Biofuels make up 25% of Sweden’s energy supply and the majority of biofuels used are made from wood. Wood pellets is one type of biofuel and in Sweden, 1.6 million tonnes of wood pellets were produced in 2018. Different pellet properties such as durability and energy use for production is often tested in a single pellet press. The total energy use for making a pellet in an industrial scale machine is the sum of the energy required for three different component sequences, compression, friction and flow. Flow is when the material that lies on the surfaces between the press channel openings is compressed and pushed downwards towards the coned openings and the materiel in the coned opening is deformed and pushed down to the press channel.

Only compression and friction can be studied using a conventional single pellet press. Thus, this study focuses on the impact of the flow component on the total energy use for pelletizing. In order to do this, energy used for compression, friction and flow, as well as the power required for the material to enter the flow component, Fflow, has been studied for three different particle sizes.

Fresh spruce with a moisture content of 10% has been pressed in different dies. With these pressings, the impact of the flow component, as well as the impact of pressing material located around the coned press channel opening on the total energy use was determined.

Particle size did not affect energy use. Fflow was higher for pressings with material located on the surface around the coned opening, compared to pressings without. This resulted in an increased compression energy for pressings with material around the coned opening. The material located around the press channel opening affected the pelletizing so that the produced pellet was 1 mm shorter, which resulted in a lower energy use for the friction component. Energy used by the flow component made up over 43-57% of the total energy use. The part of the flow energy that is needed to compress the material around the press channel opening and move that material towards the opening stood for 35-52% of the total energy use for palletization.

Here, we show that lignin-first biorefining of poplar can enable the production of dissolving cellulose pulp that can produce regenerated cellulose, which could substitute cotton. These results in turn indicate that agricultural land dedicated to cotton could be reclaimed for food production by extending poplar plantations to produce textile fibers. Based on climate-adapted poplar clones capable of growth on marginal lands in the Nordic region, we estimate an environmentally sustainable annual biomass production of ∼11 tonnes/ha. At scale, lignin-first biorefining of this poplar could annually generate 2.4 tonnes/ha of dissolving pulp for textiles and 1.1 m3 biofuels. Life cycle assessment indicates that, relative to cotton production, this approach could substantially reduce water consumption and identifies certain areas for further improvement. Overall, this work highlights a new value chain to reduce the environmental footprint of textiles, chemicals, and biofuels while enabling land reclamation and water savings from cotton back to food production.

Bostadsbristen är ett ständigt faktum i Sverige idag och i takt med att boendepriserna ökar så ökar också intresset för att bygga sin egen bostad. Arkitektfirman Tengbom i Karlstad har startat upp ett projekt, Portable Empowerment, som bygger på visionen om att skapa en portabel bostad som ska kunna fungera som en lösning när ett plötsligt behov av bostäder uppstår. För att bostäderna ska kunna flyttas runt krävs det att lösningar för energi- och avloppssystem finns integrerade i bostaden och ska kunna flyttas med för att göra bostaden portabel. För att detta ska vara möjligt krävs det avlopps- och energisystem som är off grid.

Off grid betyder att systemet inte är kopplat till kommunalt avlopp eller elnät. Det finns sedan länge sätt att lösa både avlopp och energiförsörjning off grid och några exempel där det tillämpas är husvagnen och den klassiska sommarstugan, men de är allt som oftast inte anpassade för bruk året runt. Målet med denna studie är att identifiera samt värdera avlopps- och energisystem som kan tillgodose behoven i en liten bostad som brukas året runt av två personer. Bostaden har sin utgångspunkt i de ritningar som tagits fram av Tengbom för deras projekt Portable Empowerment.

För att identifiera system som kan tillgodose behoven i bostaden har modeller byggts upp och simuleringar skett där system lämpade för off grid inkluderats. Lösningarna har sedan jämförts med varandra med hjälp av värderingsmatriser där portabilitet, kostnad, miljö och användarvänlighet för varje system värderats.

Resultatet av studien visar att det finns flera system för både energi och avlopp som kan tillgodose behoven i bostaden året om. Flera av systemen uppfyller kraven för en portabel bostad och det är med andra ord möjligt att uppfylla Tengboms vision om ett fullständigt portabelt boende. Jämfört med en ”vanlig” bostad som är ansluten till vatten- och elnät är dock off grid-lösningarna betydligt mer tidskrävande. Genom att installera ett eget system med lösningar för enbart den egna bostaden tar brukaren också på sig det fulla ansvaret, något som kan tänkas vara en belastning för vissa brukare och en frihet för andra.

Ur ekonomisk synpunkt visar studien att på energisidan är det svårt att hitta ett off grid-system som är billigare än on grid-systemet där en luftvärmepump installerats. Däremot är anslutningen till ett kommunalt avlopp betydligt dyrare, mellan 100 000-150 000 kronor mer, än att anlägga till exempel en egen infiltrationsanläggning i anslutning till den egna bostaden.

