Tourism represents 10.3% of the global GDP. Moving abroad for holidays has never been simpler and cheaper. Destinations answer tourist's demands, they build more hotel complex, create new fun activities, provide more resources. This way of life seems paradisiac for visitors; however it does not look that good for local communities. Often left aside by capitalist corporations, their resources and environment are depleting, crowds of visitors invade their space and unsustainability is deeply rooted. The result is the installation of more inequalities and gap between social classes. An alternative to this Pandora's box was created about 50 years ago, although it only started to develop recently, claiming it is the solution to most of our environmental tourism issues: ecotourism. If you look for this type of holidays, you will find the Azores. Eight award winner as a green destination. It was decided this research would focus on its biggest island: Sao Miguel. One will investigate what is the reality behind the green curtain. To do so, the learning of local stakeholders towards ecotourism and how it affects their current actions and their sight for the future of the island's tourism will be explored.

In this thesis, different types of PVT (photovoltaic-thermal collectors) for three different farms in Europe will be studied, as part of the RES4LIVE project from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action programme. A suitable renewable energy system will be proposed for each farm, considering the temperature range requirement and the climate conditions in each farm. In addition, three simulation tools that will be used, namely, WINSUN, Collector Energy Performance Tool (CEPT) and Scenocalc, will be evaluated and compared. The PVT systems combine the production of electrical and thermal energy. The combination of these two technologies can result in higher electrical efficiency due to the cooling effect of the fluid in the thermal part. Other technologies that form part of this study include the concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) and concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) systems. There are two types of flat PVTs, unglazed and glazed. The advantages and disadvantages of each system will be disclosed in the section on literature review. In addition, the operation of the concentrated collectors have been compared with the flat PVT collectors. Three simulation tools are being compared in this project and the most widely used tool is Scenocalc, the free tool supported by the European Commission. In the results section, the inputs for each simulation tool are explained, starting with the weather files that were taken at the same time for all the simulation tools so that the outputs could be compared. These results will be shown numerically for each farm and compared in tables and represented in graphs to decide which one is best for each location. The outcomes have shown that Scenocalc has a very different thermal result compared with the other tools in the case of the flat collectors. On the other hand, WINSUN has resulted to be a suitable simulating tool for a first approach to the production of the different technologies. In the case of CEPT, this program is best fitted for concentrated collectors since it takes into account both the thermal and electrical IAMs, whereas Scenocalc only considers the thermal IAMs.

