Markanvändningssektorn (LULUCF) står för 7–11 % av de globala utsläppen av växthusgaser, däribland koldioxid (CO2), metan (CH4) och dikväveoxid (N2O). Genom förändringar av markanvändningen kan kolinlagringen i mark och vegetation ökas och sektorn kan istället vara med och bromsa klimatförändringarna. Åtgärder för att minska nettoutsläppen av växthusgaser måste vidtas på alla nivåer i samhället, däribland kommuner. Ökad kunskap om kolförråd och kolsänkor samt kartläggning av dessa är ett första steg för åtgärder på kommunnivå. Förutom att bromsa klimatförändringarna måste samhället hitta sätt att anpassa sig till ett förändrat klimat. En strategi för det är att bygga resiliens, vilket i levande system syftar på systemens förmåga att absorbera och hantera förändringar samt anpassa sig till dem och utvecklas av dem. En faktor som stärker resiliensen i ett samhälle är hög biologisk mångfald i ekosystemen. Biologisk mångfald påverkas liksom kolinlagring av markanvändningen och sättet som marken generellt brukas på idag leder till förlust av biologisk mångfald. Syftet med denna rapport är att beräkna kolförråd och kolbalans i mark och vegetation inom Tierps kommun. Vidare är syftet att analysera hur markanvändningen påverkar kolinlagring och biologisk mångfald samt hur dessa kan gynnas genom att anpassa markanvändningen. Studien undersöker även den potentiella betydelsen av biologisk mångfald och arbetet med kolinlagring för att skapa resiliens och bromsa klimatförändringarna. Forskningsstrategin var en fallstudie och för att besvara syftet användes en kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod. Den kvalitativa delen bestod av en litteraturstudie och den kvantitativa delen utgjordes av beräkningar av kolförråd och kolbalans i Tierps kommun. Vid beräkning delades marktäcket in i sex olika markklasser på organogen och minerogen mark. Kolförrådet delades upp i tre kolpooler; markkol, dött organiskt material och levande biomassa. Resultatet visar att kommunens totala kolförråd uppgår till cirka 25 036 639 ton kol. Av de tre olika kolpoolerna är det markkol som lagrar störst mängd kol inom samtliga markklasser. Nettoupptaget i kommunen är -655 466 ton koldioxidekvivalenter (CO2e) per år med nuvarande markanvändning, där kolpoolen levande biomassa står för majoriteten av koldioxidupptaget. För att öka kolinlagringen i mark och vegetation och gynna den biologiska mångfalden presenteras förslag på förändrad markanvändning. Dessa grupperas i tre olika områden; ökning av mängden levande biomassa, återvätning samt stärka urbana grönytor. Varje område inkluderar ett flertal åtgärdsförslag. Slutsatsen är att mark och vegetation inom Tierps kommuns totalt sett är en kolsänka och med en förändrad markanvändning kan både kolinlagring och biologisk mångfald gynnas, vilket kan bidra till att klimatförändringarna bromsas och resiliensen stärks. / The land use sector (LULUCF) accounts for 7–11 % of global greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and dinitrogen oxide (N2O). Through changes in land use, the carbon storage in soil and vegetation can be increased and the sector can instead play a part in mitigate climate change. Measures to reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases must be taken at all levels of society, including municipalities. Increased knowledge about carbon stores and carbon sinks and their mapping is a first step for measures at the municipal level. In addition to mitigate climate change, society must find ways to adapt to a changing climate. One strategy for that is to build resilience, which in living systems refers to the systems' ability to absorb and manage change as well as adapt to and evolve from it. A factor that strengthens the resilience of a society is high biodiversity in the ecosystems. Biodiversity, like carbon storage, is affected by land use and the way which land is generally used today contribute to the loss of biodiversity. The purpose of this report is to calculate carbon stocks and carbon balance in soil and vegetation within the municipality of Tierp. Furthermore, the aim is to analyze how land use affects carbon storage and biodiversity and how these can be benefited by adapting land use. The study also examines the potential significance of biodiversity and the work with carbon storage to create resilience and mitigate climate change. The research strategy employed a case study approach and a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to address the research objectives. The qualitative component consisted of a literature review, while the quantitative component involved calculations of carbon stocks and balance in the municipality of Tierp. The land cover was divided into six different land classes for both organic and mineral soil types. The carbon stock was divided into three carbon pools; soil carbon, dead organic matter and living biomass. The result shows that the total carbon stock in the municipality amounts to approximately 25 036 639 tons of carbon. Among the three carbon pools, soil carbon stores the largest amount of carbon across all land classes. With the current land use, the net uptake in the municipality is -655 466 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) per year, with the living biomass pool contributing the majority of carbon dioxide uptake. In order to increase carbon storage in soil and vegetation and benefit biodiversity, suggestions for changes in land use are presented. These suggestions are grouped into three areas; increasing the amount of living biomass, rewetting and strengthening urban green areas. Each area includes several proposed actions. The conclusion is that, overall, the soil and vegetation within the municipality of Tierp serve as a carbon sink, and with altered land use, both carbon storage and biodiversity can be enhanced, contributing to mitigating climate change and strengthening resilience.