För att utveckla denna studie bör möjligheten att bygga off grid-byar undersökas. Genom att bygga upp ett samhälle om ett stort bostadsbehov skulle uppstå kan energi- och avloppsanläggningar delas. Anläggningarna har större kapacitet och genom att dela på dessa kan både ansvar och kostnad minskas.

An analysis of a specific application of anaerobic wastewater treatment at a pulp and board mill, Stora Enso Skoghall, was carried out. A literature study was done and effluent wastewater from CTMP pulp production was analyzed. The analysis consisted of a broad constituent analysis and an anaerobic treatment trial. Results from these test where used to calculate the treatment effectiveness and resulting energy potential at the mill.

The literature study and constituent analysis showed that toxicity of the water to be treated, due to wood extractives and sulphur content, was of concern. Detoxification chemicals targeting these constituents where used in the anaerobic treatment trial. The trial consisted of a two chamber upflow reactor and aerobic post treatment. The result of the trial is that the water of concern has about 50% anaerobically degradable content. A full scale implementation of anaerobic wastewater treatment would result in a methane production of 3,76 to 7,76 GWh/yr. An application of anaerobic wastewater treatment will also result in electricity savings, in aerated pond, and increase the capacity margin on current sludge handling techniques.

In modern times, wastewater treatment is vital due to increased water contamination arising from pollutants such as nutrients, pathogens, heavy metals, and pharmaceutical residues. Polysaccharides (PSAs) are natural, renewable, and non-toxic biopolymers used in wastewater treatment in the field of gas separation, liquid filtration, adsorption processes, pervaporation, and proton exchange membranes. Since addition of nanoparticles to PSAs improves their sustainability and strength, nanocomposite PSAs has gained significant attention for wastewater treatment in the past decade. This review presents a comprehensive analysis of PSA-based nanocomposites used for efficient wastewater treatment, focusing on adsorption, photocatalysis, and membrane-based methods. It also discusses potential future applications, challenges, and opportunities in adsorption, filtration, and photocatalysis. Recently, PSAs have shown promise as adsorbents in biological-based systems, effectively removing heavy metals that could hinder microbial activity. Cellulose-mediated adsorbents have successfully removed various pollutants from wastewater, including heavy metals, dyes, oil, organic solvents, pesticides, and pharmaceutical residues. Thus, PSA nanocomposites would support biological processes in wastewater treatment plants. A major concern is the discharge of antibiotic wastes from pharmaceutical industries, posing significant environmental and health risks. PSA-mediated bio-adsorbents, like clay polymeric nanocomposite hydrogel beads, efficiently remove antibiotics from wastewater, ensuring water quality and ecosystem balance. The successful use of PSA-mediated bio-adsorbents in wastewater treatment depends on ongoing research to optimize their application and evaluate their potential environmental impacts. Implementing these eco-friendly adsorbents on a large scale holds great promise in significantly reducing water pollution, safeguarding ecosystems, and protecting human health. 

Skogslandskapen - hur skall vi värdera dem? Ska de betraktas som rekreationsområden och kulturlandskap eller som arena för konflikter och dragkamp om olika resurser? Är skogsregionerna närande eller tärande? Vilka viktiga samband finns mellan skandinaviska och tropiska landskap?Detta är några av de teman som behandlas i denna spänannde bok om de många dimensionerna och resurserna som ryms i skogslandskapen. Boken ger nya och stimulerande aspekter på framtidsmöjligheterna för en hållbar utveckling för boreala skogslandskap. Den tar också upp det nödvändiga mångbruket av skogens resurser liksom den förändrade synen på människans roll i skogen. Och inte minst behandlas den ekologiska paradoxen att störningar behövs för att bevara skogens ekologiska mångfald.Boken är författad av samhällsvetare, miljöteknologer och ekologer inom den tvärvetenskapliga forskargruppen MiljöFocus vid Karlstads universitet.

In recent years, there have been solid global trends and severe attempts by ministries of education in the world to improve the reality of educational institutions and schools through the design and construction of schools and educational systems that meet the requirements of the age by applying the concepts of sustainable and effective systems to the new generation. They called for a promising future and hence the need to activate the applications of the biophilic schools. The theme of the biophilic schools is closely related to the concept of sustainable environmental structures that deal with the surrounding natural environment with intimacy, which is one of the most important new methods of design and construction at present, where ecological challenges are powerfully evoked in the making of their design decisions. Biophilic schools are an essential part of a new concept that wants to design revolutionary educational systems with new economic outputs that are valuable but do not depart from the idea of sustainable schools in general. It represents an expression given to schools designed to be environmentally sensitive and healthy for their occupants and educational systems based on experience, humanity, and attraction. Indeed, many architects have begun to explore and develop new architectural designs linked with the concepts of biophilic schools. Through the researchers’ awareness of the negative circumstance experienced by school buildings in Iraq and by investing in the recommendations of an applied field research, it was reached to crystallize the research problem represented in the obstacles that schools suffer from, which calls for the search for developmental solutions for an efficient educational environment, and in order to reach this goal, by informing researchers about new global experiences in this field, the research presented its hypothesis in choosing the model of biophilic schools that exist in many countries in the world, because of what it can provide from successful and fruitful educational and urban components. The researchers reached many conclusions and recommendations aimed at applying the research hypothesis and achieving its goals.

