daniel e. campbell, phd. systems ecologist institute of geography, henan academy, zhengzhou, china...
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Daniel E. Campbell, PhD.
Systems Ecologist
Institute of Geography, Henan Academy, Zhengzhou, China
July 1, 2010
An Introduction to Energy Systems Theory, Emergy Analysis,
Environmental Accounting, and Ecosystem Modeling
Outline of the Presentation
• I. Introduction • II. Energy Systems Theory
II A. The Energy Systems Language II B. Common Patterns in Nature
• III. Emergy and Transformity• IV. Emergy Analysis• V. Energy Systems Modeling• VI. Environmental Accounting• VII. The Future of Emergy Research
I. The Odum Brothers
H.T. Odum teaching students about forest ecosystems
两 个男人 创 这个 概念
哥哥
弟弟
A Famous Father
• Father, Howard Washington Odum (1884-1954), was a famous sociologist, who thought in terms of systems.
• He realized that a physical basis was needed to understand society and social organization.
• Sons, Eugene P. (1913-2002) and Howard T. (1924-2002) were pointed toward this task for their lifework by their father.
他们 闻名 的 父亲 - Howard Washington Odum - 给了他们 最好 的生 命 帮助 社会 .
The Fathers of Systems Ecology
• In 1953, Eugene wrote the first book on the principles of ecology from a top-down systems perspective in collaboration with H.T.
• H.T. wrote the chapter on energy that was included in that book.
The Brothers Life Work
• H.T. was the younger brother but he was the more original thinker. He has been called the great innovator.
• Eugene was a great synthesizer. He was able to express his brother’s complex ideas and his own in simple terms. He has been called the great communicator.
• They were awarded many prizes and honors together including the Prix de L'Institut de la Vie and the Crafoord Prize.
• I am a student of H.T. Odum and I studied with him for 26 years.
Quote from “Energy Basis for Man and Nature”
• “Everything is based on energy. Energy is the source and control of all things, all value, and all the actions of human beings and nature. This simple truth long known to scientists and engineers, has generally been omitted from most education in this century.”
• H.T. and E.C. Odum (1976)
H.T. and Betty Odum (Alaska 2000)
H.T. Odum’s Unique Insight
• An integrated and comprehensive understanding of all phenomena can be achieved through a systematic consideration of the laws and principles governing the creation and use of available energy, i.e., energy with the capacity to do work.
• From this insight he and his colleagues developed a comprehensive accounting system for man and nature.
II. Energy Systems Theory (EST)
• Perhaps, H.T. Odum’s greatest contribution to science was to bring together a set of unifying concepts within EST to consolidate our understanding of all kinds of systems.
• Knowledge from general systems theory, irreversible thermodynamics and ecology were synthesized to create EST, which was applied to better understand all natural phenomena
What EST Seeks to Accomplish
• Unification of all systems through the expansion of equilibrium thermodynamic principles to include principles that explain nonequilibrium phenomena.
• This is thermodynamics (sensu lato).
Thermodynamic Laws (sensu lato)1st law Energy is neither created or destroyed. Being. What is.
2nd law Available energy is degraded in any real transformation process, increasing entropy.
Becoming. What happens.
3rd law No molecular motion at 0°K. The baseline for order.
4th law Network designs that maximize empower prevail in competition.
Decision criteria. Why something happens.
5th law or
Corollary of 4th law
Energy flows of the universe are organized into energy transformation hierarchies.
Transformity indicates position and action within the hierarchy.
6th law or
Corollary of 4th law
Material cycles are organized hierarchically, because of their necessary coupling with energy.
Specific emergy indicates position and action in the hierarchy.
7th law or
Corollary of 4th law
Money flows are organized hierarchically, because of their coupling as a countercurrent to energy transformation.
Money flow indicates hierarchical position with
$ , $/J, sej/$ , $/sej
The Human Condition
• We are embedded in a universe that is organized in a hierarchical fashion in space and time.
• Being within and a part of this complex network, we see so many details that it is easy to become bewildered.
• In this situation the ability to create models is a necessary survival skill.
Gödels Theorem
• No system can understand itself because more system components are required to analyze and understand than to simply function.
• People create models to understand the structure and function of the complex world in which we are embedded even though we can not perceive this world all at once.
