Voluntary carbon credits as an incentive to capture and store biogenic emissions at waste incineration plants : a profitability assessment of future investment in carbon capture and storage at waste incineration plants, based on a separate market analysis of the voluntary carbon market post-2030

To reach the goal of The Paris Agreement the transition to renewable energy and energy efficiency will be necessary, but insufficient to achieve the goal of 1,5 Degree Celsius. According to the UN’s Climate Panel and IEA, we will have to make greater use of removal projects and create negative emissions. The potential in the waste industry is great both for cutting emissions and creating negative emissions. Captured biogenic CO2 creates negative emissions and about 50 percent of the emissions from waste incineration plants are biogenic. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) requires significant investments and is currently unprofitable in the waste industry. However, captured biogenic CO2 qualifies for the sale of carbon credits on the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). The VCM is an immature and small market. As the situation is today, it is difficult for companies to know whether the sale of such credits can make an investment in carbon capture and storage profitable or not. This thesis addresses the challenging of high costs and lack of incentives related to CCS at waste incinerations plants. I examine whether the sale of voluntary carbon credits can be a good enough incentive to make CCS of biogenic emissions profitable for waste incineration plants by 2030. The main findings in the market analysis indicate that the VCM will grow in the years towards and after 2030, both in quantitates and prices. For a well-functioning VCM, integrity must be ensured in the marked. The most important factors to achieve this are: a heterogeneous market, avoided double counting, additionality, and a standard for verification. I find that the sale of voluntary carbon credits from the biogenic emissions can lead to profitability in investing of CCS at waste incineration plants. This requires that the prices in the VCM are set high enough. Lower prices in the VCM can be accepted if waste incineration is included in the EU ETS. I observe that the project of CCS at waste incineration is most sensitive to changes in operation and maintenance cost, saved costs, carbon credit prices and the share of biogenic emissions in the waste mix. The sensitivity analyzes indicate that the project is quite robust to changes.For å nå målet i Parisavtalen vil overgangen til fornybar energi og energieffektivisering være nødvendig, men ikke tilstrekkelig for å nå målet om 1,5 grader celsius. Ifølge FNs klimapanel og IEA må vi i større grad benytte fjerningsprosjekter og skape negative utslipp. Potensialet i avfallsbransjen er stort både for å kutte utslipp og å skape negative utslipp. Fanget CO2 med biogent opprinnelse skaper negative utslipp og omtrent 50 prosent av utslippene fra avfallsforbrenning er biogene. Karbonfangst- og lagring (CCS) krever betydelige investeringer og er i dag ulønnsomt i avfallsindustrien. Fanget biogent CO2 kvalifiseres for salg av karbonkreditter på det frivillige karbonmarkedet (VCM). VCM er et umodent og lite marked. Slik situasjonen er i dag, er det vanskelig for bedrifter å vite om salg av slik kreditter kan gjøre investering i CCS lønnsomt eller ikke. Denne oppgaven tar for seg utfordringen knyttet til høye kostnader og mangel på insentiver knyttet til CCS ved avfallsforbrenningsanlegg. Jeg undersøker om salg av frivillige karbonkreditter kan være et godt nok insentiv til å gjøre CCS av biogene utslipp lønnsomt for avfallsforbrenningsanlegg i 2030. Hovedfunnene i markedsanalysen viser at VCM vil vokse i årene frem mot og etter 2030. For et velfungerende VCM kreves det integritet i markedet. De viktigste faktorene for å oppnå dette er: et heterogent marked, unngå dobbelttelling, addisjonalitet og en felles standard for verifisering. Lønnsomhetsanalysene viser at salg av frivillige karbonkreditter fra de biogene utslippene kan føre til lønnsomhet ved investering i CCS ved avfallsforbrenningsanlegg. Dette krever at prisene i VCM settes høyt nok. Lavere priser i VCM kan aksepteres dersom avfallsforbrenning er inkludert i EU ETS. Jeg observerer at prosjektet er mest følsomt for endringer i drifts- og vedlikeholdskostnader, sparte kostnader, karbonkredittpriser og andelen biogene utslipp i avfallsblandingen. Sensitivitetsanalysene indikerer at prosjektet er ganske sterkt overfor endringer.M-FORN