In this study, we critically examine the potential of recycled construction materials, focusing on how these materials can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy usage in the construction sector. By adopting an integrated approach that combines Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Material Flow Analysis (MFA) within the circular economy framework, we thoroughly examine the lifecycle environmental performance of these materials. Our findings reveal a promising future where incorporating recycled materials in construction can significantly lower GHG emissions and conserve energy. This underscores their crucial role in advancing sustainable construction practices. Moreover, our study emphasizes the need for robust regulatory frameworks and technological innovations to enhance the adoption of environmentally responsible practices. We encourage policymakers, industry stakeholders, and the academic community to collaborate and promote the adoption of a circular economy strategy in the building sector. Our research contributes to the ongoing discussion on sustainable construction, offering evidence-based insights that can inform future policies and initiatives to improve environmental stewardship in the construction industry. This study aligns with the European Union's objectives of achieving climate-neutral cities by 2030 and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals outlined for completion by 2030. Overall, this paper contributes to the ongoing dialogue on sustainable construction, providing a fact-driven basis for future policy and initiatives to enhance environmental stewardship in the industry.

The global annual production of plastics and tires exceeds 6.5 billion tons, with only 10% being recycled, leading to significant environmental problems. Thermochemical gasification of these waste materials offers a potential avenue for producing renewable hydrogen while harnessing underutilized carbon-based waste streams. This review highlights the research on thermochemical conversion of plastics and tires, providing key inferences regarding yield optimization, technical hurdles, and techno-economic viability. It indicates that strategic catalyst design and optimized integrated system configurations can significantly improve the hydrogen yields from plastic and tire pyrolysis/gasification. The key results of this work are that catalyzed gasification reactions show the most potential for maximizing hydrogen yield from plastic and tire waste. The related studies demonstrated that catalysts like Ni, Fe and Ce-doped mixtures can significantly increase hydrogen yield from plastic waste pyrolysis and gasification by suppressing coke formation and promoting reforming/shift reactions. Optimization of temperature, steam ratio and residence time also improves yield. Feedstock synergies exhibiting multiple reaction pathways likewise maximize yield. Computational modeling plays a valuable role by providing mechanistic insights through equilibrium and kinetic simulations. Integrated gasification with carbon/methane reforming shows potential to improve efficiency and lower costs. Techno-economic analyses indicate plastic/tire gasification may achieve cost parity with steam methane reforming through optimized integrated designs incorporating heat recovery. Integrated processes combining multiple conversion steps could further boost efficiency but require additional modeling and testing. A deeper understanding of reaction mechanisms, achieved through advanced modeling approaches, coupled with comprehensive lifecycle analyses of integrated solutions, can pinpoint optimized processing conditions and system designs capable of matching or surpassing the economic and environmental performance of conventional fossil fuel-based hydrogen production. The recommendations provided aim to guide future research prioritization, facilitating the realization of the large-scale potential inherent in waste-derived renewable hydrogen pathways. 

För att motverka global uppvärmning är det centralt att världen rör sig från fossila bränslen för energiproduktion och mot alternativa energiresurser som biobränslen. Industriella restprodukter – exempelvis sågspån – är ett bra alternativ för framställning av biobränslen då annars oanvändbara material kommer till användning. För att göra sådana material mer lätthanterliga komprimeras de ofta till pellets. Den globala pelletsmarknaden har ökat med ungefär 14 % årligen sedan 2010.

Pelleteringsprocessen kan delas upp i tre faser: komprimering, strömning och friktion. Energianvändningen i pelleteringsprocessen går till komprimering av materialet; till att deformera materialet och överkomma det viskösa motståndet; och till att överkomma friktionen mellan materialet och presskanalväggarna. För att undersöka energianvändningen för pelletering på laboratorieskala används ofta singelpelletpressar.

Syftet med den här studien är att öka kunskapen kring energianvändningen vid pelletering, med det huvudsakliga målet att vidareutveckla test- och beräkningsmetoder för att bestämma energianvändningen för att överkomma det viskösa motståndet i materialet vid pelletering i singelpelletpress.

