Finnish Critical Industries, Maritime Transport Vulnerabilities and societal Implications

Maritime transports are very essential for Finland as over 80% of the foreign trade in the country is seaborne and possibilities to carry out these transports by are limited. Any disruption in maritime transports has negative consequences to many sectors in the Finnish economy. Maritime transport thus represents critical infrastructure for Finland. This report focuses on the importance of maritime transports on security of supply in Finland and for the so called critical industries in particular. The report summarizes the results of the Work Package 2 of the research project STOCA – “Study of cargo flows in the Gulf of Finland in emergency situations”. The aim of the research was to analyze the cargo flows and infrastructure that are vital for maintaining security of supply in Finland, as well as the consequences of disruptions in the maritime traffic for the Finnish critical industries and for the Finnish society. In the report we give a presentation of the infrastructure and transport routes which are critical for maintaining security of supply in Finland. We discuss import dependency of the critical industries, and the importance of the Gulf of Finland ports for Finland. We assess vulnerabilities associated with the critical material flows of the critical industries, and possibilities for alternative routings in case either one or several of the ports in Finland would be closed. As a concrete example of a transport disruption we analyze the consequences of the Finnish stevedore strike at public ports (4.3.–19.3.2010). The strike stopped approximately 80% of the Finnish foreign trade. As a result of the strike Finnish companies could not export their products and/or import raw materials, components and spare parts, or other essential supplies. We carried out personal interviews with representatives of the companies in Finnish critical industries to find out about the problems caused by the strike, how companies carried out they transports and how they managed to continue their operations during the strike. Discussions with the representatives of the companies gave us very practical insights about companies’ preparedness towards transport disruptions in general. Companies in the modern world are very vulnerable to transport disruptions because companies regardless of industries have tried to improve their performance by optimizing their resources and e.g. by reducing their inventory levels. At the same time they have become more and more dependent on continuous transports. Most companies involved in foreign trade have global operations and global supply chains, so any disruption anywhere in the world can have an impact on the operations of the company causing considerable financial loss. The volcanic eruption in Iceland in April 2010 stopping air traffic in the whole Northern Europe and most recently the earth quake causing a tsunami in Japan in March 2011 are examples of severe disruptions causing considerable negative impacts to companies’ supply chains. Even though the Finnish stevedore strike was a minor disruption compared to the natural catastrophes mentioned above, it showed the companies’ vulnerability to transport disruptions very concretely. The Finnish stevedore strike gave a concrete learning experience of the importance of preventive planning for all Finnish companies: it made them re-think their practical preparedness towards transport risks and how they can continue with their daily operations despite the problems. Many companies realized they need to adapt their long-term countermeasures against transport disruptions. During the strike companies did various actions to secure their supply chains. The companies raised their inventory levels before the strike began, they re-scheduled or postponed their deliveries, shifted customer orders between production plants among their company’s production network or in the extreme case bought finished products from their competitor to fulfil their customers’ order. Our results also show that possibilities to prepare against transport disruptions differ between industries. The Finnish society as a whole is very dependent on imports of energy, various raw materials and other supplies needed by the different industries. For many of the Finnish companies in the export industries and e.g. in energy production maritime transport is the only transport mode the companies can use due to large volumes of materials transported or due to other characteristics of the goods. Therefore maritime transport cannot be replaced by any other transport mode. In addition, a significant amount of transports are concentrated in certain ports. From a security of supply perspective attention should be paid to finding ways to decrease import dependency and ensuring that companies in the critical industries can ensure the continuity of their operations.