Working Capital Management and Firm Performance : An empirical study of the relationship between net working capital and firm performance in Europe

Considering the magnitude of working capital as a proportion of a firm's total assets, working capital management should interest corporate managers. We will, in our master's thesis, examine if working capital management is value-enhancing. Our methods are based on Aktas et al. (2014) 's study on US firms from 1982 to 2011. In comparison to Aktas et al. (2014), we study the accounting data and stock performance from a sample of 7 725 listed European firms in 15 countries from 2005 to 2021. Previous studies on the subject have found evidence of a negative relationship between net working capital (NWC) and firm performance. The studies suggest that firms should reduce their NWC level to increase firm performance. However, because of differences in NWC level between firms within industries, it is not given whether all corporate managers should decrease investments in NWC. We, therefore, examine the existence of an optimal level of NWC to see if corporate managers can adjust NWC investment to increase profitability and stock returns. We answer this question by performing regression analyses on different performance measures. Based on our empirical results, we find evidence of the existence of an optimal level of NWC. Our findings show that corporate managers can adjust their NWC level to the optimal level of NWC in their industry to increase profitability. By performing additional tests with different profitability and time horizon measurements, we increase our findings' robustness. In addition, Aktas et al. (2014) also found evidence of an optimal NWC level, which strengthens the conclusion. However, compared to Aktas et al. (2014), our findings report a different effect for firms with positive and negative excess NWC, whereas our results show a stronger effect for firms with positive excess NWC. The results imply that corporate managers with a positive excess NWC level should be especially interested in adjusting the NWC level closer to the optimal level. In contrast to Aktas et al. (2014), we do not find evidence that NWC management can increase stock performance.nhhma

Vergleich dynamischer und statischer Variablen zur Prädiktion von Volumenreagibilität bei Säuglingen und Kleinkindern vor und nach Korrektur eines angeborenen Herzfehlers

Das hämodynamische Monitoring ist ein schwieriger und wichtiger Teil zur Überwachung und Optimierung des Volumenhaushaltes eines pädiatrischen Intensivpatienten. Im Rahmen einer prospektiven klinischen Studie erhoben und verglichen wir dynamische und statische Variablen zur Prädiktion der Volumenreagibilität von 26 Säuglingen und Kleinkinder vor und nach operativer Korrektur angeborener Herzfehler. Mittels arterieller Pulskonturanalyse und transpulmonaler Thermodilution erhoben wir GEDV, PPV und SVV vor und nach Volumengabe und verglichen sie mit der Änderungen des mittels transösophagealer Echokardiographie gemessenen Schlagvolumenindex. 15 der Kinder wurde aufgrund ihrer Erhöhung des Schlagvolumenindex von über 15% nach Volumengabe als Responder klassifiziert. 11 Kinder zeigten nach Volumengabe eine Zunahme des Schlagvolumenindex unter 15% und wurden demnach als Non-Responder klassifiziert. In Anwesenheit eines Links-Rechts-Shunts zeigte sich lediglich PPV als ein geeigneter Prädiktor der Volumenreagibilität. Nach operativer Korrektur des Links-Rechts-Shunts waren SVV, GEDV und PPV alle gute Prädiktoren der Volumenreagibilität. Die statische Variable ZVD war nicht in der Lage die Volumenreagibilität eines Patienten vorherzusagen

The Norwegian athletes’ heart. Cardiac screening of 595 professional soccer players