II. A Energy Systems Language (ESL)
• The primary tool that Dr. Odum developed to better represent and understand complex natural phenomena from an energy perspective was the Energy Systems Language.
ESL continued
• Language was developed to combine kinetics, energetics, and economics.
• ESL does mathematics symbolically and at the same time keeps track of the energy laws.
• The ESL diagrams are really a form of mathematics that extend the capacity of the mind to see wholes and parts simultaneously.
• ESL is useful for teaching, research, and comparison of systems languages.
Energy Systems Language Symbols
• The symbols of ESL are used to trace causality and show interrelationships in networks of energy pathways, storages and interactions.
• Each symbol is mathematically defined thus the diagram when drawn specifies a set of simultaneous 1st order differential equations to be solved.
• ESL is a meta-language, therefore all models in other languages can be translated into ESL, since the phenomena that they represent must have an energy basis.
Energy circuit A pathway whose f low is proportional to the storage or source upstream.
Source A forcing function or outside source of energy delivering forces according to a program controlled from outside.
Tank A compartment or state variable within the system storing a quantity as the balance of inflows and outflows.
Heat sink Dispersion of potential energy into heat accompanies all real transformation processes and storages. This energy is no longer usable by the system.
Interaction Interactive intersection of two pathways coupled to produce an outflow in proportion to a function of both; a work gate.
Consumer An autocatalytic unit that transforms energy, stores it and feeds it back to improve inflow.
Producer Unit that collects and transforms low-quality energy under the control of high quality flows.
Box Miscellaneous symbol to use for whatever unit or function is needed.
Switching Action A symbol that indicates one or more switching actions controlled by a logic program.
Primary symbols used in the Energy Systems Language.
Application of the Energy Laws in ESL
• Every energy systems model must have an evaluated 1st law diagram that insures conservation of energy and matter.
• Every ESL model disperses heat from work gates and storages through the heat sink satisfying the 2nd law.
• ESL models are used to look for design principles that follow from the maximum power principle (4th law).
ESL Modeling:Features of an ESL Model
• System boundaries• Outside energy sources or forcing
functions• Internal components or state variables• Outflows across the boundaries, e.g.,
exports, or the heat sink.• Outside sources and inside storages
interact through work gates to generate fluxes of matter and energy within the system.
EnergySource E1
EnergySource E 2
EnergySource E3
Structure Q7
process p11
Structure Q6
Structure Q3
process
p7
Structure Q4
process
p9
Structure Q5
process p6
process p12
process p10
process p8
Structure Q2
process p3
process p4
Structure Q1
process p1
process p2
process
p5
JR
J1
J2
J4
J5
J6
J8 J7
J9
J10
J11
J14J17
J16
J15
J12
J13
J18
J19
J21J20 J23
J22
J25
J24
J27
J28
J29
J30
J31
J32
J33
J26
J34
J35
J36
J37process p13
Figure 7. Campbell, An Energy Systems...
A Generic Energy Systems Model Showing Main Features.
II B. The Unity of All Systems
• Everything is connected within one universal system.
• A window of attention in space and time simplifies this complexity.
• Common patterns are created by the transformation of available energy governed by the 4th law of thermodynamics.
Common Patterns
• Storage of energy and material.
• Energy transformations.
• Feedback reinforcement.
• Circulation of materials.
• Hierarchical organization.
• Self-organization for maximum power.
The Energy Systems Approach
• The existence of common designs and similar patterns is a starting point for modeling using Energy Systems Theory.
• The transformation of energy underlies action and organization at every scale.
• Hierarchical design occurs on all scales.
• It has distinctive properties that help us understand systems.
Environmental Policy Window
Hierarchy of Systems Organization
A Common Design on all Scales
• As potential energy flows from source to sink self-organization for maximum power generates stored potential energy that is more organized than its background.
• This difference constitutes a low entropy source of available energy that can feedback special work.
• Materials cycle between the ordered and disordered parts of the system.
Strong source of potential
energyWorkTrans-formation
Stored Potential Energy
Positive
feedbac
k
Used energy
Heatdispersal
Diffusion
Dispersed energy
Weak sourceof potentialenergy
Autocatalytic designs develop when enough potential energy is available. A positive feedback, PF, from storage to a work gate that further stimulates energy inflow maximizes power in a system.
