I dagsläget står det svenska kraftnätet inför en stor utmaning om det ska kunna klara av att tillgodose Sveriges växande elbehov. Stora delar av kraftnätet måste förnyas samtidigt som det byggs ut. Vid projektering av nya kraftledningsgator måste geografisk information samlas in för att kunna planera arbetet och representera de möjliga kraftledningsgatorna som höjdmodeller. Det är då viktigt att denna data är korrekt. LiDAR-data är ett bra alternativ då det kan ge en bra bild av marken trots vegetation som kan befinna sig i en eventuell kraftledningsgata. I dagsläget används antingen Lantmäteriets Nationella Höjdmodellen (NH-modellen), eller så genomförs en luftburen laserskanning med hjälp av flygplan. Då NH-modellen ibland kan upplevas som otillräcklig på grund av sin låga upplösning, samtidigt som luftburen laserskanning kan vara kostsamt både ekonomiskt och ur en miljösynpunkt är det intressant att utforska alternativa metoder.    Syftet med detta examensarbete är att genomföra en jämförelseanalys av höjdmodeller genererade med LiDAR-data insamlade med UAV och flygplan för att få svar på vad som väsentligt skiljer dem åt och ifall LiDAR-data insamlat med UAV kan vara ett alternativ till LiDAR-data insamlat med flygplan. Detta görs tillsammans med företagen Nektab och Swescan för att undersöka möjligheterna att kunna erbjuda en ny produkt till sina kunder och uppdragsgivare. Ett tidigare projekterat område utanför Horndal i Dalarna, undersöktes då det fanns tillgängliga LiDAR-data från en tidigare luftburen laserskanning gjord med flygplan. LiDAR-data samlades in med drönare med två olika skanningsmetoder, repetitive och non-repetitive, den 3:e maj 2023. Bearbetning av punktmolnet genomfördes i DJI Terra och Terrasolids programvaror Terrascan och Terramatch. Kvalitetsberäkningar genomfördes i Excel. Höjdmodeller skapades i Esris Arcmap 10.8 och analyser gjordes för att jämföra de olika höjdmodellernas höjdvärden, lutning samt profiler.     Punktmolnen genererade med UAV-LiDAR hade en lägesnoggrannhet i höjd som uppfyllde kraven för HMK-standardnivå 3, och punktmolnet genererat med skanningsmetoden non-repetitive hade en bättre lägesnoggrannhet i höjd än punktmolnet genererat med flygplans-LiDAR. Skillnaderna som kunde upptäckas mellan de olika höjdmodellerna var små och påverkades både av skillnader i klassning och insamlingsmetod. Slutsatsen som drogs är att insamling av LiDAR-data med UAV och generering av kvalitativa höjdmodeller med dessa data är fullt möjligt för mindre områden så som det i det här arbetet. / The Swedish power grid is currently facing a big challenge if it’s going to be able to meet Sweden’s growing demand for electricity. While large parts of the power grid must be updated, there also needs to be a big expansion. When planning new corridors for the powerlines, geographical information must be collected to be able to visualize said corridors as Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and it is thus important that the data is correct. LiDAR-data is a suitable alternative for this as it can represent the ground well despite any vegetation that might be present in the planned corridor. Currently open-source data from the Swedish National Land Survey, the National Elevation Model (the NH-model), is often used, or the area is mapped with airborne laser-scanning from a plane. However, the NH-model is sometimes not a suitable alternative due to its low resolution, while airborne laser-scanning can be both environmentally and economically costly. It is therefore interesting to explore alternative methods.    The aim of this bachelor thesis is to conduct a comparative analysis between DEMs generated by LiDAR-data collected by UAV and by plane to see where they differ, and if LiDAR-data collected by UAV is a potential alternative to LiDAR-data collected by plane. This will be done in collaboration with Nektab and Swescan to explore the possibility of being able to offer a new product to their customers and clients. A previously planned area outside the Swedish town of Horndal in the county of Dalarna, was used due to already existing plane-collected LiDAR-data. LiDAR-data was collected with an UAV through two different scanner-methods, repetitive and non-repetitive, on the 3rd of May 2023. The processing of the pointclouds were performed in DJI Terra and Terrasolids software Terrascan and Terramatch. Quality calculations and control was done in Excel. DEMs were created in Esris software Arcmap 10.8 and different analyses were performed to compare the DEMs elevation, slope, and profiles.    The point clouds generated from the UAV-LiDAR had a positional accuracy equivalent to the Swedish HMK-standard level 3, and the pointcloud generated from the non-repetitive­ scanner-method had a better positional accuracy for the z-value than the pointcloud generated from the plane-LiDAR. The differences between the DEMs were small and were caused both by difference in classification of the point clouds and collection method. The conclusion is that collection of LiDAR-data through UAV and the generation of high quality DEMs from this data is fully possible for smaller areas such as the one in this thesis.