The main aim of cardiac screening in athletes is to reduce the prevalence of sudden cardiac death. Electrocardiography (ECG) is a diagnostic tool to detect athletes at increased risk, but “abnormal” ECG findings related to training are common in athletes, and a challenge to distinguish from pathological ECG findings. Blood pressure (BP) is recorded during screening examinations, and high BP accounts for the highest prevalence of abnormal findings. This has neither been emphasized as an isolated finding, nor in association to other cardiovascular risk factors. In 2008, 595 professional soccer players in Norway underwent cardiac screening. By applying the new Seattle criteria for abnormality, the prevalence of abnormal ECGs was reduced to 11%. Abnormal ECG findings were more common after computer-based vs visual measurements both according to the ESC recommendations (51% vs 29%), and the Seattle criteria (22% vs 11%). Every fourth player had high normal BP, and there was a significant association between increasing BP, and subclinical organ damages. High daytime ambulatory BP was estimated in every third player and high nighttime ambulatory BP in every second player. Echocardiography alone did not detect important abnormality. All players, except two with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy, got medical clearance. The Seattle criteria for interpreting ECG in athletes reduced the need for follow-up investigations, and based on echocardiographic evaluations this reduction increased the specificity of the Seattle criteria, without increasing the number of false negative ECGs. We experienced several difficulties when trying to decide the prevalence of abnormal ECGs in athletes, and revealed a need for new definitions of “standard” methodology. The novel findings of masked hypertension and high nighttime BP are surprising, and the associations between BP and hypertensive subclinical organ damages emphasize the need for closer focus on BP measurements

Unmet Needs of Children With Special Health Care Needs When Transitioning to Adult Services

Health care transition planning could help decrease health care disparities among those who identify as an individual on the autism spectrum; however, less than a quarter of the adolescent population living with autism spectrum disorder receive transition planning. Decreasing health care disparities could lead to an increase in health care quality and longevity. The purpose of this study was to analyze if there was a relationship between (a) the number of physician visits, (b) if the physician treats only children, (c) if the physician talks about the child seeing physicians who treat adults, (d) if the physician worked with the guardian to create a plan that identifies specific health goals or needs, and if (a) the physician helped the child develop skills to manage their health and (b) if the physician worked with the child to understand health care changes for both children with and without special health care needs. Secondary data from 5,638 parental respondents of children aged 17 years old to the 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) were used to conduct this quantitative analysis employing chi square tests guided by the Donabedian structure/process/outcome model. The findings support the hypothesis that a statistically significant relationship does not exist between the dependent variables and covariates. Future research could incorporate physician response data or racial and socioeconomic variables to find further significance. The findings of the study can positively influence social change by allowing health care administrators to implement initiatives within their organizations to further the improvement of transitional planning for adolescents

Integrering i norsk skole - en toveis prosess? En kritisk diskursanalyse av Overordnet del - verdier og prinsipper for grunnopplæringen

