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Mit dem zunehmenden Ausbau von fluktuierenden erneuerbaren Energien werden zusätzliche Technologien und/oder Bereitstellungskonzepte im Stromsystem benötigt, die den Ausgleich von Angebot und Nachfrage zu jeder Zeit gewährleisten. Neben Flexibilitätsoptionen wie Stromspeicher oder flexible konventionelle Kraftwerke, können Biogasanlagen eine Technologie zur Systemintegration von fluktuierenden erneuerbaren Energien darstellen. Der zukünftige kostenoptimale Einsatz von Biogasanlagen wurde bisher nicht ausreichend untersucht. Daher sollen die Forschungsfragen beantwortet werden, ob Biogasanlagen eine ökonomisch konkurrenzfähige Flexibilitätsoption darstellen und in welchem Umfang sowie mit welcher Betriebsweise diese zukünftig kostenoptimal eingesetzt werden sollten. Dazu wurden drei verschiedene Ausbaupfade mit sich unterscheidenden Kapazitäten für Biogasanlagen und weitere erneuerbare Energien zur Zielerreichung der nationalen ZubauZiele in Deutschland für den Zeitraum 2016 – 2035 definiert. Mit Hilfe der daraus abgeleiteten Residuallastdaten wurde der Einsatz der Biogasanlagen zur Systemstabilität optimiert. Die entstehenden Werte wurden im Anschluss verwendet, um mit einem nichtlinearen Optimierungsmodell den Einsatz von Flexibilitätsoptionen kostenminimal zu ermitteln. Der reduzierte Bedarf an Flexibilitätsoptionen durch zusätzliche (flexible) Biogasanlagen sowie die verringerte Stromeinspeisung aus anderen erneuerbaren Energien stellen dabei den Nutzen der Biogasanlagen dar. Zusätzliche Kosten entstehen durch die Flexibilisierung von Bestands- als auch durch den Bau und Betrieb von Neuanlagen. Kosten und Nutzen, die mit zusätzlichen Investitionen in flexible Biogasanlagen einhergehen, wurden abschließend in einer Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse gegenübergestellt. Ein erhöhter Anteil von Biogasanlagen im zukünftigen Stromsystem reduziert die Auslastung von vergleichsweise kostenintensiven Kraftwerken und verringert die Investitionen in Stromspeicher und konventionelle Kraftwerke. Dennoch wird durch die vergleichsweise hohen Kosten von (zusätzlichen) Biogasanlagen in keinem Szenario ein ökonomisch vorteilhaftes Ergebnis erzielt. Die Unwirtschaftlichkeit von Biogasanlagen könnte im Falle eines frühzeitigen Kohleausstiegs signifikant verringert werden. Grundsätzlich sollten Biogasanlagen möglichst flexibel eingesetzt werden, um fluktuierende erneuerbare Energien in das Stromsystem zu integrieren. Ein wirtschaftlicher Betrieb von Biogasanlagen im zukünftigen Stromsystem ist nur möglich, wenn deren Kosten gesenkt und/oder zusätzliche Nutzen in anderen Sektoren und Bereichen generiert werden. Bei einer geringen Zubau-Rate von Neuanlagen wären die geringsten Kostensenkungen notwendig. / To reduce the negative impact of climate change, the German government has decided to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector through the extension of intermittent renewable energies, inter alia. The power supply from photovoltaic and wind power plants is characterized by intermittency that depends on local weather conditions. To ensure a sufficient power supply, further technologies and/or new concepts are required to balance demand and supply in the energy system with an increasing proportion of renewable energies. In addition storage technologies, the extension of power grids and conventional power plants, biogas plants can be one technological solution. However, the cost-efficient role of biogas plants has not been sufficiently assessed. The main objective of this thesis is to compare the economic feasibility of biogas plants with other flexibility options (namely storage technologies and conventional power plants) for the period of 2016 to 2035 in Germany´s electricity system. From an economic point of view, the cost-efficient future installed capacities and the modes of operation of biogas plants have to be analyzed. To do so, three biogas extension paths and renewable energy portfolios are defined for the considered period. Hourly residual load data are used to optimize the flexible power generation from biogas plants in all scenarios. The resulting residual load data (including biogas) is used as an input in a non-linear optimization model that simultaneously minimizes the costs of the hourly dispatch and the annual investments in conventional power plants and storage technologies. On the one hand, additional biogas plants in the future electricity system reduce the demand for additional flexibility options and substitute the generation from further renewable energies. On the other hand, the flexibilization of existing biogas plants and the investments in new biogas installations lead to additional costs. Finally, the resulting costs and benefits are quantified in a cost-benefit analysis. As a result, an increasing proportion of biogas plants reduces the demand for additional storage technologies and conventional power plants. Furthermore, the utilization of (existing) conventional power plants with high marginal costs in the considered period is decreased. However, in all scenarios, the costs of additional biogas plants exceed their benefits for the electricity system. This is why Germany´s electricity system is characterized by a sufficient installed capacity of existing flexibility options. An accelerated phasing-out of lignite- and coal-fired power plants to reach national greenhouse gas reduction target values improves the results of the cost-benefit analysis. The electricity generation from biogas plants should be as flexible as possible. The highest net present values are found in the extension path characterized by a low construction rate of new biogas plants. Nevertheless, compared to the phasing-out of biogas plants, additional biogas plants in Germany´s future electricity system require cost reductions and/or must be accompanied by further benefits in other sectors and areas to ensure economically feasible operation.