It has been common in forestry and agriculture to drain waterlogged areas through ditching in order to cultivate them. The ditches that drain water are usually connected to some watercourse, such as a river. When the water flow of the river decreases and becomes more still, particles will settle and fall to the bottom of the water body and form sediment. If there is an increasing amount of nutrients and metals transported with the water, it could affect the water quality negatively, since an increased amount of nutrients could result in eutrophication and many metals are toxic in high amounts. In the Sangis River there is an increased amount of sediment deposited at the mouth of the river and inside the estuary, which has resulted in the river and the estuary becoming shallower. The origin of the deposited sediments is believed to partly be from ditching. The residents of the village of Sangis have said that it is difficult to cross the estuary by boat because of the deposited sediments, therefore, their wish is for a channel dredged in the Sangis River and its estuary that they can use. The main aim of this master's thesis was to analyse the geochemical status of the surface water and the sediment in the estuary of the Sangis River and to give recommendations for future actions preventing sedimentation of the river channel. The analyse of the geochemical status of the sediment was achieved by sampling six sediment- cores in the estuary and analysing for different parameters. The analyse of the geochemical status of the surface water was achieved by comparing the water quality regarding metal concentrations in the estuary with other nearby rivers and classifying the concentration of phosphorous in the estuary, to determinate if there was an ongoing eutrophication. The following analyses were conducted for the sediment-cores: Element distribution were analysed with P-XRF, pH and electrical conductivity were measured and loss on ignition was also calculated trough combustion of the sub-samples. The results showed for the P-XRF that the dominating main elements were iron, sulfur, calcium and potassium. Iron and sulfur were correlated to each other in all profiles and had a peak between 20-35 cm in the sediment. This indicated that there could be formation of iron sulfides at that depth. Therefore, sub-sample 4.D was analysed with SEM-EDS instrument and framboidal pyrite (FeS2) was detected in the sample. The results from the pH and conductivity showed that the pH-value varies greatly both with depth and between the sediment cores. However, for the conductivity it could be seen how it peaked at around 20-35 cm in all profiles, with the highest EC-value in profile 4. It could be concluded that the surface water in the estuary contains elevated concentrations of copper and that there is an ongoing eutrophication as well. Due to the eutrophication, it has most likely resulted in an increased amount of aquatic plants during the summer. The increased amount of organic material has probably resulted in oxygen-free bottoms, since all the oxygen has been consumed when the organic material has been decomposed. The formation of framboidal pyrite shows that the redox ladder has reached the two last steps, since framboidal pyrite (FeS2) consists of reduced sulfur and dissolved iron and is formed during anoxic conditions. Reduced sulfur forms when sulfate is reduced in order to oxidize organic matter and dissolved iron forms when iron-oxide hydroxides are reduced in order to oxidize organic matter. If dredging is carried out in the Sangis river and its estuary, oxidation of framboidal pyrite will occur, this could result in formation of acid and leachate of metals that were previously bound to framboidal pyrite. The consequences if it leaches into the river and the estuary is that it creates an acidic environment with elevated metal concentrations, where marine life would find it hard to live. The extent and impact of leached acidity and metals needs to be studied further.

