This study evaluates the carbon footprint of three wastewater treatment plants in Sweden. Two analytical methods are employed with the same input data: an Excel-based model developed by the Swedish Water and Wastewater Association, and a life cycle assessment model using SimaPro software. The findings reveal that emissions range from 0.5 to 0.7 kg CO2 equivalent per cubic meter of purified water, with treatment plant 3 resulting in the highest emissions due to its reliance on non-renewable energy and limited scale. The primary carbon source identified by the climate calculation tool is direct emissions (scope 1), while the life cycle assessment model highlights chemical usage as the major contributor, significantly impacting ecosystem and human health categories. Treatment plant 2 is notably impacted in the life cycle assessment model by high chemical consumption. The study also explores several strategies to mitigate the climate impact of wastewater treatment plants, categorizing them into emission reduction and climate benefit enhancement methods. Scenario analysis indicates that switching to renewable energy sources and reducing direct emissions are the most effective measures. Additionally, utilizing energy and resources from water and sludge can enhance climate benefits. / Med den ökande oron för klimatpåverkan från avloppsreningsverk har forskare börjat försöka bygga modeller för koldioxidavtryck på anläggningsskala. Den nordiska vattenföreningen har i samarbete med Danmark, Sverige, Norge och Finland utvecklat modeller för att uppskatta koldioxidavtrycket i avloppsreningsverk i de nordiska länderna. Denna studie utvärderar koldioxidavtrycket från tre avloppsreningsverk i Sverige. Analysen använder två olika metoder: en Excel-baserad modell utvecklad av Svenskt Vatten och en livscykelanalys modell med programvaran SimaPro. Båda modellerna använder samma indata men genomför oberoende analyser.  Resultaten visar att utsläppen varierar från 0,5 till 0,7 kg CO2-ekvivalenter per kubikmeter renat vatten, där en anläggning uppvisar de högsta utsläppen på grund av sitt beroende av icke-förnybar energi och begränsade skala. Den primära källan till koldioxidutsläpp som identifieras av klimatberäkningsverktyget är direkta utsläpp, medan LCA-modellen betonar kemikalieanvändning som den största bidragsgivaren, vilket signifikant påverkar ekosystem och människors hälsa. En annan reningsverk påverkas särskilt av hög kemikaliekonsumtion.  Studien utforskar flera strategier för att minska klimatpåverkan från reningsverk och kategoriserar dem i utsläppsreduktion och metoder för att öka klimatfördelarna. Scenarieanalys indikerar att byta till förnybara energikällor och minska direkta utsläpp är de mest effektiva åtgärderna. Dessutom kan användning av energi och resurser från vatten och slam öka klimatfördelarna.  Klimatberäkningsverktyget är specialiserat och lokaliserat för avloppsreningsverk, medan livscykelanalysmodellen erbjuder bredare användbarhet över olika industrier och globala sammanhang, även om den är mindre specifik. Den förra fokuserar enbart på koldioxidavtryck i CO2-ekvivalenter, medan den senare omfattar ett bredare spektrum av miljöpåverkan. Framtida tillämpningar kan dra nytta av att integrera båda modellerna för att uppnå mer exakta och omfattande resultat.

The healthcare industry is in the business of savings lives, it is also a major contributor of the global carbon footprint. This study aims to develop an environmental assessment of one Global Mini Anne CPR manikin, one of Laerdal Group’s best-selling products, using the Life Cycle Analysis method. The goal is to contribute with an approach that can be used in processes across the organization and help Laerdal achieve its sustainability goals.To conduct the LCA, this report refers to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)14040 standard for guidance, involving an Inventory analysis or the Life Cycle Inventory, a Life cycle impact assessment, and a Life cycle interpretation. The environmental footprint 3.0 LCIA method produced a result with 16 environmental impacts of the Global Mini Anne. The scope of this study is cradle-togate, which is a representation of the material acquisition, production, and assembly of the product. The total climate change impact of the study was 1,8 kg 𝐶𝑂2equivalent (eq.) for one unit. The results provide data for comparisons to other products in the company’s portfolio and creates an easy connection to their climate accounting tool which focuses on greenhouse gas emissions overview of the entire company’s activities.This study contributes to the current literature by generating an evidence-based assessment of the product and by providing the product team with concrete and actionable information to make improvements to reduce the products’ environmental impact.

