The intensified greenhouse effect is the biggest cause for a negative climate change. Global warming is a result of enhanced greenhouse effect and poses a potential threat for humans and its surrounding environment that can result in disastrous consequences. The rise in temperature is driven by increased human activity whereas the leading cause for emissions of greenhouse gases is the combustion of fossil fuels. The prominent source of emissions is from the following sectors: transport, industrial and energy. The task of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases is both globally and internationally prioritized. Progress has been made although every potential source for emissions has to be investigated in order to reduce the total climate impact. Based on scientific research, wastewater treatment plants are also a contributing factor to the greenhouse effect by emissions of gases. This bachelor’s thesis is investigating two wastewater treatment plants and identifying which processes contribute to the climate impact. The climate impact is calculated with an Excel-based analyzing tool and the results show the Carbon Footprints for the treatment plants. The purpose of this paper is to present result acquired from the treatment plants and identify the processes that have the biggest impact on our climate. Afterwards, solutions derived from the analysis of results will be suggested to improve and bring additional help to the treatment plants with their climate work. In conclusion, it is determined that the treatment plants both have net emissions of greenhouse gases. The biggest contributor is the wastewater treatment and the use of biogas. Results from analysis show that some of the assumptions on emissions made in the tool make the initial results doubtful. Therefore, further research is needed on this subject in order to produce more reliable facts.

Enligt ett av de 16 miljökvalitetsmålen, Ingen övergödning, ska halterna av eutrofierande ämnen inte ha någon negativ effekt på människors hälsa, den biologiska mångfalden eller vår möjlighet till ett hållbart brukande av mark och vatten. En stor bidragande orsak till den rådande övergödningsproblematiken i svenska vatten är läckage av främst näringsämnena kväve och fosfor från agrara och urbana källor.

Hallands kustkommuner har sedan länge problem med övergödning och behovet för åtgärd är stort. Länet är särskilt utsatt för näringsläckage, delvis på grund av att en stor del av åkermarken utgörs av genomsläppliga jordar, vilka underlättar för vattnets framkomlighet och transport av näringsämnen, men även för att vattendrag har rätats ut av människan och för att naturliga våtmarker har tagits bort.

I Halland rinner Suseån som är den femte största ån i länet. Problematiken i den övre regionen av dess avrinningsområde handlar främst om försurning, medan det i det nedre området främst handlar om övergödning och fysisk förändring av vattendragen.

Vattenprovtagning utfördes i Suseån, samt i tre biflöden i den nedre delen av avrinningsområdet, vilken till stor del domineras av jordbruksmarker. De utvalda vattendragen var Käringasjöbäcken, Boarpsbäcken och Årstadbäcken.

Resultatet av vattenprovtagningarna uppvisade överlag förhöjda halter av näringsämnen i alla biflöden till Suseån. De högsta halterna av både totalkväve och totalfosfor uppmättes i Boarpsbäcken och Årstadbäcken, vilka således har det största åtgärdsbehovet.

The harbour land fill in Halmstad has been described in the news as one of the most polluted areas in Halland County based on the a survey from the Swedish environmental protection agency. In order to identify the extent and severity of the situation several environmental investigations have been performed in this area. This report is based on available data from investigations and environmental reports from WSP, Höganäs AB, HEM and Halmstad municipality. This investigation focus on an “Area C” within the land fill where the main land fill material is i.a. slag from a steel work, construction waste, dredge spoil, waste from glass production and a casting shop. Of these material the focus have been on the metal rich slag from the steel work and its possible environmental impact. The environmental exposure of Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, Ni, Mo and V have been calculated as an annual load from Area C. Unfortunately the data available for this investigation has not been complete, e.g. slag concentration data with corresponding leachate data was only obtained for one year. The groundwater data and land fill metal concentrations have been measured only once. This made it impossible to investigate e.g. annual variations like ageing effects of the material or weather variations, variation in the properties of the deposed slag material and statistical significance in differences could not be calculated. Further characterisation of the land fill would be worthwhile in order to be able to draw some conclusions.

Calculations of the environmental load has been performed based on concentration in the slag, the land fill, the leachate data of the slag and groundwater concentrations. A model has been developed to calculate the weighted land fill metal concentration. The partitioning coefficient, K_d; between soil and liquid has been calculated and used to estimate the environmental load.

It was assumed that the groundwater data was the most reliable data, which indicated that the exposure may be higher than from common soil, especially for Pb and Mo. Relating the environmental exposure values with guideline values based on MKM (less sensitive land use)-land using HQ (hazard quotient) indicates a decreasing risk in the order Pb>V>Mo. However, the exposure is well below that from MKM soil which could be assumed, according to Swedish environmental protection agency guideline values, to be an acceptable exposure.