Weak energy sources degrade without developing
positive feedback loops.
Positive feedback is a widespread design principle in nature.
PF
Nature’s Pulsing Paradigm
• The pulsing paradigm replaces the old concept of growth followed by steady state.
• Systems with coupled pairs of components can oscillate.
• Such pairs are found on all hierarchical levels of organization.
• Pulsing pairs contain one component, the accumulator, that slowly builds up resources and a second component, the frensor, that rapidly consumes the accumulated resources.
EnergyE= 5 X
X
Material, MTM = 200
Resources R = 2
Consumers C =2
k1
0.02
0.01
k3
0.0003
k4
0.2k5
0.005
k2
3E-4
k6
2.5E-5
k7
Design of a Pulsing System
Accumulator
Frenzor
Energy10000ST = 1
10000
1000
10000
100
10010000
10000
10000
Accumulated Resource
Resource Consumption
DispersedMaterial
Energy1000ST =1
1000
100
1000
10
10 1000
1000
1000
Accumulated Resource
ResourceConsumption
DispersedMaterial
Energy100000ST = 1
100000
10000
100000
1000
1000100000
100000
100000
Accumulated Resource
ResourceConsumption
DispersedMaterial
0
4
8
12
16
20
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200
Time
Em
erg
y, s
ej
Accumulated ResourceResouce Consumption
A
B
C D
Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
0
4
8
12
16
20
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200
Time
Em
erg
y, s
ej
Accumulated ResourceResouce Consumption
0
4
8
12
16
20
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200
Tim e
Em
erg
y, s
ej
Accumulated Resource
Resouce Consumption
Pulsing on nested levels of hierarchical organization.
III. Emergy and Transformity
• The concepts of emergy and transformity can be derived by considering the transformations of energy in a hierarchical network.
• The position of an energy storage or flow within the network determines its transformity and the kind of work that it can do when used.
SolarEnergy
106
104 103 102 10
Joules per time
Transformity =106
104= 102
Solar Joules per time
103 104 105
SpatialHierarchy
Hierarchical Design is a corollary of the maximum power principle.
Definition of Emergy• Emergy is all the available energy of
one kind previously used up both directly and indirectly in making a product or service.
• Emergy has units of emjoules to connote energy used in the past.
• A quantity of emergy is always tied to an underlying quantity of available energy flowing through or stored in the system.
Transformity
• Solar Transformity is the solar emergy required to make one joule of available energy of a product or service.
• It increases with each successive transformation in the network.
• Transformity has units of sej/J.• The transformity of a item is its emergy
divided by its available energy. • Emergy(sej) = Available Energy (J) x
Transformity(sej/J)
Maximum Power Design
• System designs that maximize empower prevail in competition.
• Nature’s ubiquitous patterns are the result of such designs.
• Pulsating systems at all scales may be one such design.
IV. Emergy Analysis
• Emergy as a Basis for Systems Analysis Emergy Evaluation is required for both
analysis and synthesis Emergy Analysis, starts with the whole
and examines the functions of the whole and its parts
Emergy Synthesis starts with the parts and integrates them into a functional whole.
Both approaches are methods used in Emergy research.
Emergy Analysis Method
• Construct Model Diagram• Collect Necessary Information• Evaluate Model• Calculation of Indicators• Formation of Indices• Interpretation of results within the
framework of Energy Systems Theory.
Two Major Classes of Emergy Analyses
• Analysis of whole systems like a state, province, nation or region. Also subsystems such as agriculture, urban systems etc. fall in this class.
• Analysis of production processes, like steel making, rice growing, aquaculture, etc.
Additional Emergy Methods• Development of Indices• Comparison of Alternatives, i.e., determine
the affect of incremental or marginal changes on system empower or other output that result from alternative designs or policies.
• Emergy matching in development and production processes
• Evaluate the effects of trade in terms of the emergy exchange
• Evaluate the effects of alternative policies on multiple levels of hierarchical organization.