The objective of this research is to provide an in-depth analysis of the contact patch behavior of a specific passenger car tire. A Michelin P205/60R15 tire was used for this study. Understanding the way the tire interacts with the road at various loads, inflation pressures and driving conditions is essential to optimizing tire and vehicle performance. The footprint shape and stress distribution pattern are very important factors that go into assessing the tire's rate of wear, the vehicle's fuel economy and has a major effect on the vehicle stability and control, especially under severe maneuvers. In order to study the contact patch phenomena and analyze these stresses more closely, a finite element (FE) tire model which includes detailed tread pattern geometry has been developed, using a novel reverse engineering process. In order to validate this model, an experimental process has been developed to obtain the footprint shape and contact pressure distribution. The differences between the experimental and the simulation results are discussed and compared. The validated finite element model is then used for predicting the 3D stress distribution fields at the contact patch. The predictive capabilities of the finite element tire model are also explored in order to predict the handling characteristics of the test tire under different maneuvers such as pure cornering and pure braking. / Master of Science / The objective of this research is to study how the tire interacts with the road and how this “interaction” affects vehicle and tire performance. When the tire is in contact with the ground, the region of the tire that is in contact with the surface is referred to as the “tire contact patch” or the “tire footprint”. A Michelin tire was used in order to study this “footprint phenomena”. The effects of weight, tire pressure and different driving conditions (such as braking and cornering) have a very significant impact on the footprint phenomena. The footprint shape, size and pressure distribution pattern are very important factors that go into assessing the tire’s rate of wear, the vehicle’s fuel economy and has a major effect on the vehicle stability, especially under severe maneuvers. As conducting large scale experiments to study this phenomenon is expensive and difficult, simulation methods (such as the finite element method) are used to create tire simulation models as it is provides a way for tire engineers to study the contact patch and make design changes much more quickly and efficiently. In order to check the veracity of the simulation results, a simple and cost effective experimental process has been developed to obtain the footprint shape and contact pressure distribution. The differences between the experimental and the simulation results are discussed and compared. The validated finite element tire model is then explored to see how well it predicts this “footprint phenomena’ at different driving conditions such as cornering and braking.

Werkstoff- und Prozessgrenzen beschränken unter Beachtung ökonomischer und ökologischer Aspekte den Leichtbau gegossener Fahrwerk-Komponenten aus Al-Si-Legierungen. Zunächst werden Bauteilgewicht und Wärmebehandlungsprozess als beeinflussbare Hauptbeitragsleister für Emissionen im Herstellprozess identifiziert. Zu deren Verringerung werden abhängig von der Belastungsart mögliche Mindestwandstärken abgeleitet, die für den Kokillenguss um 35 % reduziert werden. Dies gelingt durch Einsatz neuartiger, das Formfüllverhalten verbessernder Oberflächenstrukturierungen von Gießwerkzeugen bei Einhaltung von Konstruktionsregeln. Die Gesamtprozesszeit der Wärmebehandlung kann bei gleichbleibenden mechanischen Eigenschaften um 40 % verkürzt werden. Dabei erfolgt die Charakterisierung des Werkstoff- und Bauteilverhaltens unter dynamischer Belastung bei Parametervariation, da keine Korrelation zu den statischen mechanischen Kennwerten vorliegt.

This thesis examines the rhetorical and visual manifestations of race as they figured in the months prior to and within the 2006 New Orleans mayoral election discourses, and examines how the Nagin campaign tapped into a strategy that capitalized upon pre-existing racial tensions exacerbated by Katrina in order to win re-election. Much of the research for this thesis emerged from the making of a documentary film that examines the intersection between race and politics within this same election, and draws upon primary source video interviews conducted between February - May, 2006, and secondary source media and communications materials to posit that race rendered all political response to Katrina impotent, and that the reductive discourse of a racialized campaign was founded upon traditional, outmoded, and predictable interpretations of racial differences facilitated by socioeconomic hierarchies that both provided a structure for and allowed the psychological framework for such a strategy to work.

