The aim of this thesis is to briefly introduce the reader to the problem of development of the electricity consumption, to show the possibilities of its prediction, and provide an example of electricity consumption analysis, which may serve as a basis for long-term forecast. The first part of this work is devoted to brief overview of the development of consumption of electrical energy in the Czech Republic and factors associated with that development. The main events of Czech electrification history are outlined, as well as factors influencing the magnitude of the demand for electricity in the recent times. There are described the possibilities of the influence of foreign exchange and price of the electricity, net losses, GDP, the consumption of gas, the number of inhabitants, or the structure of the economy. This work further describes the development of the consumption of electric energy abroad and comparison of the electricity consumption in the Czech Republic to its neighboring countries, in which there are apparently influence by variety of factors that affect the consumption development trend. For more complex overview, the electricity consumption of most of European states is being noted, and near the end of the chapter the development in poorest countries and in quickly growing economies is shown. The fourth chapter mentions methods for short and middle-term prediction of consumption of electricity. There also is more consistent description of possibilities useful for long-term prediction, for which the use of the results of statistics analysis is possible. The description of observed data that are used to find the dependences of different factors is made in the following part. Further the approach of the statistics analysis used in this thesis is shown, and the key terms are explained. The dates concerning the consumption of Czech Republic are analyzed, followed by the states with similar trend of the consumption and finally other European states. Sixth chapter examines the possible uses of the outcomes of statistical analyses for long-term prediction of electricity consumption. The conclusion sums up the knowledge acquired during the research concerning problem of electricity consumption and my own analysis of data.

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit verschiedenen Textildruckverfahren und der terminologischen Untersuchung dieses Fachbereichs im Bereich Print-on-Demand. Die Untersuchung wurde am Beispiel der bei der sprd.net AG angewendeten Verfahren für die Sprachen Deutsch und Französisch angewendet.

(in English): This thesis describes, how the internet and new media change the habits of viewers when watching audiovisual content. In a theoretical part there is briefly described an evolution of television as a medium in its every phase and also are there critically introduced new ways of video consumption. The practical part contains a qualitative sociological research in a form of deep interviews with 23 participants divided into groups by sociodemographic group. The thesis reflects difference in a media praxis between these sociodemographic groups and describes an influence of new media on audiovisual content consumption.

The global growth in demand for transportation has been phenomenal, owing to an exponential increase in population, industrialization and urbanization. This has led to a corresponding increase in the number of motor vehicles on the roads globally which has made the transport industry one of the main contributors to environmental pollution and energy insecurity. The profile of alternative fuels has been rising as an important component of the solutions to the challenge of energy sustainability. Compressed natural gas is one of the most successful alternative fuels for motor vehicle applications because of its compatibility with the internal combustion engine, reduced engine maintenance costs, reduced criteria air pollutants, low cost, abundance and the existence of renewable sourced natural gas from biomass. The infrastructure for the delivery of compressed natural gas forms part of the primary energy supply network, which has a significant interdependence with the electricity supply network. The compressed natural gas fuelling station is one of the vital nodes of the gas delivery network, that is also reliant on the electricity supply due to the energy intensive compressors that are required to achieve the right pressure conditions for gas transfer to vehicle tanks. At the same time, the increase in human population, industrialization, urbanization and market volatility have threatened the reliability and stability of electricity supply networks. Traditional reliance on supply upgrading to meet rising demand has proven to be unsustainable due to prohibitively high costs and associated environmental impact. As a result, demand side management solutions, where better use of the existing capacity is emphasized have received increasing attention. Demand side management requires that electricity consumers also play a role in the efficient operation of the electricity grid by minimizing their electricity usage as well as shifting their flexible loads away from peak electricity demand periods, so that grid stability is sustained. In order to participate in demand side management initiatives, operators of compressed natural gas stations need technically and economically sound strategies for the operation of station compressors and system components so that energy costs are minimized and gas transfer performance is enhanced. The compressed natural gas fast-fill station, being the most used configuration for commercial fuelling service is the focus of the work carried out in this thesis, with a description of solutions to minimize energy consumption, minimize energy costs and improve gas transfer performance through reduction of filling time. For this purpose, firstly, an optimal control strategy that minimizes energy cost by shifting the compressor load optimally away from the peak electricity pricing period under a time-of-use electricity tariff, while meeting the gas demand is modelled and evaluated. The controller further minimizes the switching frequency of the compressor thereby avoiding an increase in wear and tear which would lead to higher maintenance costs. The results show the effectiveness of the optimal operation model to achieve a huge reduction in electricity cost for the compressed natural gas station, when compressor-on time is shifted to offpeak and standard electricity pricing times. Further strategies for the minimization of switching frequency are compared and the superior approach identified. Secondly, a hierarchical operation optimization model is designed and evaluated. The strategy achieves minimized electricity cost and optimal vehicle filling time by optimally controlling the gas dispenser and priority panel valve function under an optimised schedule of compressor operation. The results show that the proposed approach is effective in achieving a minimum electricity costs in the upper layer optimisation while meeting vehicle gas demand over the control horizon. Further, a reduction in filling time is achieved through a lower layer model predictive control of the pressure-ratio-dependent fuelling process. Thirdly, an evaluation of compressor optimal sizing is carried out to minimize energy consumption and cascade the benefits of optimal operation of the compressed natural gas compressor under the time-of-use tariff. A comparison of the implication of using a variable speed drive or a fixed speed drive which are optimally sized is carried out. Results show that indeed further reduction in electricity costs for the compressed natural gas station is realized when optimally sized compressor drives are used in combination with optimal operation strategies. Additionally, the four line priority panel is evaluated for gas transfer performance and found to further increase the efficiency of vehicle fuelling which is a performance indicator for consumer convenience. The outcomes of this work demonstrate the effectiveness of the approaches proposed as necessary to integrate compressed natural gas stations, which are vital nodes of the gas delivery network, with the demand side management of the electricity grid while at the same time enhancing the gas transfer performance. This increases the economic efficiency of the compressed natural gas as an alternative fuel and also advances the goals of demand side management in electricity grid reliability and stability. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / PhD / Unrestricted