Sedan Nacka golfklubb införde källsortering år 2003 har golfklubben funderat över hur deras sortering och avfallshantering egentligen fungerar. I samband med den miljöcertifiering golfklubben ansökt om att få via Golf Environment Organization (GEO) skall ett flertal områden på golfklubben ses över, varav avfallshanteringen är ett av dessa områden. Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka hur Nacka golfklubb idag avfallshanterar och ta fram ett underlag för den certifiering golfklubben ansökt om inom det givna området. Underlaget för certifieringen ska baseras på certifieringens krav och rutiner för förbättring ska baseras på kunskap, hantering samt minimering. De metoder som använts är litteraturstudier, intervjuer, studiebesök samt en analys utifrån Sustainable Development Records (SDR). Resultatet av SDR gav en generell bild av golfklubbens effektivitet, sparsamhet och marginal. Genom SDR kan golfklubben i framtiden fortsätta att mäta och jämföra sina resultat för att se om verksamheten går mot en mer hållbar utveckling och avfallshantering men för att göra detta måste en grundligare undersökning i framtiden genomföras i samband med en avfallsrevision. Utifrån det rutiner golfklubben har rekommenderas ett flertal förändringar för att golfklubben ska få en bättre standard inom sin avfallshantering. Hushållsavfallet som verkstaden och golfspelarna genererar bör hämtas av kommunen och genom att kommunen hämtar det brännbara avfallet från golfklubben kan en kostnadsbesparing fås. Om kansliet börjar kompostera sitt organiska hushållsavfall, kan ytterligare en kostnadsbesparing erhållas av golfklubben. Rutiner och miljöavtal med restaurangen bör införas för att golfklubben ska kunna kräva att restaurangägaren följer golfklubbens miljöpolicy samt bör hela verksamheten införa rutiner för städning och inventering av alla avfallsutrymmen. Genom detta uppstår inga olägenheter för människors hälsa och miljö samt får golfklubben en bättre avfallshantering som kontinuerligt ses över. Golfklubben rekommenderas även att se till att det källsorterade avfall hämtas från miljöstationen av certifierad återvinnare för att se till att det avfall som genereras hanteras utifrån avfallshierarkin och GEO certifieringens krav som innebär att mängden avfall till förbränning och deponering bör minimeras. / Nacka golf club started to separate their waste in 2003, and since the golf club introduce waste management they have been wondering how their sorting of waste actually works. In connection with the environmental certification that the golf club has applied for through the Golf Environment Organization (GEO), a number of areas will be reviewed, and waste management is one of those areas. The purpose of the study is to investigate how Nacka golf club is handling their waste today and create a data basis for the certification within the assigned area. The data for the certification will be based on the certification requirements and the routines for improvements will be based on knowledge, management and waste minimization. The methods used in the study are literature studies; interviews, study visits, and an analysis based Sustainable development records (SDR). The results of the SDR analysis gave a general picture of the golf club's efficiency, economy and margin. By using SDR in the future the golf club can continue to measure and compare the results to see if the golf club is moving towards a more sustainable development and a better management of waste, but to do this a closer examination of the waste needs to be carried out in future through a waste audit. Based on how the golf club is handling the waste today a number of recommendations have been presented to get a better standard in their waste management. The household waste from the maintenance area and golfers should be retrieved by the municipality because if the municipality collects the golf clubs combustible waste a cost saving is achievable. If the clubhouse starts to compost their organic household waste an additional cost savings is also possible for the golf club to collect. Routines and environmental agreements should be assigned with the restaurant and by that the golf can require that the owner of the restaurant follows the golf club's environmental policies. The entire golf club should set up routines for cleaning and inventory all waste areas continually. If the golf club implements the recommendation no harm to health and the environment will occur and the golf club will get a better waste management that is continuously reviewed. The golf club is also recommended to ensure that the sorted waste is collected from the environmental station by authorized recycler to ensure that the waste that is generated will be handled in the best possible way according to the waste hierarchy and according to the GEO certification requirements, which means that the amount of waste for incineration and landfills should be minimized.

In the age of technology and development in which we live nowadays, it is inevitable to realise that this so-called progress is translated into pollution, damage to the environment and abuse of energy and fossil fuels. The companies and factories that produce the goods we need, use a lot of energy and pollute in massive ways, posing dilemmas such as how to make these companies more energetically and environmentally efficient, with the aim of decreasing the emissions and energy use. This literature review proposes a compilation and update of suggestions made to microbreweries after undergoing an energy audit, in an attempt to make these companies more energy-efficient, competitive, economical and sustainable. The information has been obtained by searching peer-reviewed articles in different databases and re-arranged in this article into sections on energy efficiency measures, waste treatment options and environmental impact. Several studies have been carried out on improving efficiency and trying to decrease the environmental impact of beer production processes. The main issues found during the process are energy efficiency and the generated wastewater. Both problems could be solved either by using an internal boiler that would generate less waste, applying renewable energies or by treating the residues in bioreactors, a field that needs further study. The choice of packaging material will be influenced by customer preferences and material recycling, being glass bottles and aluminium cans the most popular choices.