Nitrogen removal from municipal wastewater with application of Anammox process offers cost reduction, especially if it is combined with maximal use of organic content of wastewater for biogas production. In this study a new technology is proposed, which is based on ammonium concentration from municipal wastewater by ion exchange followed by biological removal of ammonium from the concentrated stream by partial nitritation/Anammox process. In experiments on ammonium concentration four the most common ion exchange materials were tested in packed bed columns, namely strong and weak acid cation exchange resins, natural and synthetic zeolites. Experiments with synthetic wastewaters with different content and municipal wastewater showed that strong acid cation resin is the most suitable for ammonium concentration from municipal wastewater due to its high exchange capacity and fast regeneration. Since NaCl was used for regeneration of ion exchange materials, spent regenerant had elevated salinity. Experiments with activity determination showed that both nitritation and Anammox bacteria are inhibited by NaCl, where effect on Anammox bacteria is more severe. Adaptation of partial nitritation/Anammox biomass was studied using two strategies of salinity increase and it was possible to adapt the biomass to NaCl content of 10-15 g/L. The technology was tested in batch mode using strong acid cation resin for ammonium concentration from pretreated municipal wastewater, and partial nitritation/Anammox biomass for nitrogen removal from concentrated stream. It was shown that it is possible to remove 99.9% of ammonium from wastewater with ion exchange while increasing concentration of ammonium in spent regenerant by 18 times. Up to 95% of nitrogen from spent regenerant was removed by partial nitritation/Anammox biomass in batch tests. Moreover, possibilities of integrati on of the technology into municipal wastewater treatment technology, challenges and advantages were discussed. / <p>QC 20140219</p>

Ekosystem med hög biodiversitet bidrar med många ekosystemtjänster i samhället och skapar motståndskraft mot klimatförändringar samt naturkatastrofer. Men globalt är den biologiska mångfalden hotad och anses vara en av de planetära gränserna som ligger i riskzonen att utlösa eventuellt irreversibla tröskeleffekter. Av denna anledning har den Europeiska unionen skapat en strategi för bevarandet av den biologiska mångfalden och ställer krav på alla medlemsstater att agera för att biologisk mångfald ska återhämtas och bevaras. Därför har samtliga av Sveriges länsstyrelser tagit fram en regional handlingsplan för grön infrastruktur, som ska underlätta implementerandet av gröna lösningar. I Stockholms län har dessutom Region Stockholm tagit fram en utvecklingsplan där de arbetar med grönstruktur, vilket ämnar bevara länets biodiversitet och ekosystemtjänster. Syftet med rapporten var att undersöka arealer av utvalda delar av grön infrastruktur och grönstruktur inom länet samt att analysera hur dessa fördelas på kommunal nivå. En sådan inblick kan underlätta vid planering och implementering av grön infrastruktur och grönstruktur. Studien utfördes inom ramen för forskningsprojektet (re)Planering av naturbaserade lösningar och grön infrastruktur för hållbar urban omställning (REPLAN). Arealerna beräknades med hjälp av programmet ArcGIS, där grönstrukturen samt utvalda delar av den gröna infrastrukturen initialt analyserades separat, varpå ett snitt och en union sammanställdes. Resultatet påvisade en stor variation av arealerna av grön infrastruktur och grönstruktur mellan respektive kommun samtidigt som vissa trender kunde identifieras. Exempelvis resulterade en hög andel av den ena inte nödvändigtvis i en hög andel av den andra. Vidare observerades att kommuner belägna längre bort från centrala Stockholm hade en benägenhet att ha mer grön infrastruktur än grönstruktur. Centralt belägna kommuner tenderade att ha relativ låg areal av båda, samt att snittet främst begränsades till exempelvis naturreservat. Områden innehållande en så kallad grön kil hade högre andel grönstruktur än områden utan. Rapportens valda begränsningar påverkade resultatet, där fler valda parametrar såsom naturtyper, skyddade områden och rekreationsområden hade genererat ett annat resultat. Det är viktigt att förstå kommunernas varierande förutsättningar vid implementering av grönstruktur och grön infrastruktur för att på ett adekvat sätt kunna planera för bevarandet av den biologiska mångfalden och