Potential for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions by Using Biomethane as a Road Transportation Fuel

The aim of this thesis is to study whether the use of biomethane as a transportation fuel is reasonable from climate change perspective. In order to identify potentials and challenges for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this dissertation focuses on GHG emission comparisons, on feasibility studies and on the effects of various calculation methodologies. The GHG emissions calculations are carried out by using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies. The aim of these LCA studies is to figure out the key parameters affecting the GHG emission saving potential of biomethane production and use and to give recommendations related to methodological choices. The feasibility studies are also carried out from the life cycle perspective by dividing the biomethane production chain for various operators along the life cycle of biomethane in order to recognize economic bottlenecks. Biomethane use in the transportation sector leads to GHG emission reductions compared to fossil transportation fuels in most cases. In addition, electricity and heat production from landfill gas, biogas or biomethane leads to GHG reductions as well. Electricity production for electric vehicles is also a potential route to direct biogas or biomethane energy to transportation sector. However, various factors along the life cycle of biomethane affect the GHG reduction potentials. Furthermore, the methodological selections have significant effects on the results. From economic perspective, there are factors related to different operators along the life cycle of biomethane, which are not encouraging biomethane use in the transportation sector. To minimize the greenhouse gas emissions from the life cycle of biomethane, waste feedstock should be preferred. In addition, energy consumption, methane leakages, digestate utilization and the current use of feedstock or biogas are also key factors. To increase the use of biomethane in the transportation sector, political steering is needed to improve the feasibility for the operators. From methodological perspective, it is important to recognize the aim of the life cycle assessment study. The life cycle assessment studies can be divided into two categories: 1.) To produce average GHG information of biomethane to evaluate the acceptability of biomethane use compared to fossil transportation fuels. 2.) To produce GHG information of biomethane related to actual decision-making situations. This helps to figure out the actual GHG emission changes in cases when feedstock, biogas or biomethane are already in other use. For example directing biogas from electricity production to transportation use does not necessarily lead to additional GHG emission reductions. The use of biomethane seems to have a lot of potential for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a transportation fuel. However, there are various aspects related to production processes, to the current use of feedstock or biogas and to the feasibility that have to be taken into account.

Ideologiakriittinen näkökulma road-elokuvaan

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Fundraising and investor relations in social enterprise: Marketing your way out of the pioneer gap in African off-grid renewable energy

Social enterprises apply the best of business for the pursuit of social or environmental mission while also generating revenues. Globally, nearly 1,3 billion people lack access to electricity, as well as another billion having access to only low quality and infrequent electricity. Off-grid renewable energy, like solar, will increasingly have a key role in the solution of the energy access issue. The pioneer gap in off-grid renewable energy consists of financing (or funding) gaps and capacity gaps, to do with both the early stage of the enterprises in question, as well as the early stage of the whole industry. The gaps are emphasised by specific characteristics of off-grid renewable energy business models and the requirements of operating in bottom-of-the-pyramid markets. The marketing perspective to fundraising is chosen to uncover the possible role enterprises themselves have in bridging the pioneer gap. The purpose of this thesis is to study how social enterprises operating in off-grid renewable energy in Africa utilise marketing activities in their investor relations in bridging the pioneer gap. This main research question is divided into the following sub-questions:  How does the pioneer gap affect fundraising for these enterprises?  How are the funding needs for these enterprises characterised?  How do these enterprises build trust in their investor relations? The theoretic framework is built on relationship marketing and investor relations, with an emphasis on creation of trust. The research is conducted as a thematical case study. Primary data is gathered via semi-structured interviews with six solar energy companies and two accelerators. According to the findings, the main components affecting trust-creation are diminished information asymmetry and perceived risk, mission alignment as well as a personal fit or relationship with the investor. Therefore, an enterprise can utilise e.g. the following marketing activities in their investor relations to bridge the pioneer gap: ensuring investor material, the enterprise story and presenting of them is clear, concise and complete to “package” the enterprise as an investment; taking investor needs and motivations into account as well as utilising existing investors as ambassadors.

Direct-Driven Interior Magnet Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors for a Full Electric Sports Car

The design process of direct-driven permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) for a full electric 4 ´ 4 sports car is presented. The rotor structure of the machine consists of two permanent magnet layers embedded inside the rotor laminations thus resulting in some inverse saliency, where the q-axis inductance is larger than the d-axis one. An integer slot stator winding was selected to fully take advantage of the additional reluctance torque. The performance characteristics of the designed PMSMs were calculated by applying a twodimensional finite element method. Cross-saturation between the d- and q-axes was taken into account in the calculation of the synchronous inductances. The calculation results are validated by measurements.