Recently, there have been growing concerns about pharmaceuticals including antibiotics as environmental contaminants. Antibiotics of concentrations commonly encountered in wastewater have been suggested to affect bacterial population dynamics and to promote dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Conventional wastewater treatment processes do not always adequately remove pharmaceuticals causing environmental dissemination of low levels of these compounds. Using constructed wetlands as an additional treatment step after sewage treatment plants have been proposed as a cheap alternative to increase reduction of wastewater contaminants, however this means that the natural microbial community of the wetlands becomes exposed to elevated levels of antibiotics. In this study, experimental surface-flow wetlands in Sweden were continuously exposed to antibiotics of concentrations commonly encountered in wastewater. The aim was to assess the antibiotic removal efficiency of constructed wetlands and to evaluate the impact of low levels of antibiotics on bacterial diversity, resistance development and expression in the wetland bacterial community. Antibiotic concentrations were measured using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and the effect on the bacterial diversity was assessed with 16S rRNA-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Real-time PCR was used to detect and quantify antibiotic resistance genes and integrons in the wetlands, during and after the exposure period. The results indicated that the antibiotic removal efficiency of constructed wetlands was comparable to conventional wastewater treatment schemes. Furthermore, short-term treatment of the constructed wetlands with environmentally relevant concentrations (i.e. 100-2000 ng x 1(-1)) of antibiotics did not significantly affect resistance gene concentrations, suggesting that surface-flow constructed wetlands are well-suited for wastewater treatment purposes. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of inlet design and vegetation type on tracer dynamics and hydraulic performance were investigated using lithium chloride in 18 experimental free water surface wetlands. The wetlands received similar water flow but had different vegetation types: 6 emergent vegetation wetlands (EVWs), 6 submerged vegetation wetlands (SVWs) and 6 free development wetlands (FDWs). Two types of inlet designs were applied: half of each wetland vegetation type had a barrier near the inlet to help distribute incoming tracer solution, while the rest had no barrier. Residence time distribution (RTD) functions were calculated from tracer data using two techniques: method of moments and a novel Gauss modelling approach. RTD functions were used to quantify hydraulic parameters: active wetland volume (e-value), water dispersion (N-value) and hydraulic efficiency (lambda-value). For wetlands without barrier, significantly lower tracer mass recoveries were found from EVWs compared to FDWs and SVWs, signifying a risk of tracer methodological problems in small densely vegetated wetlands. These problems were minimized in wetlands with an inflow construction promoting distribution of incoming tracer solution. Compared to the method of moments, Gauss modelling seemed to produce more reliable lambda-values but less reliable N-values. Data for precise hydraulic quantification were lost by Gauss modelling, as indicated by overall lower variance in these data sets and lower mass recoveries. However, Gauss modelling may minimize uncertainties associated with lithium immobilization/mobilization. Parameters were significantly affected by the RTD data analysis method, showing that the choice of method could affect evaluation of wetland hydraulics. The experimental wetlands in this study exhibited relatively high e-values and low N-values. This was probably caused by the small size of the wetlands and low water flow velocities, emphasizing that hydraulic parameter values obtained in small experimental wetlands may not be applicable to hydraulics in larger wetlands. The method of moments revealed lower e-values from EVWs compared to SVWs and FDWs. It was indicated that lower e-values were mainly caused by vegetation volumes. This highlighted a need for regular maintenance to secure efficient treatment volume in wetlands with dense vegetation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

The riparian forests are hotspots of biodiversity and serve important roles in maintainingthe water quality. The study and understanding of this ecosystem is basic to know how theriparian zones respond to the threat and the changes produced by the urbanization. Theobjective of this pilot study was to know the species richness and check the status of theriparian vegetation along two different rivers in Halmstad, Nissan and Fylleån. The studywas focus on the status of trees at both rivers to see if the proximity of the city has anyimpact on the biodiversity. In total 9 different species were found, nevertheless only 3 ofthese species were founded on both localizations: Quercus robur, Betula pendula and Pinussylvestris. The Shannon Index showed a higher biodiversity on Nissan riparian zones, whichis the river that present the urban component. The urban area is the one that presentshigher level of biodiversity, tree species and number of individuals but there are notenough to be in a good standard. The result just show that the urban area is in a bettercondition that the natural one. The institutional efforts should be focusing on preserveboth environments with special attention to the natural environment.

Black carbon (BC) plays an important part in global climate change. In addition, long term exposure to BC is closely related to pulmonary and cardiovascular mortality. BC is formed by the incomplete combustion of carbonaceous compounds. In urban environments the main sources come from the burning of biomass for domestic heating and diesel vehicles. The typical lifespan of airborne BC is about a week and is treated as a short-lived climate pollutant. Wet deposition, which is more significant closer to the source, is the primary deposition mechanism and condensation of water is dependent on the sources of BC. Measurements with aethalometers determine the sources of BC concentrations, particularly fossil fuel combustion from traffic (ff) and wood smoke (bb).

The in-situ measurements in this study reveal that the different source apportionment of BC emissions with different initial properties of BC behaves differently during the fog periods. Foggy periods from the March and January 2015 data set were carefully collected. In January, the fog occurred throughout the entire observation time, while in March the fog occurred for different durations, from 1 to 7 hours. A linear regression between the normalized BC, BCbb, BCff concentrations and 7-hour periods at night was calculated for each individual period. The comparison of slope values (k), standard errors and p-values of different sources of specific BC emissions was then made. Despite there not being a great difference between the slope values of BCbb and BCff in the January data set, the results revealed that BC emissions from biomass burning have fewer non-statistically significant values than the BC emissions from vehicle exhaust. This study corresponds to the different initial properties of fresh aerosols from both sources and indicated an increased fog deposition of BC from biomass burning.

The aim of the present study was to investigate seasonal and spatial patterns of soil oxygen consumption, nitrification, denitrification and fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in a tidal salt marsh of the Lagoon of Venice, Italy. In the salt marsh, intact soil cores including overlying water were collected monthly at high tide from April to October in salt marsh creeks and in areas covered by the dominant vegetation, Limonium serotinum. In May, cores were also collected in areas with vegetation dominated by Juncus maritimus and Halimione portulacoides. In laboratory incubations at in situ temperature in the dark, flux rates of oxygen and DIN were monitored in the overlying water of the intact cores. 15N-nitrate was added to the overlying water and nitrification and denitrification were measured using isotope-dilution and -pairing techniques. The results show that highest soil oxygen consumption coincided with the highest water temperature in June and July. The highest denitrification rates were recorded in spring and autumn coinciding with the highest nitrate concentrations. Soil oxygen consumption and nitrification rates differed between sampling sites, but denitrification rates were similar among the different vegetation types. The highest rates were recorded in areas covered with L. serotinum. Burrowing soil macrofauna enhanced oxygen consumption, nitrification and denitrification in April and May. The data presented in this study indicate high temporal as well as spatial variations in the flux of oxygen and DIN, and nitrogen transformations in the tidal salt marshes of the Venice lagoon during the growth season. The results identify the salt marshes of the Venice lagoon as being metabolically very active ecosystems with a high capacity to process nitrogen.