MY
N01=DB Y
Large EcosystemZ
AnimalResources
YN
Wetland Reserve
MudN02=OM
PeatN1=P
RainTide
Waves Plant ResourcesB
ReserveInfrastructure
DonorsVisitors
MD+MV
YM Market
FC
FEF ¥
Government
MG
ServicesGoods
R
MY
MD+MV
YMD+YMV
Conservation Value, CV = Q+YN =P+B +OM +YN
SSR =(YM+YMD+YMV)/F =(MY+MD+MV)(Em/$)/(FC+FE)
ECR = CV/Fc
EBR =(CV+Y)/FEBE =(CV+YM+YMD+YMV)/(CV+Y)
EISD = EBR×EBE/ELRMY -- the money received for economic services and products; MD -- the money contributed by private donors for conservation;MV -- the entrance fees paid by visitors; YMD -- the emergy purchased with money contributed by private donors;YMV -- the emergy purchased with money from visitors;YMG -- the emergy purchasing power of the money contributed by government to support
the reserve;FC --the emergy purchased to support conservation, which is equal to YMD+YMV +YMG;FE --the emergy purchased to support economic production.
Emergy Analysis: Normalizing the
Phenomenal Universe• Emergy can be used to express all
phenomena on a common basis so that values are directly comparable.
• This is true if (1) the transformation of energy underlies all phenomena and
• (2) if the energy previously used up directly and indirectly to make an item can be accounted for as energy of one kind (e.g., solar emjoules).
Emergy Evaluation of Cobscook Bay Ecosystem
Eastport
4m Tidal Range
Lubec
Pembroke
High VelocityChannels
Cobscook Bay: Overview
• A macrotidal ecosystem that is naturally eutrophic due to new nitrogen supplied from the sea.
• Plant production is stabilized by benthic macrofauna grazing.
• Phytoplankton production is light limited.
• Fuciods, kelp, red algae and benthic diatoms are best adapted to utilize the energy signature of the Bay.
Low Tide
High Tide
Cobscook Bay : Forcing Functions
Fog High Nutrients and Green Algae
Salmon Aquaculture
Freshwater Streams
System Components
Starfish of unusual sizeEagles
Herring Weir 19th century sardine factory
Phytoplankton
P 0.22 gC m-2
MacroalgaeMA1239 gC m-2
EelgrassEG 15.2 gC m-2
BenthicMicroalgae
BM 2.1 gCm-2
SolarRadiation
J m-2 d-1
3.74E4
JI
JR
3.64E3
Nitrogen NR
0.08 gN m-2
m3 m-2 d-1
CobscookWatershed Runoff
gN m-2 d-1Atmosphere
m3 m-2 d-1
TidalExchange
0.052 gN m-3
NTPT
0.03 gC m-3 0.004 gC m-3
ZTSalmon
AquacultureNitrogen
gN m-2 d-1
Nitrogen0.78 gN m-2
NX
JN
0.007
JNA0.01
JW
0.018
JNP0.002
DT
JT
0.067J33 0.021
Bird and FishMigration Program
Fish
ShorebirdsShorebirds
Eagles
Detritus
BacteriaMB
JFI
JFE
0.065
0.061
JBI
JBE
3.47E-6
3.51E-6
Zooplankton
0.006 gC m-2
Z
D
B
E
5.2 gC m-2
BenthicMacrofauna
M
12 gC m-2
FishF
8.3 gC m-2
0.002 gC m-2
SealsS
0.064 gC m-2
6.4E-5 gC m-2
CommercialFishing
X
J2
J1
J3
J4
0.27
4.28
0.35
0.95
J5 J6
J7
J8
0.0450.32
0.013
0.16
J9
0.0012
J10
J11
J12
J13
J14
0.16
0.19
0.35
0.32
0.36
J15
J16
J17
J18J19
J20
J21
J22
J23
0.470.19
0.09
0.350.09
0.33
4E-4
0.17
5E-4
J36
J25
J34 0.067 J35 -7E-4
J240.0035
J38
J37
8.5E-5
0.0068
3.7E-6
6.4E-7
J26
0.017
J27
0.031
J281.1E-4
J29
8E-5
J30
6E-8
J32
7E-5
J310.017
Cobscook Bay Ecosystem
Phytoplankton
Kelp
Fucoids
Green
Red
Eelgrass
BenthicMicroalgae
Sunlight
Zooplankton
Fish
Detritus
Seals
Eagles
Macrofauna
Shorebirds
X
CommercialFishing
Shorebirds
Fish
Other Areas
Cobscook Bay Ecosystem
Bacteria
Waves
2.35E20 sej y-1
