The origins of the sustainability problem Flashcards
Economic activity takes place within , and is part of, the system which is the earth and its atmosphere. What do we call this system?
The environment
What does “the environment” contributes to the economy?
The environment serves as
* A “sink” for pollution
* A “source” of raw materials
* A provider of “amenities” and recreational goods
* More basically: A provider of “life-support” services ex breathable air, drinkable water, an environment fit for food production and so on
How can you draw the economic activity in the natural environment?
Boxes, where the natural environment encapsulates the economic activity. Energy is able to go in and out of the natural environment box.
How can you classify natural resources?
Stock resources
- renewable sources
- nonrenewable sources - energy and mineral resources
Flow resources
- wind, solar and wave power
Consider recycling. How does recycling substitute for environmental functions?
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The laws of thermodynamics?
- law: Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It can only be converted from one form (eg., chemical as in coal) to another (e.g., electricity)
Implication: There is always 100% energy conservation whatever people do.
- law: All energy conversions are in terms of available energy less than 100% efficient (e.g., not all of the energy in the coal becomes available as electricity).
Implication: All energy conversions are irreversible and all conversions of energy from one form to another are less than 100% efficient.
What is “entropy” a measure for?
Unavailable energy
What is the “materials balance principle”, also know as the law of conservation of mass:
Matter can neither be created nor destroyed.
Economic activity cannot, in a material sense, create anything. It involves transforming material extracted from the environment so that it is more valuable to humans.
All material extracted from the environment must, eventually, be returned to it, albeit in a transformed state.
What is the study of “Ecology”?
Ecology is the study of the distribution and abundance of plants and animals.
What is the ecosystem?
A fundamental concept: the ecosystem, an interacting set of plant and animal populations, together with their non-living environment.
What is included in the ecological footprint?
We think of is, as demand for something on the behalf of nature:
The something:
- Growing crops
- Grazing
- harvesting timber
- fishing
- space for locating human artefacts such as houses, factories, roads, etc.
- realeasing CO_2 from the fossil-fuel use.
What is the ecological footprint?
The ecological footprint is a measure designed to quantify the impact of human activities on the Earth’s ecosystems. It’s often used in ecological economics to evaluate sustainability.
Important: The footprints size will vary with technology as well as with levels and patterns of production and consumption.
What are some pros and cons with the measure of ecological footprint?
Pros
Holistic Assessment: The ecological footprint offers a comprehensive view of human demand on natural resources, encompassing factors like carbon emissions, agricultural land use, and deforestation. This broad perspective helps in understanding the overall impact on the environment.
Awareness and Education: It serves as an effective tool for raising awareness about environmental sustainability. By quantifying resource use, it can educate individuals, businesses, and policymakers about the impact of their actions.
Policy Formulation and Planning: Governments and organizations can use the ecological footprint to guide policy and planning. It helps in setting targets for reducing environmental impact and in monitoring progress towards sustainability goals.
Comparative Analysis: It allows for the comparison of different countries or regions, highlighting disparities in resource use and prompting discussions on equitable resource distribution and consumption patterns.
Cons
Methodological Limitations: The calculation of the ecological footprint involves assumptions and estimations, leading to potential inaccuracies. For instance, it might not fully account for technological advancements that increase resource efficiency.
Oversimplification: While offering a broad overview, it may oversimplify complex ecological interactions. This could lead to underestimating or overlooking important environmental factors, such as biodiversity loss or soil degradation.
Economic Focus: The measure tends to emphasize the economic aspects of resource use, potentially underrepresenting social and cultural dimensions of sustainability. This could lead to policies that are economically efficient but socially or culturally disruptive.
The drivers of environmental impact of economic activity can be looked at in terms of:
Extractions from and insertions into the environment.
In both cases, the immediate determinants of the total level of impact are:
- the size of the human population and
- the per capita impact
The per capita impact depends on:
- how much each individual consumes, and
- the technology of production
The IPAT?
I = P * A * T
A simple but useful way to think about what drives the economy´s impacts on the environment
I = Impact, measured as mass or volume of resource use or waste
P = population size
A = Per capita affluence (income), in currency units
T = technology, amount of ressource use or waste per unit of income
example:
Measure impact, I, in termes of mass of resource use. Use GDP for affluence (income). Then T is resource input per unit GDP. So here we do not look at waste.
then
I = P * GDP/P * (Resource Use)/GDP
GDP/P = A
(Resource Use)/GDP = T