I denne masteroppgaven foretas en kritisk diskursanalyse av Overordnet del – verdier og prinsipper for grunnopplæringen basert på Norman Faircloughs tredimensjonale analysemodell for å undersøke hvilke perspektiver på integrering som fremmes i den norske skolen og hvordan de påvirker forståelsen av integrering som en toveis prosess mellom majoritets- og minoritetsbefolkningen. Dokumentet er valgt på bakgrunn av at læreplanutvikling er myndighetenes fremste mulighet til å legge føringer for, og krav og forventninger til, hvordan skolen skal håndtere det økende etniske og kulturelle mangfoldet i samfunnet, og hvilke holdninger og perspektiver på integrering dagens elever, og dermed kommende generasjoner, skal utvikle. Jeg har tatt utgangspunkt i følgende problemstilling: I hvilken grad kommer integrering som en toveis prosess til uttrykk i Overordnet del – verdier og prinsipper for grunnopplæringen? Analysemodellens tre nivåer er benyttet som underkapitler for å strukturere og presentere analysefunnene og drøftingen av dem. På analysens første nivå, sosiale begivenheter, blir det gjennomført en innholdsanalyse av relevante utdrag fra Overordnet del med utgangspunkt i grammatiske verktøy som søker å avdekke hvilke sannheter som blir fremmet på bekostning av andre, og hvilke politiske og ideologiske holdninger som blir forsøkt holdt skjult. På analysens andre nivå, sosial praksis, undersøkes produksjons- og konsumsprosessen av Overordnet del for å undersøke hvem som har fått bidra i utarbeidelsen og hvem som skal videreformidle innholdet i skolene for å avdekke i hvilken grad de etniske og kulturelle minoritetene i dagens Norge er representert i prosessen. På analysens siste nivå, sosiale strukturer, drøftes funnene i sosiale begivenheter og sosial praksis, samt definisjonene av integrering som en toveis prosess, opp mot ulike integreringsperspektiv for å undersøke hvilket som gjør seg gjeldende for innholdet og hvordan det påvirker holdninger og forventninger knyttet til majoritets- og minoritetsbefolkningens bidrag i den toveis integreringsprosessen. Gjennom denne tredelte analyseprosessen avdekkes en skjevfordelt maktstruktur mellom majoritets- og minoritetsbefolkningen der representanter fra majoriteten i stor grad har enerådende makt over hva som skal defineres som integrering som en toveis prosess og hvordan dette skal gjennomføres i skolen ved at både de nasjonale og europeiske definisjonene av prosessen og Overordnet del bygger på det samme liberal multikulturalistiske integreringsperspektivet. Ved å utvikle en læreplan basert på en liberal multikulturalistisk forståelse av integrering får skolen mulighet til å legitimt kreve at alle elever lærer seg norsk, og tilegner seg kunnskap om majoritetsverdier, -historie og -tradisjon. Gjennom formuleringer som «anerkjenne», «tolerere» og «respektere» i Overordnet del får majoritetskulturen forrang over minoritetskulturene og blir brukt som mal for hvilke kulturelle og religiøse praksiser som kan tolereres i samfunnet og ikke. Studien konkluderer med at det er utfordrende å skulle vurdere i hvilken grad Overordnet del fremmer en forståelse av integrering som en toveis prosess ettersom det avhenger av hvilket integreringsperspektiv som legges til grunn for vurderingen. Fra et liberal multikulturalistisk perspektiv kommer integrering som en toveis prosess i stor grad til uttrykk i henhold til de gjeldende nasjonale og europeiske tiltakene for dette arbeidet. Fra et kritisk multikulturalistisk perspektiv kommer integrering som en toveis prosess i svært liten grad til uttrykk i Overordnet del ved at representanter fra majoriteten undergraver minoritetsbefolkningens autonomi og skaper et kulturhierarki ved å fremme tiltak for å anerkjenne og respektere mangfoldet som en ressurs, snarere enn å gi minoritets- og majoritetsbefolkningen mulighet til å bli kritisk bevisste de skjevfordelte samfunnsstrukturene som opprettholder en forståelse av oss og dem.This master’s thesis conducts a critical discourse analysis of Core Curriculum- Values and Principles of Primary and Secondary Education based on Norman Fairclough’s three dimensional analysis model. This method is employed to study which perspectives of integration are promoted in Norwegian schools and how they impact understanding of integration as a two-way process between the majority and minority population in Norway. The document is selected with the understanding that curriculum development is the government’s foremost opportunity to put down guidelines, requirements and expectations for how schools should handle the increase in ethnic and cultural diversity in society, and which attitudes and perspectives today’s students, and thereby generations to come, should develop. I have chosen to base my study on the following thesis: To what degree is integration recognized as a two-way process in Core Curriculum- Values and Principles of Primary and Secondary Education? The analysis model’s three levels are employed as sub chapters to structure and present analysis findings and the discussion of this data. At the first level of analysis, text, a content analysis of relevant excerpts from Core Curriculum is done, based on grammatical tools that aim to reveal which truths are promoted at the expense of others, and which political and ideological attitudes are attempted to be concealed. At the second level of analysis, discursive practice, the production and consumption process of Core Curriculum is studied, to take a look at the parties involved in the preparation of the document and who is responsible for conveying this information into schools, in order to uncover to what degree ethnic minority groups in today’s Norway are represented in the process of developing the Core Curriculum. The third level of analysis, social practice, discusses the following: findings in text and discursive practice and definitions of integration as a two-way process against different integration perspectives. This to study what applies to the content and how this affects attitudes and expectations tied to the majority and minority population’s contribution to the two- way process of integration. With this three part analysis process, an imbalance in the power structure between the majority and minority population is uncovered, where representatives from the majority hold absolute power over how integration as a two-way process is defined and how the process should be executed in schools by the fact that both national and European definitions of the process and Core Curriculum is based on liberal multiculturalism. Through the development of Core Curriculum that bases on liberal multiculturism, schools are given the opportunity to legitimately demand that all students learn Norwegian, and acquire knowledge about values held by the majority - their history and traditions. Through the use of formulations such as «acknowledge», «tolerate» and «respect» in Core Curriculum, the majority’s culture becomes superior to cultures held by minority groups. This is then used as a template that implies which cultural and religious practices are tolerated in society and not. This study comes to the conclusion that the degree of how integration is being recognized as a two-way process depends on the integration perspective being used for the assessment. From a liberal multicultural perspective, integration as a two- way process is largely expressed in accordance with the current national and European measures for integration as a two-way process. However, from a critical multicultural perspective, integration as a two-way process is expressed to a very small degree as representatives from the majority undermine the autonomy of the minority population and create a cultural hierarchy by advancing measures to acknowledge and respect diversity as a recourse, sooner than giving people the chance to develop a critical consciousness about the imbalance in social structures that maintain an understanding of us and them