At the end of 2013, the environmental administration of Karlstad municipality still had 975 regulatory hours left to perform which they had already charged the food businesses for. The environmental administration is in need of a more effective approach since they have been struggling with the same kind of problem for years.

  The introduction of the control receipt has proved to be good in two ways. The environmental administration has succeeded in getting a more efficient approach and the business operators has increased their understanding of the authority’s work. 

  For maintaining and/or even increasing the efficiency it is important for the inspectors to possess competence and professionalism, which is gained through continuous use of utilities from the National Food Agency. The food inspections influence on restaurant business operators is significant as well and affected by inspection frequency, treatment and the type of inspection (announced/unannounced). Therefore, the environmental administration may consider increasing both the total amount of inspections and the amount of announced inspections. Systems for incentives may even be considered as well.

When stormwater occurs near human activity the water gets polluted. The purity and composition vary widely depending on the types of activities in the area, the type of surface the water comes in contact with, precipitation and many more parameters. It has long been known that stormwater quality can affect both human health and the environment as stormwater is a major contributor to pollution of receiving waters.

A human activity that has an impact on the environment in several different ways is traffic and stormwater is no exception. Airborne gases that react with precipitation, oil leaks and fuel systems that drops down on the ground, metals from brake linings and rubber particles from tire wear are some of the aspects you have to take into account when categorizing the relationship between traffic and polluted stormwater.

In this project, stormwater samples from a parking lot in Halmstad, Sweden were collected and analyzed with an atomic spectrophotometer. The presence and relationship between copper, cadmium and zinc with different rainfall parameters have been studied. The results have been compared with similar studies to answer whether the metals pose a threat to the recipient or not.

Copper and zinc were found in concentrations that may lead to chronic effects in aquatic organisms depending on the nature of the recipient. There is a need for further studies in this field in order to better carry out risk assessments and plan preventive measures.

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea has in Sweden led to the initiation of government schemes aiming to increase wetland areas in agricultural regions and thereby reduce nutrient transport to the sea. Landowners play a significant role as providers of this ecosystem service and are currently offered subsidies to cover their costs for constructing and maintaining wetlands. We undertook a grounded theory study, in which landowners were interviewed, aiming at identifying landowners’ incentives for constructing wetlands on their land. The study showed that adequate subsidies, additional services that the wetland could provide to the landowner, local environmental benefits, sufficient knowledge, and peers’ good experiences could encourage landowners to construct wetlands. Perceived hindrances were burdensome management, deficient knowledge, time-consuming application procedures and unclear effectiveness of nutrient reduction. The main reason for not creating a wetland, however, was that the land was classified as productive by the landowner, i.e., suitable for food production. Current schemes are directed toward landowners as individuals and based on subsidies to cover costs. We propose that landowners instead are approached as ecosystem service entrepreneurs and contracted after a tendering process based on nutrient reduction effects. This would lead to new definitions of production and may stimulate improved design and placement of wetlands.

För att minska näringsläckaget från jordbruksmark via vattendrag till havet ges i Sverige bidrag till privata markägare genom olika åtgärdsprogram. Målet har varit att erhålla 12 000 hektar anlagda våtmarker 2010. Målet kommer dock inte att uppnås. Ett av skälen kan vara att markägarna har andra motiv än ekonomiska när de väljer att anlägga, eller avstå från att anlägga, en våtmark. För att öka förståelsen för markägares syn på miljö, markanvändning och vattenförvaltning och att identifiera motiv för att anlägga våtmarker genomfördes en kvalitativ studie i södra Halland. Femton markägare intervjuades och deras svar analyserades i enlighet med metoden Grundad teori. Viktigast för markägarna var Att förvalta sin mark på bästa sätt vilket innebar att mark som var odlingsbar i första hand skulle användas för det ändamålet. Lågproduktiv mark kunde komma ifråga för våtmarksanläggande, men det var inte självklart. Att ta sitt miljöansvar innebar främst att följa regelverket, men kunde också omfatta frivilliga åtgärder för miljön. Det var dock nödvändigt Att främja företagets ekonomi. Markägarna hade goda Kunskaper och insikter om jordbrukets miljöbelastning, men efterlyste Stöd och bekräftelse. Att vara missgynnad av regelverket som ansågs gynna större jordbruk och jordbruk i andra länder var allmänt. Utifrån resultatet har rekommendationer utformats inför det fortsatta arbetet med att anlägga våtmarker på privat mark.

Seven constructed wetlands receiving diffuse pollution from agricultural land in the south of Sweden were investigated with respect to water flow patterns and phosphorus (P) dynamics. P retention was positive, and correlated to P load in all wetlands. However, there was a large variation in both specific and relative retention, both between wetlands and between years. Thus, the phosphorus retention in a specific wetland is difficult to predict using simple loadretention models. The water flow was correlated to P concentrations in most wetlands; however, there were some exceptions. For instance, one wetland showed a negative relationship between water flow and P concentration during summer, which indicated that other factors than the water flow determined the dynamics of P during this season. This investigation will provide a better understanding of factors affecting phosphorus retention in constructed wetlands, with further implications for wetland research and monitoring. Furthermore, the results can assist when formulating models for phosphorus removal in wetlands receiving nonpoint source runoff.

