Assessment of economic and ecological carrying capacity of agricultural crops in Nicaragua

The relationships between, and usefulness of, three different analysis methods: (1) economic cost and return estimation (CAR), (2) ecological footprint (EF) and (3) emergy analysis (EA) in assessing economic viability, ecological carrying capacity and sustainability in tropical crop production was the focus for this study. The analyses were conducted on six agricultural crop production systems in Nicaragua: common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum L. Mill), cabbage (Brassica oleraceae L. var. capitata), maize (Zea mays L.), pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr.) and coffee (Coffea arabica L.). The economic indices studied were revenues and profitability. The ecological footprint indices were ecological footprint per hectare of crop (EF_crop), ecological footprint per 1000 USD revenues (EF_rev) and ecological footprint per gigacalorie of food energy produced (EF_Gcal). The emergy analysis indices used were emergy-based profitability (EA_prof) and emergy-based ecological footprint (EA_EF). The study indicated that cabbage and tomato were the most profitable crops, both in economic and emergy terms, and that coffee was the least profitable crop to grow. On the other hand, beans, coffee and maize were most sustainable when sustainability was measured as ecological carrying capacity, assessed by EF or emergy-based EF, while cabbage and tomato were the least sustainable. Moreover, maize turned out to be the crop with the lowest area demand per production of gigacalorie. Profitability assessed in economic terms or in relation to emergy use (EA_prof) or to ecological footprint showed similar patterns and gave the same rankings between the crops. However, profitability assessed by CAR was higher than when assessed by EA_prof, due to the fact that no environmental appropriation is included in the CAR. Area appropriation assessed with emergy or with ordinary ecological footprint also resulted in mainly the same rankings between the crops, while the actual size of the areas was at most 10 times larger when assessed in emergy than with plain ecological footprint. Our results add to the body of knowledge on the poor coherence between economic profitability and ecological sustainability. However, we argue that these evaluations may be used as methods for quantitatively assessing different production systems, leading to indices weighting together economic and environmental aspects that may be used to make decisions.     

Improved emergy indices for the evaluation of industrial systems incorporating waste management

Emergy analysis is able to account for ecosystems’ contribution to industrial activity. Accordingly, it is an ecologically conscious tool useful for assessing the environmental impact and sustainability of industrial systems. The emergy-based approach requires proper system boundary definitions and uses several standard indices. In this article some perspectives on the deficiencies of three standard emergy indicators - environmental loading ratio (ELR), emergy yield ratio (EYR) and emergy index of sustainability (EIS) - when applied to industrial systems involving waste management are put forward and suggestions for overcoming them given. In addition, in order to account for the impact of waste emissions on the environment, a simple impact amplification factor is proposed for inclusion in the improved emergy indicators. To demonstrate their usefulness and highlight their superiority over standard indices, the improved emergy indicators are used to evaluate the interaction between a commercial polyethylene production process incorporating waste management and its surrounding environment.     

Urbanization and Socioeconomic Metabolism in Taipei

The analysis of socioeconomic metabolism has largely been dominated by quantification of material flows on a mass basis. This neglects the energetic dimensions of the urban metabolism and makes analysis that integrates material and energy flows difficult. The present research applies Odum's emergy concept to integrate energy and material flows for the study of the socioeconomic metabolism of the Taipei area. We also take into consideration the urban sprawl in the Taipei area to study its relationship to the change of socioeconomic metabolism. We interpret SPOT satellite images from 1992 and 2002 to provide a deeper understanding of the whole urban system; results show that Taipei's urban areas increased in size during the past decades. Emergy-based indicators show decreasing empower densities (total emergy use per area) of undeveloped and agricultural areas, whereas the empower density of urban areas has increased, which signals a convergence of resource flows toward urban areas. Such an increase of empower density is mainly due to fossil fuel use and translates into increased environmental loading and decreased sustainability. An analysis of the relationship between urbanization and socioeconomic metabolism indicates that changes in land use affect the characteristics of socioeconomic metabolism in Taipei. The effects of urban sprawl on Taipei's urban sustainability are also discussed.     