ekosystemtjänster. / Ecosystems with high biodiversity contribute to many ecosystem services in society and create resilience to climate change and natural disasters. But globally, biodiversity is under threat and is considered to be one of the planetary boundaries that are at risk of triggering irreversible threshold effects. For this reason, the European Union has created a strategy for the conservation of biodiversity and calls on all Member States to take action to restore and preserve biodiversity. Therefore, all of Sweden's county administrative boards have developed a regional action plan for green infrastructure, to facilitate the implementation of green solutions. In Stockholm County, Region Stockholm has created a development plan where they work with greenstructure that aims to preserve the county's biodiversity and ecosystem services. The purpose of the report was to examine areas of selected parts of green infrastructure and greenstructure within the county and to analyse how these are distributed at a municipal level. Such insights can facilitate the planning and implementation of green infrastructure and greenstructure. The study was carried out within the framework of the research project (re)Planning Nature-Based Solutions and Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Transformation (REPLAN). The analyses were carried out using the ArcGIS program, where greenstructure and selected parts of the green infrastructure were initially analysed separately, after which their intersection and union were compiled. The results showed a large variation in the areas of green infrastructure and greenstructure between each municipality, while certain trends could be identified. For example, a high proportion of one did not necessarily result in a high proportion of the other. Furthermore, it was observed that municipalities located further away from central Stockholm tended to have more green infrastructure than greenstructure. Centrally located municipalities tended to have a relatively low area of both, and the intersect was mainly limited to, for example, nature reserves. Municipalities containing a so-called green wedge had a higher proportion of greenstructure than municipalities without. The report's chosen limitations affected the result, where other parameters could have generated a different result. It is important to understand the municipalities' varying conditions when implementing greenstructure and green infrastructure to be able to adequately plan for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

En av de största utmaningarna för Östersjöregionen gäller bekämpningen av övergödning orsakad av människors utsläpp av näringsämnen till havet. Övergödningen har flera allvarliga konsekvenser för miljön, inte minst enorma algblomningar samt stora mängder alger och tång som så småningom spolas upp längs Östersjöns stränder och börjar förmultna. På gotländska kallas dessa organiska massor på stränderna för “släke” och ses oftast som ett problem då de kan försämra kustmiljön och störa turister och lokalbor som vill bada eller vistas på stranden. Släken är dock rik på näring, och att skörda släken för att använda den som en resurs skulle kunna bidra till att skapa cirkulära flöden då näring återtas från havet, samtidigt som stranden rensas och släken kan bli en potentiellt värdefull resurs som exempelvis jordförbättringsmedel eller biobränsle. Det finns dock flera hinder i vägen för att få till en hållbar skörd och användning av släke.  Projektets syfte är att undersöka vilka möjligheter som finns för att på ett hållbart sätt skörda och använda släke som en bioresurs på Gotland. Detta gjordes dels genom att identifiera hinder och incitament för släkeskörd med hjälp av en litteraturstudie över släkeskörd i Östersjöområdet samt genom en intervju med en person som arbetar med släkehanteringsfrågan i Gotlands länsstyrelse. Det undersöktes även genom en fallstudie där hinder identifierades och utvärderades för att uppskatta möjligheterna för släkeskörd inom ett valt studieområde på Gotlands östkust.  