Ten constructed wetlands, situated in agricultural areas in the south of Sweden, are investigated for phosphorus (P) retention and factors affecting the efficiency. These wetlands are situated in areas dominated by clay or heavy clay soils. National monitoring and estimations have shown that agricultural areas dominated by such clay soils have among the highest phosphorus losses. It has also been shown that a large proportion of P is transported in particulate form; hence, it is expected that sedimentation is the predominant P retention process in the selected wetlands. Sedimentation of clay may, however, be difficult to achieve in wetlands, and the aim of the study is to quantify the function of wetlands as sinks for the P lost from the catchments. Sedimentation and accumulation of particles are measured once a year using sedimentation plates (40×40 cm) placed on the bottom of the wetlands. Additional sedimentation traps (estimating gross sedimentation) have been placed in three of the wetlands, and those are emptied two times per year. This paper presents results for P and soil retention after the first year (in kg P ha-1 year-1), estimated by extrapolating the amount of sediment accumulated on the plates, and the content of total phosphorus (TP), to the whole wetland area. Furthermore, one wetland was selected for a detailed investigation of the effect of a vegetation filter, which in a previous study has been shown to have a positive effect on particle retention. Here, estimates of net and gross sedimentation are measured before, within and after the vegetation filter. To identify some factors of significant importance for wetland P load and retention efficiency, the statistical relationship with different wetland and catchment characteristics is analyzed. The factors included are the ratio wetland area to catchment area, average hydraulic load, and various catchment characteristics, e.g. soil type, topography, fertilization history, and soil P fractions. Since there is some uncertainty regarding sedimentation of fine clay particles (< 0.2 m), the size fractions of the accumulated sediment is determined to see whether or not the finest clay particles from the catchments settle in the wetlands. Previous studies have shown a correlation between particle size and bioavailability, where finer clay particles contain larger proportion of easily available P. Trapping the finest clay particles is therefore of particular ecological importance and needs to be further investigated.

Abstract Seven constructed wetlands (0.05–0.69 ha), situated in agricultural catchments (22–267 ha) in the south of Sweden, were studied for two years with two aims: to (i) quantify their function as sinks for particles and phosphorus (P) lost from the catchments, and (ii) investigate to what degree catchment and wetland characteristics and modeled loads (using hydrochemical catchment models) could be used to explain differences in retention between the wetlands. The wetland areas ranged from 0.04 to 0.8% of the respective catchment area, and they were situated in areas dominated by fine-textured soils with relatively high P losses and the main proportion of P transported in particulate form. Net P and particle retention were estimated during two years from annual accumulation of particles on sedimentation plates (40 × 40 cm) on the bottom of the wetlands.

There was an annual net retention of particles and P, but with a large variation (for particles 13–108 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and for P 11–175 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), both between wetlands and between years. The difference between the two years was larger than the difference in mean P retention between the seven wetlands. There was a positive relationship between P and particle retention and three catchment factors, i.e. P status (P-AL) of agricultural soils, average slope in the catchments and the livestock density, and a negative relationship with the agricultural soil clay content. In addition, there was a positive relationship with the wetland length:width ratio. Contrary to expectations, neither the modeled hydraulic load nor P load was significantly correlated with the measured particle and P retention. There was also a positive relationship between P concentration in the sediment and soil P status in the catchment. The results imply that considerable errors are introduced when down-scaling modeled regional nutrient losses to estimate the P loads to small wetlands in agriculturally dominated catchments. A more qualitative approach, using catchment characteristics for identification of hot-spot fields, may be equally good to identify suitable locations for constructed wetlands to reduce diffuse P loads. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Data from seven constructed wetlands receiving runoff from agricultural catchments in the south of Sweden were investigated with respect to phosphorus (P) retention. The seven wetlands differed in size (0.22-2 ha), design, land use and catchment characteristics. The hydraulic load varied between 7 and 725 m yr^-1, which reflect the different geographical and hydrological conditions. The overall aim of this study was to increase the understanding of how water flow and inflow P concentration varations affect the P retention in constructed wetlands receiving runoff from arable land. Water flow was measured continuously, and time or flow proportional water samples were taken. Grab samples were taken during high flow periods and also to supplement the automatic water sampling. P retention varied between wetlands, from 1 to 58 kg ha^-1 yr^-1, and was correlated to the P load (R²=0.9, p<0.05). P retention in the wetlands varied strongly between years, and negative retention was recorded for some years and wetlands. When investigating monthly retention for each wetland, release of P corresponded to either high flow or possible anoxic conditions during low-flow periods in summer or during winter when ice covered the wetlands. Analyses of grab samples revealed a relationship between TP concentration and water flow for most wetlands. In some wetlands, P was transported mainly as particulate P (PP), but in other wetlands, soluble P was the dominating form in both inflow and outflow. Incoming concentrations varied greatly between wetlands (1-2000 μg l^-1) which reflected the different catchment characteristics, e.g. land use, soil type and topography.

The production of meat is a resource consuming process that affects the environment considerably and the demand for meat is expected to increase as the population grows. A large part of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from the livestock sector  which uses a third of the earth's surface. Insects emit fewer greenhouse gases than traditional livestock, and also uses less resources, such as land and feed.

Entomophagy, consumption of insects, has long been part of the human diet and are still eaten on all continents. But modern people in Western countries find it difficult to accept insects as food, as their mental barriers prevent them from doing so.

