Land-use change is prevalent across the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) because of widespread agricultural expansion over the last century. Different land-use histories will affect the distributions of native vegetation and soil biogeochemistry of PPR wetlands. Furthermore, because native vegetation is partially required for wetland classification, supplementary methods are needed for proper wetland delineation. Accurate estimates of GHG emissions are required for correct climate change models; therefore proper investigation of contrasting land-use histories on GHG emissions is essential. This study focused on determining the effect that different land-use histories had on the expression of soil hydric features and magnetic susceptibility as well as examining interacting effects among contrasting land-use histories and biogeochemical controls of GHG emissions of PPR wetlands. To determine the differing effects of land-use histories on hydric soil indicators and magnetic susceptibility, fifteen ephemeral wetlands under differing land-uses (annually cultivated, restored grassland, seeded pasture and native grassland) were sampled to a depth of 1 m with samples collected every 10 cm. An upland pit was correspondingly sampled for each wetland. Soils were then analyzed for organic C, inorganic C, dithionite extractable Fe, particle size distributions, wet stable aggregate distributions and magnetic susceptibility at four different temperature treatments (room temperature, 100 °C, 300 °C and 500 °C). While some variables had observable difference among the land-uses (i.e. organic C, dithionite extractable Fe and magnetic susceptibility), the most pronounced differences were between the different pit positions (i.e. wetland pits vs. upland pits). The data was holistically analyzed through non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and position based differences were easily identified through this approach; however, only slight differences were present with respect to contrasting land-use histories. The controls of GHG emissions and their interactions were evaluated through two laboratory incubations (i.e. CH4 incubation and N2O incubation), with a factorial design using land-use history treatments as well as biogeochemical controls specific to each GHG (i.e. CH4: SO4- additions; N2O: water filled pore space [WFPS] treatments and NO3 - additions). Both incubations had the presence of interacting factors among the differing land-use histories. During the CH4 incubation, each land-use history responded oppositely to sulfate additions. During the N2O incubations, both WFPS treatments and NO3 - additions had additive effects on the emissions of N2O. Moreover, the presence of the interactions satisfied the objective of the incubation study. Overall it was determined that while land-use history significantly altered the response of GHG controls with respect to GHG emissions, it did not have strong effects in influencing hydric soil indicators and magnetic susceptibility values.

Chapter 1: Tradable Permits under Environmental and Cost-reducing R&D: This chapter models simultaneous investments in both environmental and cost-reducing R&D by asymmetric Cournot duopolist. Pollution rights (emission permits) are allocated by the regulator and can be traded between firms. Both R&D competition and cooperation are considered. In a three-stage game, firms first invest in R&D, then trade permits, and then compete in output. The strategic interaction between different types of R&D investments is analyzed. It is found that giving more permits to one firm induces it to conduct more cost-reducing but less environmental R&D. The second-best optimal allocation of pollution rights is also analyzed. This allocation matters for social welfare under R&D competition, but is irrelevant under R&D cooperation. Moreover, the optimal allocation depends on R&D spillovers. This paper also studies the grandfathering of permits based on historical output. Compared with the second-best optimal allocation, the higher the emissions reduction level, the more likely that grandfathering allocates too few permits to the large firm and too many permits to the small firm. Adding an R&D budget constraint leads firms to under-invest in cost-reducing R&D relative to environmental R&D. Chapter 2: Tradable Permits under Environmental R&D between Upstream and Downstream Industries: This chapter models the simultaneous investments in environmental R&D by both downstream and upstream industries, with two symmetric firms within each industry competing à la Cournot. Pollution rights are allocated by the regulator, and firms can trade permits. R&D competition, intra-industry (horizontal), inter-industry (vertical) and both intra- and inter-industry (generalized) R&D cooperations are considered. In a four-stage game, firms first invest in R&D, then trade permits, then upstream firms compete in intermediate good production, and finally downstream firms compete in final food production. The strategic interactions between R&D investments are analyzed. It is found that an increase in either vertical or horizontal R&D spillovers reduce the permit price but increase production, but the spillover effects on R&D investments are ambiguous and they depend on the number of permits that a firm receives from the government. However, firms undertake more R&D under generalized cooperation than vertical cooperation, irrespective of spillovers and the allocation of permits, and this results in higher social welfare under generalized cooperation than vertical cooperation. The optimal allocation of pollution rights by the regulator is also considered. This allocation matters for social welfare under R&D competition and horizontal cooperation, but is irrelevant under vertical and generalized cooperations. Chapter 3: Is There a Principle of Targeting in Environmental Taxation?: This chapter studies whether the "principle of targeting", which is referred to by Dixit (1985) as the tax formulae for dirty goods have "additivity property" (Sandmo 1975) and externality-generating sources should be directly targeted (Bhagwati and Johnson 1960), can be applicable in the presence of a uniform commodity tax with an additional emissions tax. We consider three perfectly competitive markets, one of them produces a non-polluting good and the other two produce polluting goods. The regulator chooses optimal taxes on all three markets to maximize social welfare and finances an exogenous public expenditure. First all, it is found that the additivity property does not hold under differentiated taxes, and is even further weakened with a uniform commodity tax. It is also shown that the Pigouvian tax is unlikely to apply on the top of the uniform commodity tax. Furthermore, if there is only tax instrument available -- i.e. either the uniform commodity tax or the emissions tax -- then the uniform commodity tax (emissions tax) induces higher social welfare when marginal social damage is low (high).

