Howard T. Odum

Self-Organization, Transformity, and Information

Ecosystems and other self-organizing systems develop system designs and mathematics that reinforce energy use, characteristically with alternate pulsing of production and consumption, increasingly recognized as the new paradigm. Insights from the energetics of ecological food chains suggest the need to redefine work, distinguishing kinds of energy with a new quantity, the transformity (energy of one type required per unit of another). Transformities may be used as an energy-scaling factor for the hierarchies of the universe including information. Solar transformities in the biosphere, expressed as solar emjoules per joule, range from one for solar insolation to trillions for categories of shared information. Resource contributions multiplied by their transformities provide a scientifically based value system for human service, environmental mitigation, foreign trade equity, public policy alternatives, and economic vitality.

Emergy use, environmental loading and sustainability. An emergy analysis of Italy

Abstract Maximizing emergy flow is the new statement (Odum, 1988a, 1991) of Lotkas maximum power principle (1992a, b): self-organizing systems which maximize emergy flow and reinforce production are sustainable, the others are displaced by those with better reinforcement of their productive basis. An emergy analysis of the Italian system of economy and nature was performed in order to study its sustainability and emergy use. Indices of thermodynamic and economic vitality of Italy were evaluated and a comparison with indices of other developed and developing countries was performed.

Nature's pulsing paradigm

While the steady state is often seen as the final result of development in nature, a more realistic concept may be that nature pulses regularly to make a pulsing steady stata—a new paradigm gaining acceptance in ecology and many other fields. In this paper we compare tidal salt marshes, tidal freshwater marshes, and seasonally flooded fresh-water wetlands as examples of pulsed ecosystems. Despite marked differences in species composition, biodiversity, and community structure, these wetland types are functionally similar because of the common denominator of water flow pulses. Often a period of high production alternates with a period of rapid consumption in these fluctuating water-level systems, a biotic pulsing to which many life histories, such as that of the wood stork, are adapted. Pulsing of medium frequency and amplitude often provides an energy subsidy for the community thus enhancing its productivity. The energy of large-scale pulses such as storms are usually dissipated in natural ecosystems with little harm to the biotic network; however, when seawalls, dikes, or stabilized sand dunes are constructed to confront these strong pulses, the whole ecosystem (and associated human structures) may be severly damaged when the barriers fail because too much of the storm energy is concentrated on them. The relationship between biologically mediated internal pulsing, such as plant-herbivore or predator-prey cycles, and physical external pulsing is discussed not only in wetlands but in other ecosystem types as well. An intriguing hypothesis is that ecosystem performance and species survival are enhanced when external and internal pulses are coupled. We suggest that if pulsing is general, then what is sustainable in ecosystems, is a repeating oscillation that is often poised on the edge of chaos.

Ecology and economy: Emergy synthesis and public policy in Taiwan

The “willingness-to-pay” based approach has been practiced by the neoclassical-oriented environmental economists to shadow price the value of natural environment, which has also been criticized by ecologists as a subjective approach and for lack of the biophysical value basis. This paper presents the methodology of emergy (spelled with an m) synthesis which emphasizes the use of energy as evaluating criteria for threading together antural systems and human economy into a common framework. The national ecological-economic system of Taiwain is used to illustrate the concept of emergy synthesis and the subsequent policy implications. The data of 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1987 were used for the analysis in order to examine the consequential evolving pattern of the rapid economic development during the past decades. In addition, the calculated emergy indices were also compared with several countries to understand further Taiwans international status in terms of its ecological-economic system.

Living off the land: resource efficiency of wetland wastewater treatment.

Bioregenerative life support technologies for space application are advantageous if they can be constructed using locally available materials, and rely on renewable energy resources, lessening the need for launch and resupply of materials. These same characteristics are desirable in the global Earth environment because such technologies are more affordable by developing countries, and are more sustainable long-term since they utilize less non-renewable, imported resources. Subsurface flow wetlands (wastewater gardens(TM)) were developed and evaluated for wastewater recycling along the coast of Yucatan. Emergy evaluations, a measure of the environmental and human economic resource utilization, showed that compared to conventional sewage treatment, wetland wastewater treatment systems use far less imported and purchased materials. Wetland systems are also less energy-dependent, lessening dependence on electrical infrastructure, and require simpler maintenance since the system largely relies on the ecological action of microbes and plants for their efficacy. Detailed emergy evaluations showed that wetland systems use only about 15% the purchased emergy of conventional sewage systems, and that renewable resources contribute 60% of total emergy used (excluding the sewage itself) compared to less than 1% use of renewable resources in the high-tech systems. Applied on a larger scale for development in third world countries, wetland systems would require the electrical energy of conventional sewage treatment (package plants), and save of total capital and operating expenses over a 20-year timeframe. In addition, there are numerous secondary benefits from wetland systems including fiber/fodder/food from the wetland plants, creation of ecosystems of high biodiversity with animal habitat value, and aesthestic/landscape enhancement of the community. Wetland wastewater treatment is an exemplar of ecological engineering in that it creates an interface ecosystem to handle byproducts of the human economy, maximizing performance of the both the natural economy and natural ecosystems. Wetland systems accomplish this with far greater resource economy than other sewage treatment approaches, and thus offer benefits for both space and Earth applications.