The ongoing pandemic has brought uncertainty to the Swedish market by a sudden demand drop. Simultaneously, management literature describes the importance of adaption to a changing environment for future organizational survival. Therefore, this paper explores how Swedish organizations, owned by a controlling shareholder, acted during the ongoing pandemic. An inductive content analysis was made on quarterly reports by focusing on financial- and supply chain-actions taken as countermeasures to the ongoing crisis. Firstly, findings showed that the selection acted in response to the demand drop. Secondly, a broad arsenal of short-termed financial countermeasures was executed in the affected organizations, and long-termed, in the cyclical consumer sector. Lastly, even if the selection communicated issues in their supply chains, close to no countermeasures were communicated in this area.

Magister Legum - LLM / This study is encouraged by the fact that the field of labour law has drastically changed after enactment of amendments in various labour legislation such as Employment Equity Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Labour Relations Act during 2013 and 2014. These changes have compelled employers to review their policies in line with the amendments of these Acts. This study will however focus on the impact of the newly introduced section 198 to the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. The study will specifically focus on the continued use of fixed-term contracts of employment within the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Sector of South Africa.

Bullying has long-term negative effects on the mental health and wellbeing of everyone involved. School-wide interventions have been successful in some contexts, but they often require significant institutional and financial resources. Empathy is comprised of a cognitive component (perspective taking) and an affective component (empathic concern), both of which may be necessary for prosocial behavior. According to relational frame theory (RFT), empathy involves a transformation of stimulus functions across deictic relations (I-YOU, HERE-THERE, NOW-THEN), which also requires psychological willingness (i.e., psychological flexibility). The present study investigated this theoretical model of empathy based on RFT and the role of this model in middle school bullying. Results tentatively support this model by demonstrating two ways in which psychological flexibility moderates the relationship between deictic framing ability and empathy. The utility of deictic framing and psychological flexibility in predicting bullying behaviors was also examined. Deictic framing ability and psychological flexibility were expected to negatively predict bullying behaviors, and psychological flexibility was expected to moderate the relationship between deictic framing ability and relational bullying in particular. Additional research questions explored the roles of deictic framing and psychological flexibility in the relationship between relational bullying and other relevant psychological determinants: (a) parental discord, (b) social anxiety, and (c) social roles. The results of this study were insufficient to apply this model to bullying behaviors. Methodological and statistical limitations are discussed in depth, and future directions to improve on this study and clarify these relationships are emphasized.

Multi-energy systems offer an opportunity to leverage energy conversion processes and temporary energy storage mechanisms to reduce costs and emissions during operation of campuses, cities, and buildings. With increasing options for flexibility in demand-side resources it is possible to meet demand without sacrificing comfort and convenience of MES occupants. This Thesis develops a multi-period, linear optimization model of an MES with flexible buildings that captures nonlinearities in the efficiency of energy conversion processes. The flexible buildings are parametrized, in part, based on historical data from a college campus in Vermont, USA. The idea of the MES model is to investigate the role that flexibility plays in reducing costs and emissions for a small campus relative to that of a possible carbon tax. The operation of the MES is optimized to reduce costs based on representative seasons. Interestingly, it is found that when utilized optimally, flexible buildings allows for a more cost and energy effective method of not only meeting demand but also reducing carbon emissions in the process.

