A fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is on the horizon. It is enabled by advancements in information and communication technologies (i.e. digitalization) and concepts such as the Internet of Things and cyber-physical systems. Industry 4.0 is expected to have great impact on the manufacturing and process industries, changing how products are developed, produced and sold. However, Industry 4.0 is a novel concept and its impacts are still uncertain. An increasingly strict climate and energy agenda in Sweden is putting pressure on the industrial sector and it is, therefore, important that the sector exploits the full potential Industry 4.0 can provide for increased sustainability. This thesis examines the status of digitalization in the Swedish energy intensive industries (i.e. pulp and paper, steel, and chemical industries) and how it could impact energy efficiency in the sector. Qualitative research methods were used to carry out the study. A literature review and in-depth interviews with employees within the industries were conducted. The results show that, while digitalization is considered important for the future competitiveness of the Swedish energy intensive industries, the digital maturity of the sector is not considered high. Digital technologies can increase energy efficiency in a number of different ways (e.g. through better optimization tools, increased availability of processes and more efficient maintenance management). However, there is not a clear link between digital strategies and energy efficiency measures in the energy intensive industries in Sweden. Moreover, energy efficiency is not considered the main driver for implementing digital technologies, it is rather considered a positive side effect. To accelerate the implementation of digital technologies it is important to support further research in this area and encourage a closer cooperation between stakeholders as well as mitigating challenges such as uncertainty regarding return on investment and issues related to data security and ownership. / Industrin är på väg in i en fjärde industriell revolution (Industri 4.0). Revolutionen möjliggörs av framsteg inom informations- och kommunikationsteknologier (digitalisering) och koncept som internet av saker och cyberfysiska system. Industri 4.0 förväntas ha en stor påverkan på tillverknings- och processindustrin, vilket kommer att förändra hur produkter utvecklas, produceras och säljs. Industri 4.0 är dock ett nytt koncept och dess effekter är fortfarande osäkra. I samband med att en allt strängare klimat- och energiagenda i Sverige sätter press på industrisektorn, är det viktigt att sektorn utnyttjar den fulla potentialen som Industri 4.0 kan bidrag med för en ökad hållbarhet. Det här examensarbetet analyserar det nuvarande läget för digitalisering inom de svenska energiintensiva industrierna (dvs. massa och pappers-, stål- och kemisk industrin) och hur det kan påverka energieffektiviteten i sektorn. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av kvalitativa forksningsmetoder. En litteraturstudie och fördjupade intervjuer med anställda inom branscherna genomfördes. Resultaten visar att trots att digitalisering anses vara viktig för de svenska energiintensiva industriernas framtida konkurrenskraft, anses sektorns digitala mognad inte vara hög. Digital teknik kan öka energieffektiviteten på ett antal olika sätt (t.ex. genom bättre optimeringsverktyg, ökad tillgänglighet av processer och effektivare underhållshantering). Det finns dock ingen tydlig koppling mellan digitala strategier och energieffektivitetsåtgärder i de energiintensiva industrierna i Sverige. Dessutom anses energieffektivitet inte vara den främsta drivkraften för att implementera digitala teknologier, utan anses snarare vara en positiv bieffekt. För att påskynda implementeringen av digital teknik är det viktigt att fortsätta stötta forskningen inom området och uppmuntra till ett närmare samarbete mellan olika aktörer samt bemöta utmaningar som osäkerheten kring framtida avkastningar på investeringar och frågor relaterade till datasäkerhet och ägande.

Market evidences of the last three years show that the application of the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) may endanger the European electricity intensive industries both directly and indirectly. The direct ETS burdens come from the costs of both abating emissions from old technologies and buying emission allowances on the market. The pass through of carbon cost in electricity price implies an indirect ETS charge. The combined action of these two carbon burdens may negatively affect European industries' competitiveness at international level. Some of these industries are threatening to relocate their production activities outside of Europe. This would lead to the so-called "carbon leakage" phenomenon. Taking stock of a French industrial proposal, I consider some special contractual policies whereby electricity intensive industries can buy electricity at average cost. The rest of the market is instead priced at marginal cost. Thanks to these contracts, generators reserve part of their power plants for these industries and apply to them a price depending on the average capacity, fuel and emission costs of these dedicated units. In addition, these contracts account for the average transmission charges. Industries can choose to be supplied either at a single regional average cost price or at zonal (assimilated to nodal) average cost prices (in which case transmission costs are equal to zero). The final objective consists in analyzing the effects provoked by the application of the single and the nodal average cost prices in the cases where generators dispose of fixed capacity or can invest in new technologies. The market for transmission services is of the "flow based market coupling" type and the allowance price is endogenous. The results show that power contracts indeed partially relieve the direct and the indirect carbon costs and mitigate the incentive of European electricity intensive industries to relocate their activities, but with quite diverse regional impacts in correspondence with different national power policies. Finally, the EU-ETS drives generators' investment choices towards clean and nuclear based technologies. Models are formulated as non-monotone complementarity problems with endogenous electricity, transmission and allowance prices. These are implemented in GAMS and solved by PATH. They are applied to a prototype power system calibrated on four countries of the Central Western Europe represented by France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands.