Emergy analysis for the environmental sustainability of an inshore fish farming system

The emergy concept was used to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the rearing process of Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) in an inshore fish farming system in Gulf of La Spezia (Italy, Northwestern Mediterranean). Emergy is defined as the available energy of one kind previously used up directly and indirectly to make a product or service. The indices for the examined fish farm calculated from the emergy evaluation were compared with those of three other systems producing fishes: two intensive fish farming systems producing, respectively, salmons (Salmo salar) and tilapia (Tilapia mariae), the third system producing again S. aurata but in a semi-natural extensive manner. The emergy evaluation showed that the rearing of fishes in a sheltered area of Mediterranean Sea imposes a large stress on the environment. The greatest contributions to the emergy needed for production were due to fingerlings purchased and goods and services provided that are two external, non-renewable inputs to the system. The strong dependence of external contributions and the relative inability at exploiting local natural resources affect strongly the level of environmental sustainability of the productive process.     

基于能值分析的我国小水电生态影响研究

如何系统定量地评价小水电开发过程所引起的景观变化、河流局部断流等生态影响,是平息争议、进行合理规划与开发小水电前提之一。运用能值分析方法,以贵州省赤水市观音岩水电站为例,将小水电建设、运行的资源投入,以及河道中水流的时空改变所导致生态服务功能的损失纳入核算体系,对其生态影响进行综合定量评估。从2010年的实际结果来看,由于河流断流,导致水坝下游生态系统服务功能的能值损失为2.77×1018sej,占到了系统建设运行总投入的44.84%,其中重点保护鱼种在影响河段的生境破坏是最大的能值损失。若不考虑下游生态系统服务功能损失,系统的环境负载率为1.92,可持续性指标为1.22;而考虑下游生态影响之后,系统环境负载率增大至4.26,可持续性指标减小为0.34。研究表明,小水电的开发必须遵循适度开发、规划优先,保障河流最基本的生态需水底线,是协调小水电开发和河流健康矛盾、追求小水电持续发展的刚性要求。     

基于生态能量视角的我国小水电可持续性分析

我国的小水电开发经历了以解决农村地区用电短缺到当前以促进节能减排、清洁能源建设为目的的转变。运用生态能量分析的方法之一——能值分析方法,选取贵州省安龙县红岩二级水电站为案例,对其建设与运行的可持续性进行了系统分析,并与国内外大水电的相关指标进行了平行对比。结果表明:该水电站2010年电力产出的能值转换率为1.03×105sej/J,其可再生性比例为52.01%,在能值产出率、环境负载率和可持续能力等方面的表现均好于大水电。但其能值交换率为0.58,表明2010年水电上网价格偏低。小水电的不稳定运行也使其系统能值指标呈现波动变化,当实际发电量为设计发电量的50%时,水电的能值转换率接近于湄公河上大坝生产水电的能值转换率,可持续性指标的值从6.12急剧降到3.01。系统评估水电资源,作好流域小水电总体开发规划,保证小水电系统稳定运行是提高其可持续性的关键之一。     

Emergy analysis of cassava chips-suitable feedstock for fuel ethanol in China

The theory and indices of Odum's concept of emergy are explained. The environmental and economic inputs and sustainability of cassava chips production system are evaluated by emergy methodology. The emergy indices of cassava chips production system were calculated as follows: Tr (transformity) was 6.85E + 11 sej/kg, EYR (emergy yield ratio) was 1.11, ELR (environmental loading ratio) was 1.75, EIR (emergy investment ratio) was 9.33, and ESI (emergy sustainability indice) was 0.63. The emergy indices of four kinds of feedstock for fuel ethanol—corn, wheat, sugarcane, and cassava chips—were compared. Least solar energy was consumed when taking cassava chips as feedstock for fuel ethanol. According to the emergy indices, using cassava chips as the feedstock of fuel ethanol is helpful for sustainable development in China.     