Materialet som pelleterades i studien var granspån. För att bestämma energianvändningen till att överkomma det viskösa motståndet i materialet etablerades ett jämviktssystem i singelpelletpressen, där presskraften stabiliserades med successiva pressningar – kallat kontinuerlig pelletering. Matrisuppställningen i singelpelletpressen inkluderade en kona, där materialet tvingas ner från en presskanal med en större diameter till en presskanal med en mindre diameter för att inkludera strömningsfasen. För att uppnå ett jämviktstillstånd kontrollerades friktionsmotståndskrafterna mot strömning av materialet genom att variera längden på den aktiva presskanalen (där det komprimerade materialet under konan har kontakt med presskanalväggen). Tillfället då strömning initierades undersöktes för att separera komprimeringsfasen från strömnings-/friktionsfasen. Separata komprimerings- och friktionsförsök gjordes för att subtrahera energianvändningen till komprimering och till att överkomma friktion från den totala energianvändningen – för att komma åt energianvändningen till att överkomma det viskösa motståndet.

Jämviktstillståndet nåddes och kontinuerlig pelletering utfördes med en materialfukthalt på 17,5 % och en aktiv presskanallängd på 13 mm, där det högsta uppmätta presstrycket för varje successivt försök stabiliserades runt 154 MPa och pellets med densiteten 1200 kg/m3 producerades. Medelvärdet på trycket som krävdes för att initiera strömning blev 123 MPa. Den specifika energianvändningen som gick till att överkomma materialets viskösa motstånd blev 88 J/g material, vilket motsvarade 65 % av den totala energianvändningen.

Motståndskrafterna mot presskraften från friktionen mellan pelleten och presskanalväggen ökade exponentiellt i förhållande till längden på pelleten i den aktiva presskanalen, vilket innebär svårigheter med att etablera önskade jämviktstillstånd genom en enbart teoretisk bestämning av den aktiva presskanallängden; experimentella försök behöver alltså göras.Den kontinuerliga pelleteringen i studien gjordes vid ett lägre presstryck än vid industriella processer för att inte överbelasta utrustningen. Densiteten för pelleten som tillverkades hamnade dock inom industriella intervall, vilket validerar metoden i studien. För att undersöka jämviktstillstånd vid högre presstryck kan längden på den aktiva presskanalen ökas.

Metoden i studien förenklar vissa aspekter av kraftförhållanden och strömningens egenskaper. Vidare studier rekommenderas angående Poissoneffekten i konan, visköst motstånd i materialet i den aktiva presskanalen som konsekvens av en ojämn hastighetsprofil och en potentiell övergångsfas mellan komprimeringsfasen och strömnings-/friktionsfasen.

Studien visar att kontinuerlig pelletering i singelpelletpress fungerar och för framtida studier på energianvändningen vid pelletering som använder singelpelletpressar rekommenderas att en uppsättning matriser med olika längder på den aktiva presskanalen konstrueras för att enkelt kunna upprätta ett jämviktstillstånd för kontinuerlig pelletering. Att andelen av den totala energianvändningen som gick till att överkomma det viskösa motståndet i materialet blev så hög belyser vikten av fortsatta studier kring det viskösa motståndet för att vidare kunna energieffektivisera pelleteringsprocessen.

As buildings are built more and more energy-efficient, precision of energy calculations needs to increase as the error decrease and the requirement to calculate “correctly” increases. At the beginning of a construction project, a builder must show that the building will comply with the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's regulations when the project is completed in order to start the project. When the building is finished, it is tested through different feeds to investigate whether the building meets the requirements that the builder has claimed in the design step. The difficulty of calculating the energy requirement of a building so that it corresponds to the measured energy requirement is well known in the construction industry. In a school, heating of premises and tap water accounts for two thirds of the energy use and one third consists of lighting, kitchens and fans for ventilation. In a study with 7 newly built Swedish schools calculated and measured energy was examined, it was found that calculated and measured energy needs differed between -44% to + 28%. 

To make it easier to produce calculations of schools energy needs that correspond to real energy needs, this report examines which parameters are important for a school's energy needs and which parameters that makes the calculated and measured energy needs differ profoundly. Two preschools and two primary schools were examined in this study. A calculation model was built to examine which parameters have the greatest impact on a school's energy needs and to calculate the schools' energy needs. 

The measured and estimated heat energy requirements in the examined schools had a deviation of -3% and -16%. The measured and calculated electricity energy needs in the schools had a deviation of -2% and + 28%. The parameters that were important when calculating a school's energy needs turned out to be the efficiency of ventilation, tap water consumption, g-value, room temperature, supply air temperature, operating time of ventilation, operating time of commercial kitchens and electricity requirements for commercial kitchens. 