The modern globalized world is developing rapidly thanks to communication technologies. This trend brought about the need for new and atypical jobs and flexible forms of work. National legislations are responsible for allowing such flexibility. These new forms of work as well as atypical jobs make it possible to better reconcile personal and working life and lead to increased labour productivity, which is in the interest of both employees and employers. This is closely related to the concept of flexicurity, which represents the effort to strike balance between the flexibility of labour law relations and the protective function of labour law. This balance is the legislator's goal. However, said goal is challenging to achieve, given the opposite interests of employees and employers. This thesis is divided into four main chapters and subsequent subchapters. The introduction is focused on a general introduction to the topic and objectives of this proposal. The first chapter summarizes the concept of flexicurity and European and Czech efforts to achieve it. Then it proceeds to the description of its implementation in Denmark with advantages and disadvantages of the possible use of this model in the Czech Republic. The second chapter focuses on the definition of the key terms: atypical form of...

Flexible forms of employment Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to map the flexible forms of employment currently offered by the Czech legislation as well as those that might possibly become part of the legal system in the Czech Republic. Flexible forms of employment are currently on the rise, and it is therefore relevant to address the possibilities offered by the legislation. Part one focuses on defining the basic terms of the legal and theoretical framework of flexible forms of employment and in this context also the importance of flexicurity as a concept that has shaped the forms of flexible employment in the recent years. Second part of the thesis describes the specific forms of employment in terms of their legal regulation and what challenges are associated with the use of each individual form of flexible employment, furthermore this part explores aspects of flexibility that can be found within these types flexible employment. Examples of such flexible forms of employment mentioned include, but are not limited to, fixed-term employment, homeworking and, in terms of working hours, a condensed working week and flexible working hours. The next part discusses new emerging forms of flexible employment, namely job sharing, employee sharing, interim management, casual work, as well as new forms of...

Technological development has made working conditions more digital in today’s society, where the use of wireless aids has removed boundaries creating a more flexible working environment. Individuals now have the ability to decide for themselves about when, where and how ones work should be performed. The purpose of this study is to obtain an insight on how work without boundaries is experienced by individuals. Previous research links work with less boundaries to a more sustainable lifestyle where the individual has the ability to easier separate work from leisure time. This is however highly dependent on work characteristics which determines the possibility of flexible working conditions. This study has by the use of qualitative interviews aimed focus on real estate brokers, an occupation which has work characteristics that are considered to be less determined by boundaries in terms of working hours and income. This study highlights strategies on how real estate brokers can separate work life from private life, or choose to combine the two. Finally, the study has identified a set of characteristics which are important to the individual when it comes to managing work without boundaries. / Samhällets teknologiska utveckling har möjliggjort en ökad gränslöshet i arbetslivet och dagligen används portabla hjälpmedel som bidrar till arbetets flexibilitet. Den enskilda individen får i större utsträckning själv bestämma när, var och hur arbetet ska utföras. I denna studie undersöks hur individer kan uppleva och hantera gränslöshet med syftet att få en djupare förståelse för fenomenet gränslöst arbete. Enligt tidigare forskning är upplevelsen av gränslöst arbete kopplad till möjligheten för en fritid som inte inkluderar arbetet, detta för att möjliggöra återhämtning och för att bibehålla välmående i längden. Beroende på yrkets karaktär är detta dock inte alltid möjligt. Studien har genom kvalitativa intervjuer fokuserat på en grupp fastighetsmäklare vars yrke har en tydlig gränslöshet där allt från arbetstid till inkomst varierar. Studien synliggör även strategier som innefattar att individen antingen kan välja att kombinera arbetslivet med privatlivet eller att se dem som två separata sfärer utan koppling till varandra. Vidare har olika karaktärsdrag identifierats som tycks vara av stor vikt för både hanteringen och upplevelsen av det gränslösa arbetet.

Textile Hybrids explores knitted textiles by challenging properties of elasticity and flexibility through yarn composition, technical construction and combinations with wood. This study is placed in the field of textile spatial design and suggests experimental ways to explore three-dimensionality in a knitted textile by changing its properties through material synergies. The outcome is a three piece series of modular three-dimensional, standalone textile objects. The construction, assembly and flexibility of each piece make it possible to separate all components for reassembly, recycling or reusing, suggesting further research possibilities into more tangible contexts within textile spatial design, architecture, furniture design and product design. This study is derived from an interest to explore different ways a textile can exist on its own in a spatial context such as the home, without solely being the material covering a load-bearing framework i.e a couch or a chair.