Harvesting and wood transport planning with SNAP III program (Scheduling and Network Analysis Program) in a pine plantation in Southeast Brazil

The objective of this study was to verify the potential of SNAP III (Scheduling and Network Analysis Program) as a support tool for harvesting and wood transport planning in Brazil harvesting subsystem definition and establishment of a compatible route were assessed. Initially, machine operational and production costs were determined in seven subsystems for the study area, and quality indexes, construction and maintenance costs of forest roads were obtained and used as SNAP III program input data. The results showed, that three categories of forest road occurrence were observed in the study area: main, secondary and tertiary which, based on quality index, allowed a medium vehicle speed of about 41, 30 and 24 km/hours and a construction cost of about US$ 5,084.30, US$ 2,275.28 and US$ 1,650.00/km, respectively. The SNAP III program used as a support tool for the planning, was found to have a high potential tool in the harvesting and wood transport planning. The program was capable of defining efficiently, the harvesting subsystem on technical and economical basis, the best wood transport route and the forest road to be used in each period of the horizon planning.

Charge transport in disordered materials : simulations, theory, and numerical modeling of hopping transport and electron-hole recombination

Min avhandling behandlar hur oordnade material leder elektrisk ström. Bland materialen som studeras finns ledande polymerer, d.v.s. plaster som leder ström, och mer allmänt organiska halvledare. Av de här materialen har man kunnat bygga elektroniska komponenter, och man hoppas på att kunna trycka hela kretsar av organiska material. För de här tillämpningarna är det viktigt att förstå hur materialen själva leder elektrisk ström. Termen oordnade material syftar på material som saknar kristallstruktur. Oordningen gör att elektronernas tillstånd blir lokaliserade i rummet, så att en elektron i ett visst tillstånd är begränsad t.ex. till en molekyl eller ett segment av en polymer. Det här kan jämföras med kristallina material, där ett elektrontillstånd är utspritt över hela kristallen (men i stället har en väldefinierad rörelsemängd). Elektronerna (eller hålen) i det oordnade materialet kan röra sig genom att tunnelera mellan de lokaliserade tillstånden. Utgående från egenskaperna för den här tunneleringsprocessen, kan man bestämma transportegenskaperna för hela materialet. Det här är utgångspunkten för den så kallade hopptransportmodellen, som jag har använt mig av. Hopptransportmodellen innehåller flera drastiska förenklingar. Till exempel betraktas elektrontillstånden som punktformiga, så att tunneleringssannolikheten mellan två tillstånd endast beror på avståndet mellan dem, och inte på deras relativa orientation. En annan förenkling är att behandla det kvantmekaniska tunneleringsproblemet som en klassisk process, en slumpvandring. Trots de här grova approximationerna visar hopptransportmodellen ändå många av de fenomen som uppträder i de verkliga materialen som man vill modellera. Man kan kanske säga att hopptransportmodellen är den enklaste modell för oordnade material som fortfarande är intressant att studera. Man har inte hittat exakta analytiska lösningar för hopptransportmodellen, därför använder man approximationer och numeriska metoder, ofta i form av datorberäkningar. Vi har använt både analytiska metoder och numeriska beräkningar för att studera olika aspekter av hopptransportmodellen. En viktig del av artiklarna som min avhandling baserar sig på är att jämföra analytiska och numeriska resultat. Min andel av arbetet har främst varit att utveckla de numeriska metoderna och applicera dem på hopptransportmodellen. Därför fokuserar jag på den här delen av arbetet i avhandlingens introduktionsdel. Ett sätt att studera hopptransportmodellen numeriskt är att direkt utföra en slumpvandringsprocess med ett datorprogram. Genom att föra statisik över slumpvandringen kan man beräkna olika transportegenskaper i modellen. Det här är en så kallad Monte Carlo-metod, eftersom själva beräkningen är en slumpmässig process. I stället för att följa rörelsebanan för enskilda elektroner, kan man beräkna sannolikheten vid jämvikt för att hitta en elektron i olika tillstånd. Man ställer upp ett system av ekvationer, som relaterar sannolikheterna för att hitta elektronen i olika tillstånd i systemet med flödet, strömmen, mellan de olika tillstånden. Genom att lösa ekvationssystemet fås sannolikhetsfördelningen för elektronerna. Från sannolikhetsfördelningen kan sedan strömmen och materialets transportegenskaper beräknas. En aspekt av hopptransportmodellen som vi studerat är elektronernas diffusion, d.v.s. deras slumpmässiga rörelse. Om man betraktar en samling elektroner, så sprider den med tiden ut sig över ett större område. Det är känt att diffusionshastigheten beror av elfältet, så att elektronerna sprider sig fortare om de påverkas av ett elektriskt fält. Vi har undersökt den här processen, och visat att beteendet är väldigt olika i endimensionella system, jämfört med två- och tredimensionella. I två och tre dimensioner beror diffusionskoefficienten kvadratiskt av elfältet, medan beroendet i en dimension är linjärt. En annan aspekt vi studerat är negativ differentiell konduktivitet, d.v.s. att strömmen i ett material minskar då man ökar spänningen över det. Eftersom det här fenomenet har uppmätts i organiska minnesceller, ville vi undersöka om fenomenet också kan uppstå i hopptransportmodellen. Det visade sig att det i modellen finns två olika mekanismer som kan ge upphov till negativ differentiell konduktivitet. Dels kan elektronerna fastna i fällor, återvändsgränder i systemet, som är sådana att det är svårare att ta sig ur dem då elfältet är stort. Då kan elektronernas medelhastighet och därmed strömmen i materialet minska med ökande elfält. Elektrisk växelverkan mellan elektronerna kan också leda till samma beteende, genom en så kallad coulombblockad. En coulombblockad kan uppstå om antalet ledningselektroner i materialet ökar med ökande spänning. Elektronerna repellerar varandra och ett större antal elektroner kan leda till att transporten blir långsammare, d.v.s. att strömmen minskar.