The result showed that when making energy calculations and trying to adjust and match it as closely as possible to the real measured values, the parameters with the most impact on this were efficiency of ventilation, g-value, supply air temperature, electricity demand for the commercial kitchen and the operating times of both the ventilation and the commercial kitchen. 

The purpose of this study was to investigate how municipal project managersperceive their ability to work on the implementation of the goals in Agenda 2030in their projects and in project management. The research question aimed to explorewhether the respondents had the opportunity and habit of working from asustainability perspective, and if so, how and what they did. The study wasconducted using a qualitative research method with an inductive approach, and datawas collected through semi-structured interviews with respondents active inrelevant professions. The interviews were coded and analyzed thematically,resulting in three themes.The results show that project managers are knowledgeable and viewsustainability as important both in their professional roles and in private contexts.Respondents stay updated on sustainability news on their own initiative, both forwork-related needs and personal interest. Their knowledge and interest likely playa central role in the development of sustainability efforts within projects, as noneof the respondents are aware of any specific training strategies adopted in any ofthe municipalities. Respondents in small municipalities do not perceive thatdecision-makers have taken steps to define and prioritize sustainability goals, andthey do not believe that anyone is working on it at that level of detail. In smallmunicipalities, respondents believe this may be due to fewer resources in terms oftime, knowledge, and finances.For projects and project management, there is no explicit specificmethodology to work with to ensure sustainability in the early stages, butrespondents say they "keep the sustainability mindset" in every situation. When itcomes to balancing environmental, economic, and social sustainability, theeconomy is seen as the biggest obstacle, as making long-term economicallysustainable decisions is difficult in times of strained municipal finances.

There is a growing interest in addressing global waste problems by applying innovative ideas and philosophies such as zero-waste and circular economy. As a new sustainability paradigm, zero-waste challenges the common assumption of waste as a valueless and unavoidable by-product created at the end of the product’s life phase. Instead, it acknowledges that waste is a "misallocated resource" or "resource in transition" produced during the intermediate phases of production and consumption activities. Waste should be recirculated to production and consumption processes. Therefore, zero waste means no "waste" would be wasted under the circular economy system. This chapter presents various examples of zero-waste practices derived from family, community, business, and city levels. In addition, zero-waste implementation strategies and actions are also discussed in the chapter. Despite its potential, the visionary zero-waste goals cannot be achieved without responsible global stewardship and active citizens’ role. 

Different parts of the world use energy in different ways and for different purposes. In Sweden the subsector Laundry and Drying represented 6% of the country’s total electricity use in 2007. In the early 80s it was the big household appliances the dominated the increase of energy use in buildings whereas in recent years have been smaller home electronics and small kitchen appliances that have taken the lead. Due to that the need of energy is constantly increasing a more efficient energy use needs to occur. One step in the right direction was made when the publication of the Brundtland Commission and the term ”Sustainable Development” was born.

In Europe the European Union has a goal that in 2020 the energy use shall be reduced by 20% compared to the forecasted use. To reach the goal they have among other things created the eco-design and the energy labelling directives. These directives are designed to improve the products environmental impact during their whole lifecycle and make it easier for the consumers to compare products from an energy perspective with the help of an energy label. For tumble dryers this energy label has been redesigned to more accurately reflect how much energy that is used when the appliances are running.

In this thesis a comparison of the old and the new energy labelling has been made. Beyond this a consumer survey of how the tumble dryers actually are used in the Swedish households has been performed. Based on this, three suggestions of improvement measures when drying small loads have been investigated regarding to energy use, expenditure of time and final moisture content. A tumble dryer has been used to make the comparison between the two labels. Test runs with full and half loads has been run and the results have been used to calculate the energy efficiency classes for both labels. The three improvement measures were run at half load according to the new label, but with changes to external flow adjustment, internal flow adjustment and tennis ball in the drum separately.

The old energy labelling resulted in energy efficiency class D, right on the border to C, and the new labelling in class C. Although the results seem to be equivalent they differ due to the different scales of the labels. According to the old label the dryer resulted at level 4 but according to the new it resulted at level 6 and is therefore less energy efficient when the runs with half load is taken into account.

The consumer survey showed that the load sizes vary a lot from person to person but with an average load of 4,75 kg dry laundry.

The investigation of the suggestions of improved measures showed a very small difference of the energy use, the expenditure of time was better but the textiles got a higher final moisture content compared to the results from the normal method of drying. These three suggestions of improvement are therefore considered to need further investigation or to be replaced.