This thesis is written on the subject of smart cities, where real-time temperature measuringsensors were tested at Vasakronan’s head office. The purpose of doing so was to evaluate theavailable sensor solutions for real-time measurements as well as analyze the sustainabilitybenefits of doing so. Three sensors were tested: Yanzi Climate, Texas Instruments SensorTag,and Smart Citizen Board. The measurements from the sensors were compared within the sensorsolution as well as between each other and the traditional measuring equipment Testo 480 andTinytags. A multi-criteria analysis was conducted to compare the qualities of the sensors, whichshowed that Yanzi was the best of these. Mainly this was due to the quality of measurementsand conformity within the sensor solution. The performance of the other sensor solutions weresimilar, although they had different strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the temperaturemeasurements from Yanzi was used to make a temperature map over the office. If implementedin real-time, this would serve as an indicator for the superintendents of the building whenmanaging the HVAC system, which could improve energy efficiency and decrease costs.Additionally, employees could use the temperature map for individual choice of the indoortemperature that suits them. This will result in improving social sustainability at the office, aswell as economic sustainability due to increased productivity of the employees. / Smarta städer är ett koncept som växer i popularitet bland forskare inom hållbarhet. Hittills harfokus främst varit på att minska energi- och materialflöden för hushåll, medan tillämpningar förkontor varit få. Därmed sågs ett behov av att utforska vilka hållbarhetsfördelar som kundeuppnås genom att tillämpa smarta städer-strategier på kontor.Syftet med examensarbetet är att utforska hur realtidsmätningar av temperatur på kontor kanbidra till hållbar utveckling. Detta inkluderar dels att utreda hur data från dessa mätningar kananvändas för att bidra till ökad hållbarhet, men också att implementera realtidsmätningar avtemperatur på kontor för att bedöma vilka möjligheter som finns i nuläget. Det var ocksånödvändigt att bedöma om sensorlösningarna har möjlighet att ersätta den traditionellautrustningen för temperaturmätningar.Arbetet krävde forskning inom områden som smarta kontor, sensorer med möjlighet att mätatemperatur i realtid, energiförbrukning i byggnader, traditionell mätutrustning för temperatur,och termisk komfort. Då sensorer med passande egenskaper för att kunna utföra testernafunnits gjordes ett val av tre sensorlösningar som skulle installeras på Vasakronans huvudkontor.Den huvudsakliga sensorlösningen som skulle placeras på hela kontoret valdes till Yanzi. De tvåövriga som skulle testas i mindre skala var Smart Citizen Board och Texas Instruments SensorTag.För att kunna avgöra kvaliteten på mätningarna var det nödvändigt att data sparades på ett brasätt. För Smart Citizen Board och Yanzi innebar detta att data var tvungen att hämtas från derasrespektive servrar, vilket gjordes genom att skriva program som kopplade upp mot deras servraroch hämtade data en gång i minuten. För Texas Instruments SensorTag gjordes lagring direkt pådatorns hårddisk.Yanzisensorerna som var installerade i en större skala användes också under testperioden för attsamla data till en temperaturkarta över kontoret. Den initiala tanken med temperaturkartan varatt användarna av kontoret skulle ha möjligheten att basera vart de sätter sig utifrån derastermiska preferenser. Därför behövdes även ett flertal test göras på Vasakronans kontor för attutröna om en temperaturkarta för denna användning skulle vara applicerbar där.Testerna på Vasakronans kontor var uppdelat i fem delar: 1) Jämförelse mellansensorlösningarna och de traditionellt använda Tinytag 2) Jämförelse mellan lufttemperaturenoch den operativa temperaturen och det termiska klimatet 3) Jämförelse mellansensorlösningarna och den traditionellt använda Testo 480 4) Test av sensorlösningarnastäckning på olika delar av kontoret 5) Insamling av data för temperaturkartan.I det första testet var sensorlösningarna placerade bredvid Tinytagsen och de var inställda för attmäta från fredag till tisdag. Resultaten från detta test var att det var stor skillnad i batteritidmellan sensorlösningarna samt att enhetlighet mellan de två enheterna från vardera lösningenvarierade kraftigt mellan de olika lösningarna. Yanzi bedömdes ha den bästa batteritiden ochenhetligheten mellan sensorernas mätningar.I det andra testet användes den traditionella utrustningen Testo 480 för att undersöka om detvar en signifikant skillnad i den termiska upplevelsen mellan olika områden på kontoret och ifalldessa kan användas för att skapa en temperaturkarta. Testet undersökte också omlufttemperatur var en bra indikator för den termiska upplevelsen i varje område. Resultatet från  detta test var att det är tillräckligt stora temperaturskillnader på Vasakronans kontor för att entemperaturkarta ska vara applicerbar. Slutsatsen var också att lufttemperatur är en tillräckligtbra indikator för det termiska klimatet.I det tredje testet jämfördes sensorlösningarnas tester med mätningarna av Testo 480. Dettagjordes för att utröna sensorlösningarnas noggrannhet. Testerna visade att Yanzi varsensorlösningen med de mest korrekta mätningarna.I testet av sensorernas räckvidd var det tydligt att SCB hade en fördel som endast berodde påhur bra Wi-Fi täckningen var i byggnaden. Varken Yanzi och TI hade täckning i hela byggnaden,då avstånden mellan gateway och sensorer blev för långt. Av de två hade Yanzi dock en fördel dåde kan använda sig av andra enheter som repeterar signalerna.I det sista testet samlades data in för att skapa temperaturkartan som användarna av kontoretskulle kunna basera sitt val av plats på. En lämplig skala och en prototyp av temperaturkartanutformades.Efter testperioden gjordes en multikriterieanalys för att avgöra vilken av sensorlösningarna sompassade denna typ av applikation bäst. Slutsatsen var att Yanzi var den som passade bäst. Dettaberodde främst på mätnoggrannheten, enhetligheten mellan sensorernas mätningar och att denvar mest pålitlig under testerna. TI och SCB hade liknande poäng men hade olika styrkor ochsvagheter och bör därför väljas för att passa varje enskilt fall.Slutsatserna av detta examensarbete är många. Studien har funnit att temperaturmätningar irealtid på kontoret kan bidra till en förbättrad hållbarhet. Förbättringarna uppnås främst inomenergibesparingar genom en annorlunda reglering av VVS-systemet och genom att förbättra dentermiska komforten hos användarna av kontoret via nyttjandet av temperaturkartan.I slutskedet av detta examensarbete är förhoppningarna att smarta städer och smarta byggnaderska fortsätta att utvecklas och då möjliggöras av sensorlösningar som fortfarande är ekonomisktförsvarbara men som är mer tillförlitliga än idag.

