Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:55:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4381.pdf: 2748711 bytes, checksum: 4ba9831d0665b24b6f48f775d30927d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-13 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / The minimization of the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) is a subject of crucial interest, since them cause serious environmental problems which affect human health, vegetation and fauna. With the purpose to abate NOx, processes involving their catalytic reduction show strong potential. In the case of the reduction of NO with CO a meaningful advantage arises, once both pollutants are removed simultaneously. In order to obtain efficient and stable catalysts for this reaction, many studies have been done with the aim to improve the catalytic activity by achieving a better favorable metal-support interaction to the occurrence of the reaction and a better distribution of the active phases on the support. In this context, the objective of this study was to prepare Cu, Fe and Co based catalysts supported on TiO2, CeO2 and ZrO2 to be applied in the abatement of NO with CO. The addition of the precursors of the active phases was made during the synthesis of the support via the sol-gel method (in situ addition). Furthermore, catalysts with the same composition were prepared by conventional methods. Results from the N2 adsorption/desorption measurements show that the sol-gel method was efficient to prepare supports with improved textural properties. H2-TPR and UVVIS-DRS data evidenced the presence of Cu, Fe or Co oxides in the respective catalysts, which mostly did not show characteristic X-ray diffraction peaks of those oxide phases, suggesting their high dispersion on the supports. In general, results of the reduction of NO to N2 with CO revealed that the catalysts prepared via sol-gel are as active as those prepared by conventional routes, which demonstrate the great potential of the catalysts preparation via the sol-gel in situ procedure, which diminishes the number of the synthesis steps saving time and energy. In general, among the studied supports, ceria presented a more favorable metal-support interaction. In the presence of O2, SO2 and water steam, catalysts 6,5Cu/CeP, 5,5CuZrSG and 8,4Fe/TiC showed no significant changes in their activity and selectivity, indicating that they present high stability to be used under the severe conditions of real processes. / A minimização das emissões de óxidos de nitrogênio (NOx) é assunto de interesse crucial, pois geram graves problemas ambientais que afetam à saúde humana, à flora e à fauna. Para abater os NOx, processos envolvendo à sua redução catalítica apresentam forte potencial. No caso da redução catalítica de NO com CO, tem-se a vantagem adicional de minimizar as emissões de ambos poluentes. Para a obtenção de catalisadores eficientes e estáveis para essa reação, muitos estudos têm sido desenvolvidos no sentido de aumentar a atividade por meio de uma interação metalsuporte mais favorável ao processo reativo e de se conseguir uma melhor distribuição da fase ativa no suporte. Nesse contexto, o objetivo do presente estudo foi preparar catalisadores para a redução de NO com CO à base de óxido de Cu, Fe ou Co, suportados em TiO2, CeO2 ou ZrO2, com a adição do precursor da fase ativa durante a preparação do suporte via processo sol-gel (adição in situ). Além disso, catalisadores de mesma composição foram preparados por rotas convencionais. Resultados de medidas de adsorção/dessorção de N2 dos suportes mostram que o método sol-gel utilizado é mais eficiente no preparo de suportes com propriedades texturais melhoradas. Análises de RTP-H2 e ERD-UVVIS evidenciaram a presença dos óxidos de Cu, Fe ou Co em todos os catalisadores, os quais, em sua maioria, não apresentaram picos de difração de raios X característicos dessas fases, o que sugeriu sua alta dispersão no suporte. Em geral, os resultados da redução de NO a N2 com CO mostraram que os catalisadores preparados pelo método sol-gel in situ são tão ativos quanto os catalisadores preparados por métodos convencionais, o que demonstra o forte potencial desse procedimento, que resulta no uso de um número menor de etapas na preparação do catalisador, com a consequente economia de tempo e energia. De maneira geral, dentre os suportes estudados a céria mostrou uma relação metal-suporte mais favorável ao processo de óxidoredução. Os catalisadores 6,5Cu/CeP, 5,5Cu-ZrSG e 8,4Fe/TiC, na presença de O2, SO2 e vapor de água não apresentaram alteração significativa da sua atividade e seletividade, mostrando uma alta estabilidade para atuar sob as drásticas condições dos processos reais.