The cognitive radio-based wireless networks have been proposed as a promising technology to improve the utilization of the radio spectrum through opportunistic spectrum access. In this context, the cognitive radios opportunistically access the spectrum which is licensed to primary users when the primary user transmission is detected to be absent. For opportunistic spectrum access, the cognitive radios should sense the radio environment and allocate the spectrum and power based on the sensing results. To this end, in this thesis, I develop a novel cooperative spectrum sensing scheme for cognitive radio networks (CRNs) based on machine learning techniques which are used for pattern classification. In this regard, unsupervised and supervised learning-based classification techniques are implemented for cooperative spectrum sensing. Secondly, I propose a novel joint channel and power allocation scheme for downlink transmission in cellular CRNs. I formulate the downlink resource allocation problem as a generalized spectral-footprint minimization problem. The channel assignment problem for secondary users is solved by applying a modified Hungarian algorithm while the power allocation subproblem is solved by using Lagrangian technique. Specifically, I propose a low-complexity modified Hungarian algorithm for subchannel allocation which exploits the local information in the cost matrix. Finally, I propose a novel dynamic common control channel-based medium access control (MAC) protocol for CRNs. Specifically, unlike the traditional dedicated control channel-based MAC protocols, the proposed MAC protocol eliminates the requirement of a dedicated channel for control information exchange. / October 2015

The thesis deals with carbon footprint of households in South Bohemia, namely greenhouse gas emissions associated with the ordinary activities of each of us. The main objective of this thesis is to calculate the carbon footprint of households in the South Bohemia Region. The partial aim is then to assess which of the monitored components has the largest share of the total carbon footprint. These components are heating, electricity, cars, public transport, flying and food. Another partial objective is to compare the results in sociodemographic groups, which are residence, gender, education, age and income per person. The theoretical part explains the concepts such as global warming, sustainable development, ecological footprint, carbon footprint, and three already realized research on carbon footprint. The practical part describes the data acquisition, GILDED project, which was the inspiration for this thesis and method for calculating the carbon footprint. The main part consists of evaluating the calculated results, not overall carbon footprint, but also comparisons within categories of residence, gender, education, age, and income per person. The thesis finishes with the summary, which summarizes the most important results.

A water footprint is a tool for assessing the impacts of freshwater use by mapping the water use of the production of a good or a service, a process in a production chain, a business or even of a whole country. One of the most commonly used methods for calculating the water footprint was developed by the Water Footprint Network (WFN). The objective of this study was to account for the water footprint of the production of coffee in the area of Miraflor, Nicaragua, using the WFN method. The study aimed to highlight where improvements can be made regarding water resources management, both with respect to the quantity of the water appropriated in the different process steps, as well as concerning the treatment of residues of the coffee production. The results of the study show a water footprint of 20 049 m3 per ton of harvested coffee in Miraflor. This equals a consumption of more than 6 000 000 m3 of water when considering the overall production of the harvest of 2015/2016. The results pinpoint the growing phase as crucial with 98.1 % of the total water footprint. Nicaragua and the region where Miraflor is located are having increasing problems with water scarcity due to drought and contamination of water resources. Together with these circumstances, the results of the study show that the current management should be improved in order to minimize the impacts on local water resources and the environment. It is mainly the application of pesticides and fertilizers in the cultivation of the coffee that give rise to the large water footprint. Furthermore, the current management violates the law restricting the discharge of effluent waters from coffee processing plants. Another important factor contributing to the water footprint yields in the consumption of rainwater via evapotranspiration by the crops in field. In order to reduce the water footprint there should be a more conscious use of pesticides and fertilizers as well as a development in the treatment of the effluent water. The latter factor can be elaborated by considering new installations where even smaller ones probably could make a considerable change. Other management practices to decrease the water footprint consist of generating a higher yield per hectare of land. / Vattenfotavtryck är ett verktyg för att bedöma miljöpåverkan från användningen av vatten. Med ett vattenfotavtryck kartläggs hur vatten används för produktionen av en vara, för en process i en produktionskedja, ett företag eller för ett helt land. En av de mest använda metoderna för beräkning av vattenfotavtryck utvecklades av Water Footprint Network (WFN). Syftet med denna studie var att genom användning av WFN:s metod beräkna vattenfotavtrycket för produktionen av kaffe i området Miraflor i Nicaragua. Studien ämnade visa var förbättringar kan göras i vattenresurshanteringen, både vad gäller mängden vatten som används i de olika produktionsstegen som i behandlingen av restvattnet från kaffeproduktionen. Resultatet från studien visar ett vattenfotavtryck på 20 049 m3 per ton skördat kaffe i Miraflor. Sett till hela skörden för säsongen 2015/2016 ger detta ger en total konsumtion av mer än 6 000 000 m3 vatten. Resultatet påvisar att vegetationsperioden är den i särklass största bidragande faktorn till kaffeproduktionens vattenfotavtryck med 98,1 % av det totala avtrycket. Nicaragua och regionen där Miraflor ligger har alltjämt ökande problem med vattenbrist på grund av torka och föroreningar av vattenresurser. Studiens resultat visar tillsammans med denna bakgrund att nuvarande tekniker i kaffeproduktionen i Miraflor bör förbättras för att minimera konsekvenser för lokala vattenresurser och miljön. Främst är det användningen av bekämpningsmedel och gödsel som ger upphov till det stora vattenfotavtrycket. Kaffeproduktionen orsakar därtill överträdelser av gällande bestämmelser om värden på vattenkvalitetsparameterar i restvatten från kaffeproduktion. En ytterligare betydande faktor för vattenfotavtrycket som påvisas i studien är konsumtionen av regnvatten via evapotranspiration från grödorna i fält. För att minska vattenfotavtrycket bör i första hand en mer medveten användning av bekämpningsmedel och gödsel införas. Därtill bör det ske en förbättring i hanteringen av utsläppsvatten. Den senare faktorn kan utvecklas genom att nya installationer införs där även mindre sådana troligtvis skulle ge en betydande skillnad. Andra metoder för att minska vattenfotavtrycket ligger i att generera en högre skörd per hektar land.

