The significance of bio fuels production is increasing as fossil fuels are being depleted and energy security is gaining importance in the final energy mix. Moreover, bio fuel production offers the potential to alleviate concerns regarding global warming and air pollution. The process scheme design and parameter value choices used in this analysis are exclusively based on research domain literature by considering the state of the art of pyrolysis technology. Henceforth, the results should not be interpreted as optimal performance of mature technology, but as the most likely performance given the current state of scientific knowledge. The purpose of this thesis is to study and assess the technical and economic models for the conversion of woody biomass to valuable biofuel products via fast pyrolysis. The mass rate of wood is considered as 100,000 t/y. Bio fuel production from pyrolysis is energy intensive process. Therefore, heat and energy requirement calculation for the process and optimum heat integration is necessary to improve the overall thermodynamic efficiencies for wood biomass pyrolysis. Three different cases are discussed in this thesis: 1. fast pyrolysis at 500 oC, 2. fast pyrolysis at 1000 oC   and 3. Slow pyrolysis at 500 oC.    Literature study was conducted for different pyrolysis processes and based on their findings and results a model was developed on excel for the calculation of mass and energy balance. Mass balance results shows that the process can be selected on the basis of final product required. It was found that fast pyrolysis at 500 oC is used when bio oil is the priority product, for maximizing the syngas yield fast pyrolysis at high temperature 800-1000 oC is preferred. Similarly slow pyrolysis is used for maximizing bio char yield. It was also found that raw material type and its pretreatment also has strong influence on the pyrolysis process and final composition of bio fuels. Heat flux and energy streams for the pyrolysis scheme are also designed and syngas was selected to fulfil the heat requirements for different processes alongside with pyrolysis such as drying and grinding. It was found out that syngas combustion and heat recovery from the condenser will be able to fulfill the heat demand for pyrolysis process. However the specific heat requirement for fast and slow pyrolysis process varies. According to the calculations heat flux requirement for slow pyrolysis is higher than the fast pyrolysis. An explanation for this variability of the heat for wood pyrolysis is exothermic primary char formation process competing with an endothermic volatile formation process which makes it as overall endothermic process. But pretreatment of wood or biomass in fast pyrolysis is extra burden on the total heat demand for fast pyrolysis. Economic assessment for the pyrolysis plants is also conducted through literature survey of already installed plants and it was found out that pyrolysis is more feasible for large production facilities. The trends shows that capital costs increase with the increase of plant size but the capital cost curve moves towards a straight line after reaching the certain value the production cost per gallon of bio fuel decreases with the increase of plant capacity. The cost of biofuel is extremely sensitive to variations in operating cost (for example, cost of feed stock such as wood and selling price of products) but is not significantly affected by the variations in capital cost.

