Resources and eco footprint

Resources

How do we define resources?

• Pretty much anything of use to human beings

• Subjective – depends on who uses them

• Culture – defines what is a resource

• Technology- limits access to resources

Resources - examples

• Oil – used for energy and manufacture• Wood – used for fuel, paper, construction• Gold – value as a commodity, decorative and

electronic uses• Soil – used for growing food• People – used as a labour force• Snow – used to generate income from

recreation

How do we categorize resources?• Perpetual resources

• Renewable resources

• Non-renewable resources

• BUT

• Renewable resources can also run out!

Totally renewable resources(perpetual resources)

• Water – hydro-electric power

• Wind – power

• Sunlight – solar power

• Tides – wave power

”Renewable” resources

• Livestock• Fish• Trees• Clean water• Soil

Non-renewable resources

• Oil• Coal• Gas• Mineral wealth*

*may be recycled and used continuously

Footprints

• Measures human demand on the environment

Footprints and using resources

• Just now many renewable resources are being used too fast

• The population keeps growing

• Development means more spending power

• This means that consumption is on the increase

Energy resourcesMineral resourcesOrganic resourcesWater resourcesLandscape

• We are continuously finding more efficient ways to harvest our resources

• But what is the impact?

Ecological footprints• This is the impact that humans have on biomes• Amount of biospace needed for balance (environmental

footprint)• Land required for crops (physical footprint)• Pasture land for grazing (biological footprint)• Forests for fuel, material and environment• Oceans (environmental)• Infrastructure for housing industry and transport (physical)• Energy – land reqd for absorbing CO2 (environmental)• Land required to dispose of waste

Current figuresbased on current rates of consumption

(Global Footprint Network)

• USA 7 ha per person• UK 5 ha per person• Sweden 6,5 ha per person• South Africa 2,6 ha per person• Afghanistan 0,7 ha per person

• 1 hectare = 10,000 square metres (100 x100)• Current availability about 2 ha per person based on the

population of the world• http://www.census.gov/popclock/• http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/

Energy – fossil fuels

• Oil, coal, natural gas• Cheap (if you have them)• Abundent but finite• Dependent upon location but must be

transported• Transportation also uses energy and can result

in environmental damage• Infrastructure is highly developed around these

Energy - Biofuels

• Produced from biological processes such as agriculture

• Ethanol, biogas, biodiesel (and many more)• Lower CO2 emissions (biodiesel 70% less than

fossil fuel diesel)• Still produce air pollution (particulate)• Must be transported• Causes land-use conflict (food or fuel?)• http://www.afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/diesels_emissions.html

Nuclear energy

• Low cost and efficient• Can be built anywhere• Highly pollutant if an accident occurs• Does not pollute if no accidents occur• Nuclear waste disposal problem – storage for

up to 300,000 years

• http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-waste-management.aspx

Renewable energy• Wind, solar, hydropower, wave• Developing technology, relatively high cost• Physical and visual damage to landscapes (dams, wind farms etc)• Solar power takes up a lot of space• Wind farms take up space and windmills have a short life• Dams change the environment, drown farmland and affect rivers

and wildlife

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/energy_resources/energy_rev2.shtml• http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch374/winter2001/dbiggs/three.html

The energy mix

• The mixture of different energy sources that a country uses

Sweden’s energy mix

http://tssef.se/an-energy-descent-framework-for-cop21-in-paris/

What controls the energy mix?

• Local availability – what resources do we have at home? Cheaper than importing

• Energy use – how much energy do we need?– How affluent are we, what industires do we have?

• Location – where is our country? Near or far from good energy sources?

• Topography – does the shape of the landscape promote or inhibit specific types of energy use?

Short classroom assignment

• In pairs:• Choose a country (that is easy to find info for)• Find it’s energy mix• Find the reasons for its current energy mix• Explain why it is difficult for this country to

change its energy mix• Hand in on Fronter by the end of the lesson

Managing resources• According to current

figures and resource use then…

• Using resources at the same rate as the USA the planet can support 1.2 billion

• Using resources at the same rate as Bangladesh the planet can support 22 billion

Environmental sustainability

• Environmental Performance Index EPI (Yale Uni.)• Calculated from 25 indicators• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Performance_Index

• Countries given ranking and 0-100 score• Top = Switzerland with score of 87.7 (Jan 2014)• Ninth = Sweden with score of 78.1 (Jan 2014) • Not all countries are ranked (info not available)

So let’s get this straight…

• Sweden ranks ninth on the Environmental sustainability index

• And has an ecological footprint of around 6 (ha per person)

• Current estimates are that the planet can sustain 1.9 ha per person

• OK…..• This is because Sweden is sparsely populated and its

biocapacity is greater than its ecological footprint• http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/trends/sweden/

Growing Food

Limits to growth• Current figures 1.9 ha per person• This is known as carrying capacity

(the term may be used in other subjects, e.g. biology)• Could this be changed? Can

carrying capacity be increased?