River
1.45E20 sej y-1
7.12 374
Tide
3.74E20 sej y-1
Seawater(nitrogen)
7.47E19 sej y-1
Emergy E18 sej y-1Energy E12 J y-1
235
145
7830
2900
0.015
636 369
400 816
18.36.8
46.265.1
26270.7
15.1 32.4
9.913.2
258 150
375
219241 492
5.9
3.4
157 321
6.1 16.6
0.7 1.8
63.6
237
7.1 26
58.6
41.4 6.5 4.6
13.6
29.4
1.5 3.2
11.9
9.1
1.31
332
604
0.95
0.27
4.9
1.4
618 210
0.42
0.22
448 233
8.8
4.6
0.0008
0.006
24.6
3.8
0.6
0.09423
66.1
0.020.006
0.4
0.11
24.6
2.4
0.004
0.028
160 83.1
172
312
15400
67.8 123
X
Salmon culture(nitrogen)
1.38E18 sej y-1
Land Runoff(nitrogen)
9.31E17 sej y-1
Atmosphere(nitrogen)
2.71E17 sej y-1
0.0031.38
0.93 0.002
0.27
0.0006
81.3 148
5.15E17 sej y-1
Emergy Analysis of the Ecosystem Network
• Energy and Emergy Signatures
• The Physical Basis for Biological Productivity.
• Comparison to Other Systems.
Energy Signature for Cobscook Bay
1.00E+10
1.00E+11
1.00E+12
1.00E+13
1.00E+14
1.00E+15
1.00E+16
1.00E+17
1.00E+18
Sunlig
ht
Wind
Rain, ch
emical
Tide
Estuar
y wav
es
Geolog
ic up
lift
Ground
water
, che
m.
River,
chem
ical
River,
orga
nic m
atter
Seawat
er, n
itroge
n
Energy Sources
Ene
rgy
sej y
-1
Emergy Signature for Cobscook Bay
1.00E+16
1.00E+17
1.00E+18
1.00E+19
1.00E+20
1.00E+21
Sunlight
Win
d
Rain, c
hemic
alTid
e
Estuar
y w
aves
Geolog
ic u
plift
Ground
Wat
er, chem
ical
River,
chemic
al
River,
organ
ic m
atter
Seawate
r, ni
troge
n
Salmon, n
itroge
n
River,
nitroge
n
Atmosp
here, n
itrogen
Energy Sources
Em
ergy
sej
y -1
Analysis of Transformities
• The most efficient primary producers have transformities of 105 sej J-1
compared to 104 sej J-1 in other estuaries.
• This difference is carried through into the grazing and detritus food chains,
• But disappears by the time energy transfer reaches the top carnivores.
Transformities of Primary Producers
• Brown algae (fucoids and kelp), red algae, and benthic diatoms are most effectively using the emergy of the Bay’s resources.
• Phytoplankton has a higher than expected transformity and is much less efficient probably because of light limitation.
Comparative Empower Density
Estuary Empower Density Source
sej m-2 X 109
Cobscook Bay, ME 7375 This Study
Newnan's Lake, FL 3488 Brown and Bardi (2001)
Estuary in B.C. 2300 Odum (2000)
York River, VA 1600 Campbell (2000a)
Lake Okeechobee, FL
1114 Brown and Bardi (2001)
Mosquito Lagoon, FL 144 Campbell (2000a)
Prince William Sound, AK
100 Brown et al. (1993)
Empower Density and Human Use
• Empower density in Cobscook Bay is equivalent to that required for intensive Tilapia culture in Mexico.
• It is 3 times the minimum estimate for salmon culture made by Odum (2000).
• Salmon aquaculture may be a good human use of the Bay’s rich emergy signature.
Evidence of Human Impact
• Alteration of water column chemical constituents during dragging.
• Increased suspended sediment during dragging.
• Degradation and enrichment of benthic communities below salmon pens.
• Repeated overfishing of abundant shellfish populations.
• Long term loss of benthic biodiversity (Trott 2004)
Conclusion (Evaluation)
• Cobscook Bay is a macrotidal ecosystem that is naturally eutrophic due to new nitrogen supplied from the sea through tidal exchange.
• Plant production is stabilized by benthic macrofauna grazing.
