Emergy Synthesis of the Environmental Services and Capital of the USFS and the Development of an Ecological Investment Corporation

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1 Emergy Synthesis of the Environmental Services and Capital of the USFS and the Development of an Ecological Investment Corporation Elliott Campbell, PhD student, Department of Environment and Technology, University of Maryland Dr. Mark Brown, Director Center for Wetlands, University of Florida Dr. David Tilley, Associate Professor, University of Maryland

2 Outline Introduction to Concepts Energy as basis for all systems Energy Systems Language Modeling Emergy USFS Emergy Synthesis Results Yearly flows Storages Index comparisons Ecological Investment Corporation

3 Energy: The Universal Constant Energy is what drives the environment Humanity relies on fossil fuel energy Accumulated over millions of years. All Systems Considered Rely on Energy as their Driver

4 Figure from Google images

5 Previous System Using Energy Systems Language

6 Energy circuit A pathway whose flow 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.

7 What is Emergy? Emergy is the direct and indirect energy of one form previously used to make something. Its unit is the solar emjoule (sej) For Example: A Tree in the forest consists of the environmental energy necessary for its growth from the sun and rain Harvested timber consists of energy from the environment, as well as the human work necessary to harvest and transport it (labor, fuels, machinery) Method created by H.T. Odum

8 What is a Transformity? A transformity is the amount of emergy necessary to create one joule of energy in the system Transformity: ,000 10, ,000 1,000,000 Sej/J Figure Courtesy of emergysystems.org

9 How does Energy = $??? Generic Country/State Emergy in goods is returned for money in the economic system An equivalence is made between the amount of money circulating in the system (GDP) and the emergy circulating (in a given year) Figure Courtesy of emergysystems.org

10 USFS s Figure. From Figure from Arcmap

11 Emergy Systems Diagram of the USFS USFS

12 Imported Emergy Misc. Expenditures. 21% Fossil Fuels 1% Machinary, Equipment 0% Electricity 1% Labor 18% Tourist Time 59% USFS System Emergy Imports Imports to the USFS system equal 22.7 billion emdollars

13 Environmental Services Environmental Services from USFS lands equal 259 billion emdollars Env. Services (w/o Tourism) Harvested Fish 0% Information. 0% Harvested wildlife 9% Hydroelectric Power 12% Extracted Firewood 0% Harvested Wood 1% Water, Chemical Potential 21% Fossil Fuels 1. 26% Water, Geopotential 19% Minerals 12% Environmental Services are more than 11 times the value of emergy Necessary to sustain the system (imports)

14 Indices Across USFS s Empower Density Environmental Loading Ratio sej/m^2/yr 3.50E E E E E E E E+00 USFS (F+N)/R USFS Emergy Yield Ratio Y/F USFS

15 Total Capital Stored in the USFS System Environmental Assets equal 19 Trillion emdollars Economic Assets equal 84 billion emdollars Geologic Assets equal 5.8 Trillion emdollars Cultural Assets equal 44.2 Trillion emdollars Table 2. Emergy in stored assets of US National Forest System Emergy Intensities (sej/unit) Solar Emergy (x10 21 sej) EmDollars (x10 9 Em$) Note Item Units Quantity ENVIRONMENTAL CAPITAL 1 Tree Biomass J 7.71E E Herb./Shrub Biomass J 6.91E Land Area ha 7.80E E Soil OM J 1.39E E Peat J 3.95E E Glaciers g 6.23E E Ground Water J 2.80E E Surface Water J 1.59E E Fauna g 3.03E+14 mixed ECONOMIC CAPITAL sum= Roads (dirt) $ 1.70E E Roads (gravel) g 8.01E E Roads (paved) g 4.81E E Machinery & tools g 9.90E E Office Equipment g 3.84E E Buildings g 9.65E+11 mixed GEOLOGIC CAPITAL sum= Fossil Fuels J 1.27E+18 mixed Minerals g 4.41E E b Minerals $ 1.20E E INFORMATION CAPITAL sum= Information Value of Indian Artifacts J 1.15E E Value of Endangered Species # of species 4.96E E sum= E+04