Simulation and evaluation with energy systems blocks

Abstract By using blocks programmed for each symbol, models using energy systems language can now be computer-simulated directly, by-passing the mathematics, which is done automatically. Energy systems methodology was introduced in 1967 to help aggregate systems overview and connect human verbal thinking to quantitative models constrained by principles of energy and hierarchy. The GENSYS library of symbol blocks for the simulation program EXTEND, when connected on screen, sets up a system of equations and generates output graphs by sending information back and forth between the blocks. The process of programming helped define EMERGY (spelled with an ‘m’), empower and transformity mathematically so that the simulations can plot quantity, flow, EMERGY, empower and transformity. Examples include ecological and economic systems. Blocks and models for elementary teaching use pictorial icons, which help bring systems modeling and simulation to general education without the necessity of writing equations. This paper explains the modeling concepts and how to prepare and use blocks.

Heavy metals in the environment : using wetlands for their removal

Introduction and Background Introduction, Gaia Wetland and Heavy Metals Problems and Needs Review of Published Studies, Lead and Wetlands Biogeochemical Cycle of Lead and the Energy Hierarchy Lead in a Cypress-Gum Swamp, Jackson County, Florida Ecological Assessment of the Steele City Swamp Lead Distribution in Steele City Swamps Experiments with Lead and Acid in Wetland Microcosms Simulation Model of a Lead-Containing Swamp Ecosystem Lead and Wetlands in Poland Lead and Zinc Retention in the Biala River Wetland in Poland Perspectives on Heavy Metals Manufacturing, and Environment in Poland Value and Policy Ecological Economics of Natural Wetland Retention of Lead Emergy Evaluation of Biala River Wetland and Its Lead Retention The Evolution of Environmental Law and the Industrial Lead Cycle Summary Policy for Heavy Metals and Environment Appendices References

Emergy evaluation of an OTEC electrical power system

An energy analysis was made of a land-based OTEC system proposed for Taiwan using emergy evaluation methods (emergy spelled with an ‘m’). An emergy yield ratio of 1.4 indicates a small net contribution of electric power, but less than from forest wood, fossil fuel, and nuclear fission. Comparing the emergy fed back from the economy to that from the sea, the large investment ratio (218) suggests the system is not likely to become economical.

Maximum power and efficiency: A rebutttal

Abstract In a recent paper, Silvert (1982) criticizes our 1955 formulation of the relation of efficiency to power (Odum and Pinkerton, 1955) and our times speed regulator principle that selection of systems for maximum power regulates the efficiency at a value that is neither as large nor as small as loadings could operate a system. The energy that must be degraded to maximize power in a restorage process we called entropy tax. Since there are other relevant literature, including our later discussions of power, efficiency and the maximum power principle, this note is supplied to correct and complement the discussion.

Scales of ecological engineering

Ecological engineering operates in those scales of size and time where most people do not believe there are many scientific principles. Because humans are in this scale, they see so much detail that they can not see the organization and often seek non-scientific theories for what happens. Others, including me, believe that all scales of size and time operate according to the same common designs with common principles. By this view, the noisy detail we see around us is the trial and error process of finding what works best, and what works best can be found from scientific principles. Trial and error efforts to find the maximum performance are aided by variation and choices provided by the dynamic oscillations of the smaller scales. Horgan (1995) quotes many scientists who believe some scales have more complexity than others. My view is that all scales have the same complexity, but that humans perceive less as they look towards smaller or larger scales than their own realm. Does the ratio of variance to the mean tend to be constant? Progress in science has been faster at the scales where overview models were encouraged because the complexity was less visible. Mathematical models of ecosystems started with plankton ecosystems where it was easier to see less and think simple as compared to forests where the complexity was visible and intimidating. Fig. 1 shows a typical graph of replacement time and territory of the type now common in all sciences. If ecological engineering is defined as the management of systems of human and environmental self-design, it can be seen to be with environmental science in the territory-time window at the interface between ecosystems and human society. Filg. 2 shows the scales of size and time in an energy systems diagram where components are arranged from left to right in order of their territory-turnover time. In this particular aggregation the design of each scale is the same, and the inter-level