Ett flertal hinder för skörd och användning av släke kunde identifieras i litteraturstudien, som sedan delades in i de följande huvudsakliga kategorierna: skräp, erosion, biologisk mångfald, maskiner, kostnader, juridiska hinder, tidspress, kvalitet, logistik samt tungmetaller. Resultat från intervjun styrker att flera av dessa hinder är aktuella på Gotland, däribland biologisk mångfald som kan riskera att ta skada vid skörd och avlägsnande av släke, olika juridiska hinder för att få bidrag för att skörda släke, och det potentiella innehållet av tungmetaller i släke som kan begränsa dess användning, bland annat. I fallstudien framkom det att några av de viktigaste hindrena är juridiska hinder i form av olika naturskydd, som exempelvis naturreservat, som begränsar eller på andra sätt påverkar möjligheten att skörda släke. Risk för erosion genom bortförande av sand samt kostnader i samband med skörd med maskiner är ytterligare faktorer som påverkar lämpligheten för släkeskörd. Även inblandning av antropogent skräp i släken togs upp.  En slutsats som kan dras är att det finns många fördelar men även många hinder kring skörd och användning av släke. För att kunna avgöra huruvida det är möjligt att skörda och använda släke på ett hållbart sätt behöver skördeområdet först analyseras utifrån dessa hinder och sedan vägas mot fördelarna. Fallstudien visade att stränderna i studieområdet hade olika förutsättningar för hållbar släkeskörd utifrån de studerade hindrena. Flera hinder kunde dock inte appliceras på studieområdet på grund av bristande data, och det går därför inte att dra någon fullvärdig slutsats om hållbar släkeskörd i studieområdet. / One of the biggest challenges for the Baltic Sea region concerns the mitigation of eutrophication induced by nutrient emissions caused by humans. Eutrophication has numerous severe impacts on the environment, such as massive macroalgal blooms that contribute to the presence of large amounts of algae and seaweed that are eventually washed ashore on the Baltic Sea coast where they begin decomposing. On Gotland, these organic masses are called “släke”, beach wrack or beach cast in English, and are usually considered a nuisance as they can bother beach tourists. Beach cast is however very rich in nutrients, and harvesting beach cast to use it as a resource could contribute to creating circular flows as nutrients are removed from the sea while simultaneously the beach is cleaned and the beach cast could pose a potentially valuable resource useful for soil improvement or biofuel, for example. There are, however, several obstacles in the way of sustainably harvesting and using beach cast. The purpose of this project is to investigate the available possibilities to sustainably harvest and use beach cast as a bioresource on Gotland. This was done partly by identifying obstacles and incentives for beach cast harvesting in the Baltic region using a literature study as well as an interview with a government figure on Gotland. It was also explored through a case study where these obstacles were used to estimate the possibility of harvesting beach cast in a chosen study area on the east coast of Gotland. Several obstacles for harvest and use of beach cast could be identified in the literature study and were then divided into the following main categories: trash, erosion, biodiversity, machines, costs, juridical obstacles, time constraint, quality, logistics and heavy metals. Results from the interview corroborate that many of these obstacles are present on Gotland, among others, biodiversity that is susceptible to damage caused by harvesting or the removal of beach cast, various juridical obstacles to attain funding, and the potential contents of heavy metals in beach cast that can limit its possible uses. The case study also showed that some of the most important obstacles are juridical obstacles such as different forms of environmental protection such as nature reserves, that limit the possibility to harvest beach cast. The risk of erosion through removal of sand and costs due to harvesting with machines are other factors that affect the suitability of harvesting beach cast. Also, anthropogenic trash mixed in with the beach cast was mentioned. A conclusion that can be drawn is that there are many advantages as well as obstacles when it comes to harvest and use of beach cast. To be able to harvest and use beach cast in a sustainable manner the harvest site needs to be analyzed using these obstacles and be weighed against the advantages in order to determine whether harvesting is suitable. The case study also showed that different beaches have different qualifications for sustainable beach cast harvesting based on the obstacles. Several of the obstacles found in literature or from the interview couldn’t be applied to the study area, however, due to limited data, and therefore it is not possible to draw any exclusive conclusions concerning sustainable beach cast harvesting in the area.