Renewable energy use is a growing topic worldwide due to climate change mitigation. Countries worldwide are trying to increase renewable energy use because it has many benefits, such as decreased air pollution, improved health conditions, and improved Human Development Index. The objective of the study is to compare the country-specific trajectories of renewable energy as a percentage of total energy production and electricity production from renewable sources, evaluate the link between renewable energy use and outdoor air pollution worldwide, and also understand whether the use of renewable energy is linked to population health and the human development index. The data was collected from the University of Oxford’s Our World in Data. The source has global temporal data on the use of renewable energy, energy access, indoor and ambient pollution, human development index, and several health indicators. The study was done by statistical analysis. My trend analyses suggest that renewable energy production as the percentage of total energy production increased for most countries in Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and North America (except for Mexico). The same scenario was also observed for the share of renewable energy for electricity production. Many countries in other regions of the world, including many low-income countries, didn’t have the same trend. For many counties and regions globally, renewable energy reduces PM2.5 concentrations in the ambient air. Also found in many countries, renewable energy use is associated with increased life expectancy, decreased cancer deaths, reduced deaths due to ambient PM2.5 concentration, and a high human development index.

The global threats of widespread biodiversity loss and climate change impact ecosystems daily, leading to far-reaching consequences for people who benefit from these systems in various ways. Despite these challenges, little is known about the differences in how people derive benefits from nature and who will become increasingly vulnerable to future global environmental change. Previous research has assessed the impact of inequality on nature’s benefits (or ecosystem services), but these efforts have primarily relied on socio-economic inequality measures. These measures overlook potential heterogeneity within groups based on characteristics such as gender, class, and ethnicity. Therefore, a multidimensional approach to understanding inequality is needed. This systematic mapping review aims to map the literature that explores multidimensional inequality in relation to ecosystem services (ES), specifically in terms of three types of ecosystem benefits: experience, use, and money. Key findings were that political-and economic inequalities are most frequently linked to all three types of benefits, with links between political inequality and the use of ES being particularly common in the literature. In contrast, studies that analyze inequalities based on religion, disabilities, and race in relation to ES are least common. Finally, experience is the least explored benefit in relation to inequality, potentially due to the challenges of assessing intangible benefits. This review also highlights the complexities of inequalities acting at different scales and potential trade-offs between inequality categories and ecosystem benefit types. Future research recommendations include further widening the inequality lens (primarily in the cultural and social dimensions) to improve our understanding of who benefits from nature to develop more effective, sustainable, and equitable policies and mitigate future threats.