两种典型养鸡模式的能值分析

畜禽养殖的有机化过程被认为是实现养殖业持续发展与保障食品安全的重要途径.运用能值分析方法对两种典型养鸡模式——家庭有机饲养和林地散养进行了系统分析,并结合Castellini等人对意大利所做的同类研究(工业规模化笼养和草地散养)进行了横向对比.结果表明,林地散养生产系统的能值产出率为1.11,与家庭有机饲养系统相近,而在环境负载率和可持续发展能力方面的表现,均差于家庭有机饲养生产系统,说明林地散养模式尽管通过提高系统生产空间,理论上接近畜禽养殖的有机化理念,但由于大量的禽舍建筑、医药及其饲料等方面的外部资源输入,反而使得系统的环境负载率提高,可持续性大大下降.与意大利的结果比较发现,我国两个养殖系统的社会经济成本高、对外部不可再生资源的依赖程度较高,有机化目标并没有很好的实现.因此,我国现有的有机化畜禽养殖方式和外部制度都有待进一步改进和创新.     

Specific emergy of cement and concrete: An energy-based appraisal of building materials and their transport

Use and production of building materials, such as cement and concrete, is a major cause of global ecological problems with special reference to the overexploitation of non-renewable natural resources due to high temperature production processes, fossil fuels combustion, extraction of raw materials and non-recycling. In this paper, an environmental accounting method was applied to the production of cement and concrete in order to evaluate its dependence on natural resources even non-renewable and heavily relied on external inflows. The main steps of the production process (1) cement production, (2) transport of materials and (3) concrete mixing, were assessed by the emergy analysis (spelled with an “m”). This was performed to measure the amount of environmental resource use in terms of equivalent solar energy, extending the energy hierarchy principle to building materials. The resulting unit emergy values of cement and concrete were compared with previous emergy assessments in order to highlight how emergy analysis is sensitive to local context and reference system's boundaries. An Emergy Investment Ratio (EIR) was assessed and presented as a synthetic indicator of sustainability. Results showed a high dependence of cement and concrete production on external resource flows. Furthermore, the high value of EIR suggested a weak competitive capacity due to a high sensitivity to external instabilities.     

西溪国家湿地公园生态经济效益能值分析

应用生态经济系统能值分析理论和方法,定量分析了西溪湿地公园建立前后生态经济系统的物流和能流,并通过建立新的能值指标从生态环境和经济角度评价了系统的可持续发展能力和产出效率,以期为湿地公园保护模式研究提供借鉴.研究结果表明,西溪湿地公园建立以后,每年能值总投入增加到原来的1.6倍,能值总产出是原来的1.9倍;能值总产出中经济收入减少,但环境产出大幅度增加,其中有机物质产出和生态系统服务能值产出分别是原来的1.5倍和2.3倍.能值指标分析结果表明,湿地公园建立以后系统净环境效益提高,可持续发展能力增强,经济产出率有所降低.研究结果证明,建立湿地公园增加经济投入,改善生态环境,并适当发展湿地旅游增加经济收入,保障系统反馈,能够提高系统可持续发展能力,是湿地资源保护与合理开发利用的有效模式.     

Emergy synthesis of a combined food and energy production system compared to a conventional wheat (Triticum aestivum) production system

It is a major challenge to produce food and energy sustainably for the ever increasing world population as today's conventional food production and energy needs are met by the fossil based resources, causing enormous environmental load. A novel, combined food and energy (CFE) agro-ecosystem, was designed for sustainable production of food, fodder and energy without chemical inputs (fertiliser, herbicide and fungicide). The objective was an emergy synthesis of the CFE system compared to a conventional wheat (Triticum aestivum) production system to assess resource use efficiency. The emergy indices, used to assess the environmental performance and sustainability, exhibited contrasting differences between the two production systems in terms of outputs (Y), total emergy use, solar transformity, relative use of local renewable resources, environmental loading ratio (ELR), emergy yield ratio (EYR) and emergy sustainability index (ESI). The Y in the CFE consisted of grain, straw, fodder and woodchip production of 4020, 3580, 6100 and 10,000 kg/ha/yr respectively whereas Y in the conventional wheat consisted of 7250 and 3770 kg grain and straw/ha/yr respectively. The Y in the CFE was 81% (2.80E+11 J/ha/yr) higher with 13.5 times (6.40E+03 seJ/J) lower solar transformity compared to the Y (1.54E+11 J/ha/yr) and solar transformity (8.63E+04 seJ/J) in the conventional wheat, exhibiting highly resource intensive production in conventional wheat. The local renewables constituted 19.2% and 2.6% of the total emergy input in the CFE and the conventional wheat respectively with a corresponding lower ELR (4.21) and 22.5% higher EYR (1.26) in CFE compared to conventional wheat. CFE was more reliant on local renewable emergy flows and compatible with the local environment with higher ESI (0.30) compared to conventional wheat (0.03), where 64.5% of the total emergy input constituted chemical inputs. The study demonstrated that the innovative agro-ecosystem, exemplified by CFE, is considerably less resource demanding and more amenable to sustainable production, whether defined in terms of outputs, solar transformity, relative use of local renewable resources, EYR, ELR or ESI.     