Agroekologi är ett jordbrukskoncept baserat på kunskap från ursprungsbefolkning och bönder som syftar till att uppnå hållbara, motståndskraftiga och stabila jordbrukssystem utan externa insatser. Konceptet syftar även till att stärka landsbygdssamhällen och skapa produktiva jordbrukssystem för att säkra livsmedelstillgången världen över. Agroekologi utmanar konventionell odling och exportorienterad livsmedelsproduktion där ekonomisk lönsamhet ofta prioriteras på bekostnad av sociala och ekologiska aspekter. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hinder och förutsättningar för en agroekologisk expansion i sydamerikanska länder då dessa länder besitter värdefulla ekosystem som i dagsläget hotas av konventionellt jordbruk. För att uppfylla målen med studien utfördes expertintervjuer samt litterära studier av expertgranskade artiklar. Resultatet av studien visar bland annat att samhälleliga aktörer såsom stat, forskningsinstitutioner, sociala rörelser, bönder och konsumenter har viktiga roller när det gäller agroekologisk expansion, samt att en tydlig kommunikation mellan dessa aktörer är nödvändig. En generell slutsats är att en hållbar omställning inom jordbruket är komplex och svår att genomföra, delvis på grund av de starka nyliberala diskurser som existerar inom stat och näringsliv och försvårar ett främjande av sociala och ekologiska frågor. / Agroecology is an agricultural concept based on indigenous and peasant knowledge, which strives to achieve sustainable, resilient and reliable agricultural systems without external inputs. The concept also aims to strengthen rural communities and create productive agricultural systems in order to achieve food sovereignty across the world. Agroecology challenges conventional farming and export-oriented food production which often prioritizes profitability with little regard to ecological and social aspects. The purpose of this study is to investigate the obstacles and possibilities for an agroecological expansion in South American countries, since these countries possess valuable ecosystems that are currently threatened by conventional agriculture. In order to fulfill the goals of this study, literary studies of peer-reviewed articles as well as expert interviews were conducted. The results show that societal actors such as governments, research institutions, social movements, farmers and consumers have important roles in the expansion of agroecology, and that a clear articulation between these actors is necessary. A general conclusion of the study is that a sustainable transition within the agricultural sector is complex and would be difficult to achieve, partly because of the strong neoliberalist discourses that exist within governments and businesses and prevent the promotion of social and ecological issues.

Ljudet av surrande insekter har blivit mer sällsynt på senare år och det finns en risk att det kommer bli en betydlig minskning av det i framtiden. Det menar i alla fall oroande forskarrapporter. En stor del av insekterna kan var utrotningshotade och det innebär i sin tur en risk för hela ekosystemet. Ekosystemtjänsterna kopplade till det svenska jordbruket från pollinerare är försörjande och reglerande. Kulturella tjänster från pollinerare finns också, i form av friluftsliv och bärplockning bland annat. Några viktiga pollinerare i Sverige är steklar och mer specifikt humlor och bin. Av de 299 vilda biarterna i Sverige är en tredjedel hotade. Jordbruket är i behov av pollinering för de grödor där självpollinering inte kan ske, dessa är till stor del frukt och grönsaker men även raps. Raps är till viss del självpollinerande, forskningen pekar på att skörden mognar jämnare och avkastningen blir bättre vid en högre närvaro av pollinerare. Detta är av stor vikt för att det ska vara lönsamt att bedriva jordbruksverksamhet därför bör dessa värna om denna ekosystemtjänst som pollinerare bidrar till. Denna rapport tar upp situationen för pollinerare i Sverige och hur de bidrar till olika ekosystemtjänster, fokus ligger på rödlistade arter och dess hot och problematik. Hur närvaron av pollinerare påverkar skörden och avkastningen av raps undersöks för att försöka uppskatta det ekonomiska värdet av pollinerare. En mindre fallstudie genomfördes för att vidare se hur förutsättningarna ser ut för pollinerare i ett begränsat område. En litteraturstudie har legat som grund för denna studie och har begränsats till den data som finns. För pollinerare har det funnits information om steklar (humlor och bin), en geografiskbegränsning till Öland och ett område utanför Gårdby gjordes. I fallstudien framkom det att observationerna av pollinerare skedde sporadiskt och att det finns kunskapsluckor i det valda området. Därför är det viktigt att vidare öka intresset och kunskapen om hur människor varje dag påverkar och nyttjar