[pt] Devido a sua ampla gama de aplicações, o gás natural ocupa papel importante na matriz energética global. No Brasil, a descoberta do pré-sal transformou a história do país em relação a exploração de óleo e gás. Porém, o gás lá encontrado possui grandes quantidades de CO2 associado, que requerem remoção por existirem normas da ANP que limitam o gás natural comercializado a 3 por cento mol. Diversas tecnologias se mostraram capazes de realizar essa remoção, porém para altas quantidades de CO2, a tecnologia de membranas vem sendo destaque nas plataformas offshore de extração de petróleo. Seu reduzido footprint é um grande atrativo, devido ao espaço limitado das plataformas. O presente trabalho compara a área e volume ocupados e os pesos totais dos arranjos 3D de módulos de membranas fibra oca e espiral para a separação de CO2 do gás natural no pré-sal brasileiro. Para isso, foram construídas maquetes 3D no software Solidworks (marca registrada), baseando-se em dados de plantas reais offshore em operação e dados disponibilizados pelos principais fornecedores dos módulos de membrana, para tentar alcançar valores mais próximos da realidade. Foi constatado que os módulos fibra oca apresentam grande vantagem sobre os espirais em relação a área do módulo individual (8.340,91 m2 vs 26,24 m2 ) e ao número de módulos necessários (48 vs 15.120), e também em relação às plantas completas, tanto em área e volume, quanto em peso. Uma planta completa de módulos fibra oca ocuparia apenas 7,75 por cento do volume da planta de módulos espirais. O peso da primeira totalizaria 38,42 t em oposição a 765,62 t da segunda planta. / [en] Due to its wide range of applications, natural gas plays an important role in the global energy matrix. In Brazil, the discovery of the pre-salt transformed the country s history in relation to oil and gas exploration. However, the gas found there has large amounts of associated CO2, which require removal because there are ANP standards that limit commercialized natural gas to 3 percent mol. Several technologies have proven capable of achieving this removal, but for high amounts of CO2, membrane technology has been on the spotlight on offshore oil extraction platforms. Its reduced footprint is a major attraction, due to the limited space on the platforms. The present work compares the occupied area and volume and the total weights of 3D arrangements of hollow fiber and spiral wound membrane modules for the separation of CO2 from natural gas in the Brazilian pre-salt. To achieve this, 3D models were built in Solidworks (trademark) software, based on real offshore plants in operation and data provided by leading membrane module suppliers, in an attempt to achieve results closer to reality. It was found that hollow fiber modules offer significant advantages over spiral wound modules in relation to the membrane area of the individual module (8,340.91 m2 vs 26.24 m2 ) and the number of modules required (48 vs 15,120), and also in relation to complete plants, both in area and volume, as well as in weight. A complete hollow fiber module plant would occupy only 7.75 percent of the volume of the spiral wound module plant. The weight of the first would total 38.42 t as opposed to 765.62 t of the second plant.

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