The fully integrated 3-D, time dependant, hydrodynamic and sediment transport numerical model ECOMSED was used to simulate flow and sediment transport in rivers. ECOMSED was originally developed for large water bodies such as lakes and oceans and solves the primitive equations of RANS along with a second order turbulence model in an orthogonal curvilinear σ- coordinate system. The availability of the model as an open FORTRAN source code made modifications and addition of new models possible. A new bed load transport model was implemented in the code as well as improvements in treatment of river roughness parameterization, bed form effects, and automatic update of flow depth due to bed evolution. The model was applied to 1- km long reach of the River Klarälven, Sweden, where it bifurcates into two west and east channels. The water surface and the flow division in the channels were made in agreement with field data by spatially varying the roughness. However, the spatial distribution of the bed shear stress was not realistic. Improvements were made in the bottom boundary condition to represent the variable effects of bed forms on roughness depending on the flow regime and the flow depth. The improved model realistically reproduced the flow field as well as the sediment transport processes in the river Klarälven. / QC 20101123

The increasingly power load of datacenters worldwide and consequently, the increase on heat dissipation by electronic components, have been highlighting the importance of efficiently designing cooling solutions for such systems. In fact, bad management of the cooling system can greatly increase the total electricity consumption in a datacenter. This being said, TeliaSonera in order to decrease the total electricity consumption in its datacenters, has developed a new cooling solution known as the Green Room concept. Therefore in order to evaluate the potential environmental benefits related to this product, this work was developed. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology in accordance to ISO 14040/43 standards was applied to assess its environmental performance, from cradle-to-grave. Moreover the software SimaPro, the Ecoinvent database and the ReCiPe impact assessment method were also utilized. The results emphasized the phases and activities during Green Room life cycle presenting the highest potential impacts. This being said, the utilization phase presented for every impact category analyzed the highest potential impacts, with exception of ozone depletion category, which was dominated by material extraction and manufacturing phase, due to the presence of R134a refrigerant. In addition transportation phase presented the lowest values for every category and the end of life phase exposed considerable impact mitigation for the whole life cycle. Moreover extraction and manufacturing phases presented copper, steel and the refrigerant R134a as the most impacting materials for damage to human health, damage to ecosystems and damage to resources, respectively. Finally, improvements were proposed in order to increase the environmental performance of this cooling system.