ekosystemtjänster från pollinerare. Hoten och problematiken identifieras ett av dem var förändrad markanvändning, i form av att förutsättningarna för att överleva inte längre är de samma. Det kan ta sig formen av ett intensifierat jordbruk där tillgången på en varierad föda inte längre finns men också att boplatser växer igen. En lösning till den hastiga förändringar i markanvändningen är att odla mer ekologiskt och ta tillvara på de naturliga områden då de bidrar till en hög biodiversitet. Detta motverkar även intensifieringen av jordbruket som idag går mot att bestå av stora monokulturer. Det andra hotet var insektsmedel generellt, då det har visats att det kan ha en negativ påverkan på pollinerare då främst på deras larver och ägg. Därtill är rekommendationerna för produkttester väldigt korta vilket resulterar i att de fullständiga effekterna alltid syns. Problematiken med insektsmedel har två lösning, en där odling i större utsträckning sker ekologiskt och att genomföra längre tester. Övriga potentiella hot är den överhängande klimatförändringen, sker det en snabb förändring förändras förutsättningarna drastiskt. Även inplantering av odlade pollinerare kan potentiellt vara ett hot då de kan konkurrera ut de vilda pollinerarna. / The sound of buzzing insects have become more scarce in the last several years and there is an overhanging risk that There will be a major decrees of them in the future. There is some scientific research that claims so, and that is worrying. A big part of the insects could be endangered and that would mean that the existence of ecosystems is at great risk. Farming in Sweden relies on several ecosystem services from pollinators, mainly provisioning and regulating. There are some cultural services from pollinators as well, that mostly affects outdoor life and the picking of berries among others. Some of the important pollinators are bumblebees and bees. Out of the 299 wild species that live in Sweden a third is threatened. Farmers are in need of pollination of the crops that don't self-pollinate, these crops are mainly fruit and vegetables but also oilseed rape. Oilseed rape is to some extent self-pollinating, but research shows that the yield ripens more evenly and the turnover of the crop is increased by a higher level of presence in the field by pollinators. This is of great interest for the farmers to make their business profitable, therefore they should work to preserve the ecosystem services that pollinators contribute with. This report attends the situation of pollinators in Sweden and how they contribute to ecosystem services, it's focused on red-listed species and their threats and problems. Also how the presence of pollinators affects the yield of rapeseed oil is investigated to try to estimate the value of pollinators. A smaller case study was conducted to further see how the conditions for pollinators are in a limited area. A literature study has laid the path for this study and it has been limited to the data available. for pollinators information about bees and bumblebees have been available, and a geographic limitation to Öland and to an area outside Gårdby was made. A small case study was conducted to further show the condition of pollinators in a limited area. It was shown that the observations of pollinators were sporadically conducted and there was a lack of knowledge in the chosen area. Therefore it's important to further increase the interest and knowledge about how humans affects and uses the ecosystem services from pollinators every day. The identified threats was a change in land use, to such an extent that it affects the conditions of surviving. It could be caused by intensified farming were the access to sufficient food is no longer available to pollinators. Increased land use changes the natural habitats where pollinators build their nests, either because they overgrow or they are exploited to uninhabitable ground. A solution to this is ecological farming where natural regions contribute to a greater biodiversity in the landscape are seen as a resource and preserved. The increased intensification of farming land will decrease if a large part of the farming is done ecologically. The second threat was pesticides in general, it has been shown that it could have a negative impact on pollinators, and mostly the larva’s and eggs. In addition to that, the recommendation on how long to test for the effects of a pesticide is very short. These problems with pesticides have two solutions, one was an increase in ecological farming and also to conduct longer test periods for pesticides. Other potential threats that were identifies was the overhanging climate change, conditions would drastically change. A presence of domesticated pollinators could be rival to native pollinators and lead to a decrease of native pollinators.