The production of durable biomass pellets have always been challenged by several factors including the lack of understanding of the mechanism involved in how particles combine to form pellets under standard conditions of the pellet press. This is because contributing factors span several molecular, microscopic, and even nanoscopic levels as biomass undergoes pelleting. The characteristics of the bonds formed between the combining particles and their relevance to the quality of pellets remains vague, no matter how quality is defined. However, even though few researchers have attempted to explain the mechanism of bonding in densified biomass pellets using different theories, none of their hypotheses supports particle bonding from a structural chemistry perspective. There are still no clear explanations which consider the role of molecular structure and the interactions of substances as milled biomass undergo pelleting. In view of these arguments therefore, this review presents an in-depth analysis of a structural chemistry perspective of the mechanism of bonding and the use of additives in densified biomass pellets and helps identify research areas needed to facilitate better understanding of bonding in densified biomass pellets. The status of current research in biomass pelleting, types of materials suitable as additives and their structural characteristics, as well as the current technical specifications of using additives are also discussed.

Sugarcane bagasse is a residue that results from the crushing of sugarcane in the sugar industry. Among the various agricultural crop residues, sugarcane bagasse is the most abundant lignocellulosic material in tropical and sub-tropical countries including South Africa. Bagasse is a renewable feedstock that can be used for power generation and manufacturing cellulosic ethanol In the sugarcane industries the bagasse is mainly burnt inefficiently in boilers that provide the heating for the industry. This project seeks to investigate the possibility of gasifying sugarcane bagasse as an efficient conversion technology. Proximate and ultimate analysis of sugarcane bagasse was conducted after which the results were used to conduct computer simulation of the mass and energy balance during gasification. This paper presents the proximate and ultimate analysis as well as the computer simulation results.

For efficient energy exchanges in smart energy grids under the presence of renewables, predictions of energy production and consumption are required. For robust energy scheduling, prediction of uncertainty bounds of Photovoltaic (PV) power production and consumption is essential. In this paper, we apply several Machine Learning (ML) models that can predict the power generation of PV and consumption of households in a smart energy grid, while also assessing the uncertainty of their predictions by providing quantile values as uncertainty bounds. We evaluate our algorithms on a dataset from Swedish households having PV installations and battery storage. Our findings reveal that a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 16.12W for power production and 16.34W for consumption for a residential installation can be achieved with uncertainty bounds having quantile loss values below 5W. Furthermore, we show that the accuracy of the ML models can be affected by the characteristics of the household being studied. Different households may have different data distributions, which can cause prediction models to perform poorly when applied to untrained households. However, our study found that models built directly for individual homes, even when trained with smaller datasets, offer the best outcomes. This suggests that the development of personalized ML models may be a promising avenue for improving the accuracy of predictions in the future.

There are many paths towards a more sustainable future. One way is to be more efficient with the use of energy in our daily lives. Another way is to work towards an increasing share of renewable energy in the energy mixture. The municipalities in Sweden has since the late 70s employed experts to provide the citizens with energy advice. This study was performed to provide additional information and inspiration for the benefit of these energy and climate advisors. In this article the author has conducted a literature compilation/review regarding the subject solar PV since the advisors deal with a lot of questions regarding this subject. The literature compilation also includes the subject energy savings and energy storage. An internet-based survey and a focus group discussion are also included to improve understanding of how the respondents think and feel about solar PV and their energy habits. It turns out to be hard to find information that eases the purchase and installation of solar panels. The advisors should make use of the people who already uses solar power in the municipally. These people can provide information regarding dealers and contractors as well as provide exposure for solar PV itself. The results also show that a lot of people cannot afford to invest in solar power. Therefore, it is important not to neglect advice regarding energy savings. Especially since it turns out that most respondents care about their environmental footprint and are willing to make changes, but are not always sure of what to do. This seems to indicate that general energy saving tips that reaches a lot of people would be effective. As an energy and climate advisor you should also try to help people to help themselves get more and better feedback regarding their energy usage. To remind the inhabitance of the municipally that regular maintenance should be performed on the home itself as well as on certain devices seems to be an effective strategy. Lastly people would benefit from simple statistics to help them get a better understanding for which devices uses the most energy. This would give them a knowledge foundation that would ease future device investments. To add further to this paper, a life-cycle costing analysis for a typical Swedish home equipped with solar PV and energy storage is used to determine if a hybrid energy storage system (mechanical and chemical) can rival more traditional storage solutions. The most promising hybrid system is 30 kWh divided in a 3:17 ratio between flywheel and batteries. However, from an economic standpoint battery storage still outperformed the system with a small margin.

