Purpose: The aim of this study is to present the economic, environmental impact, and energy saving benefits of replacing an electric boiler to a bedrock heat pump or district heating. Furthermore, the impact of additional insulation will also be presented. Method: The technical, environmental, and economical aspects of the various heat sources in this study are gathered through websites and reports from agencies, industry organisations and corporations. A case study on a family house built in 1971, heated with a combination of electric boiler and air-to-air heat pump has been made. The study investigates the impact of replacing the existing heat sources with newer and better alternatives along with additional insulation. Results: The results present the energy demand for active heating, economic analysis, environmental impact, and the impact of additional insulation. Moreover, a comparison between the heat sources and the additional insulation is presented to show the difference between them. The case study objects demand for active heating includes passive heating, heat losses through the building envelope, heat losses due to ventilation. With all these factors combined, the family house has an annual active heating demand of 11 700 kWh. The energy consumption of the electric boiler combined with air-to-air heat pump (COP 4) have an annual consumption of 7 500 kWh. The required energy from the district heating goes up to 11 700 kWh and the bedrock heat pump (COP 3) have the lowest energy consumption of 3 900 kWh. However, the amount of electricity needed is 400 kWh for district heating compared to the other alternatives that require 7 500 kWh and 3 900 kWh. For the economic aspects, the installation and operating costs for the electric boiler combined with the air-to-air heat pump, district heating and the bedrock heat pump are concluded. This shows that, on one hand the bedrock heat pump is the most expensive heat source to install but on the other hand, the cheapest to operate. Furthermore, this study compares the emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents from the production of district heating and electric energy. Due to the clean electric energy in Sweden, district heating has the highest negative impact on the greenhouse effect as it uses energy resources that have high emission of carbon dioxide equivalents. The environmental impact of the electric boiler, air-to-air heat pump and the bedrock heat pump vary depending on the energy source used to generate electricity and can in the worst case be higher than for district heating. New values with the additional insulation suggest that the improved building envelope will have a positive impact on the operation costs, energy saving and emissions. As an example, the demand for active heating can be reduced with up to 30%. Conclusions: The conclusion is that the comparison of heat sources contains many uncertain variables. Consequently, the result of this study does most likely not apply directly to other study objects. The results may vary if, for example, the geographical location or electricity agreement is changed.

Purpose: This study aims to see how the total active heating demand and the indoor climate for a school in Vasteras can improve from two different energysaving-investments. The two measures that will be investigated are windows with an improved U-value and an exchange of the ventilation unit with a heat exchanger. The result of the investments will be connected to a value-added study which investigates its impact on social, economy and environmental aspects. Method: To accomplish this, a literature study has been made to gather information to support the calculations and compare our results with previous studies. A case study which consists of calculations, a study visits to the school and a documentation analysis to strengthen the accuracy of the results. Results: The yearly total active heating for the school was 426 MWh with a heat demand of 191 kWh/m2 which is bad compared to equal buildings which normally use between 120-180 kWh/m 2. The exchange of the ventilation unit and the implement of a heat exchanger decreased the yearly active heating demand with 105 MWh which is equal to 144 kWh/m2. This is a much better value and now in the category of equal buildings. By investing in windows with a U-value of 1.3 W/m2 K from 3.0 W/m2 saved the building 29 MWh every year to 178 kWh/m2 which is just under the maximum value of 180 kWh/m 2 . Conclusions: Investing in a new ventilation unit with a heat exchanger showed to be the best investment for the school at this moment in time. The new heat exchanger contributes to a large energy saving and the investment cost had a payback time between 9 - 18 years depending on the kWh price. The study got similar results in the value-added study where the ventilation unit showed a greater impact on almost all of FN: s global goals. Windows did not show as impressive results as the ventilation unit did and is why it contributed less to the global goals in the value-added study.