The Member States of EU27 need to accelerate the integration of energy efficient technology solutions to reach the 20% energy efficiency target set for 2020. At current pace, projections indicate that only half of expected primary energy reductions will be reached. To meet the energy demands of growing populations and a vibrant economy, while simultaneously reducing primary energy supplies, the European continent faces a new kind of challenge never previously encountered. The identification and application of feasible, competitive, and comprehensive solutions to this problem are of highest priority if the remaining gap is to be closed in time. How is this multi-dimensional and complex dilemma to be dissolved? In this work, expanded use of district heating technology is conceived as a possible solution to substantially reduce future primary energy demands in Europe. By extended recovery and utilisation of vast volumes of currently disregarded excess heat from energy and industry sector fuel transformation processes, district heating systems and combined generation of heat and power can improve the general efficiency of the European energy balance. To investigate the possible range of this solution, this thesis introduces a set of methodologies, theoretical concepts, and model tools, by which a plausible future excess heat utilisation potential, by means of district heat deliveries to residential and service sectors, is estimated. At current conditions and compared to current levels, this potential correspond to a threefold expansion possibility for directly feasible district heating systems in European urban areas and a fourfold increase of European excess heat utilisation.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The management of human capital requires meaningful measures of human capital effectiveness that enable better strategic human resource decision-making. Existing measures, such as Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI), allow human resource managers to quantify the bottom-line impact of human capital expenditure, but little is known about how HCROI varies within the population of listed companies. As a result, users of these metrics rarely know how they ‘measure up’ against their competitors in the absence of normative information. If human capital is considered a source of competitive advantage, measures of human capital effectiveness should also allow for normative comparisons. The present study extracted audited financial data from McGregor BFA (2010) and described the central tendency and dispersion of HCROI of Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies (N = 319). In doing so, it established a set of benchmarks for human capital effectiveness measures across industry and company size categories, as well as described temporal changes over the financial years surveyed (2006 - 2010). Even though South Africa is considered to have a very low labour force productivity level compared to other countries (Schwab, 2010 in World Competitive Report, 2010/2011), the results showed that the grand median HCROI ratio for South African listed companies was higher (M = 3.03) than those from published figures from the USA, EU and UK (PwC Saratoga, 2011). This descriptive research also explored the influence of company size (small, medium or large) and company industry (N = 42) on human capital effectiveness (as indexed by HCROI). No statistically significant differences (p > .05) between the median HCROI ratios across company size categories were found, although notable differences in medians of HCROI across company industry categories were observed. HCROI also showed temporal fluctuations over the study period, reflecting economic cycle influences, but year-on-year changes were bigger when the mean HCROI was used — median HCROI remained relatively stable year-on-year. From the research, several recommendations are made regarding the appropriate use of these HCROI benchmark data. Also, this descriptive study lays a solid foundation for future explanatory research aimed at investigating the antecedents, correlates and consequences of human capital return-on-investment (HCROI) as an indicator of human capital effectiveness. The present study contributes to human capital metrics literature by demonstrating how human capital effectiveness indicators can be calculated from audited financial results available in the public domain, and in doing so, attempts to encourage greater use of human capital reporting in financial reporting standards. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die bestuur van mensekapitaal vereis betekenisvolle metings van menskapitaaleffektiwiteit wat beter strategiese menslike hulpbron-besluitneming tot gevolg het. Bestaande metings, soos Menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs (HCROI), laat menslike hulpbronbestuurders toe om die finansiële impak van die menskapitaaluitgawe te kwantifiseer, maar min is bekend oor hoe menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengste tussen die populasie van gelyste maatskappye varieer. Die gevolg is dat die gebruikers van hierdie metrieke aanduiders (metrics) selde weet hoe hulle ‘opmeet’ teen hul mededingers in die afwesigheid van normatiewe inligting. Indien menskapitaal as ‘n bron van ykmerk (benchmark) oorweeg kan word, moet die meting van menskapitaaleffektiwiteit ook normatiewe vergelykings toelaat. Die huidige studie het geouditeerde finansiële data vanaf McGregor BFA (2010) onttrek en die sentrale neiging en verspreiding van menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs van die maatskappye wat op die Johannesburgse Effektebeurs gelys is (N = 319), beskryf. Sodoende het dit ‘n stel ykmerke vir menskapitaaleffektiwiteit-metings daargestel oor die industrie- en maatskappy-grootte kategorieë heen, sowel as om reële veranderinge oor die finansiële jare (2006 – 2010) wat ondersoek is, te beskryf. Alhoewel Suid-Afrika met ‘n baie lae arbeidsmag produktiwiteitsvlak geag word in vergelyking met ander lande (Schwab, 2010 in World Competitive Report, 2010/2011), het die resultate getoon dat die algehele mediaan menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs ratio vir Suid-Afrikaans-gelyste maatskappye hoër (M = 3.03) was as die gepubliseerde syfers van die V.S.A., Europa en die Verenigde Koninkryk (PwC Saratoga, 2011). Hierdie beskrywende navorsing het ook die invloed van maatskappy-grootte (groot, medium of klein) en maatskappy-sektore (N = 42) op menskapitaaleffektiwiteit (soos geïndekseer deur die menskapitaal-beleggingsopbrengs) ondersoek. Geen statistiese beduidende verskille (p > .05) is tussen die menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs mediaan ratio’s oor die maatskappy-grootte kategorieë gevind nie, alhoewel daar noemenswaardige verskille in die mediaan van menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs oor die maatskappy-sektor kategorieë waargeneem is. Menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs het ook temporale skommelinge oor die studieperiode getoon, wat ekonomiese siklus-invloede reflekteer het, maar jaar-op-jaar veranderinge was groter indien die gemiddelde (mean) menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs gebruik was – mediaan menskapitaalbeleggingopbrengs het relatief stabiel van jaar-tot-jaar gebly. Uit hierdie navorsing word verskeie aanbevelings gemaak rakende die toepaslike gebruik van die menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs ykmerk-data. Die beskrywende studie lê ook ‘n vaste fondament vir toekomstige verklarende navorsing wat daarop gerig is om die voorafgaande veranderlikes (antecedents), korrelate en gevolge van menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs as ‘n indikator van menskapitaaleffektiwiteit te ondersoek. Die huidige studie dra tot die menskapitaalmaatstawweliteratuur by deur te demonstreer hoe menskapitaaleffektiwiteit indikatore vanaf geouditeerde finansiële resultate kan bereken word wat op die openbare domein beskikbaar is. Daardeur word gepoog om groter gebruik van menskapitaalrapportering in finansiële verslagdoeningstandaarde aan te moedig.