The aim of the project was to investigate the possibility of producing and utilizing bioenergy from available local resources in the village Linga Linga, Mozambique. Suitable conversion techniques for producing and utilizing bioenergy were identified through a literature study. The investigated techniques were the concept of gasifier cookstoves, the method of producing charcoal from biomass and anaerobic digesters. Through observations and interviews in the village, available local resources suited for the conversion techniques were identified. In the field study, it was found that there is a surplus of solid biomass which led to the conclusion that a gasifier cookstove is suitable to implement. In order to analyze if a gasifier cookstove is suitable for the households, interviews were carried out in ten households in the village. Aprototype of a gasifier cookstove was built with local resources to determine if the technique can be applied. The prototype was tested and evaluated in order to analyze if it will contributeto a more efficient use of resources. One of the conclusions of the study was that a gasifier cookstove can be valuable for the households in several ways, but that cultural differences can make it hard to implement.

The responsibility of the building sector to diminish the harmful environmental impacts, locally and globally, has been extensively considered. Thus, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in building and construction practices has been widely implemented. Among several available EIA methods, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the only standardized method which provides a holistic overview of environmental impacts to support the decision-making process. However, there are several barriers that hinder the process of implementing the LCA-based tools in the building sector. Specifically, the demand for a simplified LCA-based tool adapted to the early stage of the building design is rather high. Recently, the Construction Sector's Environmental Calculation Tool (Byggsektorns Miljöberäkningsverktyg BM v1.0) is developed to assist non-experts without knowledge of LCA. Architects, as one of the main target groups of the BM tool, have limited knowledge about the LCA approach due to its complexities; further, the architects have their own requirements for applying an LCA-based tool towards leveraging in the early design process. Hence, it leads to scepticism whether the BM tool has been so far successful to entice the architects' attention towards employing the BM tool in that process. This master thesis aimed to investigate if the newly-developed LCA-based tool, namely the BM tool, is a desirable choice for architects to evaluate the environmental impacts of their design at the early stage of building design. To be able to perceive more deeply the BM tool, as an environmental assessment and a decision support tool for architects, two main procedures, i.e., quantitatively and qualitatively, were employed to cover different technical and functional angles of the tool: (i) an LCA-based carbon footprint assessment for two reference buildings along with comparing the achieved results with the simplified Environmental Load Profile (ELP-s) tool, plus (ii) using a framework included various criteria for LCA- based tools in the early stage of building design. The findings from the quantitative analysis were consistent so that the concrete frame building produces a greater amount of carbon footprint during the stages A1 to A4 compared to the wooden frame building. The considerable deviation was related to the carbon footprint of aluminium profile in the material production stage. This could be due to the fact that in the BM database it is not specified whether aluminium profile was recycled or not. Regarding the carbon footprint in material transport stage, the inconsistent results were mostly linked to the default values in the BM database in which values for two of the main parameters (distance and mode of transport) differed. Particularly, the absence of boat as a transport mode and an error related to an unneeded distance value for concrete transport were identified in the BM database. The framework, used to evaluate the desirability of the BM tool for architects, suggests several criteria required for an LCA-based tool implementation in the early design. The outcome indicated that the majority of criteria, not satisfied by the BM tool, were related to the geometry parameter and associated 3D model. Thus, in order to make the decision-making process, desirable for architects in the early stage of building design, the two parameters, i.e., material and geometry, should be utilized in parallel. On the one hand, the LCA methodology in the BM tool is simplified in a way that makes the process comprehensible and easy to learn for non-LCA-experts. Since the tool is under the development, minor amendments would make the carbon footprint evaluation robust for the early stage of design. On the other hand, from the requirements of the architects' point of view, the fundamental modifications are needed in the structure of the tool. If architects intend to work with such an LCA-based tool, they have to make an extra effort to translate the resulted information from the environmental assessment tool to the inputs of the modelling tool and vice versa. This leads to an undesirable and inefficient design process for architects.

The world population growth and the consequent increase in energy demand in recent years are making sustainability to become a key element in order to ensure the future of the society. In Spain, buildings account for 24% of total energy consumption, and within the buildings stock there is a group called "protected buildings" with low efficiency and therefore a large room for improvement, although constrained by different limitations and special requirements due to their condition. Through a study of the limitations of these buildings it´s possible to find the best solutions to make them more sustainable, focusing on reducing their energy consumption, on keeping the characteristic features of these buildings as part of the Spanish Historical Heritage, and on the economic terms of achieving all this.