Towards sustainable transport: A comparison of demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish and international car sharing users

SStrong evidence suggests that the climate is changing and that these changes are largely caused by human activities. A consensus exists among researchers that human activity is causing global warming and that actions to mitigate global warming need to be taken swiftly. The transportation sector, which relies heavily on fossil fuel burning and primarily oil, is one of the big contributors to air pollution problems at local, regional and global levels. It is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions and is estimated to be responsible for nearly a quarter of global energyrelated carbon dioxide emissions. Car sharing is a mobility solution encouraging its users to decrease private car usage in favour of communal transit and environmental goals. The idea of car sharing originates from the aspiration to decrease personal car ownership and to reduce vehicle distance travelled. This thesis seeks to complement the understanding of Finnish car sharing users and their usage through better categorization. Through better categorization and segmentation of Finnish car sharing users the thesis seeks to provide information for improved marketing insight. Research is done on the demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish car sharing users and they are compared with international findings about the characteristics of International car sharing users. The main research problem is Are Finnish car sharing users similar to international ones? A theoretical research framework on the determinants of individual car sharing usage is built based on international research about demographic and behaviouristic characteristics. After this a quantitative survey is performed to the customers of a Finnish car sharing organization. The data analysed in the thesis consist out of 532 answers received from the car sharing organizations customers. The data is analysed with descriptive and other exploratory methods, which create an understanding of Finnish car sharing users. At the end of the analysis the demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish car sharing users are compared with international ones. The research findings of the thesis indicate that the demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish car sharing usage largely follow those of their international counterparts. Thanks to the thesis results the car sharing organization is able to better target their customers through improved marketing insight.

Trilling race : the political economy of racialised visual-aural encounters

This thesis investigates the matter of race in the context of Finnish language acquisition among adult migrants in Finland. Here matter denotes both the materiality of race and how race comes to matter. Drawing primarily on an auto/ethno/graphic account of learning the Finnish language as a participant in the Finnish for foreigners classes, this thesis problematises the ontology and epistemology of race, i.e., what race is, how it is known, and what an engagement with race entails. Taking cues from the bodily practices of learning the Finnish trill or the rolling r, this study proposes a notion of “trilling race” and argues for an onto-epistemological dis/continuity that marks race’s arrival. The notion of dis/continuity reworks the distinction between continuity and discontinuity, and asks about the how of the arrival of any identity, the where, and the when. In so doing, an analysis of “trilling race” engages with one of the major problematics that has exercised much critical attention, namely: how to read race differently. That is, to rethink the conundrum of the need to counter “representational weight” (Puar 2007, 191) of race on the one hand, and to account for the racialised lived realities on the other. The link between a study of the phenomenon of host country language acquisition and an examination of the question of race is not as obvious as it might seem. For example, what does the argument that the process of language learning is racialised actually imply? Does it mean that race, as a process of racialisation or an ongoing configuration of sets of power relations, exerts force from an outside on the otherwise neutral process of learning the host country language? Or does it mean that race, as an identity category, presents as among the analytical perspectives, along with gender and class for instance, of the phenomenon of host country language acquisition? With these questions in mind, and to foreground the examination of the question of race in the context of Finnish language acquisition among adult migrants, this thesis opens with a discussion of the art installation Finnexia by Lisa Erdman. Finnexia is a fictitious drug said to facilitate Finnish language learning through accelerating the cognitive learning process and reducing the anxiety of speaking the Finnish language. Not only does the Finnexia installation make visible the ways in which the lack of skill in Finnish is fgured as the threshold – a border that separates the inside from the outside – to integration, but also, and importantly, it raises questions about the nature of difference, and the process of differentiation that separates the individual from the social, fact from fiction, nature from culture. These puzzles animate much of the analysis in this dissertation. These concerns continue to be addressed in the rest of part one. Whereas chapter two offers a reconsideration of the ambiguities of ethnisme/ethnicity and race, chapter three dilates on the methodological implications of a conception of the dis/continuity of race. Part two focuses on the matter of race and examines the political economy of visual-aural encounters, whereas part three shifts the focus and rethinks the possibilities and limitations of transforming racialised and normative constraints. Taking up these particular problematics, this thesis as a whole argues that race trills itself: its identity/difference is simultaneously made possible and impossible.

Vibration analysis of a power take-off line

Gear rattle is a phenomenon that occurs when idling or lightly loaded gears collide due to engine’s torque fluctuations. This behaviour is related to vibration behaviour of the transmission system. Aim of this master’s thesis is to evaluate Adams and Adams/Machinery as a simulation tools for modelling the rattle e ect in a transmission system. A case study of tractor’s power take-o driveline, suspected to be prone to rattle, is performed in this work. Modelling methods used by Adams in this type of study are presented in the theory section while simulation model build with the software during this work is presented in the results. The Machinery toolbox is used to create gears and bearings while other model components are created with standard Adams tool set. Geometries and excitations are exported from other softwares. Results were obtained from multiple variations of a base model. These result sets and literature review suggest that Adams/Machinery may not be the most suitable tool for rattle analysis. While the system behaviour was partially captured, for accurate modelling user-written routines must be used which may be more easily performed with other tools. Further research about this topic is required.