Many buildings built in the 1960s are inefficient when it comes to their energy use. A lot of them are also in need of renovating. Therefore, this project is aiming to investigate five different scenarios where the decrease in electricity demand is in focus.One scenario is energy-saving behavior which does not need any investment for a renovation but just decreases the electricity demand by changing the behavior of the people living there.Another option is the building envelope renovation where added insulation to the outer walls, the roof and the floor is added. The windows and entrance doors are also upgraded to more efficient options. A return air only ventilation system is installed as well. The third option is to renovate the reference house to achieve the status of passive house set by Boverket. This is done by adding a much thicker layer of insulation to the building components and adding a FTX ventilation system and at the same time changing the direct electric heating system to a bed rock geothermal heating system. The last two scenarios, net-zero energy building and off-grid building, also use a FTX ventilation system and bed rock geothermal heating system. They have the same thickness as the building envelope renovation. The biggest difference is that the net-zero energy building uses solar power to match the yearly electricity demand and therefore be able to call it net-zero energy. The off-grid house has an electricity storage as well as the solar panels. This is to be able to disconnect from the electric grid completely and only consume electricity produced by the building itself.The last three scenarios all achieve a primary energy below that of what Boverket demand fornew buildings of 90 kWh/m^2, year. The building with the lowest cumulative cost over 50 years is the off-grid building, though this result could vary depending on the price of electricity. The scenario with the lowest investment cost per kWh saved is the net-zero energy building.

Detta är en fenomenologisk studie som utgår från ett fall och undersöker hur plattformsskiftet påverkat produktioner riktade till barn. Fallet som undersöks är Sveriges Television (SVT) och vilka anpassningar de har gjort i Barnkanalens produktioner för att behålla sin publik. Studien undersöker hur SVT arbetat för att inte förlora publiken till det ökade antal konkurrenter och vilka utmaningar detta inneburit. De metoder som har använts för att samla in relevant data är kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra olika nyckelpersoner på SVT som arbetar med barnproduktioner samt visuella innehållsanalyser på tre av deras mest framgångsrika och populära produktioner. Syftet med studien är att öka insikterna i vilka anpassningar Barnkanalen gjort, och gör 2019, gällande deras egna produktioner för att kunna tillgodose målgruppens behov i takt med den tekniska utvecklingen av TV-distribution och målgruppens förändrade konsumtionsmönster. Det material som använts för att bygga en teoretisk grund är tidigare forskning inom bland annat medievanor och konsumtionsbeteende samt statistik framtagen av oberoende källor. Resultatet av denna studie tyder på att SVT arbetar proaktivt för den förändring som sker och har genomfört anpassningar för att behålla sin konkurrenskraft på marknaden, något som också gett positiva resultat i form av höga tittarsiffror online. / This is a phenomenological study that emanates from a case to investigate how platform shifts have affected children's television production. The case that is studied is Sveriges Television (SVT) and what adaptations they have made to their own children's productions in order to maintain their audience. The study investigates how SVT has been working to retain their audience from the increasing number of competitors and the challenges they face doing so. The methods that have been used to collect pertinent data are qualitative interview with four key people at SVT, who work with children's productions, and visual content analysis of their three most popular and successful productions. The purpose of the study is to give insight into Barnkanalen's adaptations, both past and ongoing, regarding their own productions in order to satisfy the target group's needs; as the technical evolution of TV-distribution and ever-changing consumer behaviour. The data that has been used to build a theoretical foundation is prior research within habits of media and consumption behaviour. As well as statistics produced by independent sources. The results of this study shows that SBT is working proactively for the change taking place and has adapted to maintain their competitiveness on the market, something that has also been paying off in form of high viewing rates online.