Evaluation of the throughfall and stemflow nutrient contents in mixed and pure plantations of Acacia mangium, Pseudosamenea guachapele and Eucalyptus grandis

The interception of the rainfall by the forest canopy has great relevance to the nutrient geochemistry cycle in low fertility tropical soils under native or cultivated forests. However, little is known about the modification of the rainfall water quality and hydrological balance after interception by the canopies of eucalyptus under pure and mixed plantations with leguminous species, in Brazil. Samples of rainfall (RF), throughfall (TF) and stemflow (SF) were collected and analyzed in pure plantations of mangium (nitrogen fixing tree -NFT), guachapele (NFT) and eucalyptus (non-nitrogen fixing tree -NNFT) and in a mixed stand of guachapele and eucalyptus in Seropédica, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nine stemflow collectors (in selected trees) and nine pluviometers were randomly disposed under each stand and three pluviometers were used to measure the incident rainfall during 5.5 months. Mangium conveyed 33.4% of the total rainfall for its stem. An estimative based on corrections for the average annual precipitation (1213 mm) indicated that the rainfall's contribution to the nutrient input (kg ha-1) was about 8.42; 0.95; 19.04; 6.74; 4.72 and 8.71 kg ha-1 of N-NH4+, P, K+, Ca+2, Mg+2 and Na+, respectively. Throughfall provided the largest contributions compared to the stemflow nutrient input. The largest inputs of N-NH4+ (15.03 kg ha-1) and K+ (179.43 kg ha-1) were observed under the guachapele crown. Large amounts of Na+ denote a high influence of the sea. Mangium was the most adapted species to water competitiveness. Comparatively to pure stand of eucalyptus, the mixed plantation intensifies the N, Ca and Mg leaching by the canopy, while the inputs of K and P were lower under these plantations.