Describing how water flows in flat landscapes is generally difficult as the main driving force behind surface runoff is elevation differences. In an experiment designed to delineate the uncertainty in catchment areas created in software for geographical information systems (GIS), a flow algorithm that distributes the flow from one point to all of the neighbours with lower elevation was used. By analysing the values for the catchment areas created by this algorithm the uncertainty could be assessed. The main objective is therefore to investigate whether flow direction algorithms can be used to delineate uncertainty in catchment areas or not. The results acquired in this project consisted of area sizes for the different catchment areas connected to each wetland, as well as the distribution of values within these areas. The values signifies the percentage of each cell within an area that contributes to the drainage point. By relating the dispersion of values for certain thresholds to the size of the area, the main conclusion is that areas of small size are more affected by uncertainty.  Finally, some further studies within this area has been suggested. For example, to evaluate differences in runoff in different kinds of terrain, with different data resolutions or to correlate it to the effect of slope. In conclusion this project supplies an entrance to a new method of evaluating uncertainty in a field that surely can be broadened and repeated for greater accuracy. / Hur vatten flödar i flacka landskap är oftast svårt att avgöra då det huvudsakligen är höjdskillnader som driver vattenflödet längsmed, eller strax under, ytan. Projektet består av ett experiment för att utröna osäkerheten i flödesriktningar och avrinningsområdets gränser. I olika program för geografiska informationssystem (GIS) användes en flödesalgoritm som fördelar flödet från en punkt till alla omkringliggande punkter med lägre höjd. Genom att analysera värdena för de avrinningsområden som skapades av denna algoritm kunde osäkerheten avgöras. Den huvudsakliga frågan blir således huruvida flödesalgoritmer går att använda till att beskriva osäkerhet i flacka avrinningsområden. Resultaten som erhölls utav undersökningen bestod av storleksangivelser för de olika avrinningsområdena kopplade till varje våtmark, samt fördelningen av värden inom dessa områden. Värdena angav hur stor procentandel av varje cell inom området som bidrog till områdets utloppspunkt. Genom att relatera spridningen av värden över vissa gränsvärden mot områdets storlek kunde slutsatsen dras att det generellt är de små områdena som påverkas av osäkerhet. Vidare studier utanför detta projekts ramar har föreslagits; att exempelvis undersöka skillnader i avrinning i olika typer av terräng, med olika upplösning på data eller undersöka sluttningens inverkan. Sammanfattningsvis erbjuder denna uppsats en början till en ny metod att undersöka osäkerhet i ett område som självklart kan breddas och upprepas för större säkerhet.

Utanför Uppsalas stadskärna planeras det att bygga en ny stadsdel till år 2050, kallad Sydöstra staden. Uppsala kommun vill vara i framkant gällande hållbar stadsplanering och är därför intresserade av att utreda möjligheter till att tillvarata resurser i avloppsvattnet, som ett alternativ till konventionell rening. I dagsläget står hanteringen av avloppsvatten inför nya typer av utmaningar som rör utsläpp av växthusgaser, bristande resursåtervinning och energieffektivitet samtidigt som kraven på rening ökar. Ett tillvägagångssätt som skulle kunna möjliggöra hantering av dessa utmaningar är genom implementering av källsorterande system. Ett källsorterande avloppssystem separerar vattenfraktionerna för enskild behandling, vilket möjliggör att resurser så som energi och näringsämnen kan återvinnas. Syftet med arbetet var att kartlägga drivkrafter och utifrån dessa identifiera systemlösningar för källsorterat avloppsavfall i Sydöstra staden i Uppsala. Genom studie gällande drivkrafter samt efterföljande workshop med en referensgrupp från Uppsala Vatten kunde möjliga drivkrafter för Uppsala identifieras: Vattenbesparing, Uppfyllande av höga reningskrav, Resurseffektivitet vad gäller energi och näring, Kunskapsgivande samt Klimatneutralitet. Identifiering av drivkrafter resulterade i litteraturstudie för att identifiera anläggningar med liknande drivkrafter som referensgruppen. Studien visade att drivkrafter likt de ovan nämnda resulterade i teknik såsom membranbioreaktor för rötning av källsorterat avloppsavfall. Därefter, genomfördes intervjuer med personer som varit/är delaktiga i pilotprojekt i Sverige för att specifiera vad som krävs för ett genomförande. I nuläget har det visat sig vara svårt att kräva implementering av ett källsorterande system med huvudsyfte att återföra produkter, då kretsloppsaspekten inte har varit ett tillräckligt juridisk motiv för genomförande. I Helsingborg underlättades genomförandet av en hög ambitionsnivå samt en