16 Endangered Species 47% Herb./Shrub Biomass Tree Biomass 0% 3% Land Area 0% Soil OM 20% Peat 0% Glaciers 3% USFS Total Capital Ground Water 1% Surface Water 0% Fauna 1% Roads 0% Fossil Fuels 6% Minerals 2% Indian Artifact Information 17% USFS Total Assets USFS Capital per m 2 sej/m 2 of storage 1.60E E E E E E E E E+00 USFS

17 Endangered Species Emergy Storage 496 species of endangered and threatened species are found in the USFS system Endangered species are valued as the energy invested in a population over the time period in which it evolved from the previous form (estimated to be 3 million years). The emergy value embodied in endangered species = 32.7 trillion emdollars This value would be potentially lost if the species were to go extinct Emergy per m 2 4.5E E E E E E E E E E+00 USFS 1 Endangered Species Genetic Information

18 Comparison of Emergy and Economic Values Economic and Emergy Value of Non-Renewable Storages 4,000,000 3,890,968 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000, ,0 2 5 Dollar Values 1,200, ,088 8, ,000 46,272 Emdollar Values 1,638,341 Oil Natural Gas Coal Minerals (values * 10^6) 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Fig. 23 Economic Value vs. Emdollar Value 77,000 15,000 6,015 4,395 2,578 1, Dollar Values Emdollar Values Employees Buildings Machinary Roads

19 USFS Policy Implications If the USFS ecosystem was removed from the land or adversely affected 49 trillion emdollars of natural capital and 68 billion emdollars of yearly environmental services would be potentially lost The USFS has an EYR of 10, suggesting much more emergy is benefiting the greater system than is required to manage it These results suggest that the USFS system benefits the country as a whole and should be maintained. The diversity and comparable magnitudes of Environmental Services being provided suggest that the multi-use use ethic employed by the USFS should continue

20 Conclusions from USFS Project The annual budget for the USFS varies depending on the year but is usually between billion dollars The USFS provides 259 emdollars of environmental service benefit on a yearly basis, more than justifying the investment Using economic methods, environmental services from USFS lands total 48.8 billion dollars, also more than compensating for the management investment Further work is necessary to identify ecological services external to the economy and develop a process to integrate the values being provided by forests with the overall economy

21 Ecological Investment Corporation Will provide a mechanism to compensate Forest landowners for the ecological services provided by their lands Incentivizes preservation and best management practices (these will provide more service) Ecological services will be quantified using emergy so they will all be in common terms and directly transferable to dollar values

22 Ecological Services to be Evaluated for Maryland Carbon sequestration Water quality improvement Stormwater runoff abatement Air pollutant removal Biodiversity protection Soil generation and maintenance Services will be evaluated through field surveys and Appropriate established models (UFOR, Archydro)

23 Ecological Investment Corporation Model Net Income = de/dt = K + N - M - V

24 How will land owners be paid? A mechanism has not been settled upon to generate income for forest landowners but options includes 1. Taxation of high impact goods 2. Voluntary contributions 3. Flat tax 4. Annual audits of behavior 5. Ecological service market

25 Expected Results 1. The EIC model will equilibrate the flow of services from forest lands and the return from consumers of these services 2. This exchange will be economically viable 3. The system devised will be easily replicable and applicable not only to Maryland but any system that chooses to utilize it.

26 Contributors I would like to thank: Mark Brown, University of Florida David Tilley, University of Maryland Ted Weber, The Conservation Fund Peter May, Biohabitats Chris Streb, Biohabitats Dan Campbell, USEPA John Richardson, USEPA