Insects are a newly discovered alternative protein source that is positive for the environment, nutrition, economy and biodiversity. However, there are currently many uncertainties about insects, they may be toxic or allergenic, and these risks must be evaluated before they can be classed as food insects. Researchers suggest that insects begin reared commercial to ensure access without pose a risk to consumers or damaging the environment.

Hemp is a versatile plant with many uses that has been around for thousands of years. The plant is highly adaptable andwill cultivate in almost any soil. It has excellent remediation properties and has shown to be relatively consistent when itcomes to crop yields. The aim of this literature survey is to examine how hemp can be used to be considered asustainable energy crop in Sweden through database searches and interviews. Hemps characteristics as an energy cropand its remediation properties is evaluated and compared with other plants that are used in Sweden. The result showsthat hemp is a competitive crop when used for solid fuel and that a closed-loop solution is achievable. Further studiesare needed for a closed-loop solution to be possible when using hemp as a biogas crop, mainly for establishing asustainable waste treatment.

Optimising nitrate removal and identifying critical factors for nitrate removal in wetlands is an important environmental task in the effort to achieve better surface water quality. In this study, eighteen free water surface wetlands with similar shape and size (22 m2 each) received groundwater with a high nitrate-N concentration (about 11 mg l−1). The effects of two hydraulic loads, 0.13 m d−1 and 0.39 m d−1, and three vegetation types – emergent, submersed and freely developing vegetation – on the nitrate-N removal were investigated through mass inflow and outflow measurements.

No significant difference in nitrate removal between the different hydraulic loads could be detected. Significantly higher area-specific nitrate removal and first-order area-based rate coefficients were found in the basins with emergent vegetation, with no difference between the basins with submersed and freely developing vegetation. The nitrate-N removal increased as the wetlands matured and the vegetation grew denser, emphasizing the role of dense emergent vegetation for nitrate removal at high nitrate concentrations.

To achieve a sustainable use of energy we must increase our use of renewable energysources, biogas if one such source. One of the greatest potentials for biogas are in theagricultural sector and the Energy Agency calculates that 25% of the available manurecan be used for biogas production. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute withknowledge of co-digestion of manure and how this affects the methane potential andhow co-digestion affects the contents of NH4 in the sludge.

The report includes a literature study to understand the digestion process and its partsand allows interpretation of data. The report includes analysis of data from HalmstadUniversitys experiment of anaerobic digestion and an additional digestion. The resultsobtained in this study shows that the effect of co-digestion varies depending on manure.Horse and chicken manure and beef and pig manure gives a positive effect to the codigestion.

A system for the publication of the control results on food businesses were introduced in

Sweden but for various reasons it was never fully implemented. It was, however, a few

municipalities in Sweden which became curious about this system and gradually began to use

it. In this study, I have investigated what perceptions and views local authorities and

associated food businesses that use the system have and if they think that it is a good system.

2 municipalities were interviewed with related food industries and a simple questionnaire

about their views on the system was sent to a few more establishments. The results showed

that local authorities were satisfied with the system and considered that so far there were no

disadvantages to the system. The food businesses felt that the Smiley system was mainly a

positive system, and in their view above all for the customer. The non-premier a Smiley

considered it a positive system so long as it was done in the right way. The majority of the

interviewed businesses felt that there was a marketing value in having the Smiley sticker.

Hästgödsel som substrat för biogasproduktion undersöktes i tre rötningsförsök. Resultaten från dessa tillsammans med olika strömedels för- och nackdelar, transportlogistik för gödseln och ekonomiska överväganden har bedömts med syfte att kunna presentera en helhetslösning för hästägare och hästföretag.

Rötningsförsöken visade att hästgödsel kan samrötas med nöt-, svin-och hönsgödsel med godtagbar metanproduktion. Svingödsel har ett högt näringsinnehåll (framförallt kväve) som kompletterar den näringsfattiga hästgödseln på ett bra sätt samtidigt som den är mer flytande och därmed gör hästgödseln mer pumpbar. Både torv och halmpellets kan användas som strömedel med godtagbar metanproduktion. Kväveinnehållet blir lägre och kol-kvävekvoten högre med torv jämfört med halmpellets men halmpellets har praktiska och ekonomiska fördelar framför torv. Färsk hästgödsel producerade mer metan med torv än med halmpellets, men efter lagring i en månad producerade hästgödseln med halmpellets mer metan än torvgödseln. Lagring i två månader var däremot negativt för metanproduktionen från båda hästgödsel/strömedel kombinationerna.

Sammantaget leder resultaten till en möjlig modell för hästgödselns utnyttjande för biogasproduktion innefattande samrötningssubstrat, strömedel, lagring, transport och ekonomi som kan rekommenderas för hästnäringen.

Flera miljömässiga fördelar med en ökad biogasrötning av hästgödsel kan lyftas fram. Produktion av ett förnybart bränsle, minskade klimatgasutsläpp och näringsförluster samt ett bättre kretsloppstänkande är några uppenbara sådana.

Rapporten ser stora möjligheter för utnyttjande av denna potential men pekar också på behovet av mer forskning och utveckling inom området.

CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere were studied in a fertilized sandy agricultural soil with and without a catch crop sown into the main crop. The catch crop was grown primarily with the purpose to decrease N-leaching but this study also wanted to find out if the catch crop could have an effect in a climate change perspective. Plots with catch crop showed decreased CO₂ emissions from the soil. Since previous results have shown that catch crops effectively decrease N-leaching we recommend growing catch crops as an effective measure for helping both the climate and the eutrophication issue. Seasonal variations in CO₂ emissions were pronounced with maximum emissions from the fertilized agricultural soil in June and from an adjacent unmanaged grassland in August. From the plot with catch crop emissions decreased in July and August but somewhat increased later in the autumn. Fertilized agricultural soil showed a within-soil CO₂ sink after harvest, i.e. within-soil CO₂ uptake. Availability of NH₄⁺ or NO₃^- in the soil seems to influence the within-soil CO₂ sink, with NH₄⁺ enforcing the sink while the same amount of NO₃^- instead increased CO₂ emissions. © 2015 BioOne All rights reserved

In this study the composition of the denitrifying bacterial community among constructed wetlands in agricultural areas was investigated. Thirty-two constructed wetlands located in Southern Sweden were surveyed, and biofilm samples from each were analyzed by applying denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, to investigate the community composition of the three denitrifying bacterial enzyme genes nirK, nirS and nosZ. The DNA sequences of the enzyme genes were compared to known DNA sequences in GeneBank using BLAST. The results of the denitrifying bacterial enzyme genes indicated that these habitats may harbour a heterogeneous denitrifying bacterial community. Individual analysis of the enzyme genes revealed that nirS was more heterogeneous than both nirK and nosZ. Most sequences from the present study clustered with known sequences from species belonging to the group of α-Proteobacteria, and to a lesser extent with β- Proteobacteria and γ-Proteobacteria, and only nirS clustered with a member of gram-positive bacteria.

Bacteria play important roles in the transformation of nutrients in wetlands, but few studies have examined parameters affecting variation in bacterial community composition between wetlands. We compared the composition of eubacterial and denitrifying bacterial biofilm communities in 32 agricultural constructed wetlands in southern Sweden, and the extent to which wetland environmental parameters could explain the observed variation. Structure and richness of the eubacterial 16S rRNA gene and three denitrifying bacterial enzyme genes (nirK, nirS and nosZ), analysed by molecular fingerprinting methods, varied among the constructed wetlands, which could be partly explained by different environmental parameters. Results from the enzyme gene analyses were also compared to determine whether the practice of using a single denitrifying bacterial gene could characterize the overall community composition of denitrifying bacteria. We found that nirK was more diverse than both nirS and the nosZ, and the band structure and richness of the three genes were not related to the sam environmental parameters. This suggests that using a single enzyme gene may not suffice to characterize the community composition of denitrifying bacteria in constructed agricultural wetlands.

Bakgrund: Dagens användning av antibakteriellt silver i vardagsprodukter leder till att

silverförorenat avlopp hamnar i reningsverken. Ett näringsrikt slam bildas i reningsverken och

används som växtnäring på jordbruksland. Ett problem som kan uppstå är att silverföroreningarna

ifrån slammet överförs till mark. Eftersom silver är känt för sina antibakteriella egenskaper så är

syftet med denna studien att undersöka silvrets effekt på jord och marklevande organismer.

Resultat: Den lägsta koncentrationen på 0,56 mg/kg silvret NM-300K hämmade nitritproduktionen

i jorden med 16%. Silvernitrat hämmade den mikrobiella massa i jord med 50% efter 7 dygn. Vid

lägre silverkoncentrationer på 0,19 mg/kg gynnades nitritproduktionen i mark istället. Antalet

markbakterier sjönk i den silverkontaminerade marken i jämförelse med kontrollgruppen. En PVP

täckt silvernanopartikel visade sig vara mer toxisk mot nitrifikations bakterier än en silver

nanopartikel otäckt yta.

Slutsats: Silver har visat sig vara toxisk mot mikroorganismer i mark, dock kan ingen gemensam

toxisk koncentration fastställas för alla markorganismer då olika typer av nanosilver och

silverföreningar har olika effekt beroende på vilken storlek, form, yta och vad de omvandlas till i

naturen.

The mining company LKAB extracts iron ore in three areas in the north of Sweden, Kiruna, Malmberget and Svappavaara. The iron ore is refined and in the pelletizing plants the material is rolled to finished pellet product. The different steps of pelletizing plants causes among other things emissions to the air. It occurs occasionally stops in the production and the emissions are vented via an emergency chimney without purification. The aim for this work is to look into how LKAB may improve their monitoring of air emissions and control of ambient air quality and the analysis methods which are suitable for measuring. More recently, optical methods have been included in the measurements, which have an advantage over the collection of sample for analysis in a laboratory. The work has been limited to air emissions and optical methods. Through extensive literature review, questions has been answered on regarding which are the most important parameters to measure concerning air emissions, which methods that are suitable for continuous measurement and the parameters that are important in meteorological dispersion modeling. Three different methods of measurement are included, DOAS, FT-IR and LIDAR. The optical methods are discussed on the basis of how they can apply for adjustment to LKAB’s operations and its northern geographical location. A method suited better than the others, DOAS, which is the measuring method to be adapted best to LKAB’s operations and for measurement of the emergency chimney. Measurement results from DOAS can be used to make a dispersion model. 

In today´s society, it becomes more and more important to reuse, recycle and return as much as possible of what we use, in order to reduce the use of the earth´s resources. Sludge is a waste product that is formed when we purify waste water and can be used as construction soil, as final cover of landfills or as fertilizer by spreading it on fields. Then it becomes a cycle of nutrients, just as you want it. Sewage sludge contains nutritional substances that you want to bring to agriculture but also it contains environmental and health-disrupting substances that exist in the society including heavy metals, pharmaceutical residues, pesticides and persistent organic substances. In addition, little is known about the cocktail effect. We received sludge from two sewage treatment plants and performed ecotoxicity tests which are a method that shows the total toxicity of a test. We saw the acute and chronic response of the organism Hetrocypris incongruens Ostracoda. The results showed a clear increase in the chronic response with more sludge added to the test.