• Phytoplankton production is light limited.
• Fuciods, kelp, red algae and benthic diatoms are best adapted to utilize the energy signature of the Bay.
Low Tide
High Tide
Conclusions (Emergy Analysis)• Emergy Analysis indicated that
primary producers are unable to use the estuary’s emergy sources as efficiently as in other estuaries.
• The additional emergy goes into creating rare physical, geological, and biological structures.
• Energy transfer indicates that the system appears to be productive and healthy overall.
• But not without local disturbance in space and time.
Reversing Falls
“Old Sow”Fog and hard bottom
Giant fauna
V. Energy Systems Modeling
• First have the system in mind, consider system energetics and kinetics and then write the equations.
• The appropriate mathematics comes out of a gestalt or unified overview of the system and not vice versa.
• All symbols have precise mathematical definitions. Thus each diagram gives a starting point for specifying equations.
WordModels
Mathematics
Equations
Energy Diagram
Model Making
A network diagram representation of a system contains more information than the differential equation representation.
ESL Models and Equations
• Many different system configurations can generate equations with similar behavior.
• Diagramming shows that these different configurations are distinct systems when translated into mathematical form without manipulating terms.
• Traditional use of equations implies free manipulation to get analytic characteristics, therefore, as generally used an equation does not necessarily clearly define a systems characteristics.
• A set of state, loop, or node equations do not uniquely determine an energy systems network, but only an equivalence class of dynamically similar networks.
ScientificIntuition
WordModels
What makes a good ESL modeler?The art of modeling is in observing and interpreting the world.
Force-Flow Filter
Part VI: Environmental Accounting Using Emergy
• Environmental debt.• What is emergy?• Environmental accounting using
emergy.• Emergy Income Statement and
Balance Sheet.• Determining the true solvency of our
enterprises.
Environmental Accounting Using Emergy
• Provides a powerful alternative value system that gives an objective measure of ecological and economic costs and benefits.
• Allows for comprehensive income statements and balance sheets for the ecological, economic and social aspects of human systems.
• By documenting environmental liabilities, it allows us to determine the true solvency of human enterprise.
Sustainability: Going Beyond Indicators
• To illustrate the application of environmental accounting methods to the problem of sustainable development, we will consider the concept of society’s debt to the environment and how it can be measured using emergy methods.
Humans Need
• Both economic prosperity and a healthy environment.
One Life-Support System
• Environment, economy, and society are organized into a single interconnected system.
• Today human activities threaten this system.
EconomyEconomyEnvironmentEnvironment
Economic Growth and Environmental Quality
• The trade-off between economic growth and environmental quality is illustrated by the following Energy Systems diagram and numbered chain of events.
Henan Province
X X XEconomy
Environment
-X X
Groundwater,soil, clean air,timber, etc.
Minerals, etc.
RenewableEnergies
Fossil fuel,Minerals
Markets
Goods &Services
GSP $
(1)
(2)
The Conflict Between Economic Growth and Environmental Quality
(3)
(4)
Nature’s Work
Environmental Debt• Money is paid only to
people for their work.• The environment
contributes work to economic production without payment.
• Anything taken without payment is obtained on credit and becomes a liability on the balance sheet.
Business Analogy
• A business cannot continue for long, if it cannot pay its debts.
• Natural systems cannot continue, if we borrow their assets at a rate greater than they are renewed.
Assets and Liabilities
• Assets: economic resources, cash, land, products
• Liabilities: economic obligations, debts
• Solvency: the capacity to pay our debts (Assets >Liabilities).
• True solvency depends on our ability to pay both monetary and environmental debt.
The Problem
• Economic activities use resources and damage the environment accumulating debt.
• Outstanding debts must be serviced for both economic and environmental systems to be sustainable.
• We don’t have a currency that measures these debts in a fair way.
Two Questions
• At this point, two questions come to mind.
• Should society acknowledge its debts to the environment?
• If we choose to do so, how will environmental debt be measured?
Do We Need to Acknowledge These Debts?
• If ecological systems are carrying debt for economic systems, will economic systems be solvent in the long run?
Ecol
ogic
al
Syst
ems
“Vivantary” Responsibility
• Society recognizes human responsibility for the welfare of economic and social institutions.