Tumble dryers and drying cabinets have to a large extent replaced the traditional way of drying clothes outdoors. They are faster, more convenient, require less space and can be operated regardless of weather conditions. This replacement has significantly increased residential energy consumption, due to the fact that tumbles dryers consume large amounts of electrical energy. In the USA 9 % of the households electric energy is consumed when drying clothes. Over 4 million tumble dryers are sold in Europe each year and 20 % of the residential electricity consumption in Sweden is used drying and washing clothes. Tumble dryers are also utilized in the industrial sector, but industrial dryers are not considered in this study.Increasing energy costs contributes to the public’s awareness and desire to cut their energy consumption. The aim of this study is to increase the energy efficiency and drastically reduce electric power use of tumble dryers.There are two main types of tumble dryers available on the market; the open cycle tumble dryer and the closed cycle tumble dryer. The open cycle tumble dryer is often attached to the ventilation system and thereby it evacuates its exhaust air. The closed cycle tumble dryer condenses the water from the air before it recirculates it.To increase the energy efficiency and reduce electric power use of tumble dryers, two separate studies were made. One on a water cooled closed cycle tumble dryer and one on a hot water heated open cycle tumble dryer. Both tumble dryers where rebuild and originated from the same tumble dryer. The tumble dryer that both studies originated from was a conventional air cooled closed cycle tumble dryer. The tumble dryer is made by Asko Cylinda AB.The results reveal that the water cooled closed cycle tumble dryer does not have greater energy efficiency than the conventional air cooled closed cycle tumble dryer. However the drying time was reduced by 37 %.The result also reveals that the hot water heated open cycle tumble dryer cuts the electric consumption by 93 % and improves the energy efficiency by 53 % compared to the conventional air cooled closed cycle tumble dryer. On the other hand the drying time increases by 9 %.

Increased human activity and global population have led to an increased energy demand, with most of the energy coming from fossil fuels. Hydrogen is seen as an efficient energy carrier that can be produced using renewable resources and replace fossil fuels. However, hydrogen produced from renewable resources is still expensive compared to production from fossil fuels. There have been few previous studies that have examined the utilization of waste heat from hydrogen facilities and the impact it can have on economic profitability.This study, conducted in collaboration with Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), aims to optimize a hydrogen production facility, with a predefined hydrogen demand, from an economic perspective and assess whether a sector coupling to a district heating network can improve the economic outcome. In this study, sector coupling means that waste heat is sent from the hydrogen facility to the district heating network. The hydrogen plant consists of an electrolyzer, a fuel cell, and a hydrogen storage. The system is designed to primarily produce a predetermined amount of hydrogen to be used as vehicle fuel. Additionally, the system can be used for electrical energy storage through hydrogen storage if it proves to be economically advantageous. The objectives are to optimize the price at which hydrogen needs to be sold for the facility to break even, sizing the electrolyzer, hydrogen storage, and fuel cell based on optimal operation, and study the factors that affect the optimal operation of the facility.The method used to optimize the hydrogen facility is linear programming in the MATLAB program. The optimization aims to calculate the lowest possible net cost (or highest net income) for the system. All costs and revenues are described linearly, and then all variables that affect costs and revenues are defined. These variables, in turn, depend on conditions as well as linear equalities and inequalities that restrict the values, they can take to influence the result. The optimization is carried out over a period of 1 year with a time step of two hours. Historical electricity prices for 2021 SE3 were used in the study. The variation in electricity prices is difficult to measure, so a simplified electricity price was also created to study the impact of the variation more closely.The results show that the hydrogen should be sold for approximately 36.6 SEK/kg to break even when the price is optimized, and waste heat is not utilized. The utilization of waste heat can reduce the price by 1.6-2.5 SEK/kg depending on whether the waste heat is utilized for parts or the entirety of the year. The electrolyzer and hydrogen storage should be dimensioned based on a predefined hydrogen demand, according to the factors of 4.9 MW/(ton of hydrogen/day) and 1.4 ton/(ton of hydrogen/day), respectively. The heat output that can be utilized from the hydrogen facility can be dimensioned based on a predefined hydrogen demand, according to the factor of 0.9 MW/(ton of hydrogen/day). The results show trends indicating that the electricity price affects the size of the electrolyzer, hydrogen storage, andthe hours during which the electrolyzer is active. Dimensioning the facility as a function of the electricity price has proven to be a complex question, and further studies are needed in that area. One trend indicates that the utilization of waste heat has a smaller impact on the hydrogen price at higher electrolyzer efficiency and a greater impact at lower efficiency. Waste heat that replaces heat from a district heating boiler reduces emissions by approximately 38 kg CO2e/MWh, depending on the existing boilers/fuels of the district heating producer. For investors, the results provide guidelines for the price of hydrogen, estimated dimensioning of the facility, the practical non-profitability of fuel cells, and insights into the economic value of waste heat. For the district heating company, the results mean reduced emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents, an additional heat source, and possibly reduced costs For the Swedish energy system, the results imply that the high variation in electricity prices can be utilized to produce hydrogen, leading to a potential decrease in the price of green hydrogen compared to current levels. Additionally, the utilization of waste heat can contribute to a more efficient energy system.