Captive-born collared peccary (Pecari tajacu, Tayassuidae) fails to discriminate between predator and non-predator models

Captive animals may lose the ability to recognize their natural predators, making conservation programs more susceptible to failure if such animals are released into the wild. Collared peccaries are American tayassuids that are vulnerable to local extinction in certain areas, and conservation programs are being conducted. Captive-born peccaries are intended for release into the wild in Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil. In this study, we tested the ability of two groups of captive-born collared peccaries to recognize their predators and if they were habituated to humans. Recognition tests were performed using models of predators (canids and felids) and non-predators animals, as well as control objects, such as a plastic chair; a human was also presented to the peccaries, and tested as a separate stimulus. Anti-predator defensive responses such as fleeing and threatening displayswere not observed in response to predator models. Predator detection behaviors both from visual and olfactory cues were displayed, although they were not specifically targeted at predator models. These results indicate that collared peccaries were unable to recognize model predators. Habituation effects, particularly on anti-predator behaviors, were observed both with a 1-h model presentation and across testing days. Behavioral responses to humans did not differ from those to other models. Thus, if these animals were to be released into the wild, they should undergo anti-predator training sessions to enhance their chances of survival

The compensatory potential of increased immigration following intensive American mink population control is diluted by male-biased dispersal

Attempts to mitigate the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems increasingly target large land masses where control, rather than eradication, is the management objective. Depressing numbers of invasive species to a level where their impact on native biodiversity is tolerable requires overcoming the impact of compensatory immigration from non-controlled portions of the landscape. Because of the expected scale-dependency of dispersal, the overall size of invasive species management areas relative to the dispersal ability of the controlled species will determine the size of any effectively conserved core area unaffected by immigration from surrounding areas. However, when dispersal is male-biased, as in many mammalian invasive carnivores, males may be overrepresented amongst immigrants, reducing the potential growth rate of invasive species populations in re-invaded areas. Using data collected from a project that gradually imposed spatially comprehensive control on invasive American mink (Neovison vison) over a 10,000 km2 area of NE Scotland, we show that mink captures were reduced to almost zero in 3 years, whilst there was a threefold increase in the proportion of male immigrants. Dispersal was often long distance and linking adjacent river catchments, asymptoting at 38 and 31 km for males and females respectively. Breeding and dispersal were spatially heterogeneous, with 40 % of river sections accounting for most captures of juvenile (85 %), adult female (65 %) and immigrant (57 %) mink. Concentrating control effort on such areas, so as to turn them into “attractive dispersal sinks” could make a disproportionate contribution to the management of recurrent re-invasion of mainland invasive species management areas