Submitted by Marco Antonio Oliveira da Silva (maosilva@ipen.br) on 2016-12-22T12:01:06Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-22T12:01:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Os cosméticos labiais estão envolvidos em duas importantes discussões: os problemas de saúde pública e os problemas ambientais. A partir dessas informações, pretende-se analisar qual o impacto na saúde humana, verificar se há relação entre preço, duração e cor e investigar quais os prováveis impactos para o meio ambiente, supondo algumas vias de descarte. Os cosméticos analisados foram batons, divididos por marca, preço e cor. A primeira análise foi por fluorescência de raios-x (FRX). Em seguida, as matérias primas passaram por digestão com ácido nítrico e clorídrico sob aquecimento e foram diluídas com água destilada e filtradas. A seguir, foram realizadas leituras por espectrometria de emissão óptica com plasma indutivamente acoplado (ICP-OES). A partir dos resultados da análise por FRX (foram encontrados 18 elementos metálicos) e a matriz para análise por ICP-OES foi composta por: alumínio, cálcio, cádmio, cobalto, cromo, cobre, ferro, potássio, manganês, níquel, chumbo, silício e titânio. Apesar de terem sido identificados metais tóxicos (Ni, Mn, Cd e Cr) nas amostras, os batons analisados cumprem com o requerido pela legislação nacional em relação aos limites impostos para metais pesados (Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr e Mn) em cosméticos e alimentos. Entretanto, é importante destacar que as legislações cosmética e alimentícia possuem grandes diferenças quanto aos limites impostos para metais pesados. O estudo do descarte dos batons mostrou que mesmo os batons que são mais utilizados, há um desperdício de quase 1/3 do produto por conta da embalagem interna. Essa informação pode auxiliar em um consumo consciente dos batons, tanto para a quantidade desperdiçada, quanto ao risco associado à utilização de um conjunto de maquiagens (bases, sombras, rímel, blush e batom) com outros cosméticos (cremes, perfumes, esmaltes, tintas para cabelo). Risco esse, associado a possíveis problemas à saúde. / Dissertação (Mestrado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Abstract The releases of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) are controlled by strict regulations setting high demands for the abatement systems. Low temperature catalytic oxidation is a viable technology to economically destroy these often refractory emissions. Catalysts applied in the oxidation of CVOCs should be highly active and selective but also maintain a high resistance towards deactivation. In this study, a total of 33 different γ-Al2O3 containing metallic monoliths were studied in dichloromethane (DCM) and 25 of them in perchloroethylene (PCE) oxidation. The active compounds used were Pt, Pd, Rh or V2O5 alone or as mixtures. The catalysts were divided into three different testing sets: industrial, CVOC and research catalysts. ICP-OES, physisorption, chemisorption, XRD, UV-vis DRS, isotopic oxygen exchange, IC, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR and FESEM-EDS were used to characterise the catalysts. Screening of the industrial catalysts revealed that the addition of V2O5 improved the performance of the catalyst. DCM abatement was easily affected by the addition of VOC or water, but the effect on the PCE oxidation was only minor. Based on these screening tests, a set of CVOC catalysts were developed and installed into an industrial incinerator. The comparison between the laboratory and industrial scale studies showed that DCM oxidation in an industrial incinerator could be predicted relatively well. Instead, PCE was always seen to be oxidised far better in an industrial unit indicating that the transient oxidation conditions are beneficial for the PCE oxidation. Before starting the experiments with research catalysts, the water feed was optimised to 1.5 wt.