1. Studies of aquatic environments have shown that community organisation may strongly affect ecosystem functioning. One common phenomenon is a change in nutrient level following a shift in the fish community composition. Although several hypotheses have been suggested, there is no consensus on which mechanisms are involved. Our study evaluated indirect effects of benthivorous fish on the biogeochemical processes at the sediment-water interface separately from direct effects caused by nutrient excretion or sediment resuspension.

2. We assigned field enclosures to three treatments representing typical pond communities; without fish, addition of approximately 10 small tench or addition of one large bream. After one summer, we monitored the water chemistry, benthic invertebrates and periphyton in the enclosures and sampled sediment cores for laboratory analysis of biochemical process rates (oxygen, phosphorus and nitrogen exchange between sediment and water, and denitrification rate).

3. Fish had strong negative effects on benthic invertebrates, but weaker effects on periphyton, organic content and porosity of the sediment. Moreover, there were significant positive fish effects on both phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations in the water. However, there were no general treatment effects on sediment processes that could explain the treatment effects on water chemistry in the enclosures.

4. Hence, overall treatment effects attenuated along the chain of interactions. We conclude that the observed effect of benthic fish on water chemistry was probably because of direct effects on nutrient excretion or resuspension of sediment. The similarity between bream and tench treatments suggests large niche complementarity despite their different habitat preferences.

The vertical positioning of benthic invertebrates should be a trade-off between the risky, but productive, sediment surface and the safer, but physiologically harsher, conditions deeper down in the sediment. This is because the foraging efficiency of benthic fish decreases with sediment depth, whereas the sediment surface is generally better oxygenated and has a higher resource quality than lower layers. We studied how two benthic fish predators, bream (Abramis brama) and ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus), affected the community composition and vertical distribution of benthos, and their indirect effects on algae and suspended material, in field enclosures. Whereas bream had significant effects on the density, composition and distribution of the benthos, ruffe had no such effects. The total benthos biomass in bream treatments was an-order of magnitude lower in the upper sediment layer (0-1 cm) and three times lower in the middle layer (1-3 cm) than in the controls, whereas there were no significant effects in the deepest layer (3-10 cm). Bivalves persisted in the deepest layer although their density was reduced in shallow sediment, whereas gastropods faced the risk of local extinction in the presence of bream. As indirect effects, small-bodied cladocerans, phytoplankton, periphyton and both organic and inorganic suspended material were higher in the bream treatments. We conclude that the impact of bream diminished substantially with increasing sediment depth, enabling invertebrates to survive in the sediment and to persist in the presence of bream. However, there were no indications of any group adjusting their vertical position behaviourally as a response to predation threat.

Between the years 2005 and 2015 cars and trucks have increased with 7, 7 percent inGothenburg. This will mean that in 2035 there will be 47 140 more vehicles. 70.000 of the550.000 people in Gothenburg is being exposed by a noise that is over the limit of 55 dBA. Vehicles incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons leads to a number of additional health problems. According to the Swedish transport department, closer to 3000 people dies prematurely in Sweden each year due to traffic air pollution.A measure to prevent and reduce the intense traffic involves emission requirements, congestion and traffic regulations. The city center of Gothenburg will on the first of October 2016 introduce a prohibition for heavy traffic around the area close to Domkyrkan between 11am - 05am a clock. The purpose of this study has been to investigate if a regulation of heavy traffic can be used as an instrument to contribute to a sustainable and environment adjusted city without affect the residents feeling of an attractive city center. On behalf of the municipal entity Traffic office Gothenburg City and the organization Innerstaden Göteborg a customer satisfaction index analysis (CSI) has been done. Performed in order to measure customer satisfaction before the regulation. The CSI model which is a result from this paper will be re-used after the regulation in order to identify the effects of the traffic regulation. CSI is a statistical method built upon indicators (questions) and latent variables (quality factors) related to a set of indicators. CSI is measured by the respondents answering questions through a 1-10 point scale where 1 is the lowest rating and 10 is the highest ratings. There are three standard questions which average rating creates the CSI value: How satisfied are you with the overall environment as it is today?

How well meets the environment your expectations?

How well relate this specific area with an ideal inner city environment?

Constructed wetlands, have been used to decrease nitrogen transport from agricultural catchments to the coast of Sweden, while simultaneously contributing to increased species richness in the landscape. The purpose of this paper is to compile and evaluate data that have been produced in Sweden during some 20 years of using constructed wetlands as an environmental tool. To evaluate effects of different stated objectives for constructed wetlands within different national support systems we focus on nitrogen removal and bird and amphibian species richness. Continuous automatic water sampling for nitrogen removal measurements, during 1.5 to 10 years, has been performed in 7 constructed wetlands located in agricultural catchments in southern Sweden. Nitrogen removal per wetland area varied between wetlands but the results imply that an annual removal of at least 1000. kg. N per ha wetland area can be achieved in individual wetlands. Data from the long-term monitoring of the 7 wetlands, together with nitrogen removal data in the literature, were used to model >150 randomly selected constructed wetlands. According to the modeling, the nitrogen removal per created wetland area varied markedly between different wetland creation programs and was generally considerably lower compared to what can be achieved in individual wetlands. Cost-efficiency of nitrogen removal in wetland creation programs can be increased considerably with improved planning and if other desired benefits (e.g. species richness) contribute to share the costs for wetland creation. The effects of constructed wetlands in Sweden on species number and populations of wetland birds and amphibians were large enough to positively affect the occurrence of species in the national red list, i.e. on a national population level. Species richness of wetland breeding birds in the constructed wetlands were relatively stable after 13 years, but different functional groups had very different succession pattern. The mean maximum breeding bird species number in the wetlands occurred after 3.8 years. Wetland birds and amphibians colonized constructed wetlands irrespective of the original objective of the wetland (nitrogen removal or biodiversity). However, some amphibian species showed preference for biodiversity wetlands. There were clear effects of wetland construction on the regional populations of non-wetland bird species. The maximum species number for a given wetland size was found to be higher than previously reported. The analyses show that wetland construction can be a cost effective method for decreasing transport of diffuse pollution from arable land, and that the wetlands are important for the species numbers and population sizes on all spatial scales. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Can it be assumed that a specific environmental constraint imposed on different species leads to a convergence in, for example, morphology? A phenotype expressed in response to external stimuli (e.g. size-reduction in response to mechanical stress) should be adaptive regardless of species – this is largely intuitive, but has been poorly studied. In this issue (pp. 651–660), Puijalon & Bornette reveal exciting new data that suggest that phenotypic plastic responses to identical environmental constraints may indeed be species-specific (Puijalon & Bornette, 2004).

