fed.

Today’s society is standing in front of a revolution where fossil energy should be replaced with renewable energy. Governmental agencies and policy makers have formed goals and regulations to become greener, and the organisation Fossil Free Sweden has published roadmaps for fossil free competitiveness. Therefore, this report has connected Paroc’s operations with a roadmap for fossil free competitiveness to form a strategic environmental plan. Early, it was recognized that the field was big and a limitation to CO2-emissions during production were established. The facts were gathered mostly throughout literature studies, scientific publications/articles, and personal communication with personnel at Paroc/Owens Corning. The results gave a description over fossil free competitiveness for the construction sector, previous, and current sustainability efforts at Paroc. After that, the report lifted suggestions of modifications to the mainstream process. Focus laid on the reduction of coke, propane, and dolomite. Later, the report discussed a possible strategy to become fossil free by 2045. It found out that there are many approaches to become climate neutral. Moreover, a need for practical testing of the solutions in the mainstream processes, and that emissions can be calculated in an absolute of relative way. 

A novel set up composed of an anaerobic biofilm reactor followed by ozonation was used for treatment of artificial and real textile effluents containing azo dyes. The biological treatment efficiently removed chemical oxygen demand and color. Ozonation further reduced the organic content of the effluents and was very important for the degradation of aromatic compounds, as shown by the reduction of UV absorbance. The acute toxicity toward Vibrio fischeri and the shrimp Artemia salina increased after the biological treatment. No toxicity was detected after ozonation with the exception of the synthetic effluent containing the highest concentration, 1 g/l, of the azo dye Remazol Red. Both untreated and biologically treated textile effluents were found to have mutagenic effects. The mutagenicity increased even further after 1 min of ozonation. No mutagenicity was however detected in the effluents subjected to longer exposure to ozone.

The results of this study suggest that the use of ozonation as short post-treatment after a biological process can be beneficial for the degradation of recalcitrant compounds and the removal of toxicity of textile wastewater. However, monitoring of toxicity and especially mutagenicity is crucial and should always be used to assess the success of a treatment strategy.

Examensarbetet belyser hydrauliska faktorer som hastighet/belastning, motstånd/tryck, flöde och filtersandens karakteristika; klimatfaktorer som nederbörd och lufttemperatur; vattenkvalitetsfaktorer som vattentemperatur, färgtal, turbiditet samt lukt och smak, faktorer vilka samtliga anses inverka/påverka driftiden för långsamfilter.

Ringsjöverkets dokumentation och statistik för år 1999-2009 analyseras och utvärderas för att fastställa eventuella samband mellan rensningsfrekvens, drifttid och funktion med hydrauliska-, klimat- och vattenkvalitetsfaktorer.

Resultatet av examensarbetet tenderar att påvisa viss inverkan/påverkan av de hydrauliska faktorerna på rensningsfrekvens och drifttid. För klimat- och vattenkvalitetsfaktorer är resultatet mer oklart. Undersökningen av Ringsjöverkets långsamfilter varken bekräftar, dementerar eller fastställer något samband, utan snarare indikerar att en mängd faktorer av varierande art är involverade i hur rensningsfrekvens och drifttid utvecklas samt att framtida mer omfattande studier beträffande exempelvis vattenkemiska och mikrobiologiska undersökningar erfordras.

Varje månad produceras 100 000Nm3 (normalkubikmeter) biogas vid centrala reningsverket i Kristianstad. Denna gas används primärt som uppvärmning till lokaler på området genom tre gaspannor lokaliserade i källaren under huvudbyggnaden. På gasnätet finns även en uppgraderingsanläggning inkopplad som kan ta ut gas som sedan uppgraderas till fordonsgas. Gasen som går till uppgraderingsanläggningen generar en årlig intäkt på cirka 700 000:-. Överbliven gas lagras i en gasklocka och när denna är full facklas överskottet av gas upp. Diskussioner har under en längre tid förts gällande ett annat sätt att tillvarata gasen, nämligen genom att installera kraftvärmeverk som förutom värme även producerar el. Kristianstads kommun har tidigare erhållit KLIMP bidrag för detta ändamål men av diverse anledning installerades aldrig kraftvärmeverket och pengarna nyttjades ej utan återfördes till staten. Med skenande el-priser under vintern 2009-2010 har diskussionen om kraftvärmeverk återigen blivit aktuell. Jag har med hjälp av litteraturstudier via Internet sammanställt en rapport som på ett tydligt och lättöverskådligt sätt beskriver hur biogas bildas och vilka processer som ligger bakom när uppgradering till fordonsgas sker. Rapporten utreder även frågan om det är ekonomin eller miljön som tjänar mest på att kraftvärmeverk installeras.