%. Besides enhancing the HCl yields, water improved the DCM and PCE conversions. In the absence of oxygen, i.e. during destructive adsorption, the presence of water was seen to have an even more pronounced effect on the HCl formation and on the catalysts’ stability. In the DCM oxidation, the addition of the active compound on the catalyst support improved the selectivity, while the enhancing effect on the DCM conversion was only small. The high acidity together with the increased reducibility was seen to lead to an active catalyst. Among the research catalysts Pt/Al2O3 was the most active in the DCM oxidation. With PCE the addition of the active compound proved to be very beneficial also for the PCE conversion. Now Pt and Pd supported on Al2O3-CeO2 were the most active. The enhanced reducibility was seen to be the key feature of the catalyst in PCE oxidation. / Tiivistelmä Klooratuille orgaanisille hiilivedyille (CVOC) on asetettu tiukat päästörajoitukset niiden haitallisten vaikutusten takia. Tästä johtuen myös puhdistusmenetelmien tulee olla tehokkaita. Katalyyttinen puhdistus on teknologia, jolla nämä usein vaikeasti käsiteltävät yhdisteet voidaan taloudellisesti tuhota. Käytettävien katalyyttien tulee olla aktiivisia ja selektiivisiä sekä hyvin kestäviä. Tässä työssä tutkittiin yhteensä 33 erilaista γ-Al2O3-pohjaista hapetuskatalyyttiä metyleenikloridin (DCM) käsittelyssä, niistä 25 testattiin myös perkloorietyleenin (PCE) hapetuksessa. Aktiivisina metalleina katalyyteissä käytettiin platinaa, palladiumia, rhodiumia ja vanadiinia yksin tai seoksina. Katalyytit jaettiin kolmeen ryhmään: teolliset-, CVOC- ja tutkimuskatalyytit. Aktiivisuuskokeiden lisäksi katalyyttejä karakterisoitiin ICP-OES-, fysiorptio-, kemisorptio-, XRD-, UV-vis DRS-, isotooppivaihto-, IC-, NH3-TPD-, H2-TPR- ja FESEM-EDS-pintatutkimusmenetelmillä. Koetulokset osoittivat, että vanadiini paransi teollisuuskatalyyttien aktiivisuutta ja selektiivisyyttä. VOC-yhdisteen tai veden lisäys paransi DCM:n hapettumista, mutta PCE:n hapettumiseen niillä ei ollut vaikutusta. Testien perusteella kehitettiin CVOC-katalyytit, jotka asennettiin teolliseen polttolaitokseen. Laboratoriossa ja teollisuudessa tehdyissä testeissä havaittiin, että DCM:n hapettuminen oli laboratoriokokeiden perusteella ennustettavissa. Sen sijaan PCE hapettui teollisuudessa aina paljon paremmin kuin laboratorio-olosuhteissa. Tämä osoittaa, että muuttuvat hapettumisolosuhteet vaikuttivat positiivisesti PCE:n hapettumiseen. Veden määrä syöttövirrassa optimoitiin 1,5 %:iin ennen tutkimuskatalyyttien testausta. Selektiivisyyden lisäksi vesi paransi DCM:n ja PCE:n konversiota. Hapettomissa olosuhteissa, ts. tuhoavien adsorptiokokeiden aikana, vesi paransi reaktion selektiivisyyttä HCl:ksi ja CO2:ksi vielä entisestään. Tämän lisäksi vesi lisäsi katalyytin stabiilisuutta. DCM:n hapetuksessa aktiivisen metallin lisäys paransi selektiivisyyttä, mutta sen sijaan vaikutus DCM:n konversioon oli hyvin pieni. Tulokset osoittivat, että aktiivisella DCM:n hapetuskatalyytillä tulee olla korkea happamuus ja hyvä pelkistyvyys. Pt/Al2O3 oli testatuista tutkimuskatalyyteistä aktiivisin. PCE:n hapetuksessa aktiivisen metallin lisäys paransi selektiivisyyden lisäksi huomattavasti myös konversiota. Katalyytin lisääntyneen pelkistymiskyvyn todettiin olevan keskeisin ominaisuus PCE:n hapettumisessa. Pt/Al2O3-CeO2 ja Pd/Al2O3-CeO2 olivat tutkimuskatalyyteistä aktiivisimpia.

Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in the southeastern United States and is a central component of the hydrology and environment of the Everglades ecosystem in South Florida. The natural state of the lake has been degraded as wetlands and natural habitats in the Lake Okeechobee watershed have been replaced with farms, urban areas, and dairy operations. Excessive phosphorus loadings from these diverse sources have been identified as the leading causes of the lake’s impairment. For more than four decades, many resources have been allocated to regional and local restoration efforts to reduce phosphorus loadings into the lake. However, phosphorus loadings have not decreased and the recovery of the lake could take more time, particularly with today’s limited local budgets. Market-based instruments, such as water quality trading programs, have emerged over the past decades to cost-effectively achieve water quality objectives in impaired watersheds. The main objective of this dissertation was to assess the environmental and economic benefits of implementing a phosphorus trading program in Lake Okeechobee watershed, compared to a conventional command-and-control approach. A comprehensive literature overview of nationally and internationally implemented trading programs was conducted to highlight advantages and challenges of these programs towards achieving water quality goals, and to outline the essential elements of a successful program. Furthermore, a modeling framework, integrating a hydrologic-water quality model with an economic model, was developed to assess the potential cost savings that trading might offer over a command-and-control approach. The modeling framework was applied in three priority basins of the Lake Okeechobee watershed. In each case, while developing trading scenarios to achieve phosphorus load reduction targets, the trading program was less expensive than the conventional command-and-control approach. This research provided the foundation for stakeholders to better understand whether water quality trading has the potential to work in the Lake Okeechobee watershed and to facilitate the development of a pilot program. In addition, it offered some insights on the potential economic opportunities that pollution sources would have by participating in the trading program. The modeling framework developed in this dissertation could facilitate the assessment of future water quality trading programs in other watersheds.

In the last few decades India has advanced socioeconomically due to the rapid growth of industries and automobile sector. This in turn increases the use of fossil fuel and diesel. The atmosphere gets polluted due to the harmful substances, which comes from the burning of fuel. These pollutants can be in the form of gaseous, liquid or solid particulate. Diesel engines, the major source of power in industries and automobiles, play a significant part in causing air pollution. The major pollutants in diesel exhaust are oxides of nitrogen (NOX), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC), aldehydes and alcohols. Due to the heavy consumption of diesel as a fuel there is an urgent need to control diesel exhaust. Diesel exhaust is a complex mixture of several gases and fine particles (commonly known as soot) that contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants. Amongst the gaseous pollutants in diesel exhaust, the major concern and a challenging task is to control oxides of nitrogen, commonly referred to as NOX as it is the major contributor for acid rain, photochemical smog etc. Successful control of emissions from diesel engines is yet to be achieved. The conventional techniques which are available to control emission now are either difficult to operate or does not satisfy the stringent emission standards. This has made the researchers throughout the world to find an alternative and effective non-conventional after treatment technique to reduce diesel engine emission. The failure of conventional techniques lead to the development of non-conventional techniques such as high voltage electric discharge based plasma which has already been proved to be economical and highly efficient in industrial electrostatic precipitators. Electric discharge plasma or non-thermal plasma produce energetic electrons which react with background molecules in flue gas leading to active species such as radicals. These radicals being chemically active selectively react with the harmful pollutants facilitating their removal/reduction. The present thesis work is an attempt to provide a technical solution to achieve higher removal efficiencies of oxides of nitrogen in the backdrop of shortcomings that exist in conventional technologies to do so. The current thesis describes the research in four stages: (i) studies on NOX removal from diesel exhaust by cross-flow DBD reactor, where design and fabrication of cross-flow DBD reactor, exhaust treatment using cross-flow DBD reactor and exhaust treatment with cascaded plasma-adsorbent technique is described (ii) studies on NOX removal from diesel exhaust by compact discharge plasma sources, where design and fabrication of high frequency high voltage AC (HVAC) using old television flyback transformer, Design and fabrication of high voltage pulse (HVPulse) using automobile ignition coil, exhaust treatment with both HVPulse and HVAC and exhaust treatment with cascaded plasma-adsorbent technique is described (iii) studies on NOX removal from diesel exhaust using solar powered discharge plasma source is described (iv) studies on the NOX removal from diesel exhaust using red mud, where exhaust treatment with red mud and Exhaust treatment cascaded plasma-red mud is covered. The results have been discussed in light of enhancing the NOX removal efficiency for stationary and automobile engine exhausts.