Den invasiva blomsterlupinens (Lupinus polyphyllus) spridning i Sverige är ett hot mot många inhemska växtarters överlevnad. Det är oklart hur den pågående globala uppvärmningen kan komma påverka artens invasionsframgångar. I det här kandidatarbetet har jag därför studerat hur blomsterlupinens tillväxt och fenologi varierar längs latitud i Europa i syfte med att avgöra om arten visar fitnesskillnader beroende på temperatur. Tjugo populationer från Trier (Tyskland) i söder till Umeå (Sverige) i norr följdes under en växtsäsong och data på blomsterlupinplantornas höjd samt blomställningarnas längd samlades in. Regressionsanalysen visade att det inte fanns något signifikant skillnad mellan latitud och ovanjordisk biomassa eller blomställningens längd. Däremot utvecklades den reproduktiva biomassan tidigare i växtsäsongen i de lägre breddgraderna i Europa jämfört med de högre. Studien ger en indikation om att ett varmare klimat kan ha en viss positiv påverkan på blomsterlupinens reproduktion och spridning. De lokala mikroklimatiska effekterna verkar dock ha en stor påverkan på dess relativa fitness, vilket betyder att vissa populationer kan gynnas mer än andra. Utbredningsområdet kan komma utökas mer norrut när stigande temperaturer och färre frostdagar gör nya områden tillgängliga för arten. / The spread of the invasive garden lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus) in Sweden threatens the survival of many native plant species. It is unclear how ongoing global warming may affect the species' invasion success. In this Bachelors essay I have therefore studied how the growth and phenology of the garden lupin varies with latitude in Europe to determine if the species shows any fitness differences depending on the temperature. Twenty garden lupin populations from Trier (Germany) in the south to Umeå (Sweden) in the north were followed during a single growing season and data on the plant’s height and the length of the inflorescences were collected. Regression analysis showed that there was no relationship between latitude and aboveground biomass or length of inflorescence. Reproductive biomass, on the other hand, developed earlier in the growing season at lower latitudes than at higher ones. The study indicates that a warmer climate may have a positive effect on the reproduction and spread of the garden lupin. Local microclimatic effects appear to have a major impact on its relative fitness though, which means that some populations may benefit more than others. The species’ range may expand further north as rising temperatures and fewer frost days make new areas available for the species.

Since 1750, human emissions of greenhouse gases have created a temperature increase, affecting the whole world. Diatoms, single-celled microscopic algae that lives in waters all over the world, have different environmental preferences such as the water depth at which the thrive, salinity, nutrients, pH-values and more. Diatoms also responds quickly to changing circumstances, which makes the suitable as environmental indicators. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the abundance and composition of diatoms has changed during the last 200 years in lake Ensjön, located just south of Norrköping, and to relate those changes both to climate change and known events and environmental factors in the area.  The survey is conducted by subsampling sediment cores from which each diatom sample was prepared in accordance with the scheme of Battarbee (1984). The diatoms in the samples were counted under a microscope and the results were analyzed and related to the Cyclotella-Aulacoseira-Fragilaria-theory (CAF) and documented historical events in the local environment. The result of the analysis shows that the composition and abundance of diatoms has changed during the last 200 years, and that this change is due to both climate change (temperature and precipitation increase) and the land-use history of Ensjön. The cahnges in composition of Aulacoseira spp. and Cyclotella spp., where Aulacoseira spp. is expected to decrease, and Cyclotella spp. is expected to increase with a rising temperature, match the CAF-theory for the most part. The change in composition also coincides with several documented environmental factors in the area, especially the change in use of fertilizers and herbicides in agriculture. / Människans utsläpp av växthusgaser har sedan år 1750 skapat en temperaturökning som går allt snabbare, och påverkar hela världen. Kiselalger, encelliga mikroskopiska alger som lever i vatten över hela världen, har olika miljöpreferenser såsom bland annat på vilket vattendjup de trivs, optimal halt av salt, näringsvärden, pH-värden, samt reagerar snabbt på förändrade omständigheter, vilket gör dem lämpliga som miljöindikatorer. Syftet med studien är att studera förändringar i kiselalgernas sammansättning under de senaste 200 åren i den lilla sjön Ensjön belägen något söder om Norrköping och att relatera dessa förändringar till dokumenterade händelser och miljöfaktorer i sjöns avrinningsområde samt till de pågående klimatförändringarna.  Undersökningen är utförd genom provtagning av sedimentkärnor från vilka prover preparerades enligt Battarbees (1984) flödesschema. Proverna av kiselalger räknades under mikroskop och sammansättningen analyserades utifrån teorin Cyclotella-Aulacoseira-Fragilaria (CAF) och kända historiska händelser i närmiljön. Analysresultatet visade att kiselalgssammansättningen har förändrats under de senaste 200 åren, och att denna förändring sannolikt kan kopplas både till klimatförändringar (en ökad temperatur) och Ensjöns markanvändningshistoria. Förändringen hos Aulacoseira spp. och Cyclotella spp. följer till stor del CAF-teorin om att det första släktet skulle minska och det andra skulle öka vid en temperaturökning. Vid flera tillfällen sammanfaller förändringar i kiselalgssammansättningen med kända miljöfaktorer i närmiljön, främst i samband med utvecklingen i användningen av mineralgödsel och växtskyddsmedel.