Unintentional Climate Policy: Swedish experiences of carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth 1950-2005

This paper examines the development of carbon dioxide emissions in Sweden, especiallyn with a focus on the absolute reductions during the post-war period, during the 1970s and 1980s. The paper shows that the largest reductions were achieved before the introduction of an active climate policy in 1991. This was in turn the result of significant improvements in energy efficiency and energy conversion, while structural changes were considerably less important. One reason behind this decoupling process may be that the active energy policy put pressure on households and industries to conserve energy and to substitute from oil to electricity and biofuels. The process was substantially reinforced by the development of world oil prices in combination with the development of domestic electricity prices, where nuclear power seems to have played an important role.Sweden; climate policy; economic growth; carbon dioxide reduction; carbon tax

К юбилею Владимира Михайловича Козина

ВРАЧИДЕРМАТОЛОГИЯ /КАДРЫУЧЕНЫЕЮБИЛЕИ И ДРУГИЕ ВАЖНЫЕ СОБЫТИЯ14 февраля 2017 года исполнилось 70 лет доктору медицинских наук, профессору, врачу-дерматовенерологу высшей категории Владимиру Михайловичу Козину

Automatically Generating Text-based Commands From Actions Performed Via GUI

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are inefficient and cumbersome for tasks that need to be performed repeatedly and/or on a large scale. In such situations, a user can benefit from automating sequences of actions in the form of text-based commands or scripts. Translating familiar GUI operations into equivalent text commands and/or API function calls often requires consulting documentation from a separate information source. Identifying the appropriate command and its task-specific parameters within such documentation is tedious and time-consuming. This disclosure describes functionality to assist users in converting actions performed via a GUI into corresponding text commands and/or API calls. With user permission, each user action within the GUI is translated to an equivalent command. The dynamically updated sequence of such commands can be presented in a separate section within the user interface

High-Temperature Corrosion in Waste-Fired Boilers: Insights into material selection for fluidized bed heat exchangers and the corrosivity of PbCl2

The replacement of fossil fuels with waste-derived fuels for heat and electricity production has gained significant momentum in the European Union (EU), especially in the wake of the implementation of stricter waste management directives and the pursuit of ambitious climate goals. Combustion of waste, however, leads to the formation of a complex and highly corrosive flue gas that cause severe corrosion on important boiler equipment. Consequently, corrosion has significant impact on the operational cost and electrical efficiency of the power plant. As an approach to improve boiler efficiency, modern designed circulating fluidized bed (CFB) waste-fired boilers conduct the final heating of the superheated steam within the loop seal region. However, there is limited published research on the performance of different alloy types in this region of the boiler, and the influence of corrosive and erosive events on the material degradation mechanisms remains relatively elusive. Furthermore, in the water wall region of waste-fired boilers, elevated concentrations of Pb-containing compounds such as PbCl2 have been identified and linked to the accelerated corrosion rate of the tube material. Nevertheless, there is a limited comprehension of the underlying corrosion mechanism in PbCl2-induced corrosion of low-alloyed steel, which is often used as tube material in this area of the boiler. The aim of this thesis is to address these aforementioned concerns through a combination of field exposures and laboratory studies. A field exposure study was conducted on a commercial CFB boiler to assess the performance of relevant alloy types for superheater application in the loop seal region of the boiler and to improve the understanding of the synergetic effect of corrosion and erosion attacks on the material degradation mechanism. The results from the study revealed that novel FeCrAl alloys exhibited comparable material loss to a conventional nickel-based alloy, positioning them as viable candidates for this application with the potential to reduce material costs. However, significant internal Al-nitridation was observed for this material, and further studies are required in order to understand its impact on the materials\u27 corrosive protective properties. Lastly, the results observed in this study underscore that corrosion rather than erosion is the principal driving force for the observed material losses, highlighting the importance of considering corrosion mitigation strategies when choosing suitable materials for this application.Additionally, a time-resolved laboratory study was carried out to investigate the corrosive nature of PbCl2(s) on low-alloyed steel at 400\ub0C in a humid environment. Based on the findings presented in this work, it was shown that the presence of PbCl2(s) significantly accelerated the corrosion rate of the steel substrate. The corrosion attack is argued to be driven by the extreme reactivity of PbCl2(s) in the studied environment which leads to a local release of HCl(g) and the introduction of metal chlorides to the metal/oxide interface that promotes severe delamination, void formation, and development of cracks within the oxide scale. The results suggests that Cl plays a pivotal role in both the initiating and propagating corrosion mechanisms of PbCl2-induced corrosion on low-alloyed steels, whereas the Pb compound in PbCl2 do not demonstrate any corrosion-accelerating properties