Biomass co-firing with coal exhibits great potential for large scale utilization of biomass energy in the near future. In the present work, energy and exergy analyses are carried out for a co-firing based power generation system to investigate the impacts of biomass cofiring on system performance and gaseous emissions of CO2, NOx, and SOx. The power generation system considered is a typical pulverized coal-fired steam cycle system, while four biomass fuels (rice husk, pine sawdust, chicken litter, and refuse derived fuel) and two coals (bituminous coal and lignite) are chosen for the analysis. System performance is evaluated in terms of important performance parameters for different combinations of fuel at different co-firing conditions and for the two cases considered. The results indicate that plant energy and exergy efficiencies decrease with increase of biomass proportion in the fuel mixture. The extent of decrease in energy and exergy efficiencies depends on specific properties of the chosen biomass types. The results also show that the increased fraction of biomass significantly reduces the net CO2 emissions for all types of selected biomass. However, gross CO2 emissions increase for all blends except bituminous coal/refuse derived fuel blend, lignite/chicken litter blend and lignite/refuse derived fuel blend. The reduction in NOx emissions depends on the nitrogen content of the biomass fuel. Likewise, the decrease in SOx emissions depends on the sulphur content of the biomass fuel. The most appropriate biomass in terms of NOx and SOx reduction is sawdust because of its negligible nitrogen and sulphur contents. / UOIT

Biomass fast pyrolysis liquid is a renewable fuel for stationary heat and power generation; however degradation of bio-oil by time, a.k.a. aging, has an impact on combustion performance and emissions. Moreover, the temperature at which bio-oil is stored has a strong effect on the degradation process. In this study, the same biooil-ethanol blends with different storage conditions are tested in a pilot stabilized spray burner under the same flow conditions. Measurements were made of the steady state gas phase emissions and particulate matter, as well as visual inspection of flame stability. The results confirm a relationship between room temperature storage time and storage at higher temperatures (accelerated aging). They also show that fuel aging increases the emissions of carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbon and the organic fraction of particulate matter. These emissions increase more rapidly as more time is allocated for aging. NOx emission shows a slight decrease with fuel aging.

Biomass fast pyrolysis liquid is a renewable fuel for stationary heat and power generation; however degradation of bio-oil by time, a.k.a. aging, has an impact on combustion performance and emissions. Moreover, the temperature at which bio-oil is stored has a strong effect on the degradation process. In this study, the same biooil-ethanol blends with different storage conditions are tested in a pilot stabilized spray burner under the same flow conditions. Measurements were made of the steady state gas phase emissions and particulate matter, as well as visual inspection of flame stability. The results confirm a relationship between room temperature storage time and storage at higher temperatures (accelerated aging). They also show that fuel aging increases the emissions of carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbon and the organic fraction of particulate matter. These emissions increase more rapidly as more time is allocated for aging. NOx emission shows a slight decrease with fuel aging.

