Energy management in Swedish pulp and paper industry - the daily grind that matters

The Swedish pulp and paper industry (PPI) accounts for almost 50 percent of industrial final energy use. It is an energy-intensive industry and process optimization is seen as prerequisite to compete on the global market. This alone should motivate company boards and on-site organisations to put energy management high on the agenda. Definitely, from time to time, energy issues (e.g. fuel shifts, selling of generation capacity, and more lately increasing auto-produced electricity) have been managed with respect to combined effects of policies and market forces. Yet, it was first after 2004 that the industry implemented energy management systems (EnMS), with particular focus on energy efficiency, and received certification according to the Swedish and later the European standard. This was required by the Programme for improving energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries (PFE), a five-year voluntary agreement in which some 100 companies reported gross annual electricity savings of 1.45 TWh, equal to 5 percent of base year consumption. This result highlights the potential role of an EnMS in raising awareness and facilitating investments. In this paper we analyse the case of the Swedish PPI; its relation to energy issues in previous periods and the formalised EnMS practices of recent years. We pose the questions: How are standardised EnMS structured and put into practice? What are the measurable effects and other discernible outcomes? The results are based on in-depth interviews with energy management coordinators at eight pulp and paper mills. The experiences with EnMS are found to be predominantly positive. EnMS has changed organisational structures and created greater focus on energy efficiency, which has resulted in quantified energy savings. Considering that EnMS implementation and certification is at a pioneering stage and that the international ISO 50001 standard is currently being developed, these are important results for the future of EnMS in industry

Heavy vehicle traffic is related to wheeze among schoolchildren: a population-based study in an area with low traffic flows

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An association between traffic air pollution and respiratory symptoms among children has been reported. However, the effects of traffic air pollution on asthma and wheeze have been very sparsely studied in areas with low traffic intensity in cold climate with poor dispersion. We evaluated the impact of vehicle traffic on childhood asthma and wheeze by objective exposure assessment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>As a part of the Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) studies, a questionnaire was sent to the families of all children attending first or second grade in Luleå (72,000 inhabitants) in Northern Sweden in 2006. The age of the children was 7-8 years and the participation rate was 98% (n = 1357). Skin prick tests were performed in 1224 (89%) children. The home addresses were given geographical coordinates and traffic counts were obtained from the local traffic authorities. A proximity model of average daily traffic and average daily heavy vehicle traffic within 200 meters from each participant's home address was used. The associations between traffic exposure and asthma and wheeze, respectively, were analysed in an adjusted multiple logistic regression model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Exposure to high traffic flows was uncommon in the study area; only 15% of the children lived within 200 meters from a road with a traffic flow of ≥8000 vehicles per day. Living closer than 200 meters from a road with ≥500 heavy vehicles daily was associated with current wheeze, odds ratio 1.7 (confidence interval 1.0-2.7). A dose-response relation was indicated. An increased risk of asthma was also seen, however not significant, odds ratio 1.5 (confidence interval 0.8-2.9). Stratified analyses revealed that the effect of traffic exposure was restricted to the non-sensitized phenotype of asthma and wheeze. The agreement between self-reported traffic exposure and objective measurements of exposure was moderate.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study showed that already at low levels of exposure, vehicle traffic is related to an increased risk of wheeze among children. Thus, the global burden of traffic air pollution may be underestimated.</p

Расчет количества отключений потребителя АПК при наличии пунктов автоматического секционирования

Utveckling av metoder att förutsäga och följa upp trafiklösningars betydelse för luftföroreningsexponering och hälsoriske

Датчики интегральной поглощенной дозы ионизирующего излучения на основе МОП-транзисторов

Определены требования к конструкции технологии изготовления р- и n-канальных МОП-транзисторов с толстым слоем оксида, предназначенных для применения в качестве интегральных дозиметров поглощенной дозы ионизирующего излучения.Визначено вимоги до конструкції та технології виготов лення р-канальних та n-канальних МОП-транзисторів із тоѕстим шаром оксиду, призначених для вжитку як інтегральні дозиметри поглинутої дози іонізуючого випромінення. Розроблено технологію створення радіаційно-чутливих МОП-транзисторів з товстим шаром оксиду в р-канальному и в n-канальному вариантах.The requirements to technology and design of p-channel and n-channel MOS transistors with a thick oxide layer designed for use in the capacity of integral dosimeters of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation are defined. The technology of radiation-sensitive MOS transistors with a thick oxide in the p-channel and n-channel version is created

Perceived annoyance and asthmatic symptoms in relation to vehicle exhaust levels outside home: a cross-sectional study

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background: Exhaust emissions from vehicles is a well known problem with both epidemiological and experimental studies showing increasing adverse health effects with elevating levels. Many of the studies concerning vehicle exhausts and health are focused on health outcomes where the proportion attributed to exhaust is low, while there is less information on early and more frequent subjective indicators of adverse effects. Methods: The primary aim of this study was to study perceived annoyance in relation to vehicle exhaust concentrations using modelled levels of nitrogen dioxide outside the home as an indicator with high spatial resolution. Almost 2800 persons in a random sample from three Swedish cities (Umea, Uppsala and Gothenburg) responded to our questionnaire. Questions were asked to determine the degree of annoyance related to vehicle exhausts and also the prevalence of irritating and asthmatic symptoms. Exposure was described for each participants home address by meteorological dispersion models with a 50 meter resolution. Results: We found a significant increase of peoples &apos; self-assessed annoyance with rising levels of NO2. The odds of being very annoyed by vehicle exhausts increased by 14 % per 1 µg/m3 increas