Cette thèse est une évaluation du potentiel d'atténuation technique et économique global dans l'agriculture Chinoise et des conditions nécessaires à la formation d’un prix du carbone dans ce secteur. Le champ de recherche inclut les émissions venant de terres cultivées et en particulier celles liées à l'utilisation d'engrais azotés synthétiques. Il s'articule autour de la construction d'une courbe de coûts marginaux de réduction (MACC), qui offre un cadre rationnel pour combiner les données biophysiques et économiques afin de refléter les coûts d'atténuation. Cet outil permet d'agréger le potentiel d'atténuation découlant de l'application d'un sous-ensemble de mesures coût-efficacité en dessus d'un niveau de référence désignée. Une analyse des politiques climatiques chinoises révèle que l'agriculture est presque absente de la stratégie nationale d'atténuation. Nous avons donc l'intention d’examiner la faisabilité du point de vue technique, économique et politique, d’intégrer l'agriculture dans les politiques domestiques d’atténuation. En premier lieu, la tendance et les méthodes de calcul des émissions sont évaluées afin de déterminer une approche rigoureuse permettant de construire des scénarios de référence à partir de prévisions des activités ‘business-as-usual’ pour 2020. Deuxièmement, nous identifions neuf mesures d'atténuation des sols cultivés, nous évaluons leur taux d'abattement et leur applicabilité future au-delà du scénario de base pour obtenir un potentiel total d'atténuation techniquement faisable. Leur traduction en potentiel économique est alors faite en comparant les coûts de mise en œuvre des différentes options d'atténuation relatives aux pratiques agricoles conventionnelles. Les résultats des MACC montrent que l’agriculture offre un potentiel d'atténuation important, qui pourrait compenser environ un tiers des émissions de référence et dont un tiers pourrait être réalisé au coût négatif pour les agriculteurs. Nous examinons enfin l’utilisation des instruments économiques pour réduire les émissions au moindre coût dans le secteur agricole. Compte tenu des obstacles institutionnels, comportementaux et sociaux, nous suggérons fortement d’engager une réforme dans le système des subventions d'engrais afin d'envoyer un signal politique clair aux agriculteurs. L’utilisation de l’intensité du carbone comme référence normalisée est recommandé pour améliorer et élargir l'accès aux projets de compensation, et peut aussi préparer le terrain pour un possible programme expérimental d'échange de quotas d’émissions dans l'agriculture. En cohérence avec la priorité de protéger la sécurité alimentaire en Chine, des études de cas sur la production régionale de céréales sont introduites dans toutes ces étapes, y compris l'analyse de l'intensité des gaz à effet de serre de la production dans chaque province, le potentiel régional de réduction des émissions liées à l'utilisation d’engrais azotés ainsi que la disparité de coûts de mise en œuvre dans certaines régions. / This thesis is an evaluation of the overall technical and economic mitigation potential in China agriculture and the conditions of putting a carbon price in this sector. The research scope is cropland emissions and particularly those related to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use. The thesis is articulated around the construction of a bottom-up marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) which offers a rational framework for combining biophysical and economic data to reflect mitigation costs. This tool allows the aggregation of the mitigation potential arising from the application of a subset of cost-effective measures above a notional baseline level. An analysis of Chinese climate policies reveals that agriculture is nearly absent in the current national mitigation strategy. We therefore intend to assess the technical, economic and political feasibility of integrating agriculture into domestic mitigation policies. In the first place, the emissions trends and calculation methods are assessed to determine a rigorous approach to build baseline scenarios from projected business-as-usual activities to 2020. Secondly, we identify nine cropland mitigation measures, evaluate their abatement rates and future applicability beyond the baseline scenario to conclude a total feasible technical mitigation potential. The translation to the economic potential is then made by comparing the implementation costs of different mitigation options relative to conventional farming practices. The MACC results show that agriculture provides significant mitigation potential to be able to offset about one-third of baseline emissions and realisation of one-third of the potential is cost-negative for farmers. We finally examine the conditions of using economic instruments to reduce emissions at the lowest cost for the agricultural sector. Given the institutional, behaviour and socials obstacles, we strongly suggest a reform in agriculture fertilizer subsidies to send a clear political signal from central planning. Scaling-up offset projects using carbon intensity as the standardized baseline is recommended and can prepare the grounds for a possible experimental emission trading programme in agriculture. In light with the top priority of safeguarding food security in China, cases studies on regional cereal production are carried out in all these steps, including the analysis of provincial greenhouse gas intensity of production, regional abatement potential related to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use as well as implementation cost disparities in certain regions.