This paper presents a method to value the residential real estate portfolio of an economy by summarizing the future discounted values of the net operating income. The motivation for this choice of subject is the concern for a house bubble in Sweden due to the double-digit rise in housing prices which the economy has experienced during many consecutive years. However, the method is general and can be applied anywhere where relevant statistics is available. The challenge to use an income approach to residential real estate valuation lies in the fact that there is no obvious net operating income, as the owner and the end user is in many cases the same person. To solve this challenge, we determine the maximum possible net operating income by taking the households’ disposable incomes and subtracting their expenses. This will be a fictional value for the maximum possible net operating income or the imputed income for real estate owners. When this fictional net operating income is compared to the mean prices of properties, a maximum potential yield to capital invested in residential real estate is extracted. The current number for this maximal potential yield on the Stockholm market seem to be 6,4 percent, 2017. The main contribution of this paper to the science of economy is that it presents a way to use classical fundamental valuation methods to evaluate the price level of residential real estate, that, due to lack of tangible net operating income is not as straightforward as the valuation of the commercial real estate market.

Floating offshore wind power is a relatively new technology that enables wind turbines to float above the sea level, tied by anchors at the seabed. The purpose of this work is to develop an economic model for the technology in order to calculate the total cost of a planned wind farm. Cost data are retrieved from reports and academic journals available online. Based on these data, a model in Microsoft Excel is developed which calculates the Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for floating wind power plants as a function of several input values. As an addition to this model, financing offshore projects are described using literature study and by doing interviews with three major companies, currently investing in offshore wind. As a result, the model allows the user to calculate Capital expenditures, Operating expenditures and LCOE for projects at any given size and at any given site. The current LCOE for a large floating offshore wind farm is indicated to be in the range of 138-147 £/MWh. The outline from interviews was that today there is no shortage of capital for funding wind projects. However, in order to attract capital, the governmental regulatory of that market has to be suitable since it has a crucial impact on price risks of a project.

The diploma thesis focuses on the analysis of a company MAFRA, a.s. The aim of the paper is to assess the ability of MAFRA a.s. company to increase company value and the ability to sustain the growth in the future. MAFRA a.s. company was valuated using free cash flow to the firm metod .Value of the company is estimated as of 31/12/2008. The value estimated is 2 996 851 677 CZK.

Titel: Kapitalkostnadsberäkning för investeringar - En kvantitativ studie av svenska börsnoterade bolag Frågeställningar: Hur beräknas kapitalkostnad primärt i svenska börsnoterade bolag? Skiljer sig beräkningen av kapitalkostnad i svenska börsnoterade bolag beroende på faktorer som  företagsstorlek, sektor och företagsmognad? Syfte: Syftet med undersökningen är att få svar på hur beräkning av kapitalkostnad faktiskt går till i börsnoterade bolag i Sverige och huruvida beräkningen varierar i förhållande till faktorerna företagsstorlek, sektor och företagsmognad.  Metod: Genom att använda av de nämnda faktorerna kunde företags olikheter lyftas på ett bra sätt. Det studerade urvalet bestod av 25 respondenter som besvarade en enkät. Med hjälp av enkätsvaren kunde hypoteser formas och testas. Slutsats: Undersökningen visar att det finns vissa statistiskt signifikanta samband mellan kapitalkostnadsberäkning och företagsstorlek samt en studerad sektor. Vidare lyfter studien vissa olikheter i riskhantering mellan olika företagsstorlekar. Studien presenterar också vilka metoder som används mest för beräkning av kapitalkostnad, kostnad för eget kapital samt kostnad för lånefinansiering i Sverige. De är Weighted average cost of capital, Capital asset pricing model respektive genomsnittlig kostnad. / Title: Cost of capital calculation for investments - A quantitative study of Swedish listed companies Research questions:  How is cost of capital generally calculated in Swedish listed companies? Are there any differences in cost of capital calculation methods in Swedish listed companies depending on company size, sector and company maturity? Purpose: This quantitative study intends to highlight how capital cost calculations are made in Swedish companies. Another part of the aim is to investigate connections between cost of capital calculation and the factors company size, sector and company maturity.  Method: By using the factors, different company disparities could be projected in a useful way. The examined sample of 25 companies answered a survey. With these answers hypotheses were formed and tested. Conclusion: This study shows that there are some statistically significant connections between cost of capital calculation and company size and one examined sector. Furthermore, the study also highlights the differences in consideration of risk in different company sizes. This study also presents a result about the most common methods for calculating cost of capital,cost of equity and cost of debt in Sweden. These are Weighted average cost of capital, Capital asset pricing model respectively average cost.

The diploma thesis focuses on the economic evaluation of the company acquisition project using methods of discounted cash flow, net present value and discounted payback period. The theoretical part of the thesis uses comprehensive view on modern methods of strategic and financial analysis, financial planning strategy and investment decision-making methods. The second half of the work contains practical part of strategic and financial analysis, calculated cost of equity, weighted average cost of capital and economic evaluation of the acquisition project itself.