Gastroesophageal reflux and snoring are related to asthma and respiratory symptoms : Results from a Nordic longitudinal population survey

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The AuthorsAim: To study if individuals with nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux (nGER) and habitual snoring are more likely to develop asthma and respiratory symptoms (i.e. wheeze, cough, chest tightness, breathlessness) than those without these conditions, and if these associations are additive. Methods: We used data from the population-based prospective questionnaire study Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) (11,024 participants), with data from 1999 and 2011. Participants with heartburn or belching after going to bed, at least 1 night/week, were considered to have nGER. Participants reporting loud snoring at least 3 nights/week were considered to have habitual snoring. Participants were grouped into four groups by their nGER and snoring status: “never”; “former”; “incident”; “persistent”. Incident respiratory symptoms were analyzed among participants without respective symptom at baseline. Results: Snoring and nGER were independently associated with incident asthma and respiratory symptoms. The risk of incident wheeze was increased in subjects with incident or persistent snoring (adjusted odds ratio (95 % CI): 1.44 (1.21–1.72)), nGER (2.18 (1.60–2.98)) and in those with both snoring and nGER (2.59 (1.83–3.65)). The risk of developing asthma was increased in subjects with incident or persistent snoring (1.44 (1.15–1.82)), nGER (1.99 (1.35–2.93)) and in those with both snoring and nGER (1.72 (1.06–2.77)). No significant interaction was found between snoring and nGER. A similar pattern was found for the incidence of all other respiratory symptoms studied, with the highest risk among those with both incident or persistent nGER and snoring. Conclusion: The risk of developing asthma and respiratory symptoms is increased among subjects with nGER and habitual snoring. These associations are independent of each other and confounding factors. Snoring and nGER together are additive on respiratory symptoms.Peer reviewe

Long-term exposure to low-level air pollution and greenness and mortality in Northern Europe. The Life-GAP project

Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.Background: Air pollution has been linked to mortality, but there are few studies examining the association with different exposure time windows spanning across several decades. The evidence for the effects of green space and mortality is contradictory. Objective: We investigated all-cause mortality in relation to exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and greenness (normalized difference vegetation index - NDVI) across different exposure time windows. Methods: The exposure assessment was based on a combination of the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model and the Urban Background Model for the years 1990, 2000 and 2010. The analysis included a complete case dataset with 9,135 participants from the third Respiratory Health in Northern Europe study (RHINE III), aged 40–65 years in 2010, with mortality follow-up to 2021. We performed Cox proportional hazard models, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Altogether, 327 (3.6 %) persons died in the period 2010–2021. Increased exposures in 1990 of PM2.5, PM10, BC and NO2 were associated with increased all-cause mortality hazard ratios of 1.40 (95 % CI1.04–1.87 per 5 μg/m3), 1.33 (95 % CI: 1.02–1.74 per 10 μg/m3), 1.16 (95 % CI: 0.98–1.38 per 0.4 μg/m3) and 1.17 (95 % CI: 0.92–1.50 per 10 μg/m3), respectively. No statistically significant associations were observed between air pollution and mortality in other time windows. O3 showed an inverse association with mortality, while no association was observed between greenness and mortality. Adjusting for NDVI increased the hazard ratios for PM2.5, PM10, BC and NO2 exposures in 1990. We did not find significant interactions between greenness and air pollution metrics. Conclusion: Long term exposure to even low levels of air pollution is associated with mortality. Opening up for a long latency period, our findings indicate that air pollution exposures over time may be even more harmful than anticipated.Peer reviewe

Indoor Airborne Microbiome and Endotoxin: Meteorological Events and Occupant Characteristics Are Important Determinants

Airborne bacteria and endotoxin may affect asthma and allergies. However, there is limited understanding of the environmental determinants that influence them. This study investigated the airborne microbiomes in the homes of 1038 participants from five cities in Northern Europe: Aarhus, Bergen, Reykjavik, Tartu, and Uppsala. Airborne dust particles were sampled with electrostatic dust fall collectors (EDCs) from the participants' bedrooms. The dust washed from the EDCs' clothes was used to extract DNA and endotoxin. The DNA extracts were used for quantitative polymerase chain (qPCR) measurement and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, while endotoxin was measured using the kinetic chromogenic limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. The results showed that households in Tartu and Aarhus had a higher bacterial load and diversity than those in Bergen and Reykjavik, possibly due to elevated concentrations of outdoor bacterial taxa associated with low precipitation and high wind speeds. Bergen-Tartu had the highest difference (ANOSIM R = 0.203) in β diversity. Multivariate regression models showed that α diversity indices and bacterial and endotoxin loads were positively associated with the occupants' age, number of occupants, cleaning frequency, presence of dogs, and age of the house. Further studies are needed to understand how meteorological factors influence the indoor bacterial community in light of climate change

Air pollution and lung cancer incidence in 17 European cohorts: prospective analyses from the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE)

n/