L'Union Européenne a un programme ambitieux pour faire face aux effets du changement climatique, les institutions européennes devant désormais prendre en compte l'environnement dans le cadre de ses politiques. L'objectif de ma thèse consiste à évaluer les impacts des politiques publiques européennes sur l'agriculture et l’environnement, de mesurer leurs effets croisés et d'évaluer l'intérêt d'une meilleure coordination de ces politiques. La thèse vise à enrichir l'analyse économique sur des problématiques importantes recentrées sur la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) agricoles dans l'UE et le niveau de la production agricole, sous un angle quantitatif. La méthodologie repose sur un modèle de programmation mathématique qui simule l’offre agricole européenne (AROPAj), utilisant les données du Réseau d'Information Comptable Agricole. L'analyse est réalisée à plusieurs niveaux, européen, national, régional et infra-régional, tenant compte de la variabilité du contexte économique qui caractérise l'agriculture européenne sur les six années 2007-2012. Nous évaluons tout d'abord comment l'agriculture peut contribuer à l'atténuation des émissions de GES dans l'UE et nous offrons une analyse détaillée des courbes de coûts marginaux d'abattement. Les résultats indiquent qu’en moyenne, sur la période 2007-2012, l’agriculture européenne peut réduire ses émissions d’environ 10%, 20% et 30% respectivement, pour les prix des émissions de 38, 112.5 et 205 Euros/tCO2eq. Nous montrons que l’agriculture peut offrir une atténuation substantielle et que le potentiel et les coûts d’atténuation varient substantiellement dans le temps et dans l’espace. La deuxième problématique étudiée porte sur la compatibilité entre l’augmentation de la production agricole et la diminution de l’impact de l’agriculture sur l’environnement. En introduisant une approche primale (via un prix du carbone) et une approche duale (via un objectif calorique), nous montrons qu’on peut réduire les émissions de GES et modifier l’offre agricole tout en augmentant la quantité en calories alimentaires. On étend la problématique des émissions de GES, en dissociant les prix des deux gaz (CH4 et N2O). Un système de prix différenciés permet de mieux adapter la politique de régulation climatique en fonction de l'horizon de temps sur lequel on se projette, offrant une flexibilité dans la réduction des coûts d’abattement des émissions. / The European Union has an ambitious agenda to deal with the effects of climate change, the European institutions must now take environment into account within the framework of its policies. The objective of my thesis is to evaluate the impacts of European public policies on agriculture and environment, to measure their crossed effects and to assess the potential for a better coordination of these policies. The thesis aims to enrich the economic analysis on important issues refocused on the reduction of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and the level of agricultural production, from a quantitative perspective. The methodology is based on a mathematical programming model that simulates the European agricultural supply (AROPAj), using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network. The analysis is carried out at several levels, European, national, regional and sub-regional, taking into account the variability of the economic context that characterizes the European agriculture over the six years 2007-2012. We first assess how agriculture may contribute to the mitigation of EU GHG emissions and provide a detailed analysis of marginal abatement cost curves. The results show that, on average, over the period 2007-2012, EU agriculture may reduce its emissions by around 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively for emission prices of 38, 112.5 and 205 EUR/tCO2eq. We show that agriculture may offer substantial mitigation and that mitigation costs and potential vary in time and in space. The second issue studied concerns the compatibility between the increase in agricultural production and the reduction of the impact of agriculture on the environment. By introducing a primal approach (via a carbon price) and a dual approach (via a calorie target), we show that we can reduce GHG emissions and change agricultural supply while increasing the quantity of food calories. We extend the issue of GHG emissions by separating the prices of the two gases (CH4 et N2O). A differentiated price system allows to better adapt the climate regulation policy according to the time horizon on which we are projected, offering flexibility in reducing the emission abatement costs.