On the Relation between Air void system parameters and Salt frost scaling

An attempt to develop a tool based on analysis of the air void system in concrete for an early assessment of salt frost scaling resistance of concrete is presented. Relations between the air void system parameters and scaling are discussed. A new technique based on the accumulated surface area of all air voids is presented. This is a short description of the project. The full report is available from our division and also includes a) a study of the rate of water absorption at above-knick point level in capillary suction tests, b) a technique for improving the image analysis procedure with respect to edge objects and c) a comparison between different ways of analyzing the air void system

Emphatic Mute: Introducing a New Mute State for Use During a Video Conference

A technique is proposed for an emphatic mute feature for a participant within a video conference. The emphatic mute state can be a state a given user enables that is more emphatic than simply muting. The emphatic mute state can indicate that user is in agreement, that a user has finished providing communications, or that the user has made the decision not to speak for significant amount of time. A technique for activating the emphatic mute state can be presented to the user via a video conference UI. In some cases, an emphatic mute state activation feature such as a dedicated button can be used. In some cases, holding down, or long-pressing the original mute button can be used. In such a way, a user can activate the emphatic mute state, and other participants of the virtual meeting can be appropriately alerted

Adjusting Bandwidth in a Video Conference

A technique is proposed for optimizing the bandwidth usage of a video conferencing system. The video quality requested and received by a client device for specific video streams associated with a client device user-interface (UI) can be lowered based on user engagement, thereby lowering total bandwidth usage. An eye-tracking module can be used to identify the specific area of visual focus of a user. A ranking module can then generate rankings for every visual element (and any associated video streams) of the UI. Video quality adjustments can then be made based on such rankings. A quality adjustment could include lowering video resolution, lowering video frame rate, lowering compression quality, or any combination of such. Thus, overall bandwidth usage by a client device, and a corresponding conferencing platform, can be reduced

Frost Resistance of Building Materials : Proceedings of the 2nd Nordic Research Seminar in Lund 1996

Frost destruction of porous building materials is a big problem in the Scandinavian countries, and in many other countries inside and outside Europe, such as U.K., Germany, countries in eastem Europe, U.S.A., Canada, etc. Much research has been devoted to solving the frost destruction problem, especially conceming the destruction of concrete, but also conceming the destruction of clay brick, roofing tile, cellular concrete, natural stone, etc. Nordic researchers have made important contributions in the past; names such as Poul Nerenst in Denmark, Sven Gabriel Bergström and Birger Warris in Sweden, and Jukka Vuorinen in Finland can be mentioned. Previously, frost damage was in most cases of type internai damage occurring when the "stone" was frozen in a more than critically saturated condition. During the last decades, surface scaling of concrete is a growing problem in many countries. The reason is an increased use of deicing salts on roads and bridges. Maybe, surface scaling is a rising problem also for other mineral materials, such as natural stone and renderings. In this case, the reason might be that air pollution causes deposition of substances at the stone surface. Eventually, these interact with moisture and frost to cause surface scaling. The mechanisms behind internal frost damage is fairly weIl understood due to work done in the fourties, fifties and sixties, primarily in the U.S.A. by T.C Powers, R.A. Helmuth and others. The mechanisms behind surface salt scaling is however still largely unknown, But as can be seen in these proceedings, much work is now being done in order to clarify the salt scaling mechanism. A very important step has also been the development of salt scaling test methods, that can be used for a rationaI selection of durable concrete. The purpose of this Nordic research seminar was to get a general view of research going on in the Nordic countries on frost destruction. Naturally, most papers deal with concrete, but there are also some papers on other materials. Researchers from Finland, Denmark Norway and Sweden took part in the seminar. This seminar was the second in order. The first took part in 1993 with only a few participants. Hopefully, there will be a third seminar within a few years time summarizing all the frost research which is now going on in the Nordic countries, or that will start in the near future

Sediments characteristics in relation to nutrient distribution in littoral and pelagic waters of Lake Kariba

An ecological scientific study on the aquatic life of Lake Kariba on the Zimbabwe/Zambia boarder-line.Littoral areas are of great importance in the dynamics of most lakes. In artificial lakes, like in Lake Kariba. water flows which follow the annual flooding of vast and inundated lowland areas combined with extensive water level fluctuations are bound to exert a strong impact on the lake ecosystem development in time and space. Besides, long-term natural droughts superimpose the impact from annual and man-controlled water level changes. Transport of silt and organic material to the lake during the flooding periods and heavy rains after the exposure of draw-down zones during low water periods impose strong pressures on mechanisms and processes to regulate and stabilize the lake system. Interactions between soil/silt and the water phase will thus have a profound impact on the control of water quality, and changes in its mineral content and physical-chemical properties