27 References Aiken, R Private and Public Land Use by Hunters.. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Arlington Virginia, pp. Blake, E., E. Rappaport, and J. Jarrel The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Hurricanes from 1851 to 2004 (and Other Frequently Requested Hurricane Facts. Technical Memorandum NWS TPC-4. NOAA/NWS Tropical Prediction Center Miami, Fl. 51 pp. Brown, M.T. and E. Bardi Handbook of Emergy Evaluation Folio #3. Center for Environmental Policy, University of Florida, Gainesville, ille, Fl.30 pp. Brown, M.T. and E. Campbell Evaluation of Natural Capital and Environmental Services of U.S. National Forests Using Emergy Synthesis. Center for Environmental Policy, Gainesville Fl. 184 pp. Brown, M.T, M. Cohen, E. Bardi, and W. Ingwerson Species Diversity in the Florida Everglades: A systems approach h to calculating biodiversity.. Aquatic Sciences, January, 2006, 24 pp. Brown, M.T., P. Green, A. Gonzalez and J. Venegas, 1992, Emergy Analysis Perspectives, Public Policy Options, and Development Guidelines for the Coastal Zone of Nayarit, Mexico, Vol. 2, Report to The Cousteau Society and Government of Nayarit, Mexico, Center for Wetlands, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Brown, M.T., H.T. Odum, G. McGrance, R.D. Woithe, S. Lopez and S. Bastianoni, 1995,, Emergy Evaluation of Energy Policies for Florida,, Final Report to the Florida Department of Community Affairs, Center C for Environmental Policy, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Brown, M.T., S. Tennenbaum, and H.T. Odum, 1988, Emergy Analysis and Policy Perspectives for the Sea of Cortez, Mexico,, Report to The Cousteau Society, Center for Wetlands, University y of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 58 pp. Brown, M.T., R.D. Woithe, H.T. Odum, C.L. Montague, and E.C. Odum, 1993, Emergy Analysis Perspectives of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska,, Final Report to The Cousteau Society, Center for Wetlands, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 122 pp. Campbell, D Emergy Analysis of Human Carrying Capacity and al Sustainability: An Example Using the State of Maine (Appendix). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 51: Campbell, D., and T. Cai Emergy and Economic Value. In Press, United States Environmental Protection Agency. 30 pp. Daly, Farley and J. Farley Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications.. Island Press. Washington D.C. 454 p. Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group (4/17/07) Doherty, S.J Emergy Evaluations of and Limits to Forest Production. PhD Dissertation, Department of Environmental Engineering. University of Florida, Gainesville Fl. 215 pp. Doherty, S.J., M.T. Brown, R.C. Murphy, H.T. Odum, and G.A. Smith, 1993, Emergy Synthesis Perspectives, Sustainable Development, and Public Policy Options for Papua New Guinea.. Final Report to The Cousteau Society, Center for Wetlands, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 182 pp. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Official Energy Statistics from the US Government. 1/12/07. (1/20/07) Er, Kenneth, John Innes, Kathy Martin, and Brian Klinkenberg. Forest loss with urbanization predicts bird extirpations in Vancouver. Biological Conservation 126, ESRI ArcMap Version 9.1. Copyright ESRI Inc. Accessed French, Dwight. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Effective, Occupied, and d Vacant Square Footage, July 15th, (9/10/06) Hassan, Marwan, Michael Church, Thomas Lisle, Francesco Barardinoni, Lee Benda, Gordon Grant. Sediment Transport and Channel Morphology of Small, Forest Streams. Journal of The American Water Resources Association. August, , 876, 23 pp. Hau, J. and B. Bakshi Promise and Problems of Emergy Analysis.. Ecological Modelling , 225, 10 pp. International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC). Global Heat Flow Database.. University of North Dakota. 9/20/06. (8/5/06) Kearney, M Annual Monitoring and Evaluation Report and 5 Year Review: National Forests in Florida. United States Forest Service, Tallahassee Fl. 92 pp. Kreiger, D Economic Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services: A Review. The Wilderness Society, Washington D.C. 40 pp. National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) and US Forest F Service Research Work Unit COLE- Carbon Online Estimator. USDA Forest Service, Northern Global Change Program.. 10/24/05. (10/5/06) National Renewable Energy Laboratory, (NREL). Renewable Resource Data Center NatureServe. Get Data: Animal Data for Download.. Copyright (7/9/06)