This thesis deals with the study and normative proposal for a regulation of noise pollution generated by merchant ships, which is the main cause of underwater noise pollution. It is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter, the aspects of marine acoustics are reviewed, including a revisit of hydrophones, the analysis of the distances at which sound intensities are maintained above a baseline level, and a self designed study, which leads to the conclusion that the differences in incremental trends in underwater sound intensity in previous studies are due to differences in maritime traffic. This is confirmed by highly significant statistical data obtained by binary logistic regression between hydrophonic records that have detected an increase and those that have not (p<0.0001). A compilation and bibliometric analysis has made it possible to study specifically the negative impact of ship-generated noise on marine species. In 87% of the publications consulted, including experimental data, a high or moderately high negative impact of sound on marine species was evident; only 5% of the articles reported no effects of noise pollution. The study covered a wide variety of seas and oceans, although most of the studies (31%) were conducted using cages or similar. The research was mainly conducted on fish (43%) and mammals (38%). Behavioural changes were recorded in 59% of cases, physical changes in 11%, masking in 11% and combined changes in 14%. Four levels of underwater sound intensity are proposed: Environmental zone 0 (no appreciable anthropogenic pollution), from baseline level (30 dB) to 80 dB. Zone A of acceptable (low) pollution, from 81 dB to 175 dB (threshold of potential damage). Zone B of tolerable, but potentially harmful sound intensities (between 176 dB and 195 dB) and a Zone C of risk of permanent injury (above 195 dB, permanent injury threshold); vessels generating intensities at this level should be penalised or even banned. A way forward for the future regulation of underwater noise pollution is suggested, through a concerted effort via a global track derived from the UN in collaboration with specialised global and EU organisations, including the Baltic Sea registers, and legal support from the experts of the World Commission on Environmental Law. Its implementation should be carried out through the International Maritime Organization IMO).

The European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) is the cornerstone of the EU's transition to climate neutrality by 2050. Significant carbon price increases and ambitious changes to the ETS make phase four (2021-2030) uncharted territory. This thesis exploratively investigates how the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) currently affects Swedish firms’ competitive position within the European Union and how these firms respond to the carbon price. This is done through a qualitative approach with a thematic analysis of findings from interviews with nine Swedish firms within the sectors: Combined Power and Heat generation (CHP), Electricity production, Mining &amp; Refining, and Smelting of iron and steel and of ferroalloys. Our findings show unanimous support for the Emission Trading System as an instrument to reduce carbon emissions, yet significant differences in each firm's response to the carbon price. Uncertainty related to future price development is found to cause difficulties in pricing among firms within the CHP sector. In contrast, firms with free allocation of EU Allowances have limited financial impact. Across the board, the ETS drives clean technology innovation by making fossil technology less appealing. Nonetheless, two instances of competitive losses stemming from system design were recognised: 1) Swedish CHP producers bear emission costs that other European producers do not, as a result of Sweden’s opt-in of the CHP sector, potentially causing carbon leakage within the EU; 2) The maintained division between the manufacturing of iron pellets (NACE 07.10) and sinter (NACE 24.10) keeps benchmarks for sinter high, resulting in less incentive for abatement efforts within EU. This thesis adds to the existing literature by identifying skewness in the harmonisation of the EU ETS and investigating signals to which the firms respond. / Europeiska unionens system för handel med utsläppsrätter (EU ETS) är hörnstenen i EU:s övergång till klimatneutralitet till 2050. Betydande koldioxidprishöjningar och ambitiösa förändringar av ETS innebär att fas fyra (2021-2030) är outforskat territorium. Denna avhandling undersöker explorativt hur EU:s system för handel med utsläppsrätter (ETS) för närvarande påverkar svenska företags konkurrensposition inom EU och hur dessa företag reagerar på koldioxidpriset. Detta görs genom ett kvalitativt angreppssätt med en tematisk analys av resultat från intervjuer med nio svenska företag inom sektorerna: Kraft och Värmeproduktion (CHP), Elproduktion, Gruvindustrin, samt Smältning av järn och stål samt ferrolegeringar. Våra resultat visar enhälligt stöd för systemet för