Boron influence on concentration of polyols and other sugars in Eucalyptus

Although the functions of the element Boron (B) in plants have not been sufficiently clarified, several hypotheses have been raised. Some of the functions attributed to this element are synthesis and transport of carbohydrates. To evaluate the effect of B on the synthesis of some polyols and sugars in Eucalyptus grandis and hybrids "urograndis", these species were submitted to situations of supply and restriction of B. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, arranged in a randomized block design in a 2 x 2 factorial scheme, with 5 replicates of each genotype. The B levels were provided in the form of nutrient solution. No significant difference was observed in the content of mannitol, sorbitol, myo-inositol and scyllo-inositol and sugars α-glucose and β-glucose between E. grandis and hybrids. Arabinose was the only one to present a higher content in E. grandis on restriction of B. The effect of the presence of B was very expressive, but regarding B supply, the plants showed significant increase in the synthesis of the compounds evaluated.

Future prospects of short distance rail based passenger transport in Northern Europe

The worlds’ population is increasing and cities have become more crowded with people and vehicles. Communities in the fringe of metropolitans’ increase the traffic done with private cars, but also increase the need for public transportation. People have typically needs traveling to work located in city centers during the morning time, and return to suburbs in the afternoon or evening. Rail based passenger transport is environmentally friendly transport mode with high capacity to transport large volume of people. Railways have been regulated markets with national incumbent having monopoly position. Opening the market for competition is believed to have a positive effect by increasing the efficiency of the industry. National passenger railway market is opened for competition only in few countries, where as international traffic in EU countries was deregulated in 2010. The objective of this study is to examine the passenger railway market of three North European countries, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia. The interest was also to get an understanding of the current situation and how the deregulation has proceeded. Theory of deregulation is unfolded with literature analyses and empirical part of the study is constructed from two parts. Customer satisfaction survey was chosen as a method to collect real life experiences from the passengers and measure their knowledge of the market situation and possible changes appeared. Interviews of experts from the industry and labor unions give more insights and able better understanding for example of social consequences caused from opening the market for competition. Expert interviews were conducted by using semi-structured theme interview. Based on the results of this study, deregulation has proceeded quite differently in the three countries researched. Sweden is the most advanced country, where the passenger railway market is open for new entrants. Denmark and Estonia are lagging behind. Opening the market is considered positive among passengers and most of the experts interviewed. Common for the interviews were the labour unions negative perspective concerning deregulation. Despite the fact deregulation is considered positive among the respondents of the customer satisfaction survey, they could not name railway undertakings operating in their country. Generally respondents were satisfied with the commuter trains. Ticket price, punctuality of trains and itinerary affect the most to customer satisfaction.

Growth, magnetic and transport properties of InSb and II-IV-As2 semiconductors doped with manganese

This thesis is devoted to growth and investigations of Mn-doped InSb and II-IV-As2 semiconductors, including Cd1-xZnxGeAs2:Mn, ZnSiAs2:Mn bulk crystals, ZnSiAs2:Mn/Si heterostructures. Bulk crystals were grown by direct melting of starting components followed by fast cooling. Mn-doped ZnSiAs2/Si heterostructures were grown by vacuum-thermal deposition of ZnAs2 and Mn layers on Si substrates followed by annealing. The compositional and structural properties of samples were investigated by different methods. The samples consist of micro- and nano- sizes clusters of an additional ferromagnetic Mn-X phases (X = Sb or As). Influence of magnetic precipitations on magnetic and electrical properties of the investigated materials was examined. With relatively high Mn concentration the main contribution to magnetization of samples is by MnSb or MnAs clusters. These clusters are responsible for high temperature behavior of magnetization and relatively high Curie temperature: up to 350 K for Mn-doped II-IV-As2 and about 600 K for InMnSb. The low-field magnetic properties of Mn-doped II-IV-As2 semiconductors and ZnSiAs2:Mn/Si heterostructures are connected to the nanosize MnAs particles. Also influence of nanosized MnSb clusters on low-field magnetic properties of InMnSb have been observed. The contribution of paramagnetic phase to magnetization rises at low temperatures or in samples with low Mn concentration. Source of this contribution is not only isolated Mn ions, but also small complexes, mainly dimmers and trimmers formed by Mn ions, substituting cation positions in crystal lattice. Resistivity, magnetoresistance and Hall resistivity properties in bulk Mn-doped II-IV-As2 and InSb crystals was analyzed. The interaction between delocalized holes and 3d shells of the Mn ions together with giant Zeeman splitting near the cluster interface are respond for negative magnetoresistance. Additionally to high temperature critical pointthe low-temperature ferromagnetic transition was observed Anomalous Hall effect was observed in Mn doped samples and analyzed for InMnSb. It was found that MnX clusters influence significantly on magnetic scattering of carriers.

