Environmental impact related to electricity production:comparision of Finland and Sweden

Abstract. Environmental issues have been on the topic lately. Particular attention is paid to emissions which cause global warming. Electricity production causes significant amount of emissions. Therefore, switching to cleaner production is environmentally beneficial. None of the methods are fully clean but emissions are low in some production modes. These include such methods as electricity produced by the sun and wind, as well as nuclear energy. Fossil fuel resources are in short supply. For that reason, it is important to produce electricity from such renewable sources as wind-, solar- and bioenergy plants. Electricity production and consumption occur simultaneously. For that reason, electricity production should match with consumption. Some of the electricity production methods depends on the weather and its sometimes unavailable. Electricity production and consumption is balanced by reserve power plants, like hydro power and imported electricity. Therefore, the electricity coming from the outlet is mixed electricity which contains electricity produced by different methods. In such the Nordic countries as Finland and Sweden, winter is cold and long which cause its own challenges to power generation. This bachelor’s thesis compares the differences of Finnish and Swedish electricity production and clarifies which electricity mix is cleaner. In addition, the network and markets in the Nordic countries will be introduced. Bachelor’s thesis also explains shortly different electricity production methods and emissions caused by them. Geographically Finland and Sweden are very identical, however, there are many differences in their power generation. Finland utilize a plenty amount of imported electricity. A large part of imported electricity comes from Sweden, because Sweden generates electricity beyond its needs. Sweden produces more electricity from renewable energy than Finland. Also, emissions from power generation in Sweden are lower than in Finland. Future plans with electricity production are different since Sweden is eliminating the use of nuclear energy, but Finland is increasing it. Both countries aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Sähköntuotantoon liittyvät ympäristövaikutukset : vertailu Suomen ja Ruotsin välillä. Tiivistelmä. Ilmastoasiat ovat olleet viime aikoina paljon esillä. Etenkin päästöihin pyritään kiinnittämään huomiota entistä enemmän, koska ne vaikuttavat ilmastonmuutokseen. Sähköntuotanto aiheuttaa paljon päästöjä, joten ympäristön kannalta olisi hyvä siirtyä puhtaisiin tuotantomenetelmiin. Mikään menetelmä ei kuitenkaan ole täysin päästötön, mutta päästöt ovat vähäisiä osassa tuotantomuodoista. Näitä ovat esimerkiksi tuulen ja auringon kautta tuotettu sähkö, sekä ydinenergia. Fossiiliset luonnonvarat loppuvat myös ajallaan, joten sähköntuotannon olisi hyvä olla mahdollisimman uusiutuvaa, kuten esimerkiksi tuuli-, aurinko- ja bioenergialla tuotettu sähkö. Sähköä tuotetaan samaan aikaan kuin sitä käytetään. Tämän takia sähköntuotannon on vastattava sen hetkistä kulutusta. Osa sähköntuotannon menetelmistä riippuu paljolti säästä, eikä siksi ole aina saatavilla. Sähköntuotantoa ja -kulutusta pidetään tasapainossa säätövoiman avulla, näitä ovat esimerkiksi vesivoima ja tuontisähkö. Niillä voidaan reagoida nopeasti muuttuvaan sähköntarpeeseen. Pistorasiasta tuleva sähkö on siis sekasähköä, joka sisältää eri menetelmin tuotettua sähköä. Pohjoismaissa, kuten Suomessa ja Ruotsissa, talvi ovat pitkä ja kylmä, joten sähköntuotannossa on omat haasteensa. Tässä kandidaatin työssä vertaillaan Suomen ja Ruotsin välisiä eroja sähköntuotannossa, sekä selvitetään, kumman sähkö on puhtaampaa. Lisäksi tutustutaan sähköverkkoihin ja -markkinoihin pohjoismaissa. Kandidaatin työ käsittelee myös lyhyesti erilaisia sähköntuotanto menetelmiä, sekä niiden aiheuttamia päästöjä. Maantieteellisesti Suomi ja Ruotsi ovat hyvin samanlaisia, mutta sähköntuotannossa on paljon eroja. Suomessa käytetään paljon tuontisähköä. Tuontisähköstä iso osa tulee Ruotsista, koska Ruotsi tuottaa sähköä yli tarpeidensa. Ruotsissa tuotetaan sähköä enemmän uusiutuvasta energiasta kuin suomessa. Lisäksi, Ruotsin sähköntuotannon päästöt ovat alhaisempia kuin Suomen. Tulevaisuuden Ruotsi on irrottautumasta ydinenergian käytöstä, mutta suomessa sitä ollaan lisäämässä. Molemmat maat pyrkivät vähentämään kasvihuonekaasuja