Η διατριβή εξετάζει το ρόλο της παραγωγικής αποτελεσματικότητας ως μιας σύνθετης μεταβλητής (τεχνική αποτελεσματικότητα και αποτελεσματικότητα κλίμακας) που αποτυπώνει τη συμπεριφορά των επιχειρήσεων ενός κλάδου.σε επίπεδο διακλαδικής ανάλυσης εξετάζεται ο ρόλος της παραγωγικής αποτελεσματικότητας ως μεταβλητή η οποία αποτυπώνει στρατηγικά διαμορφωμένα εμπόδια εισόδου στους ενεργειοβόρους κλάδους της ελληνικής βιομηχανίας. σε επίπεδο ενδοκλαδικής ανάλυσης εξετάζεται ρόλος της παραγωγικής αποτελεσματικότητας ως μεταβλητή η οποία επηρεάζει την πιθανότητα εισόδου νέων επιχειρήσεων σε ένα κλάδο και την πιθανότητα εξόδου υπαρχόντων επιχειρήσεων απο ένα κλάδο. / It analyses the role of multifaceted productive efficiency (technical and scale efficiency)as a variable that captures the conduct of firms in an industry. at the interindustry level of analysis productive efficiency is analysed as a variable that captures strategic entry barriers in the greek energy intensive manufacturing industries. at the intraindustry level of analysis productive efficiency is analysed as a variable that affects the probability of new firms entering an industry and the probability of existing firms exiting the industry.

Sweden aims to become one of the first fossil-free welfare countries in the world. In 2009, specific energy and climate policy targets were announced for 2020, which exceed the ambition of respective EU targets in some areas. The overarching objective of the thesis is to understand the role of energy efficiency in Swedish energy and climate policy frameworks, and identify the gaps that need to be addressed. In this context, energy efficiency is recognized as a challenge to address. Yet, there are reasons to believe that it is not being pursued with the same dedication as other energy and climate-related targets. This hypothesis is tested using Mixed Methods research, with cases on different sectors of the Swedish economy, namely energy intensive industry and public bus transport, as well as comparisons with energy efficiency within the EU-28. With the help of abductive reasoning, the observations are inferred to an explanation, and common themes for Swedish energy efficiency policies emerge. The evidence indicates that energy efficiency has received lower priority than other energy and climate policies. This is demonstrated by the conflict between energy efficiency, emission reduction and renewable energy targets, for example in the case of public transport. There is generally a mismatch between targets and the instruments in place. Thus more attention should be given to energy efficiency and its potential benefits for the Swedish energy system. Opportunities for energy efficiency improvements are not being fully realized, but new policy initiatives could provide the necessary support to harness the potential. In-depth evaluation of new policy instruments should be integrated in the policy-making process, in order to provide a clear picture of costs versus benefits. An example is given with a Cost-Benefit Analysis for energy efficiency obligations targeting the Swedish energy intensive industry. Simplicity and transparency in the introduction and monitoring of new instruments need to be sought for. Energy efficiency should be given first priority in relation to other energy and climate targets. The basis for future policies should be grounded now in order for energy efficiency to become the key for successful Swedish energy policy. / <p>QC 20160914</p>

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely used method for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product throughout its entire life cycle. As a decision-making tool, LCA allows decision-makers to identify the environmental hotspots in a product or process, and to explore opportunities for improvement. However, while LCA has many potentials, it also has several limitations that need to be considered. One of the main limitations of LCA is the difficulty in obtaining accurate data, particularly for the upstream and downstream stages of a product's life cycle. Another limitation is the challenge of interpreting the results, as LCA involves complex calculations and assumptions that can be difficult for non-experts to understand. Despite these limitations, LCA remains a valuable tool for informing decision-making, and efforts are being made to address these limitations through the development of standardized methods and improved data collection and interpretation techniques. This paper provides an overview of LCA as a decision-making tool in the context of vaccine manufacturing, its potential and limitations, and the current state of research in this field.