Carbon sequestration and nutrient reserves under differen t land use systems

This study evaluated the contribution of agroforestry (AFS) and traditional systems to carbon sequestration and nutrient reserves in plants, litter and soil. The study was carried out in the semiarid region of Brazil in a long-term experiment on an experimental farm of the goat and sheep section of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). Two agroforestry systems were investigated: agrosilvopastoral (ASP) and forest-pasture areas (SP) as well as traditional agriculture management (TM), two areas left fallow after TM (six fallow years - F6 and nine fallow years - F9) and one area of preserved Caatinga vegetation (CAT). Soil, litter and plants were sampled from all areas and the contents of C, N, P, K, Ca and Mg per compartment determined. The AFS (ASP and SP) had higher nutrient stocks than the traditional and intermediate stocks compared to the preserved Caatinga. In the ASP, a relevant part of the nutrients extracted by crops is returned to the system by constant inputs of litter, weeding of herbaceous vegetation and cutting of the legume crops. After fallow periods of six and nine years, carbon and nutrient stocks in the compartments soil, litter and herbaceous plants were similar to those of the preserved Caatinga (CAT), but still lower than under natural conditions in the woody vegetation.

Conservative nutrient use by big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla king) planted under contrasting environmental conditions

We analyzed the nutritional composition and isotope ratios (C and N) of big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) leaves in plantations established on contrasting soils and climates in Central America (State of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, México) and South America (State of Pará, Brazil). The objective was to determine the adaptability of this species to large differences in nutrient availability and rainfall regimes. Nutrient concentrations of leaves and soils were determined spectrophotometrically, and isotope ratios were measured using mass spectrometric techniques.In Pará soils were sandier, and acidic, receiving above 2000 mm of rain, whereas in Quintana Roo soils were predominantly clayey, with neutral to alkaline pH due to the underlying calcareous substrate, with about 1300 mm of rain. Leaf area/weight ratio was similar for both sites, but leaves from Quintana Roo were significantly smaller. Average N and K concentrations of adult leaves were similar, whereas Ca concentration was only slightly lower in Pará in spite of large differences in Ca availability. Leaves from this site had slightly higher P and lower Al concentrations. Differences in water use efficiency as measured by the natural abundance of 13C were negligible, the main effect of lower rainfall in Quintana Roo seemed to be a reduction in leaf area. The N isotope signature (δ15N) was more positive in Pará than in Quintana Roo, suggesting higher denitrification rates in the former. Results reveal a calciotrophic behavior and a remarkable capacity of mahogany to compensate for large differences in soil texture and nutrient availability.

Temperature effect in potassium and nitrate ions in soil transport

When doing researches on solute dynamics in porous medium, the knowledge of medium characteristics and percolating liquids, as well as of external factors is very important. An important external factor is temperature and, in this sense, our purpose was determining potassium and nitrate transport parameters for different values of temperature, in miscible displacement experiments. Evaluated parameters were retardation factor (R), diffusion/dispersion coefficient (D) and dispersivity, at ambient temperature (25 up to 28 ºC), 40 ºC and 50 ºC. Salts used were potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate, prepared in a solution made up of 5 ppm nitrate and 2.000 ppm potassium, with Red-Yellow Latosol porous medium. Temperature exhibited a positive influence upon porous medium solution and upon dispersion coefficient.

