Emergy Evaluations of Denmark and Danish Agriculture

Emergy Evaluations of Denmark and Danish Agriculture

E K O L O G I S K T L A N T B R U K N R 3 7 • M A R S 2 0 0 3 EMERGY EVALUATIONS OF DENMARK AND DANISH AGRICULTURE Assessing the Limits of Agricultural Systems to Power Society Andrew C. Haden Centrum för uthålligt lantbruk Ekologiskt lantbruk – 37 Emergy Evaluations of Denmark and Danish Agriculture Assessing the Limits of Agricultural Systems to Power Society Based on the M.Sc. Thesis, by Andrew C. Haden, at the Department of Rural Development Studies (DRDS), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Supervisor: Dr. Torbjörn Rydberg, Department of Ecology and Crop Production Science, and the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CUL), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Centrum för uthålligt lantbruk SLU Box 7047 750 07 Uppsala Ecological Agriculture – 37 Centre for Sustainable Agriculture Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences S-750 07 Uppsala ISSN 1102-6758 ISRN SLU-EKBL-EL--37--SE ISBN 91-576-6254-1 Antal sidor: 104 Ämnesord/Key words: Agriculture; Denmark; Emergy; Empower; Energy analysis; Environmental loading; History; Sustainability; Thermodynamics. E K O L O G I S K T L A N T B R U K N R 3 7 • M A R S 2 0 0 3 EMERGY EVALUATIONS OF DENMARK AND DANISH AGRICULTURE Assessing the Limits of Agricultural Systems to Power Society Andrew C. Haden Centrum för uthålligt lantbruk CONTENT ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 PREFACE ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Agriculture, Ecosystems and Society ....................................................................................................... 5 1.1.1 Energy Use in Agriculture and Society ........................................................................................... 6 1.1.2 Relating Agricultural and Urban Systems...................................................................................... 8 1.2 Energy Analysis of Ecological - Economic Systems............................................................................... 8 1.2.1 Systems Analysis and Complexity .................................................................................................. 9 1.2.2 Resource Management Science ...................................................................................................... 10 1.2.3 Agricultural Science and Emergy Analysis ..................................................................................11 1.2.4 Global Emergy Flows ...................................................................................................................... 11 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Systems Concepts...................................................................................................................................... 13 2.1.1 Openness ........................................................................................................................................... 13 2.1.2 Thermodynamic Nonequilibrium ................................................................................................. 14 2.1.3 Self-Organization ............................................................................................................................. 15 2.1.4 Dissipation......................................................................................................................................... 16 2.1.5 Growth, Feedback and Autocatalysis ........................................................................................... 16 2.1.6 Nestedness......................................................................................................................................... 17 2.1.7 Teleological Mechanisms and Ecology ......................................................................................... 18 2.2 Systems Ecology and Emergy ................................................................................................................. 18 2.2.1 Origins of the Emergy Concept ...................................................................................................... 18 2.2.2 Emergy Theory of Value ................................................................................................................. 19 2.2.3 (Em)Power ......................................................................................................................................... 20 2.2.4 Energy Hierarchies........................................................................................................................... 20 2.2.5 Energy Quality .................................................................................................................................. 21 2.2.6 Transformity ..................................................................................................................................... 23 2.2.7 Emergy signatures............................................................................................................................ 23 2.2.8 Empower Density and the Energetic Hierarchy of Land-Use ................................................... 24 2.2.9 The Maximum Empower Principle ............................................................................................... 25 2.3 Sustainability ............................................................................................................................................. 26 2.3.1 Sustainability of What and for Whom? ......................................................................................... 26 2.3.2 Availability of Energy Resources ................................................................................................... 26 3. METHODS AND MATERIALS ...................................................................................................................... 28 3.1 Emergy Evaluation Procedure ................................................................................................................ 28 3.1.1 Energy systems diagram ................................................................................................................. 28 3.1.2 Emergy evaluation table ................................................................................................................. 28 3.1.3 Summary Diagrams ......................................................................................................................... 29 3.2 Emergy Indices and Ratios ...................................................................................................................... 30 3.2.1 Sustainability Indices ....................................................................................................................... 31 4. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ............................................................................................................................ 33 4.1 Emergy Evaluations of Denmark ........................................................................................................... 33 4.1.1 Description of the System ............................................................................................................... 33 4.1.2 Emergy Analysis of Denmark, 1936 .............................................................................................. 38 4.1.3 Emergy Analysis of Denmark, 1970 .............................................................................................. 41 1 4.1.4 Emergy Analysis of Denmark, 1999 .............................................................................................. 44 4.2 Emergy Evaluations of Danish Agriculture .......................................................................................... 47 4.2.1 Emergy Analysis of Danish Agriculture 1936 .............................................................................. 48 4.2.2 Emergy Analysis of Danish Agriculture 1970 .............................................................................. 50 4.2.3 Emergy Analysis of Danish Agriculture 1999 .............................................................................. 53 4.3 Comparative Indices................................................................................................................................. 55 4.3.1 The Danish Economy - Industrialization and Expansion .......................................................... 55 4.3.2 Emergy-Based Sustainability Indices of the Danish Economy .................................................. 57 4.3.3 Occupational Diversification - the Emergy Basis for a Service Economy in Denmark.......... 60 4.3.4 Danish Agriculture - the Limits of Productivity and Efficiency ............................................... 60 4.3.5 The Transformity of Danish Agricultural Production ................................................................ 61 4.3.6 Land Use and Structural Changes ................................................................................................. 62 4.3.7 The Emergy Signature of Danish Agriculture ............................................................................

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