The concept of integration of industries in urban setup is the current trend among researchers and engineers in the field of industrial ecology and environmental engineering. Trend of urbanization forces an increasing human demand for energy, materials, water and other resources. Urban symbiosis nowadays is closely related to the controlling of urban metabolism. Closing material loops works as an effective way for a circular economy where theoretically no waste is generated. In this thesis work, an investigation has been made for studying current symbiotic activities in the city of Linköping and look for any potential energy or by-product synergies from industrial activities and the urban waste streams. Some of the companies have been found to be already engaged in such type of activities, directly or indirectly. Hence, uncovering symbiotic activity is also an important task to consider while assessing the feasibility of a network of industries and urban settlement. Finally, it is concluded that the symbiotic activity in the city of Linköping is developing with discovering of new opportunities from waste and by-products from industries and the city area.  The municipal utility company Tekniska Verken and its subsidiary Svensk Biogas could play the role as anchor tenants and the aeronautics company SAAB, for its huge production line, has good potential to participate in exchange of physical materials.

Application of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles was evaluated as a possible measure to mitigate the levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), ammonia (NH3) and odour in swine facilities. Two deployment techniques were investigated: direct mixing of zinc oxide nanoparticles into the slurry, and filtration with nanoparticles as filtering media for the manure gases. The overall goal of this work was to determine the impact of the treatments on hydrogen sulphide, ammonia and odour emissions, pig performance and manure characteristics as well as to assess the feasibility of the application of this technology in a typical swine barn. Semi-pilot scale tests were conducted to evaluate operational factors in open system conditions, the results of which showed that the mixing method required a particle-to-slurry ratio of 3 grams of zinc oxide per litre of slurry to control hydrogen sulphide and ammonia levels. Using the air filtration technique, a fluidized bed filter design with a 0.28 g/cm2 loading rate and rated at 0.5 m/s face velocity was found to be the most effective combination for controlling gas levels. Room-scale experiments were conducted in specially designed chambers to assess the effectiveness of the treatments under conditions that represent commercial swine production. The addition of zinc oxide nanoparticles into the manure achieved more than 95% reduction in hydrogen sulphide levels while no significant effects on ammonia concentrations were observed. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were persistent in maintaining low hydrogen sulphide levels up to 15 days after treatment application. On the other hand, the ventilation air recirculation system with a zinc oxide filter achieved significant reduction in both hydrogen sulphide and ammonia concentrations at the animal- and human-occupied zones. Neither treatment had any significant impact on pig performance and manure nutrient characteristics. Estimates of the cost of application of the treatments in a 100-head grow-finish room showed that employing the air filtration method amounted to around 3.8% of the average total cost of production, which was economically more feasible than the mixing method; however, various options can be pursued to further reduce the cost of application of both treatments.

Application of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles was evaluated as a possible measure to mitigate the levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), ammonia (NH3) and odour in swine facilities. Two deployment techniques were investigated: direct mixing of zinc oxide nanoparticles into the slurry, and filtration with nanoparticles as filtering media for the manure gases. The overall goal of this work was to determine the impact of the treatments on hydrogen sulphide, ammonia and odour emissions, pig performance and manure characteristics as well as to assess the feasibility of the application of this technology in a typical swine barn. Semi-pilot scale tests were conducted to evaluate operational factors in open system conditions, the results of which showed that the mixing method required a particle-to-slurry ratio of 3 grams of zinc oxide per litre of slurry to control hydrogen sulphide and ammonia levels. Using the air filtration technique, a fluidized bed filter design with a 0.28 g/cm2 loading rate and rated at 0.5 m/s face velocity was found to be the most effective combination for controlling gas levels. Room-scale experiments were conducted in specially designed chambers to assess the effectiveness of the treatments under conditions that represent commercial swine production. The addition of zinc oxide nanoparticles into the manure achieved more than 95% reduction in hydrogen sulphide levels while no significant effects on ammonia concentrations were observed. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were persistent in maintaining low hydrogen sulphide levels up to 15 days after treatment application. On the other hand, the ventilation air recirculation system with a zinc oxide filter achieved significant reduction in both hydrogen sulphide and ammonia concentrations at the animal- and human-occupied zones. Neither treatment had any significant impact on pig performance and manure nutrient characteristics. Estimates of the cost of application of the treatments in a 100-head grow-finish room showed that employing the air filtration method amounted to around 3.8% of the average total cost of production, which was economically more feasible than the mixing method; however, various options can be pursued to further reduce the cost of application of both treatments.

