On Making Judges Do the Right Thing

Denna rapport beskriver arbetet med att sammanställa ångförbrukande processer på Norrmejeriers Mejeri i Umeå som skulle kunna konverteras till fjärrvärmedrift. En del arbete har också lagts ner på att hitta förbättringsförslag på mejeriets ångsystem och beräkna nödvändig maxeffekt på en ny biobränsleeldad panna som är planerad att driftsättas före slutet på 2017. Processdata, som till stor del uppmätts av Sweco Systems för en energikartläggning av mejeriet, har använts till att undersöka 23 olika processer med en årlig energianvändning på ca 22 000 MWh. 11 av dessa processer har så låga temperaturkrav att fjärrvärme skulle kunna driva dessa året om, de anses därför vara mer lämpade för fjärrvärmedrift än de övriga. Dessa 11 processer har ett sammanlagt årligt energibehov på ca 15 000 MWh och hit hör bland annat uppvärmning av vatten till processer och tapp, värme till mejeriets ventilationssystem och förvärmning av nytt pannvatten. Resterande processer anses olämpliga att driva med fjärrvärme då kostnaden för att göra detta troligen blir högre än i dagsläget och en del av dessa processer enbart kan drivas med fjärrvärme en begränsad del av året. Till dessa processer hör värmning av mjölk och grädde vid några av mejeriets pastörer och återuppvärmning av diskvatten. I arbetet presenteras 3 olika förslag på hur fjärrvärmen kan kopplas in till undersökta processer. De två första förslagen ger framtida visioner om hur alla 23 undersöka processer kan konverteras till fjärrvärme. Det tredje förslaget visar däremot hur en fjärrvärmeanslutning kan se ut inom en snar framtid och i detta förslag ansluts endast de 11 mest lämpade processerna till fjärrvärmen. Det tredje förslaget användes till att göra en ekonomisk jämförelse mellan att värma processerna med ånga eller fjärrvärme. Det enda som jämfördes i beräkningarna var kostnaden för uppvärmning av processerna och ingen hänsyn togs till installationskostnader av fjärrvärmen eller den nya pannan. Beräkningarna visade att störst ekonomisk vinst kunde göras genom att använda sig av fjärrvärme för basbehovet och sedan toppa på detta med ånga när värmeförbrukningen var hög. Med ångproduktion i de befintliga pannorna skulle Norrmejerier kunna spara 1,8 miljoner kr/år med denna lösning. När den nya biobränslepannan installeras så sjunker däremot den möjliga besparingen till någonstans mellan 420 000- 860 000 kr/år. Förutom de besparingar som skulle kunna göras med en fjärrvärmeinstallation har flera förlustfaktorer identifierats i gångsystemet. Bland annat förloras ca 9 000 MWh årligen som flashånga eller genom att kondensat inte återförs till pannorna. Förbättringsförslag för att minska förlorade energimängder och effektivisera andra processer tas därför upp. Med nuvarande kostnadsbild på fjärrvärmen anses investeringskostnaden för denna inte väga upp den möjliga årliga besparingen efter att biobränslepannan konstruerats. Fjärrvärmen ses däremot som ett bättre miljömässigt alternativ och genom att installera fjärrvärme skulle maxeffekten på den nya biobränslepannan kunna minskas. Hur maxeffekten på den nya pannan bör dimensioneras vid en möjlig fjärrvärmeinkoppling och vid olika effektiviseringsförslag diskuteras därför också.This report describes the work of compiling steam consuming processes that could be converted to district heating in the dairy plant Norrmejerier in Umeå. Some work has also been put into finding possible improvement for the dairy's steam system and calculating the necessary maximum output of a new biofuel boiler that is to be built before the end of 2017.   Process data, which has been gathered by Sweco systems for an energy audit of the dairy, has been used to further investigate 23 different processes with an annual energy consumption of approximately 22 000 MWh. 11 of these processes have such low temperature requirements that district heating could be utilized to power them throughout the whole year. These 11 processes are those considered most suitable for a district heating installation and they have an annual energy consumption of about 15 000 MWh. The processes include heat to process- and tap-water, preheating new boiler water and heat to the dairy’s ventilation. The remaining processes are considered less suitable for a district heating installation since the cost of using district heating to power these probably would be more expensive than using self-produced steam. Some of these processes also have such high temperatures that district heating only could power them for a short period of the year. These processes include heating of milk and cream at some of the dairy's pasteurs and reheating dish water in the dairy’s dish system. Three different proposals for connecting the dairy to the district heating network have been suggested. Two of these proposals provide a futuristic vision for how Norrmejerier could connect district heating in the future to access all 23 investigated processes. The last proposal shows how a district heating installation could be utilized in the near future and in this suggestion only the 11 most suitable processes are connected.   The basic data from the last connection suggestion was used to make a financial comparison between district heating and self-generated steam for heating. The only thing compared in the calculations are the energy costs for heating and no consideration was taken to the installation costs of district heating or the new boiler. The calculations showed that the largest economical gain could be achieved by using district heating for the base load and then adding self-produced steam for peak loads. With steam productions in the current boilers Norrmejerier could save 1.8 million SEK annually with this solution. However, with the installation of a new biofuel boiler the possible savings drops to somewhere between 420 000 to 860 000 SEK/year. In addition to the savings that could be made with a district heating installation, several loss factors have been identified in the steam system. Among other things, about 9,000 MWh are annually lost as flash steam or condensate that disappears from the system. Suggestions to reduce losses in the system and improving energy use in different processes are therefore presented.   The possible savings that can be achived by installing district heating are not considered to be worth the big investment cost once the new steam boiler is installed. District heating is however seen as a better environmental option and by installing district heating the new boiler would be able to be constructed with a smaller maximum output, which would lower the installation costs. How suggested improvements to the steam system and a possible district heating installation would affect the new boiler is therefor also discussed