Emergy analysis of regional water ecological–economic system

The theoretical framework and methodology of a water ecological–economic system (WEES) assessment based on emergy synthesis are proposed in this paper. Through calculating ecological and economic inputs and outputs within and outside the complex system, this paper discusses the system's economic situation, water resources development and system sustainability based on a series of emergy indicators. Besides traditional indices, following the principle of system assessment, four new indices, water emergy ratio (WER), water emergy utilization ratio (WEUR), water emergy self-support ratio (WESR), and water emergy density (WED) are formulated to assess the state of water resources development quantitatively. Taking the Zhengzhou water ecological–economic system as a study area, through the comparison of the systematic indicators of Zhengzhou with those of the selected Chinese cities, the general status of the Zhengzhou water ecological–economic system in China is identified. The results also show that most indicators of Beijing are located at middle levels among the selected Chinese cities. In particular, the sustainability, expressed by the indicators emergy-based sustainability index (ESI) and water resources population carrying capacity (WPC) were 1.34 and 1.94 million, respectively, in Zhengzhou in 2005, which indicates that the Zhengzhou WEES is in heavy pressure of water resources and is located at low levels of sustainability.     

西部欠发达地区生态经济系统能值分析——以青海省海西蒙古族藏族自治州为例

青海省海西蒙古族藏族自治州（简称海西州）生态环境脆弱,快速发展的工业活动对当地生态环境造成严重破坏。海西州地处青藏高原东北部,是我国重要的生态安全屏障之一,在全国生态建设中处于特殊地位。能值分析法是一种基于热力学理论的环境核算方法。利用能值分析法对海西州生态经济系统运行现状进行评估;并应用能值指标评价海西州生态经济系统的可持续发展水平;通过对能值指标的时间序列分析揭示海西州生态经济系统的发展趋势,以期为海西州生态经济系统的可持续发展提供参考依据。研究结果表明,2016年支撑海西州生态经济系统运行的总能值投入量为6.69×10²⁴ sej,是2010年总能值投入量的1.94倍。在2010-2016年的7年内,不可更新资源的能值投入占当年总能值投入量的比例均超过90%,而可更新资源能值投入量与从系统外输入到海西州的能值量占比均较低。基于能值的指标分析显示：海西州的人均能值使用量、能值密度、能值货币比率、环境负载率分别从2010年的8.84×10¹⁸ sej/人、1.15×10¹³ sej/m²、3.05×10¹⁴ sej/US$、103.02增加到2016年的1.65×10¹⁹ sej/人、2.22×10¹³ sej/m²、9.12×10¹⁴ sej/US$、213.47;而相应的能值产出率、能值可持续发展指数则分别从2010年的2.66×10³和25.84降低到2016年的1.23×10³和5.74。研究结果表明虽然海西州经济得到发展、人民生活质量得到提高,而经济发展对当地不可再生资源依赖较大,给环境造成的压力不断增加。为从长远角度实现海西州的可持续发展,亟需转变经济发展方式,降低对不可更新能源的过度开发。此外,研究结果显示,海西州的能值交换率小于1,这说明研究时间范围内,海西州在对外贸易过程中处于不利地位,因此需增加单位产品的附加值以促进能值流的合理流动。     