The report compiles experiences with open stormwater treatment facilities at the City of Halmstad. In specific wetlands, research efforts are demonstrated that investigate retention effects of metals, nutrients and other substances.

På uppdrag av Naturvårdsverket och Jordbruksverket har Våtmarkscentrum, Högskolan i Halmstad, utvärderat svenska våtmarker anlagda med landsbygdsutvecklingsstöd, LBU-stöd (Miva, projektstöd och Lmiva utan projektstöd) respektive våtmarker anlagda inom lokala investeringsprogram (LIP) avseende näringsretention och biologisk mångfald. Resultaten från utvärderingen redovisas separat för de fyra olika grupperna/kategorierna av anlagda våtmarker enligt nedan (fetstil anger kategorihänvisning i text, tabeller och figurer):

• Våtmarker anlagda med anläggningsstöd inom Lokala investeringsprogram 1998 - 2002, LIP.

• Våtmarker anlagda med anläggningsstöd inom LBU-projektstöd (dessa våtmarker får vanligen även skötselstöd, Lmiva), 2000 - 2002.

• Våtmarker anlagda 1996-1999, utan anläggningsstöd men med skötselstöd (Miljöstöd), Miva.

• Våtmarker anlagda från år 2000 - , utan anläggningsstöd men med skötselstöd (LBU-våtmarker som endast får skötselersättning), Lmiva.

Syftet har främst varit att utvärdera och jämföra hur våtmarksanläggning inom olika stödformer har bidragit till minskad övergödning och ökad biologisk mångfald. Syftet har alltså inte varit att utvärdera enskilda våtmarker utan att ge en helhetsbild för olika stödformer och regioner. Därför har det varit nödvändigt att basera utvärderingen på data för ett stort antal våtmarker. Detta innebär att utförliga mätningar ej kunnat genomföras inom de enskilda objekten. Närsaltsretention har därför beräknats baserat på modeller och biologisk mångfald har undersökts genom att trollsländor använts som indikatorgrupp.

Inom uppdraget har, med jordbruksstöd, registrerats information om totalt 908 våtmarksobjekt om totalt 2860 ha ersatt yta fördelat på 1815 ha Miva, 920 ha projektstöd och 125 ha Lmiva utan projektstöd. Totalt registrerade våtmarker med stöd från LIP är 274 st, omfattande 439 ha.

Kompletterande fältstudier har utförts i drygt 100 st våtmarker. Främst är det resultaten från dessa våtmarker som sammanfattas nedan...

"Land that is or may be inappropriate, regarding the residents' health and safety or the risk of flooding, erosion and accidents is great, no settlement should be planned or built. An increased awareness in planning for a future climate change develops the city's adaptability, making it less vulnerable and allows it to become a more robust society" (Halmstads översiktsplan 2030).

Considering how the world and local society is developing, Halmstad will in the near future experience temperature rise, increased rainfall and rising sea levels. For a large coastal municipality like Halmstad, it is required that the municipality adapt to these challenges and take the necessary measures in good time. The consequences can be devastating if adaptation is not done for a changed future climate.

Halmstad has two areas in the city that require further analysis, these are Tullkammarkajen and Söder. Tullkammarkajen is a planned residential area, that will be built in 2020 and Söder is an area that is largely already built. Both areas are located directly next to Nissan, which floods when the water level rises above approximately +2.0 meter above sea level(masl). Today the city can count on extreme levels of +2.5 masl and the autumnstorm Gorm (2015) advised a water level of +2.37 masl. Forecasts from SMHI indicate that the sea level will increase one meter by 2100. At the same time the recurrence times for the water level of +2.5 masl will be reduced from about 50 years to only 2 years until year 2100.

The temperature in Sweden will increase during this century and Halmstads average temperature will increase from 6-8°C to 10-14°C. The number of hot days increases from 10-15 to 50-55 days per year and heat waves during the summer will be much longer, with droughts, shortage of water and in worst case deaths as a result.

The purpose of the report was to develop policy options for reducing the risk of floods and heat waves in Halmstad. The resources in the society are limited, therefore the most cost-effective adaptation is needed. The municipality currently has no knowledge of the most profitable options for reducing the impact of floods and heat waves, hence this report aims to investigate the matter.

Method has been a flood simulation, 14 interviews, a literature review and an economic assessment by a cost-benefit analysis.

Four different policy options, which reduce the risk of flooding and heatwaves, are listed in the report and investigate if the flood measures is economically profitable. They include increased vegetation,elevation, check valve, dykes, sluice gate and pumps.

The assessment compares the benefits from the actions with the cost in an economic assessment. The analysis shows that despite high investment costs, all proposals for action are economically viable with a time horizon of 100 years.