A crucial decision in the real-time management of today’s irrigation systems involves the coordination of diversions and delivery of water to croplands. Since most irrigation systems experience significant lags between when water is diverted and when it should be delivered, an important technical innovation in the next few years will involve improvements in short-term irrigation demand forecasting. The main objective of the researches presented was the development of these critically important models: (1) potential evapotranspiration forecasting; (2) hydraulic model error correction; and (3) estimation of aggregate water demands. These tools are based on statistical machine learning or data-driven modeling. These, of wide application in several areas of engineering analysis, can be used in irrigation and system management to provide improved and timely information to water managers. The development of such models is based on a Bayesian data-driven algorithm called the Relevance Vector Machine (RVM), and an extension of it, the Multivariate Relevance Vector Machine (MVRVM). The use of these types of learning machines has the advantage of avoidance of model overfitting, high robustness in the presence of unseen data, and uncertainty estimation for the results (error bars). The models were applied in an irrigation system located in the Lower Sevier River Basin near Delta, Utah. For the first model, the proposed method allows for estimation of future crop water demand values up to four days in advance. The model uses only daily air temperatures and the MVRVM as mapping algorithm. The second model minimizes the lumped error occurring in hydraulic simulation models. The RVM is applied as an error modeler, providing estimations of the occurring errors during the simulation runs. The third model provides estimation of future water releases for an entire agricultural area based on local data and satellite imagery up to two days in advance. The results obtained indicate the excellent adequacy in terms of accuracy, robustness, and stability, especially in the presence of unseen data. The comparison provided against another data-driven algorithm, of wide use in engineering, the Multilayer Perceptron, further validates the adequacy of use of the RVM and MVRVM for these types of processes.

The residential sector was responsible for 25% of the Final Energy Demand (FED) in the European Union in 2015. Countries in Central and Eastern Europe such as the Czech Republic are particularly concerned with ensuring security of supply at the lowest possible cost in recent years. FED for space heating still corresponds to the largest fraction of the total FED in the residential sector in the Czech Republic. The vast majority of buildings constructed in 1990- 2000 do not comply with current standards for thermal protection and owners often rely on their own financial means when attempting to improve the overall Energy Performance (EP) of buildings. The goal(s) associated with renovation- or refurbishment measures must be defined to clarify the extent of work and consequently minimize investments. The aim of this thesis, a case study, was to use a whole building energy simulation program (IDA-ICE) to get insight into the potential of different retrofitting measures (represented by scenarios) to improve EP of a single-family summer house located in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. One of the simulated scenarios was the owner ́s suggestion to replace windows and entrance doors. The goal was to reduce FED for space heating to ≤50 kWh.m-2 floor area and year and by doing so attaining the status of a low-energy building. Simultaneously, reduced FED for space heating was supposed to be achieved without compromising air quality and should involve only the most efficient refurbishment measures to minimize the overall work. The scope was strictly limited to EP improving measures without consideration of mechanical ventilation or modification of the currently used space heating system. It was concluded that the owner's suggestion to merely replace windows and entrance doors would be an insufficient solution. SC-4 (i.e. the combined effect of windows and entrance doors replacement and the ground-floor insulation) and SC-5 (i.e. the combined effect of ground-floor insulation and the insulation of external walls and the roof) were deemed to represent the most optimal solutions from the simulated EP improving measures. The goal was achieved in both, i.e. 46.8 kWh.m-2 floor area and year in SC-4 and 44.3 kWh.m- 2 floor area and year in SC-5. Averages of zone air temperatures in selected zones were found to be more stable in SC-4, however, SC-5 performed better when comparing averages of CO2 concentration-values in selected zones on the first floor. Nevertheless, averages of relative humidity and CO2 concentration-values in all simulated scenarios were within the acceptable range of 35-60% and about 520 to 1000 ppm respectively (except for Bedroom 2 zone).

No description available.

This research uses Regression analysis of fluorescence spectroscopy results to correlate with Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5). Fluorescence spectroscopy was applied to samples taken from seven sample sites in the Provo and Orem waste water treatment plants found in Utah County. A total of 161 samples were collected for this research. 23 samples each were taken from four sites in the Provo waste water treatment plant namely Provo head works, aeration basin, primary filter settlement basin and the Provo effluent basin. The Orem head works, the clarifier and the Orem effluent basin were the three sample sites in the Orem waste water treatment plant where 23 samples each were collected to carry out the analysis. The fluorescent characteristics of the samples were determined using fluorescence spectrometry. These intensities were correlated with standard five day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) values which were used as a measure of the amount of biodegradable organic material present. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) data were also taken from these treatment plants for correlation purposes. Three different correlation analyses were made which were the correlation of fluorescence spectroscopy excitation-emission matrix (EEM) against (1) individual sites BOD and COD values (2) Provo only and Orem only BOD and COD values (3) combined Provo and Orem BOD and COD values. The correlation of Individual site EEMs against BOD and COD values produced the best results. There was a higher correlation of EEM with BOD data than COD data. The R-squared for the combined Provo and Orem BOD data was 0.756 and that for COD was 0.729. Very high R-squared was obtained for Provo Influent data and Orem Influent data which were 0.955 and 0.946 respectively. This method can be used by wastewater stakeholders in deriving quick results in determining potential pollution events within a shorter time frame. This research demonstrates that there is a correlation between EEM and BOD/COD.