tydlig målbild från kommunen. Slutsats från arbetet är att systemlösningen som bäst lämpar sig för de identifierade drivkrafterna inkluderar rötning av källsorterat avfall i membranbioreaktor (AnMBR), samt urinsortering med efterföljande torkning. Beräkningar gällande en potentiell implementering resulterade i att pilotanläggningen i Sydöstra staden ska dimensioneras för 900 personer. Gällande systemet för behandling av urin, resulterade den dagliga urinproduktionen i att torkningsbädden bör ha en area motsvarande 30 m2 alternativt 23 m2 (beroende på torkningshastighet). För behandling av fekalier, fastställdes mått på membranreaktorn till radien 5 meter och höjden 11 meter, med volymen spolvatten som huvudsaklig orsak till den stora volymen. / Outside the city center of Uppsala, a new district called ”the Southeastern city” will be built by 2050. Uppsala municipality wants to be at the forefront of sustainable planning and is therefore interested in investigating opportunities to utilize resources found in wastewater, as an alternative to conventional treatment of wastewater. Wastewater management is facing new types of problems related to greenhouse gas emissions, resource recycling and energy efficiency. One approach that enables management of these challenges is through the implementation of source separation sewer systems, that separates the household wastewater into different fractions. This enables resources such as energy and nutrients to be recycled. The purpose of the work was to identify drivers and from these drivers identify a solution for source separated sewage fractions in the southeastern city of Uppsala. Through a literature study followed by a workshop with Uppsala Vatten, possible drivers for Uppsala were determined to be Water Saving, Fulfillment of purification requirements, Resource efficiency regarding energy and nutrition, Obtaining knowledge and Climate neutrality. The determination of possible drivers resulted in further literature study, to identify facilities with similar drivers as Uppsala. The study showed that drivers as the ones identified for Uppsala have resulted in technology such as membrane bioreactor for digestion of source separated wastewater. Interviews were also conducted with people who have been or are involved in pilot projects in Sweden to specify what is required for implementation of a source separation system. It is currently difficult to require the implementation of such system with the main argument of recycling products, as the recycle aspect has not been a motive enough juridically for implementation. In Helsingborg, the ambition and a clear vision from the municipality was crucial for the implementation. In conclusion, the system best suited to the identified drivers include anaerobic digestion of source separated waste water in membrane bioreactor (AnMBR), as well as urine dehydration. Calculations were performed regarding a potential implementation resulted in that the treatment plant should treat wastewater from 900 people. For the treatment of urine, the daily urine production resulted in an area of the drying bed of 30 m2 or 23 m2 for varying drying rates. For treatment of faeces, dimensions of the membrane reactor were determined to radius 5 meters and 11 meters height, where the volume of flush water was the main reason for the large reactor.

For society to move towards sustainability, competent engineers able to tackle systemic socioecological challenges are needed. To ensure this, integrating sustainability in engineering education is instrumental. This research aims to examine the current state of sustainability integration within Swedish engineering programs, as well as identifying challenges, needs, and drivers for integrating sustainability from the perspective of educators. Using a survey (P=55)and interviews (E=7) with educators of engineering master’s programmes in Sweden, the findings showed that: - Sustainability is not being strategically integrated. Tools as the framework of Sustainability Competencies have potential to help with the integration. - The main challenges inhibiting integration include a lack of resources, time, relevant sustainability teaching materials, and perceived relevance of sustainability to engineering courses. - The main drivers of integration are management directives, funding, educator’s personal convictions, and the increase of sustainability as a topic in common discourse. - Some main needs include building competence in educators, increased collaboration with sustainability experts, and learning from other universities regarding the process of integration. Whilst all educators show sustainability awareness, most educators lack knowledge and right conditions for integrating sustainability into engineering education. Considering the interconnectedness of all factors, adopting a systemic approach is necessary in order tostrategically integrate sustainability in engineering education.

Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas contributing to the warming of Earth's atmosphere. Lakes are a natural source of CH4, where CH4 generally is produced in oxygen depleted sediments. Ebullitive CH4 is regulated naturally in the oxic-anoxic interface of lakes by methane oxidizing bacteria, methanotrophs uses CH4 as a substrate when O2 is present. Lakes in boreal regions are among the largest sources of CH4 emissions, CH4 oxidation can mitigate some of the CH4 emissions from lakes. Gaps in knowledge and data remain regarding net fluxes of CH4, indicating that there are processes unaccounted for. Previous research highlights the variability of CH4 emissions and oxidations rates in lakes, there is lacking knowledge on what drives the variability of oxidation rates and total emissions. It’s been suggested that availability of phosphorus (P) has a positive relationship with increased oxidation rates. Moreover, availability of trace elements has been suggested to affect aerobic CH4 oxidation, but there is a lack of knowledge on these factors in natural lake waters. In this study incubations with lake water from two different lakes, Gårasjön and Kisasjön, were prepared with different treatments of P and/or trace elements. We investigate how this can affect the rate of CH4 oxidation when incubated in specific conditions. Our results indicate that treatments with added P had a greater tendency to exhibit higher rates of methane oxidation in both lakes, while treatments with trace elements and P had varied oxidation rates depending on the lake. This suggests that when there are no limitations of the substrates CH4 and O2, the oxidations rates in lakes might be limited by the availability of P and the specific lake conditions can influence CH4 oxidation.

The global mean temperature is continuously increasing despite of the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping it from rising more than 1.5-2°C above pre-industrial levels. Cities are the main contributors to the increasing temperature as they emit more than 70% of total global CO2 emissions. Therefore, it is important to achieve net-zero emissions in cities to stop temperature from increasing further. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have proven to be a cost-effective strategy to reduce CO2 emissions in urban environments (by up to 25%). Research needs to be conducted on how NbS should be incorporated into policy for them to have the best effects and desired outcomes. This thesis explores how NbS can be effectively implemented in environmental policies to reach set goals and achieve desired effects. It aims to explore factors in the Stockholm Royal Seaport (SRS) environmental policy that can strengthen and constrain the implementation of NbS. The intention of this thesis is also to learn how this area’s policy affects the collaboration between stakeholders, including residents, in this area. The research questions of this thesis are: (1) What are the environmental policies related to Nature-based Solutions used by Stockholm Royal Seaport to achieve climate positivity and strengthen ecosystem services? (2) What key factors in the environmental policies in Stockholm Royal Seaport can be identified as supporting or constraining the implementation of Nature-based Solutions? (3) How do the environmental policies in Stockholm Royal Seaport affect the collaboration among stakeholders in this area? A case study on SRS is conducted to answer these questions. The data is collected from this area’s latest steering document and sustainability report, and interviews. Thematic analysis is used to analyse the collected data. The results from the exploratory research are that SRS’s policies presented in goal four of the steering document, such as the promotion of blue and green infrastructure, positively affect the NbS used in this area to strengthen ecosystem services. However, these solutions are not explicitly identified as strategies to achieve climate positivity. Two key factors that support implementing NbS in SRS have been identified. The first is the requirement for developments to follow the stormwater management strategy and the Green Space Index. Second is the encouragement of collaboration between stakeholders. Three key constraining factors identified are: 1) the lack of definition and communication of the NbS strategies, and the reason for implementing them; 2) the lack of mention and explanation of NbS in the steering document; 3) limiting budgets. The policy in SRS is highly focused on, and encourages, collaboration and knowledge development between stakeholders, therefore, it is concluded that this area’s policy has a positive effect on this policy aspect and contributes to increasing collaboration.