New technologies and new rotorcraft operations are being developed in order to meet new environmental requirements such as noise reduction and less pollutant emissions. In this project a parametric study was developed over a tilt rotor model in order to assess the environmental impact in terms of operational parameter and fuel burned looking at pollutant emission released into the air such as NOx, CO, UHC, PM, CO2 & H2O In order to perform the study previously stated, a computational tool build on Simulink titled tilt rotor mission performance was developed to run a single mission profile as a base line making different operational variations on every mission segment looking at deviations over fuel burned and pollutant emissions. The contribution of pollutant emissions during the cruise segment was compared to other phases obtaining 80% of CO2 and H2O, 75% of CO and UHC, 77% of NOx, and 78% of PM. Also, comparing the distance flown of the tilt rotor with some turboprop aircraft, it was found that the fuel burned and levels of CO2 are higher using tilt rotor rather than turboprop aircraft. On the other hand this is much better than helicopters.

Chapter 1: Tradable Permits under Environmental and Cost-reducing R&D: This chapter models simultaneous investments in both environmental and cost-reducing R&D by asymmetric Cournot duopolist. Pollution rights (emission permits) are allocated by the regulator and can be traded between firms. Both R&D competition and cooperation are considered. In a three-stage game, firms first invest in R&D, then trade permits, and then compete in output. The strategic interaction between different types of R&D investments is analyzed. It is found that giving more permits to one firm induces it to conduct more cost-reducing but less environmental R&D. The second-best optimal allocation of pollution rights is also analyzed. This allocation matters for social welfare under R&D competition, but is irrelevant under R&D cooperation. Moreover, the optimal allocation depends on R&D spillovers. This paper also studies the grandfathering of permits based on historical output. Compared with the second-best optimal allocation, the higher the emissions reduction level, the more likely that grandfathering allocates too few permits to the large firm and too many permits to the small firm. Adding an R&D budget constraint leads firms to under-invest in cost-reducing R&D relative to environmental R&D. Chapter 2: Tradable Permits under Environmental R&D between Upstream and Downstream Industries: This chapter models the simultaneous investments in environmental R&D by both downstream and upstream industries, with two symmetric firms within each industry competing à la Cournot. Pollution rights are allocated by the regulator, and firms can trade permits. R&D competition, intra-industry (horizontal), inter-industry (vertical) and both intra- and inter-industry (generalized) R&D cooperations are considered. In a four-stage game, firms first invest in R&D, then trade permits, then upstream firms compete in intermediate good production, and finally downstream firms compete in final food production. The strategic interactions between R&D investments are analyzed. It is found that an increase in either vertical or horizontal R&D spillovers reduce the permit price but increase production, but the spillover effects on R&D investments are ambiguous and they depend on the number of permits that a firm receives from the government. However, firms undertake more R&D under generalized cooperation than vertical cooperation, irrespective of spillovers and the allocation of permits, and this results in higher social welfare under generalized cooperation than vertical cooperation. The optimal allocation of pollution rights by the regulator is also considered. This allocation matters for social welfare under R&D competition and horizontal cooperation, but is irrelevant under vertical and generalized cooperations. Chapter 3: Is There a Principle of Targeting in Environmental Taxation?: This chapter studies whether the "principle of targeting", which is referred to by Dixit (1985) as the tax formulae for dirty goods have "additivity property" (Sandmo 1975) and externality-generating sources should be directly targeted (Bhagwati and Johnson 1960), can be applicable in the presence of a uniform commodity tax with an additional emissions tax. We consider three perfectly competitive markets, one of them produces a non-polluting good and the other two produce polluting goods. The regulator chooses optimal taxes on all three markets to maximize social welfare and finances an exogenous public expenditure. First all, it is found that the additivity property does not hold under differentiated taxes, and is even further weakened with a uniform commodity tax. It is also shown that the Pigouvian tax is unlikely to apply on the top of the uniform commodity tax. Furthermore, if there is only tax instrument available -- i.e. either the uniform commodity tax or the emissions tax -- then the uniform commodity tax (emissions tax) induces higher social welfare when marginal social damage is low (high).