Studien undersöker hur Porjus vattenkraftverk påverkade den industriella utvecklingen i Norrbottens län mellan 1915–1938. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka om elintensiva industrier etablerades efter vattenkraftverkets invigning samt hur industristrukturen i Norrbottens län påverkades under perioden 1915–1938. För att svara på frågorna blev undersökningen en fallstudie som utredde hur och om elektriciteten från Porjus vattenkraftverk bidrog till ekonomisk utveckling i Norrbottens län. Att utvecklingen av elektricitet och elinfrastruktur ska gynna den ekonomiska utvecklingen genom en ökad etableringstakt av industrier samt att industrierna blir mer elintensiva har visats i tidigare forskning. Samtidigt som andra studier demonstrerat hur elektrifiering inte nödvändigtvis leder till ekonomisk utveckling om inte priserna är lönsamma. Slutsatsen av undersökningen är att Porjus vattenkraftverk gav upphov till ökad industrietablering i Norrbottens län, där de elintensiva industrigrupperna gynnades till störst del. Slutligen drogs slutsatsen att industristrukturen i Norrbotten primärt stärktes snarare än ändrades efter att vattenkraftverket invigdes år 1915. / This thesis analyzes how Porjus hydropower plant affected the industrial development in Norrbotten county between 1915-1938. The purpose of the study was to investigate if electricity-intensive industries arose after the inauguration of the hydropower plant, and how the industrial structure in Norrbotten county was influenced during the period 1915-1938. To answer those questions a case study was performed to investigate if and/or how the electricity from Porjus hydropower plant contributed to economic development in Norrbotten county. Previous studies have shown that the development of electricity and electricity infrastructures will benefit economic development through an increased number of industries and that the industries will become more electricity-intensive. At the same time, other studies have demonstrated how electrification does not necessarily lead to economic development unless prices are profitable. The conclusion of the thesis is that an increase of industrial establishments in Norrbotten county appeared after the inauguration of Porjus hydropower plant. At the same time the electricity-intensive industrial groups where the ones that benefited the most from the increased electricity the hydropower plant generated. Finally, it was concluded that the industrial structure in Norrbotten primarily was strengthened rather than changed after the hydropower plant was inaugurated in 1915.

S tím, jak se neustále vyvíjejí nové technologie pro energeticky náročná průmyslová odvětví, stávající zařízení postupně zaostávají v efektivitě a produktivitě. Tvrdá konkurence na trhu a legislativa v oblasti životního prostředí nutí tato tradiční zařízení k ukončení provozu a k odstavení. Zlepšování procesu a projekty modernizace jsou zásadní v udržování provozních výkonů těchto zařízení. Současné přístupy pro zlepšování procesů jsou hlavně: integrace procesů, optimalizace procesů a intenzifikace procesů. Obecně se v těchto oblastech využívá matematické optimalizace, zkušeností řešitele a provozní heuristiky. Tyto přístupy slouží jako základ pro zlepšování procesů. Avšak, jejich výkon lze dále zlepšit pomocí moderní výpočtové inteligence. Účelem této práce je tudíž aplikace pokročilých technik umělé inteligence a strojového učení za účelem zlepšování procesů v energeticky náročných průmyslových procesech. V této práci je využit přístup, který řeší tento problém simulací průmyslových systémů a přispívá následujícím: (i)Aplikace techniky strojového učení, která zahrnuje jednorázové učení a neuro-evoluci pro modelování a optimalizaci jednotlivých jednotek na základě dat. (ii) Aplikace redukce dimenze (např. Analýza hlavních komponent, autoendkodér) pro vícekriteriální optimalizaci procesu s více jednotkami. (iii) Návrh nového nástroje pro analýzu problematických částí systému za účelem jejich odstranění (bottleneck tree analysis – BOTA). Bylo také navrženo rozšíření nástroje, které umožňuje řešit vícerozměrné problémy pomocí přístupu založeného na datech. (iv) Prokázání účinnosti simulací Monte-Carlo, neuronové sítě a rozhodovacích stromů pro rozhodování při integraci nové technologie procesu do stávajících procesů. (v) Porovnání techniky HTM (Hierarchical Temporal Memory) a duální optimalizace s několika prediktivními nástroji pro podporu managementu provozu v reálném čase. (vi) Implementace umělé neuronové sítě v rámci rozhraní pro konvenční procesní graf (P-graf). (vii) Zdůraznění budoucnosti umělé inteligence a procesního inženýrství v biosystémech prostřednictvím komerčně založeného paradigmatu multi-omics.