accounting for ecosystem services using emergy analysis ... wednesday/3... · accounting for...

Accounting for Ecosystem Services Using Emergy

Analysis: Florida Energy Crops (Sugarcane)

HENDRY COUNTY SUSTAINABLE

BIOFUELS CENTER

ACES and Ecosystem Markets 2012

© December 2012

Nana Yaw Amponsah

Intelligentsia International Inc.

Presentation Outline

1. Hendry County Sustainable Biofuels Center

2. Project Summary

3. Analysis Tools

4. Methodology

5. Results

6. Concluding Comments

2 ACES and Ecosystem Markets 2012

3

Hendry Co. Sustainable Biofuels Center

Demonstration Projects

- New Production Systems

Research

- Comparison Methodologies

- Economics

- Energetics (LCA, Emergy)

- Greenhouse Gas Balance

- Natural Resources Balance

- Compensation Mechanisms

- Sustainability

Biofuels Systems Evaluation

- Sustainability Indexing

- Technology & Farming Sys.

Workforce Development

- Secondary & College

Economic Development

- Assist Companies

- Attract Biofuels Investment

- Develop the Center

ACES and Ecosystem Markets 2012

ACES and Ecosystem Markets 2012 4

2. Project Summary

• Florida is being approached by businesses with

technologies that convert agronomic crops into

energy: Sugarcane, energycane, switchgrass,

sweet sorghum, etc.

• Florida has millions of acres of under utilized sand-

land.

• Focus on Sustainable Farming System (organic or

sandy)

• Preliminary Energetic Evaluations can help

interested parties in the decision-making process.


3. Analytical Tools

PROS

Pollutant emissions

Comprehensive database

Cradle to grave perspective

Life Cycle Assessment

CONS

Difficult to include services and

labor in the same dataset

Does not account for ecological inputs

Difficulties in evaluating water

depletion

Human oriented

PROS

Includes services and labor using the

same unit (SeJ)

Includes natural inputs

Eco-centric point of view

Emergy Analysis

CONS

Does not include emissions

Lack of comprehensive database

Lack of process detail



2. Project Summary

3. Analysis Tools

4. Methodology

5. Results




Emergy Analysis – Sugarcane Biomass


System Boundary Definition

System Components

(Farming system

breakdown)

Energy system

diagrams

Energy & Material

Flow Data

Emergy computations

Analysis

Materials and Methods

Mineral Soil 9 ACES and Ecosystem Markets 2012

Energy Systems Diagram

• Literature (EDIS,

Journals, Databases)

• Participatory observation

& experimentation

• Interviews with local

farmers


Energy and Material Flow data

Unit Solar Solar

Data EMERGY* EMERGY

Note Item Unit (units/yr) (sej/unit) (E13 sej/yr)

1 Sun J 6.35E+13 1 6

2 Rain J 6.18E+10 3.02E+04 187

3 Et J 5.48E+10 2.59E+04 142

4 Water (irrigation) l 9.63E+06 2.25E+05 0.2

5 Net Topsoil Loss J 6.33E+08 1.24E+05 8

150

Operational inputs

6 Fuel (diesel, gasoline, lubricants) J 1.99E+10 1.11E+05 221

7 Electricity J 0.00E+00 2.69E+05 0

8 Machinery g 5.54E+04 1.12E+10 62

9 Potash g K 1.78E+05 1.85E+09 33

10 Dolomite (Lime) g 2.24E+06 1.68E+09 377

11 Slag g 3.36E+06 6.01E+06 2.0

12 Pesticides (insecticides, herbicides) $ 2.32E+02 2.30E+12 53

13 Phosphate g P 1.32E+04 3.70E+10 49

14 Nitrogen g N 4.40E+04 4.05E+10 178

15 Micronutrients (Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn) g 2.24E+04 1.45E+10 33

16 Labor J 2.71E+08 4.45E+06 120

17 Services $ 5.19E+02 4.03E+12 209

Sum of purchased inputs 1337

Total Emergy 1487

RENEWABLE RESOURCES

NONRENEWABLE STORAGES

Sum of free inputs (sun, rain omitted)

PURCHASED INPUTS

Emergy Evaluation of Sugarcane on mineral soil, per ha per year

Emergy Evaluation Table



Sustainability Indicators

Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR):

• Non-renewable resources from the economy and from the

environment divided by the renewable Inputs.

• A lower value favors a higher sustainability process.

% Renewability (%R):

• Renewable Input divided by total emergy.

• Higher value, greater the sustainability of the production system

Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI):

• Ratio of the EYR to ELR. To be sustainable the process must obtain

the highest yield ratio (EYR) at the lowest ELR.

Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR):

• Total emergy divided by total economic inputs.

• The higher the value, the lower the system’s reliance on economic

investment and the higher its economic competitiveness



2. Project Summary

3. Analysis Tools

4. Methodology

5. Results



5. Results


Main Emergy Contributors

• Top soil loss – major contributor for organic soil.

• Fertilizers and Lime – significant for mineral soil.

Emergy Indices Organic soil

(2009) Mineral soil

(2008) Mineral soil

(2010)

Emergy Yield Ratio 2.00 1.11 1.11

Env. Loading Ratio 8 9 9

% Renewable 11% 9% 10%

Emergy Sustainability Index

0.26 0.12 0.13

• Organic soil sugarcane has

economic advantages

• Soil subsidence takes years

or forever to replenish…a

major non-renewability

concern.

• Fertilizers + Lime form

dominant inputs for Mineral

soil. 15

5. Results cont.

• Emergy - Holistic method:

Quantified in a single unit or currency

Renewable and non renewable resources

Accounts for ecosystem services

• Way Forward - Gradual Expansion of sugarcane production

on Mineral soils:

Recycling some nutrients to reduce costs and thus

energy inputs might be an option.

Continuous surface water run-off could be stored on

fields to reduce additional water use.

Fuel-driven pumps could be modified or replaced with

electric pumps to reduce fossil emissions to the

environment.

16

6. Concluding Remarks


Photo credit: Jose Alvarez, 2010, UF


Cane Burning prior to Harvesting

Photo credit: (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

December 18, 2008, in Clewiston, Florida.


Photo credit: Jose Alvarez, 2010, UF

20

Thanks for Listening…

[email protected]

accounting for ecosystem services using emergy analysis ... wednesday/3... · accounting for...

Documents