基于能值理论的循环复合农业生态系统发展评价——以福建省福清星源循环农业产业示范基地为例

循环农业是当前农业可持续发展理念的具体运作模式。对能值分析方法优化,使其更适合循环复合生态系统的应用上进行优化,并以福建省福清星源循环农业产业示范基地为例验证,评价复合生态系统的可持续发展程度和经济效益。结果表明改进的能值分析方法对循环复合农业生态系统的可持续发展评价更科学,复合系统的可持续发展指数比单纯的生猪养殖提高23.44%—33.86%,在4种组合的循环模式中以"生猪养殖-沼气工程-有机肥生产-种植业"循环复合生态系统整体效益最佳,其可持续发展指数最高,环境负载率最低,净能值产出率仅略低于"生猪养殖-沼气工程-种植业"复合系统。     

Emergy-based indicators of regional environmental sustainability: A case study in Shanwei,Guangdong, China

Understanding which factors mainly affect the environmental sustainability of a Region is a very crucial concern for many Chinese planners and policy-makers. In this study, the emergy accounting method is applied to the production and consumption activities of the city of Shanwei, a seaside urban area in Guangdong region, China. The emergy method provides a comprehensive assessment of a system, by generating a consistent set of indicators capable to capture the dynamics of the system as a whole and its efficiency in converting resources into an economic product and welfare. At the same time, the approach is capable to provide details about a system's performance over time, its use of renewable versus nonrenewables sources, local versus imported, concentrated versus dispersed and finally labor intensive versus fuel intensive processes. The main local renewable and nonrenewable emergy flows supporting the investigated area were included in the accounting, together with the flows of imported energy, goods, machinery, labor and services. Coal plays a crucial role for electricity generation, industrial uses, but also gasoline and diesel for transport affect the overall sustainability to a non-negligible extent. An Emergy Sustainability Indicator (ESI) of the local economic and social system is calculated and compared with the average value of the Chinese economy, based on the assumption that a process or system is unsustainable if it contributes to lower the overall sustainability of the region or country. This is quantified by the requirement that always must be ESI_local ≧ ESI_country. Results confirm that the most crucial factor for this region sustainability is the use of coal as a non-renewable and imported energy source. The calculated emergy indicators translate into a set-aside buffer land demand capable to mitigate, dilute, and uptake the environmental impact of human-dominated activities. Unfortunately, such buffer land demand is much higher than the land actually available. As a result, both the ESI-based sustainability equation as well as the lack of support land make the city's production and consumption patterns unsustainable and call for different lifestyles and environmental policies.     

Emergy as a Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicator

Founded in thermodynamics and systems ecology, emergy evaluation is a method to associate a product with its dependencies on all upstream environmental and resource flows using a common unit of energy. Emergy is thus proposed as an indicator of aggregate resource use for life cycle assessment (LCA). An LCA of gold mining, based on an original life cycle inventory of a large gold mine in Peru, is used to demonstrate how emergy can be incorporated as an impact indicator into a process‐based LCA model. The results demonstrate the usefulness of emergy in the LCA context. The adaptation of emergy evaluation, traditionally performed outside of the LCA framework, requires changes to the conventional accounting rules and the incorporation of uncertainty estimations of the emergy conversion factors, or unit emergy values. At the same time, traditional LCA boundaries are extended to incorporate the environmental processes that provide for raw resources, including ores. The total environmental contribution to the product, doré, is dominated by mining and metallurgical processes and not the geological processes forming the gold ore. The measure of environmental contribution to 1 gram (g) of doré is 6.8E + 12 solar‐equivalent Joules (sej) and can be considered accurate within a factor of 2. These results are useful in assessing a process in light of available resources, which is essential to measuring long‐term sustainability. Comparisons are made between emergy and other measures of resource use, and recommendations are made for future incorporation of emergy into LCA that will result in greater consistency with existing life cycle inventory (LCI) databases and other LCA indicators.     