Spatial variability of leaf nutrient contents in a drip irrigated citrus orchard

This study aimed to evaluate the spatial variability of leaf content of macro and micronutrients. The citrus plants orchard with 5 years of age, planted at regular intervals of 8 x 7 m, was managed under drip irrigation. Leaf samples were collected from each plant to be analyzed in the laboratory. Data were analyzed using the software R, version 2.5.1 Copyright (C) 2007, along with geostatistics package GeoR. All contents of macro and micronutrients studied were adjusted to normal distribution and showed spatial dependence.The best-fit models, based on the likelihood, for the macro and micronutrients were the spherical and matern. It is suggest for the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur the minimum distances between samples of 37; 58; 29; 63; 46 and 15 m respectively, while for the micronutrients boron, copper, iron, manganese and zinc, the distances suggests are 29; 9; 113; 35 and 14 m, respectively.

Transport of broilers: load microclimate during Brazilian summer

The objective of this study was to characterize the microclimatic profile of broiler transport trucks under commercial conditions, in the summer, by continuous monitoring of environmental variables (temperature and air relative humidity). Three loads were monitored from farm to slaughterhouse, considering factors such as distance and day periods (morning, afternoon, and night). To obtain the profile of the environmental variables during journey, data loggers, that determined the microclimate to which birds were submitted, were installed in the trucks; data loggers also allowed visualization of the Enthalpy Comfort Index (ECI) so that load regions could be classified according to heat comfort limits for 6-week old poultries. Temperature, relative humidity, and ECI in the truck were analyzed, using geostatistics, by the ordinary kriging method. The afternoon was the most critical period, and truck central and rear regions were most problematic for chickens, thus most susceptible to losses.

Sweet grape mini tomato grown in culture substrates and effluent with nutrient complementation

The objective of this study was to evaluate production of Sweet Grape mini tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.) using culture substrates and nutrient solution sewage effluent, applied by drip irrigation (fertigation). The experiment was conducted at the University of Goiás State (UEG-UnUCET), from June to November 2011 in Anápolis-GO, Brazil. The experimental design was a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement in a randomized complete block design with four repetitions. The plots were made by combining two nutrient solutions, effluent supplemented with mineral fertilizers (EcS); conventional nutrient solution (SnC); in addition three cultivation substrates: 60% of fine sand washed + 40% substrate composed by 20% coconut fiber plus 80% pine bark (S1); 20% coconut fiber and 80% pine bark (S2) and natural coconut fiber (S3). Sewage effluent were determined nitrate, calcium, potassium, manganese, total phosphate, total iron, magnesium, chloride, sulphate, boron, zinc and molybdenum. We evaluated average mass and average number of fruits per bunch, total fruit and total yield per plant. Statistical difference absence among tested solutions indicates sewage effluent can be used as an alternative source of nutrients in growing mini tomatoes in hydroponics.

Effect of companion ion on nitrate displacement through transport parameters analysis

Nitrate is the main form of nitrogen associated with water contamination; the high mobility of this species in soil justifies the concern regarding nitrogen management in agricultural soils. Therefore, the objective of this research was to assess the effect of companion cation on nitrate displacement, by analyzing nitrate transport parameters through Breakthrough Curves (BTCs) and their settings made by numerical model (STANMOD). The experiment was carried out in the Soil and Water Quality Laboratory of the Department of Biosystems Engineering, "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture in Piracicaba (SP), Brazil. It was performed using saturated soil columns in steady-state flow condition, in which two different sources of inorganic nitrate Ca(NO3)2 and NH4NO3 were applied at a concentration of 50 mg L-1 NO3-. Each column was filled with either a Red-Yellow Oxisol (S1) or an Alfisol (S2). Results are indicative that the companion ion had no effect on nitrate displacement. However, nitrate transport was influenced by soil texture, particle aggregation, solution speed in soil and organic matter presence. Nitrate mobility was higher in the Alfisol (S2).

Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment : Prosperity, competitiveness, sustainable development

Broschure of Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.