Carrying capacity

• The maximum population that an environment can sustain indefinately– For most species food and

water are the only variables

– For humans many other factors, such as sanitation, can affect carrying capacity

Calculating impact

I = P . A . T• I = Impact• P = population• A = Affluence (measured by GDP)• T = Technological factor (a variable)

A and T can be difficult to estimate, so sometimes we can simply replace these with the amount of energy that a population uses

Carrying capacity – theories

• Thomas Malthus (1766 – 1834) coursebook p378 - 9

• Wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population• This outlines the Malthusian Growth Model

Malthusian Growth Model

• Population increases exponentially

• Food supplies increase arithmetically

• Therefore population growth will outstrip food supplies

• Leading to population checks

Malthuisian population checks

• Positive checks: – Increase death rate• war, disease, famine, environmental collapse

• Preventative checks:– Lower birth rate• birth control, either individual or state controlled• May be enforced, as in China• Or encouraged by education and financial benefits

Neo-Malthusianism

• (new malthusianism)• Current theories and policies favouring birth

control to reduce birthrates and overpopulation

• Issues:– Religion– Human rights

Ester Boserup (1910 – 1999)

• Wrote The Conditions of Agricultural Growth• Stated that population growth will result in

agricultural intensification• In other words through efficiency and

technology carrying capacity may be increased when needed

Agricultural intensification

• The British agricultural revolution– Occured over several centuries– Developments in• Crop rotation• Land use• Tools and technology• Land enclosure

– Reduced famine, thus increased population which in turn allowed the industrial revolution

Irrigation• Watering crops artificially insteadof waiting

for rain• Puts a strain on sources of water (rivers)• Can lead to cross-border conflicts over water• (example India/Pakistan)

20th century: The green revolution

• Application of new technologies• Pesticides and fertilizers• More modern machinery• Expanded infrastructure• Hybrid seed varieties• Lead to greatar commercialisation

Environmental impacts

• Monocropping – reducing biodiversity– Loss of valuble species/genetic traits

• Pesticides – species destruction (”pests”)• Erosion and deterioration of soils– Dessication– Compaction– Nutrient depletion

Other impacts

• Increasing population…!• Health – spread of genetic disorders and

diseases, e.g. cancer• Socioeconomic change– rural unemployment– Increased rich/poor disparity– Globalisation weakens smaller markets• E.g. food imports to Africa cheaper than local produce

Deforestation in Borneo• Trees cut for their wood• Land used for monoculture (e.g. oil palms)

From this…

To this…

Disappearance of the Aral Sea

The Aral Sea today

The answer: Sustainable development

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Our Common Future (the Brundland report)United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development(WCED) 1987.

Sustainable development - 3 key areas

Environmental sustainability• Using resources at a

replaceable rate• Using resources without

damaging the environment• Using materials that last

longer• Using materials that are

recyclable• Creating technology that

minimizes energy consumption

Economic sustainability

• Reducing debt• Reducing disparity• Reducing unemployment• Managing valuable

resources• Developing stable

organisations that make continued profit over time

• Investing in sustainable services and technologies

Social sustainability• Improving quality of life• Universal advocacy (voice)• Education for all• Gender, race and class

equality• Reducing segregation• Housing security• Job security• Building communities• Empowering minorities

Case – lignite(brown coal)

• A sedimentary rock

• Mined as as source of fuel

• Produces less energy than black coal (more moisture less energy)

• Heavier than coal – more expensive to transport

• Produces more CO2 emmissions than black coal

Chief producers today

In Germany

Main mining region

€€€ Economic €€€ • Creates jobs in areas with high unemployment

• Mines stay open 20 – 50 years

• Provides a cheap source of fuel = energy

• Expensive to transport – so power stations are built next to the mines

• Cheap to mine since it is very close to the surface

Environment local

• Loss of farmland• Management of rivers• Management of water

tables

global• Release of CO2 leads to

global warming

http://origins.swau.edu/papers/dinos/browncoal/

Social

• Relocation of local population• In one case a small town of 8000 people had

to be moved• Disrupting communities• Destruction of culture – historic buildings

Conclusion • Brown coal releases large amounts of CO2

– Not ustainable as this leads to global warming• Mines close after 20 – 50 years leading to loss of work in

the regions– Not sustainable as this potentially leads to unemployment – Not sustainable as mining and power industry closes down

• Communities are broken up and people are forcibly moved– Not sustainable as locals do not have a say in the decision

making process (in no case have locals won in court cases over relocation)