28 References NOAA Satellite Information Service. Get/View Online Climatic Data. 11/13/ toric+tide+data (9/6/06) Odum. H.T Handbook of Emergy Evaluation Folio #2. Center for Environmental Policy, University of Florida. 30 pp Odum, H.T., 1996, Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making,, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 370 pp. Odum, H.T. and M.T. Brown (eds) Carrying Capacity for Man and Nature in South Florida. Report to the US Dept of Interior, National Park Service. Center r for Wetlands, University of Florida, Gainesville. Odum, H.T., M.T. Brown, and R.A. Christianson, Energy Systems Overview of the Amazon Basin,, Report to The Cousteau Society, Center for Wetlands, University y of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 190 pp. Orr, David Forests and Trees. Conservation Biology, Vol. 7 no. 3 pgs Patton-Mallory, Marcia. The Role of the Federal Government and Federal Lands in Fueling Renewable and Alternative Energy Testimony Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Committee on Resources United States House of Representatives. April 6, Pugh, S RPA Data Wiz V USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station. St. Paul, MN. M Scatena F.N., S. Doherty, H.T Odum., and P. Karecha An EMERGY Evaluation of Puerto Rico and the Luquillo Experimental l Forest. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report GTR pages. Sedell, J. M. Sharpe, D. Apple, M. Copenhagen, and M. Furniss Water and the Forest Service. USDA Forest Service, Washington D.C. 35 pp. Smith, B., P Miles, J. Vissage,, and S. Pugh Forest Resources of the United States, United States Forest Service. Washington D.C. 137 pp. Stackhouse, P. and C. Whitlock,. Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (release 5.1). NASA. 3/8/06 (9/5/06) Stynes, D. and E. White Spending Profiles for National Forest Visitors by Activity.. United States Forest Service. Washington D.C. 26 pp. Sweeney, S. M.T. Brown, and M. Cohen Creation of a Global Database for Standardized National Emergy Synthesis. S Proceedings of Emergy Synthesis Conference 4, 23-1 Tilley, D. and W. Swank Emergy-based environmental systems assessment of a multi-purpose temperate mixed-forest watershed of the southern Appalachian Mouintains, USA. Journal of Environmental Management. Issue pp. Tilley, D.R., 1999, Emergy Basis of Forest Systems,, Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, 300 pp. United Nations Environmental Programme. United Nations System Wide Earthwatch- Forests. 10/7/07. United States Department of the Interior. National Atlas of the United States Raw Data Download. 4/28/06. (4/10/06) United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Services and US Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation. US Department of the Interior, pp. United States Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS Threatened and Endangered Species System (TESS).. Unpublished Data (excel file). United States Forest Service. USDA Forest Service. 1/12/07. h United States Forest Service (USFS) Report of the Forest Service- FY United States Forest Service, Washington D.C. 273 pages. United States Forest Service (USFS) Performance and Accountability Report.. United States Forest Service, Washington D.C, 192 pages. United States Forest Service (USFS) National Visitor Use Monitoring Program National Project Results January 2000-September United States Forest Service, Washington D.C. 10 pages. United States Forest Service (USFS) FY2005 Forest Service Revenue, Expenses and Cost of Collection.. United States Forest Service. Washington D.C. 14 pages United States Forest Service (USFS) Fiscal Year 2006 President s s Budget Overview.. United States Forest Service, Washington D.C. 54 pages. United States Forest Service (USFS), Unpublished Data Collected On Site United States Geologic Survey (USGS). Ground Water Atlas of the United States. 5/25/05. United States Geologic Survey (USGS). Latest Oil and Gas Assessment. 1/15/ United States Geologic Survey (USGS). National Elevation Dataset. August, /10/2006 Voskresensky, K.P Water of the Earth; Water Cycle on Earth. Pp ; 45; in World Water Balance and Water Resources of the Earth, UNESCO. 663 Weir, J. T. and D. Schluter The latitudinal gradient in recent speciation and extinction rates in birds and mammals. Science 315:

29 Osceola NF, courtesy Google Images Questions?