麻风果油为原料的生物柴油生产全过程能值分析

生物柴油作为石油的替代能源之一,已在我国开始了产业化应用。采用能值分析方法对以麻风果油为原料的生物柴油生产全过程,包括麻风树的种植、麻风果实的运输、麻风果油的榨取、果油酯化4个过程以及废水的处理进行了评价,从可更新资源、不可更新资源和购买资源入手构建了能值评价指标体系,并与大豆油为原料的生物柴油、小麦为原料的生物乙醇进行了比较。结果表明麻风果油生物柴油的能值转换率是1.67×1013sej/kg,能值产出率是1.85,环境负载率是6.84,可持续发展指数是0.271。比较得出,麻风果油能值转换率是大豆油的3倍,是生物乙醇的2倍;相同经济能值的投入,麻风果油能值产出率最高,但对环境的依赖程度也更强;可持续发展指数三者相差不大。原料的非食用性方面,与大豆生物柴油、生物乙醇相比,麻风果油有很大的优势,具有发展潜力。     

Emergy analysis of biogas production and electricity generation from small-scale agricultural digesters

An emergy analysis was performed to assess the relative sustainability and environmental impact of small-scale energy production using Taiwanese model plug-flow anaerobic digesters to treat livestock manure in Costa Rica. Emergy analysis quantifies all inputs to a system by converting them to solar energy equivalents, thus allowing for direct comparison of the diverse inputs of renewable energies, human labor and economic goods needed to construct and maintain anaerobic digestion systems. The digesters were located on the campus of EARTH University, Costa Rica, and the biogas was utilized to power a 40 kW generator that supplies electricity for farm operations. Separate emergy analyses were performed for the biogas production and the combination of biogas production and generation of electricity. Manure was the largest input in both analyses, accounting for 85.3% of the annual emergy input for biogas production and 66.9% for electricity generation from the biogas. The fraction of emergy inputs from renewable sources (ΦR) was 66% for biogas production and 52% for electricity generation from the biogas. The transformities of biogas and electricity generation from the biogas were 5.23E+04 sej/J and 1.01E+06 sej/J respectively. The emergy yield ratios (EYR) were 2.93 for biogas production and 2.07 for electricity generation indicating that these digesters efficiently match purchased resources and renewable energies to produce energy from livestock manure. The generation of electricity from the biogas resulted in a decrease in the emergy sustainability index (ESI) from 5.67 to 2.22 and an increase in the environmental loading ratio (ELR) from 0.52 to 0.93. Using a generator to convert the biogas to electricity does decrease the sustainability of the system, largely due to the high emergy value associated with the electrical generation equipment and machinery, but these results demonstrate that the production of biogas and the generation of electricity from Taiwanese model digesters in Costa Rica are environmentally sustainable processes that result in the production of energy that is largely dependent on renewable and recycled energies.     

Emergy-based indices and ratios to evaluate the sustainable use of resources

By means of a systemic analysis of the relationships among components of an ecosystem's web, the flows of energy and other resources converging to produce the output (biomass, biodiversity, assets, etc.) can be evaluated on a common basis, i.e. the content of solar equivalent energy (emergy). Indices and ratios based on the emergy flows can be calculated and used to evaluate the behaviour of the whole system. In this paper, one of these indices, the emergy yield ratio η (total yield emergy per unit of emergy invested) is evaluated and suggestions made to modify it to account for present and future environmental damages due to the use of a given resource. The meaning of this index, with and without the proposed modification, is stressed illustrating the long-term effects of environmental pollution as well as some key uncertainty factors that are very often not taken into account. Odum, 1993     

污水处理综合系统环境经济效益评估

污水处理、处理水处理和污泥处理是污水处理综合系统的3个基本单元.本文运用能值分析和新构建的能值指标评估了处理水回用与排放、污泥填埋与堆肥对系统整体性能的影响.该系统的价值包括环境收益和产品输出两方面.前者可通过污水处理前后的环境服务差值计算.由于系统内部物质和能量的转化数据难以获知,产品价值通过新提出的替代价值核算.结果表明： “污水处理+处理水回用+污泥填埋”的竞争力最高,“污水处理+处理水回用+蚯蚓堆肥”的可持续性能最高;处理水回用和蚯蚓堆肥均有助于提高系统可持续性;处理水回用与否应综合考虑处理水水质和当地条件;污泥蚯蚓堆肥的资源化效率还有待提高;改进的能值指标更适宜于污水处理综合系统效益评估.