It is possible to improve the energy efficiency of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems with the help of building energy management systems. Through deeper knowledge of the dynamics of the system the staff is able to choose a more effective management strategy. Statistics from the energy management system will inform about the system behaviour. It is possible to collect and present the statistics needed thanks to the fast development of information technology and the introduction of computer based building management system.

A research project will investigate methods for creation of individual models of HVAC systems based on measurement data. Each system will then be simulated for different operating conditions. As a result of the simulation an optimal management strategy can be chosen. Different performance ratios will be used to evaluate the level of energy efficiency. The performance ratios should be defined so that they can be calculated from measurement data.

This pilot study presents the background, purpose and method of the project. Some examples will be given to illustrate ineffective use due to a badly chosen management strategy.



Sammanfattning



Installationssystem kan drifteffektiviseras genom utnyttjande av driftstatistik. Genom att lära känna sin anläggning kan driftteknikern lättare fatta beslut om optimalaste driftstrategi. Med en förbättrad driftstatistik får teknikern många viktiga upplysningar om anläggningens dynamik och beteende. Som konsekvens av den snabba utvecklingen inom informationsteknologin samt införandet av datorstödda styr- och övervakningssystem finns möjligheter till omfattande datainsamling.

Ett forskningsprojektet skall undersöka metoder att utifrån insamlad driftstatistik skapa individuella modeller av installationssystem. Modellen skall för varje enskild anläggning senare kunna utnyttjas för att simulera olika driftfall och därmed kunna optimera valet av driftstrategi. Olika nyckeltal kommer att användas för att utvärdera och följa upp effektiviseringsarbetet. Nyckeltalen skall definieras så att de kan beräknas utifrån insamlad driftstatistik.

Denna förstudie beskriver bakgrund, syfte och metodval för projektet. Ett par exempel från utförda mätningar visar på typiska fall av energiineffektivitet som konsekvens av felaktigt vald driftstrategi.

For competitive purposes, manufacturers of household appliances need to produce appliances that use less electricity. One way of doing this for a dishwasher is to add a heat pump system. Previous studies using R134a as refrigerant have shown that the addition of a heat pump can reduce total electricity consumption by about 24%. This paper reports on the use of a capillary tube in a heat pump dishwasher during the transient heating period. Working with an available compressor, the mass of R600a and the length of a 0.9 mm capillary tube were varied in order to find the configuration with the lowest electricity consumption. Three methods of calculating the length of the capillary tube were used to determine five lengths for evaluation. The results show that using a single capillary tube throughout the transient heating period yields similar electricity consumption to a variable expansion device which occurred by switching the capillary tube between two or three different lengths during the heating period.

In the interests of competitiveness, manufactures of tumble dryers are seeking to reduce both their electricity use and the drying time. This study examines how the cylinder volume of the compressor and the total heat transfer of the condenser influence the drying time and electricity use in a heat pump tumble dryer. A transient simulation model was developed and compared to an experimental set-up with good similarity. The simulations show that increasing the cylinder volume of the compressor by 50% decreases the drying time by 14% without using more electricity.

In this thesis, I discuss experiences from designing, building and evaluating two research plants, which use circulating, atmospheric pressure superheated steam as drying medium for drying sawdust in a fluidized bed.



The increased use of pellets has created a demand for new drying equipment at the Swedish pellet plants. The underlying cause is that almost all of the available dried material, such as wood shavings, is already in use. The remaining biofuel materials, primarily wet sawdust need drying before entering the pellet process.



The primary demands on the drying process were an uncomplicated design and efficient energy use. A key aim was to improve the drying technique used in the Swedish wood fuel system with specially interest on the control system.



Sawdust has been tested in both a full scale and a laboratory scale dryers. The tests were done in a spouted bed. The product of the steam mass flow and the enthalpy difference limits the drying capacity. The tests showed that it is possible to use the temperature after the dryer as a control parameter for the outgoing moisture content in a spouted bed dryer. The results and conclusions can be very useful when designing a similar full scale drying system.

In 2011, the total consumption of pellets in Sweden amounted to 1.9 million tons, which represents an energy value of 9 TWh. The pellets are used in large-scale as well as in small-scale applications, and increased demands on pellet quality are likely to force pellet producers to improve on the pellet properties. One way of increasing pellet quality is by using additives. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to examine kraft lignin as an additive. Pelletswere produced in a small industrial pellet press located at KarlstadUniversity, Karlstad, Sweden, and 1–4% of kraft lignin was added to the pellets. The results indicate that the addition of an increased amount of kraft lignin to the pellets increases their mechanical durability and their lengths. The results also indicate that dry kraft lignin yields pellets with higher durability as compared to wet kraft lignin. The energy demand was unaffected by the increased use of kraft lignin. The general results presented in this paper are useful for producers of lignin, pellet producers and end-users of pellets, who are interested in developing their products and/or improving the production processes.