This thesis was conducted to investigate the impacts of fiber composites on theenvironment. Composition, properties and application of fiber compositeswere also studied. On the basis of its application, taking into account previousstudies information was gathered related to impacts of these fiber composites.In order to study impacts of fiber composites in marine application a detailstudy was conducted where using the LCA method and Sima Pro softwarethree ship superstructures of the ship Stena Hollandica were compared. Thesewere steel superstructure, balsawood core superstructure and PVC foamsuperstructure. The results showed that over the lifecycle the impacts of PVCand balsawood superstructure were almost the same and were better than thesteel superstructure. The main contribution of impacts over the lifetime wasdue to the fuel consumed. When only the superstructure was consideredseparately from the life cycle the best choice was balsawood and the PVC foamsuperstructure had the most impacts. Overall it was found that balsawoodcould be considered as the best alternative as a material for the construction ofthis ship superstructure.

Following the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in wastewater in March 2020, the use of wastewater-based epidemiology is rapidly emerging as a non-invasive approach to assessing community wide COVID-19 prevalence. Wastewater-based epidemiology is promoted as a complement to clinical testing in terms of improving public health authorities’ preparedness and supporting them in taking required interventions to protect the public health.  To utilize the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in a public health context and evaluate trends in viral prevalence on a community level, robust data interpretation is required. This master's thesis work examines what is currently known about the factors that influence the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, as well as the impact of alternative normalization approaches on the relationship between viral wastewater data and clinical case numbers. The work is divided into two parts where this report provides a state-of-the-art review as well as an overview of key findings in the accompanied scientific paper.  The study involved collection of wastewater samples from two different sized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Luleå municipality, between January and March 2021.  Concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA were quantified in each sample as well as concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV). Average daily WWTP flow and environmental data (precipitation and temperature) were continuously measured over the sampling period. The population size was estimated based on mass loads of TN and TP and literature values of the domestic contribution of these parameters to the sewer system. The viral wastewater data was normalized using the estimations of population size, census data, WWTP flow and PMMoV. The impact of the alternative normalization approaches was evaluated using statistical analyses to explore the relationship to clinical case numbers.  The result showed that the strength of the correlation between the different normalization approaches and clinical case data differed between the WWTPs. However, within each WWTP the differences in correlation between the different normalization approaches and clinical cases were not significant. Moreover, normalization using WWTP flow (i.e., viral loads) showed a stronger correlation to clinical cases compared to population and PMMoV normalized viral loads. However, when comparing wastewater data between the two catchment areas, the normalization approaches utilizing population (either census or TN and TP estimated population) or PMMoV better reflect the number of clinical cases. Additionally, according to time-shifted analysis, wastewater data of SARS-CoV-2 RNA predated an increase in clinical cases by 0-2 and 5-8 days, respectively, for the larger and smaller WWTPs.

With the development of China's economy, it is found that the importance of corporate social responsibility is increasing. SME as a large proportion of the economy, its importance is evident. Logistics industry in China developed very fast in recent 30 years, it has formed a large-scale industry. Due to the nature of logistics industry, the impact on environment is huge, the demand of CSR is increasing. Many large companies have already adopted CSR in recent years, but SMEs receive less attention. In this thesis, we conducted a case study of a small logistics company which has implemented CSR from its very beginning. From the case study, we compared the company’s behaviors and the existing theories and explained how does a SME work with CSR. It is approved that most of CSR theories can apply to a Chinese logistics SME. The company applied CSR into business strategy from the very beginning, communication with stakeholders plays a very important role in CSR strategy, and the company owner’s personal attitude and background plays a decisive role. In the end, we found out the advantages that CSR can bring to Chinese logistics SME. It can improve company’s reputation, employee’s loyalty and customer’s satisfaction, thus improve company’s sales and other business opportunities.