handel med utsläppsrätter som ett instrument för att minska koldioxidutsläppen, men ändå betydande skillnader i varje företags svar på koldioxidpriset. Osäkerhet relaterad till framtida prisutveckling visar sig orsaka svårigheter i prissättningen bland företag inom kraftvärmesektorn. Medan företag med gratis tilldelning av EU-utsläppsrätter har begränsad ekonomisk inverkan. Överlag driver ETS ren teknologiinnovation genom att göra fossil teknik mindre tilltalande. Icke desto mindre erkändes två fall av konkurrensförluster till följd av systemdesign: 1) Svenska kraftvärmeproducenter bär utsläppskostnader som andra europeiska producenter inte, som ett resultat av Sveriges val av kraftvärme-sektorn, vilket potentiellt orsakar koldioxidläckage inom EU; 2) Den bibehållna uppdelningen mellan tillverkning av järnpellets (NACE 07.10) och sinter (NACE 24.10) håller riktmärkena för sinter högt, vilket resulterar i mindre incitament för minskningsinsatser inom EU. Denna avhandling kompletterar den befintliga litteraturen genom att identifiera skevheter i harmoniseringen av EU ETS och vilka styrsignaler som företagen reagerar på.

Whether it is based on current emissions data or future projections of further growth, the building sector currently represent the largest and singular most important contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. This notion is also supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change based on projection scenarios for 2030 that emissions from buildings will be responsible for about one-third of total global emissions. As such, improving the energy efficiency of buildings has become a top priority worldwide. A significant majority of buildings that exist now will still exist in 2030 and beyond; therefore the greatest energy savings and carbon footprint reductions can be made through retrofit of existing buildings. A wide range of retrofit options are readily available, but methods to identify optimal solutions for a particular abatement project still constitute a major technical challenge. Investments in building energy retrofit technologies usually involve decision-making processes targeted at reducing operational energy consumption and maintenance bills. For this reason, retrofit decisions by building stakeholders are typically driven by financial considerations. However, recent trends towards environmentally conscious and resource-efficient design and retrofit have focused on the environmental merits of these options, emphasising a lifecycle approach to emissions reduction. Retrofit options available for energy savings have different performance characteristics and building stakeholders are required to establish an optimal solution, where competing objectives such as financial costs, energy consumption and environmental performance are taken into account. These key performance parameters cannot be easily quantified and compared by building stakeholders since they lack the resources to perform an effective decision analysis. In part, this is due to the inadequacy of existing methods to assess and compare performance indicators. Current methods to quantify these parameters are considered in isolation when making decisions about energy conservation in buildings. To effectively manage the reduction of lifecycle environmental impacts, it is necessary to link financial cost with both operational and embodied emissions. This thesis presents a novel deterministic decision support system (DSS) for the evaluation of economically and environmentally optimal retrofit of non-domestic buildings. The DSS integrates the key variables of economic and net environmental benefits to produce optimal decisions. These variables are used within an optimisation scheme that consists of integrated modules for data input, sensitivity analysis and takes into account the use of a set of retrofit options that satisfies a range of criteria (environmental, demand, cost and resource constraints); hierarchical course of action; and the evaluations of ‘best’ case scenario based on marginal abatement cost methods and Pareto optimisation. The steps involved in the system development are presented and its usefulness is evaluated using case study applications. The results of the applications are analysed and presented, verifying the feasibility of the DSS, whilst encouraging further improvements and extensions. The usefulness of the DSS as a tool for policy formulation and developments that can trigger innovations in retrofit product development processes and sustainable business models are also discussed. The methodology developed provides stakeholders with an efficient and reliable decision process that is informed by both environmental and financial considerations. Overall, the development of the DSS which takes a whole-life CO2 emission accounting framework and an economic assessment view-point, successfully demonstrates how value is delivered across different parts of the techno-economic system, especially as it pertains to financial gains, embodied and operational emissions reduction potential.