Logistics Cost Optimization of Road Freight Shipments in a Consumer Goods Company

In the industry of the case company, transportation and warehousing costs account for more than 10% of the total cost which is more than on average. A Finnish company has an understanding that by sending larger shipments in parcels, they could save tens of thousands of euros annually in freight costs in Finland’s domestic shipments. To achieve these savings and optimize total logistics cost, company’s interest is to find out which is the cost efficient way of shipping road shipments of certain volumes; in parcel boxes or on pallets, and what should be the split volume determining the shipment type. Distribution center (DC) costs affect this decision and therefore they need to be also evaluated to determine the total logistics cost savings. Main results were achieved by executing activity-based costing-calculations including DC and road freight costs to determine the ideal split volume with which the total logistics cost is optimal. Calculations were done for Finland’s DC, separately for two main road freight destinations, Finland and Sweden, which cover 50% of road shipment spend. Data for calculations was collected both manually and automatically from various internal and external sources, such as the company ERP system and logistics service providers’ (LSP) reporting. DC processes were studied in practice and compared to model processes. Currently used freight rates were compared to existing pricing models and freight service tendering process was evaluated by participating in the process and comparing it to the models based on literature. The results show that the potential savings are not as significant as the company hoped for, mainly because of packing work increasing DC labor cost. Annual savings by setting ideal split volume per country would account for 0,4 % of the warehousing and transportation costs of shipments in scope of this thesis. Split volume should be set separately for each route, mainly because the pricing model for road freight is different in each country. For some routes bigger parcels should be sent but for some routes pallets should be used more. Next step is to do these calculations for remaining routes to determine total savings potential. Other findings show that the processes in the DC are designed well and the company could achieve savings by executing tenders more efficiently. Company should also pay more attention to parcel pricing and packing the shipments accordingly.

Yritysvalmennuksen onnistumiset ja kehittämiskohteet Case: Start-up & Spin-off Factory -projekti

Tässä työssä tarkastellaan Start-up & Spin-off Factory -projektissa, pääsääntöisesti Kymenlaaksossa toimiville, yrittäjille suunnattua ja toteutettua yritysvalmennusohjelmaa. Työssä selvitetään ja käsitellään Start-up & Spin-off -projektin yritysvalmennuksen onnistumisia ja kehittämiskohteita sähköisen kyselyn sekä teemahaastatteluiden pohjalta. Start-up & Spin-off Factory -projektissa tuettiin innovatiivisten yritysten (21 yritystä) kasvua kiihdytysohjelmalla, jossa kokeneet sarjayrittäjät valmensivat uutta yritystä perustavia tai jo yritystoiminnan aloittaneita yrittäjiä, joiden tuotteille/palveluille haluttiin saada kasvua. Projektin tavoitteena oli edistää erityisesti kiihdytettävien yritysten nopeaa kansainvälistymistä auttamalla yrittäjiä pilottien, asiakkaiden, partnerien ja rahoituksen hankinnassa. Valmennettavat kokivat saaneensa lisäarvoa valmennuksesta omaksumalla uusia näkökulmia. He kokivat koulutuksen tuoneen yrityksen toimintaan lisää nöyrää asennetta ja lujaa uskoa tulevaisuuteen. Vertaistuen osuutta sekä verkostojen lisääntymisen mukana tullutta uusien kontaktien määrää pidettiin myönteisenä asiana. Vastausten perusteella valmennus selkeytti valmennettavien ymmärrystä liiketoiminnan kehittämisestä. Hissipuheen teko ja harjoittelu koettiin tärkeäksi ja jännittäväksi. Valmennus vahvisti luottamusta omaan tuotteeseen ja palveluun. Valmennuksen painottuminen ICT-alan firmoihin merkitsi valmennuksessa sitä, että teoriat ja esimerkit tulivat useasti tältä alalta. Toimialojen eroavaisuus tulisi huomioida valmennuksessa opetussisältöjen ja esimerkkien osalta. Kyselyn ja haastatteluiden mukaan valmentajien asiantuntemukseen oltiin tyytyväisiä. Lisäksi onnistuneena osa-alueena koettiin valmennuksen käytännön järjestelyjä. Kehitettävää puolestaan oli opetusmateriaalien, opetusmenetelmien ja koulutuksen keston suhteen. Kysyttäessä valmennuksen hyvistä ja huonoista puolista olivat vastaajat sitä mieltä, että valmennuksessa oli hyvä ilmapiiri ja valmennus oli käytännönläheistä. Pienryhmävalmennusta pidettiin hyvänä asiana, samoin kuin henkilökohtaistamista.

Control of multi-actuator system by an electrically driven hydraulic pump-motor

The awareness and concern of our environment together with legislation have set more and more tightening demands for energy efficiency of non-road mobile machinery (NRMM). Integrated electro-hydraulic energy converter (IEHEC) has been developed in Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT). The elimination of resistance flow, and the recuperation of energy makes it very efficient alternative. The difficulties of IEHEC machine to step to the market has been the requirement of one IEHEC machine per one actuator. The idea is to switch IEHEC between two actuators of log crane using fast on/off valves. The control system architecture is introduced. The system has been simulated in co-simulation using two different software. The simulated responses of pump-controlled system is compared to the responses of the conventional valve-controlled system.