An Enhanced Performance Analysis of Software Using Architectural Feedback

The importance of software products and their quality attributes attainment has been a thing of concern in recent time to both academia and industry experts. This research work evaluated an enhanced performance analysis of software using architectural feedback. Data collected were, classified and analysed using SPSS reveal that the Relative Importance Index (RII) in relations to an enhance performance analysis of software using the architectural feedback was 0.83 which led to the proposal of a framework for an enhanced performance analysis of software using architectural feedback

De les màquines tèrmiques a les piles de combustible. Reptes actuals i futurs de la conversió d'energia

Les societats avançades necessiten cada vegada més energia d’alta qualitat per mantenir i augmentar el seu nivell de vida. Les màquines tèrmiques i la seva capacitat de convertir energia fòssil en energia més útil, com és, per exemple, l’electricitat, continuen sent unes valuoses eines, sense les quals difícilment s’haurien assolit ni es podrien mantenir les quotes de benestar actuals. A causa dels efectes mediambientals provocats, del baix rendiment de conversió i de la dependència que es té del petroli, hi ha la consciència cada vegada més estesa que s’ha arribat a una situació insostenible que obliga a buscar altres alternatives i altres maneres de fer. En aquest treball s’explica quin paper poden tenir les piles de combustible com a alternativa a les màquines tèrmiques i com el binomi hidrogen-piles de combustible, pot contribuir a assolir els objectius d’unes estratègies que passen per l’estalvi d’energia, la millora del rendiment de conversió, la diversifi cació dels recursos i utilitzar, tant com es pugui, les anomenades fonts d’energia renovables

Diatomees centriques de la lagune de Fresco Cote d’Ivoire

Un inventaire taxinomique des Diatomées centriques de la Lagune de Fresco a été réalisé de Mars 2007 à Décembre 2008, dans le but de contribuer à la connaissance de la microflore diatomique de Côte d’Ivoire. Des prélèvements ont été effectués dans 5 stations à l’aide d’un filet à plancton. Au total 40 taxons répartis en 20 genres, 12 familles, 9 ordres et 1 classe ont été identifiés avec une prédominance des taxons du genre Chaetoceros (10 taxons). La majorité des taxons (36) sont d’origine marine. Huit nouveaux taxons sont signalés pour la première fois en Côte d’Ivoire. Il s’agit des espèces Coscinodiscus marginatus, Triceratium pentacrinus, Biddulphia alternans, Terpsinoe intermedia, Chaetoceros diversus, C. pseudocrinutus, C. similis et C. subtilis.Mots clés : Diatomées centriques, Microalgue, Lagune de Fresco, Côte d’Ivoir

ALPs, the on-shell way

We study how the coupling between axion-like particles (ALPs) and matter can be obtained at the level of on-shell scattering amplitudes. We identify three conditions that allow us to compute amplitudes that correspond to shift-symmetric Lagrangians, at the level of operators with dimension 5 or higher, and we discuss how they relate and extend the Adler’s zero condition. These conditions are necessary to reduce the number of coefficients consistent with the little-group scaling to the one expected from the Lagrangian approach. We also show how our formalism easily explains that the dimension-5 interaction involving one ALP and two massless spin-1 bosons receive corrections from higher order operators only when the ALP has a non-vanishing mass. As a direct application of our results, we perform a phenomenological study of the inelastic scattering l+l− → φh (with l± two charged leptons, φ the ALP and h the Higgs boson) for which, as a result of the structure of the 3-point and 4-point amplitudes, dimension-7 operators can dominate over the dimension-5 ones well before the energy reaches the cutoff of the theory