I takt med ett varmare klimat har behovet att kunna studera marktäckesförändringar, så som vegetationens utbredning och förändringar av trädgränsen i alpina klimat, ökat. Förändringar i vegetationen och trädgränsens förflyttning i den svenska fjällkedjan skulle kunna bidra till en negativ inverkan på de växter och djur som återfinns där, då deras utrymme att sprida sig minskas. Detta examensarbete syftar till att undersöka vegetations- och trädgränsförändringar i Sarek nationalpark under perioden 1990 – 2023, samt undersöka förändringar av årsmedeltemperaturen i området. Vidare undersöks om resultaten går att applicera på temperaturökningar som presenteras i RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways) scenarion. Indata för examensarbetet bestod av 18 Landsat-bilder tagna under perioden juni – augusti åren 1990 – 2023 och medeltemperatur- och vegetationsperiodsdata från SMHI:s väderstationer belägna i närheten av nationalparken. De satellitbilder som användes genomgick en förbearbetning i form av bandnormalisering då de var från tre olika Landsat-serier, 5, 7 och 8. Temperaturdata korrigerades för höjdskillnader mellan station och nationalparken, där temperaturen i snitt sjunker med 0,65 °C per 100 höjdmeter, vartefter medeltemperatur per år beräknades. De analyser som genomfördes under examensarbetet var NDVI-beräkningar, klassificering av NDVI och klassövergångsanalyser, analys av trädgränsen och den övre trädgränsekotonen, trendberäkning samt analys av klimatdata. Vidare beräknades en förväntad utveckling av medel-NDVI baserat på temperaturökningar från de fyra olika RCP-scenarierna. Under perioden 1990 – 2023 observeras ett signifikant högre medel-NDVI under perioden 2002 – 2023 jämfört med 1990 – 2001, vilket indikerar en ökning av vegetationen. Vidare observeras att områden med snö/vatten hade minskat med 46 % under hela perioden. Av de övergångar som observeras var den främsta förändringen under perioden 1990 – 2006 övergången från kalfjäll till låg vegetation, 7 % av totalytan. Under perioden 2006 - 2023 utgjorde övergången från snö/vatten till kalfjäll den största andelen (6 %). Trädgränsen och den övre trädgränsekotonen i området har förflyttats i snitt 118 höjdmeter respektive 16 höjdmeter under hela studieperioden.   Temperaturjämförelse mellan normalperioderna 1961 – 1990 och 1991 – 2020 visar på att den senare perioden var 1,51 °C varmare. Sambandet (r = 0,473) mellan stigande årsmedeltemperatur och medel-NDVI applicerades på de temperaturförändringar som presenteras i RCP-scenarion där en ökning av medel-NDVI kunde observeras i varje scenario. Resultaten i examensarbetet visar på att klimatförändringarna kan börjat ha en inverkan på vegetationen i Sarek nationalpark, där en ökande vegetation och förflyttningar kan observeras. Detta kan med en signifikant svag positiv korrelation härledas till stigande medeltemperaturer i området. / The period from 2011 to 2022 saw a 1.09°C increase in temperature compared to 1850-1900 (preindustrial time), highlighting the urgency to understand its impact on land cover changes, especially in alpine climates like Sweden’s mountain ranges. This thesis investigates vegetation and tree line dynamics in Sarek National Park from 1990 to 2023, alongside local temperature shifts. Utilizing Landsat imagery and weather station data, analyses encompass NDVI calculations, class transitions, and tree line ecotone assessments. Results show a notable rise in mean NDVI from 2002 to 2023 compared to 1990 to 2001, indicating increased vegetation, while snow/water coverage decreased by 46% over the whole period. Shifts in land cover types were observed, notably transitions from barren land to low vegetation. Tree line movements were also noted. Correlation analyses suggest a link between rising temperatures and vegetation changes. Overall, findings may suggest early signs of climate-induced vegetation shifts in Sarek National Park.

Marine protected area (MPA) management requires local people’s participation for ecological and social benefits. This is crucial to avoid “paper parks” by encouraging self-regulation and to enhance social well-being among stakeholders. However, it is challenging to promote sustained participation by diverse stakeholders since different people have different opinions on the benefits of MPAs. Some of these opinions are associated with specific occupations and value preferences. A place-based case study was conducted for the Yonarasuido Strait in the Yaeyama region, Japan, which is covered by two MPAs: a government-led top-down national park and a fishermen-led bottom-up spawning ground reserve. This study investigated local people’s value preferences from instrumental, intrinsic, and relational perspectives using the Q-methodology and semi-structured interviews. To understand broader interactions among diverse marine users, the study focused on both marine tourism and fisheries. The Q-method analysis identified three groupings based on the values people emphasize for the MPAs. Based on the analysis, these groups were defined as (1) “Original Goals First,” characterized by the emphasis on initial objectives and fisheries resource management; (2) “Disconnected Stewards,” who expect nature conservation while being emotionally detached from the MPAs; and (3) “Tourism vs. Fisheries,” reflecting considerable division between fisheries and marine tourism. The results suggest that understanding the value preferences of a diverse range of stakeholders through a comprehensive lens can provide a more holistic picture of MPA management and the areas of consensus and disagreement in the governance system. Based on the findings, three recommendations for future MPA management are proposed regarding adaptive management, information dissemination, and just stakeholder involvement.