• Today recognition of a similar responsibility for the environment is needed.
• Vivantary = Fiduciary
Measuring the Debt
• Environmental debt is mostly external to the market system, thus it is not easily measured by money.
• Value can be measured by what was required to produce an item as well as by what someone is willing to pay for it.
• Environmental work can be measured by the former method.
Available energy is a common denominator
• All action is accompanied by the transformation of available energy or exergy.
• The exergy used in the past to create an item is a measure of what was required to produce it.
• But exergies of different kinds have different ability to do work when used in a network.
EmergyThis pictographic equation illustrates the emergy calculation for a hypothetical production process to make a quantity of bread carried out using only two inputs the Gibbs free energy of the rain and the available energy of the oil used in growing, harvesting, transporting, milling, baking, etc.
= +X X=
Joules Joules
Bread
Joules
Rain OilEmergy of Bread
Solar emjoules
Solaremjoules
Joule of rain
Solaremjoules
Joule of oil
= +X X=
Joules Joules
Bread
Joules
Rain OilEmergy of Bread
Solar emjoules
Solaremjoules
Joule of rain
Solaremjoules
Joule of oil
What is Emergy?• It is the Energy Memory of
everything that has been used to make a product or service.
• It is a scientific expression of the folk idea of energy.
• More energy = a barn instead of a shed and when the barn is built the energy is used up.
Emergy to money ratio
• Monetary and emergy accounts are reconciled on the balance sheet using a combined emergy-money measure,e.g., the emdollar.
• The emdollar value of an item is its emergy divided by the emergy-to-money ratio for an economy in a given year.Emergy to money ratio
Environmental Accounting Tools
• Emergy accounting makes it possible to keep a single set of books for the environment and the economy.
• And to create a balance sheet that includes environmental liabilities from which the true solvency of our economic activities can be determined.
Monetary Ledger
1575015750
2000020000
CreditDebit CreditDebitCreditDebit
Owner’s Equity
Extraction damage (Em$)
Liabilities +
Accounts payable ($),
Extraction damage (Em$)
Assets =
Coal purchased increases assets
Emergy Ledger
1.05E18
1.56E161.56E161.05E18
CreditDebit CreditDebitCreditDebit
Emergy EquityEmergy of Liabilities +
Extraction damage is an environmental liability
Emergy of Assets =
Coal purchased
Coal used
Emergy Balance Sheet
The emergy balance sheet gives direct information on what is sustainable.
Emergy Balance Sheet
46181563410Total Liabilities + Equity
44775546010Total Equity
44695545278VariousVar.Natural Capital7
607321.22E12 (1997)
$6.0E10Paid in Capital6
Public and Private Equity
142617400Avg. 1.0E5J1.25E19Extraction Damage5
Liabilities
46181563410Total Assets
3153837VariousInd.1816000Knowledge of the People
3
4562655664039200J1.42E21Coal2
240293328200J1.04E19Forest biomass1
Assets
Emdollars
X E9 Em$
Emergy
X E20 sej
Emergy/Unit
sej/unit
UnitDataDescriptionNote
What is Sustainable?
• Renewable resource use and degradation can not exceed renewable resource production.
• If use exceeds production a credit is given to the environmental liability account.
• Lost production accumulates as interest on the debt.
• A reasonable payment schedule must be established.
• Repayment debits the liability account.
The Upshot
• To date almost all use and degradation of renewable resources to support economic production has been done using credit.
• This practice has put our future prosperity and our way of life at risk.
The Future
• The environment and people are our most precious resources.
• To preserve the environment and to promote the well being of the people should be our foremost task.
• Environmental accounting using emergy can help ensure the solvency businesses, institutions, and nations.
VII. The Future of Emergy Research
• The development of comprehensive, verifiable environmental accounting and analysis methods using emergy is the best way to guide the development and operation of human systems toward a prosperous and sustainable world.
• Economics alone is not sufficient.• The Chinese people have the historical tradition and mind power
to help us move toward this goal. • Many studies have been done; however, we need more good
quality studies in the future. • World leaders need to find the political will and courage to
consider the consequences of their decisions to the “real wealth” of their people.
• Healthy institutions have emergy balance sheets that account for debts to the environment, and society as well as to the economy and have determined the debt that they can carry and the payments that must be made to service their debt.
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