ALPs, the on-shell way

We study how the coupling between axion-like particles (ALPs) and matter can be obtained at the level of on-shell scattering amplitudes. We identify three conditions that allow us to compute amplitudes that correspond to shift-symmetric Lagrangians, at the level of operators with dimension 5 or higher, and we discuss how they relate and extend the Adler's zero condition. These conditions are necessary to reduce the number of coefficients consistent with the little-group scaling to the one expected from the Lagrangian approach. We also show how our formalism easily explains that the dimension-5 interaction involving one ALP and two massless spin-1 bosons receive corrections from higher order operators only when the ALP has a non-vanishing mass. As a direct application of our results, we perform a phenomenological study of the inelastic scattering $\ell^+\ell^- \to \phi h$ (with $\ell^\pm$ two charged leptons, $\phi$ the ALP and $h$ the Higgs boson) for which, as a result of the structure of the 3-point and 4-point amplitudes, dimension-7 operators can dominate over the dimension-5 ones well before the energy reaches the cutoff of the theory.Comment: 32 pages + appendice

(In)Visible signatures of the minimal dark abelian gauge sector

In this paper we study the present and future sensitivities of the rare meson decay facilities KOTO, LHCb and Belle II to a light dark sector of the minimal dark abelian gauge symmetry where a dark Higgs $S$ and a dark photon $Z_D$ have masses $\lesssim 10$ GeV. We have explored the interesting scenario where $S$ can only decay to a pair of $Z_D$'s and so contribute to visible or invisible signatures, depending on the life-time of the latter. Our computations show that these accelerator experiments can access the dark Higgs (mass and scalar mixing) and the dark photon (mass and kinetic mixing) parameters in a complementary way. We have also discussed how the CMS measurement of the SM Higgs total decay width and their limit on the Higgs invisible branching ratio can be used to extend the experimental reach to dark photon masses up to $\sim 10$ GeV, providing at the same time sensitivity to the gauge coupling associated with the broken dark abelian symmetry.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figure

On-shell approach to neutrino oscillations

In the usual quantum field theoretical approach, neutrino oscillations are studied diagonalizing either the mass or matter Hamiltonians. In this paper we analyze the problem from an on-shell amplitude perspective, where Lagrangians or Hamiltonians are not available. We start by studying in detail how flavor enters in the amplitudes and how the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) matrix emerges. We then analyze the elastic amplitude of two neutrinos and two charged leptons that induce matter effects and propose a strategy to obtain the known results of the standard oscillation theory without Hamiltonians. Finally, we extend the previously proposed procedure and use the most general elastic 4-point amplitude to study beyond the Standard Model effects on oscillations

Latent profile analysis as a method for process evaluations : Discovering response subgroups in a mindfulness intervention

Rationale. Clustering techniques have been used within intervention studies to locate any distinct subgroups among intervention participants. One way in which they have not yet been utilized, but for which there is potential benefit, is in finding different motivational and behavioral response types to a newly introduced behavior. Objective This study aimed to use latent profile analyses (the same as latent class analyses except with continuous indicator variables) to identify 1) types, or classes, in terms of social cognitive responses to a mindfulness intervention, using The Reasoned Action Approach constructs, and 2) longitudinal/change trajectory classes of the target behavior (i.e., mindfulness practice). Methods The data derived from a school-based mindfulness intervention (N = 1646) among 12-15 year-olds, conducted in southern Finland from 2014 to 2016. We explored associations between the identified classes and with gender, linguocultural group, and mental health and practice outcomes. Results Analyses indicated a solution of five latent classes for both social cognition post-intervention—Uncertain but Positive (40.2%), Acceptable but No (18.8%), Indifferent (16.8), Inclined (15.5%), Disinclined (8.6%)—and practice trajectories—Stable Low (52.1%), Decreased from Seldom (25.8%), Decreased from Sometimes (10.7%), Increased from Zero (6.8%), Increased from Seldom (4.6%). The strongest differentiating theoretical construct among the social cognitive classes was a descriptive norm. The classes were characterized by some associations between each other (e.g., “Acceptable but No” and “Stable Low”) and with linguocultural groups (e.g., “Inclined” and small language minorities) and mental health (e.g., “Disinclined” and externalization and depressive symptoms), but no specific associations were found by gender. Conclusions This study shows how more person-centered analyses can be utilized in process evaluations, which predominantly only make use of variable-centered analyses. This knowledge could suggest ways to tailor universal interventions for subgroups with different receipt profiles and thereby improve intervention acceptability and engagement.Peer reviewe