“Just do it” – making and measuring social impact

This lecture examines the pressure on philanthropic organisations to provide quantifiable short-term impact measurements.It is often said of private donors and non-profit actors that social impact is not something they set out to measure –– it’s something they set out to make. Along the way to making a difference, social investors often face questions about the alignment between their activities, missions and strategies, about the progress of the work that is funded through investments and grants, about possible course adjustments, and perhaps taking advantage of emergent opportunities. And of course all need to report to stakeholders and the public. So they inevitably end up monitoring, measuring, and evaluating programs and projects simply to generate the impact they want to make. For private donors and non-profit actors, measuring impact is not an end in itself. That said, when tailored to a purpose and demonstrably benefitting the communities we seek to serve, monitoring and evaluation and learning can play a crucially important part in effective philanthropy and social investment.There are many good reasons for measuring and evaluating social outcomes and impact, each calling for a distinctive approach and possibly for different measurement tools. In a start-up social enterprise, for example, the chief aim could be to develop a viable business plan ensuring the growth and survival of the enterprise by monitoring costs, income, benefits, and outcomes. For a large mature organization, a robust impact measurement system could provide a helpful management tool for aligning activities with mission and strategy, and guiding internal resource allocations to the best intermediate users. For other organizations, it could serve chiefly as a learning tool, helping to improve practice by adjusting methods and activities to take full account of the lessons coming out of measurement. For others again, it could help to flesh out communications strategies by identifying the success stories that boards and the public appreciate.The least good reason for measuring social impact is to meet the expectations of donors and funding agencies. And yet, in Australia, the strongest incentive for measuring social impact among service organizations today appears to be a perceived need to meet increasingly shrill demands from funding agencies and donors for quantifiable impact measurements as a condition of further funding. To complicate matters, in fields of community engagement where cooperation among service providers is a precondition for enduring social impact, funders’ demands for impact measurement stimulate competition among providers to beggar their neighbours.Non-profit service providers are under pressure to demonstrate their impact from several quarters including public pressure for greater accountability, government fiscal pressures to “squeeze more out of existing dollars,” and new pressures from the new social finance market to show social returns on investments

Making monetary policy: what do we know and when do we know it?

President Anthony Santomero points out that conducting a successful monetary policy presents real-world challenges, such as evaluating where the economy is, where it is going, and where it should be going. But how do monetary policymakers make decisions about the economy in a world with imperfect information? Santomero discusses how policymaking is affected by both the availability and reliability of economic information. He concludes that given the information constraints policymakers face, the challenges of setting monetary policy will not go away, so we must find a way to meet themMonetary policy

Liable, but Not in Control? Ensuring Meaningful Human Agency in Automated Decision-Making Systems

Automated decision making is becoming the norm across large parts of society, which raises interesting liability challenges when human control over technical systems becomes increasingly limited. This article defines "quasi-automation" as inclusion of humans as a basic rubber-stamping mechanism in an otherwise completely automated decision-making system. Three cases of quasi- automation are examined, where human agency in decision making is currently debatable: self- driving cars, border searches based on passenger name records, and content moderation on social media. While there are specific regulatory mechanisms for purely automated decision making, these regulatory mechanisms do not apply if human beings are (rubber-stamping) automated decisions. More broadly, most regulatory mechanisms follow a pattern of binary liability in attempting to regulate human or machine agency, rather than looking to regulate both. This results in regulatory gray areas where the regulatory mechanisms do not apply, harming human rights by preventing meaningful liability for socio-technical decision making. The article concludes by proposing criteria to ensure meaningful agency when humans are included in automated decision-making systems, and relates this to the ongoing debate on enabling human rights in Internet infrastructure

Making each and every African fisher count: women do fish

Role of women, Fisheries, Africa, east, Africa, west,

Supporting decision making process with "Ideal" software agents: what do business executives want?

According to Simon’s (1977) decision making theory, intelligence is the first and most important phase in the decision making process. With the escalation of information resources available to business executives, it is becoming imperative to explore the potential and challenges of using agent-based systems to support the intelligence phase of decision-making. This research examines UK executives’ perceptions of using agent-based support systems and the criteria for design and development of their “ideal” intelligent software agents. The study adopted an inductive approach using focus groups to generate a preliminary set of design criteria of “ideal” agents. It then followed a deductive approach using semi-structured interviews to validate and enhance the criteria. This qualitative research has generated unique insights into executives’ perceptions of the design and use of agent-based support systems. The systematic content analysis of qualitative data led to the proposal and validation of design criteria at three levels. The findings revealed the most desirable criteria for agent based support systems from the end users’ point view. The design criteria can be used not only to guide intelligent agent system design but also system evaluation

What Choices Do Democracies Have in Globalizing Economies? Technochratic Policy Making and Democratization

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.UNRISD_DemocraciesGlobalizingEconomies.pdf: 39 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020