• Title/Summary/Keyword: EMERGY evaluation

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A Methodological Study on Ecological Economic Evaluation of a Multipurpose Dam Construction Using Emergy Concept (에머지(Emergy) 개념을 이용한 다목적댐 건설의 생태경제학적인 평가방법에 관한 연구)

  • Kang, Dee Seok;Park, Seok Soon
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.45-51
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    • 1999
  • Emergy concept was used to evaluate the contributions of a dam construction to the real wealth of our economy. A dam that is proposed as a multi-purpose dam was used to illustrate emergy evaluation methodology. Models for emergy evaluation were constructed with energy systems language, a symbolic modeling language which presents network properties of systems holistically. Water supply was the most important contribution in terms of emergy, which reflects that the dam is proposed for stable water supply to a local region. Generation of electricity was the second in emergy benefits of the dam. Emergy costs were more evenly distributed among the costs which would occur as a result of the dam construction. Emergy yield ratio was 1.30 if sediments are not included, and 1.15 if sediments are included, which results in net yield in both cases. The ratio would, however, fall below 1.0 if rare species within the system boundary are lost as a result of the dam construction because of the high emergy value included in biotic species, which means that emergy costs will be greater than emergy benefits. This study illustrated a new methodology in environmental impact assessment to better manage our environments in an age of diminishing resources.

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Evaluation of Korea`s Sustainable Development by the System Ecology(I)-EMERGY Analysis of Korea`s Natural Environment and Economic Activity- (시스템 생태학적 접근법에 의한 한국의 지속적인 발전가능성 평가(I)-한국의 자연환경과 경제활동에 대한 EMERGY 평가-)

  • 이석모;손지호;강대석
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.9 no.6
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    • pp.449-454
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    • 2000
  • Sustainable development has been the key concept, both in economic policies and in environmental management. On the basis of an systems ecology perspective, this suggests the sustainable development of Korea\`s natural environment and economic activity using the EMERGY evaluation. The total EMERGY use(7,730E20sej/yr) in Korea is 81 percent from imported sources, fuels and goods and services. The ratio of outside investment to attracting natural resources is already large, like other industrialized countries. Continued availability of purchased inputs at a favorable balance of EMERGY trade, currently about 2.85 to 1 net EMERGY, tis the basis for present economic activity and must decrease as the net EMERGY of purchased inputs including fossil fuels goes down. EMERGY yield ratio and environmental loading ratio were 1.23 and 20.30, respectively. The population level is already in excess of carrying capacity. Its carrying capacity for steady state on its renewable sources is only 2.2 million people, compared to 45.9 million in 1977. EMERGY sustainability index is therefore less than one, which is indicative of highly developed consumer oriented economies. Until now the development of a country has been achieved by the economic growth, but it can be sustained in the long run by the use of renewable resource systems. the efficiency of energy usage, and the transformation of the social-economic structure based on an ecological-recycling concept.

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Emergy evaluation perspectives on the natural environment and economy of Seoul

  • Kang, Dae-Seok
    • Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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    • v.10 no.S_1
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    • pp.1-10
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    • 2001
  • An emergy evaluation of the natural environment ant economy of Seoul revealed that Seoul used 1.27 E23 sej/yr of emergy in 1997. The emergy input from the Han River accounted for most of the renewable emergy sources. Emergy imported from foreign countries and other parts of Korea accounted for 97% of the total emergy use in Seoul in 1997, revealing that the economy of Seoul is more dependent on outside emergy sources than for the entire Korean economy. The emergy use per unit area(2.09 E14 sej/$m^2$/yr) was higher than that for the entire country or Pusan, whereas the emergy use per capita(1.22 E16 sej/person/yr) was lower than that for the entire country or Pusan. These results reflect the overcrowded conditions in Seoul where about one fourth of the Korean population now live. They also seem to indicate a lower living standard in Seoul than the average in Korea. The quality of living in Seoul could also be judged by a high environmental loading ratio and a low sustainability index. All there indices suggest that people in Seoul live under a higher environmental stress than the average person in Korea.

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Emergy Evaluation of the Korean Economy and Environment: Implications for the Valuation of Marine Ecosystem Services (한국 경제와 자연환경의 에머지 평가: 해양생태계서비스 가치평가 시사점)

  • Kang, Daeseok
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.102-115
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    • 2015
  • Several emergy researches have been carried out to estimate the value of marine ecosystem services in Korea over the last decade. Their results cannot be compared mainly due to inconsistency in emergy-money ratios used to convert emergy unit into monetary unit. This study aimed at providing a standardized format for the emergy evaluation of the Korean economy and environment for different emergy evaluations to be compatible. Even though the area of the continental shelf increased in this study compared to those of previous studies, areaweighted average tidal range for the entire continental shelf of Korea resulted in smaller tidal range, decreasing the final emergy input from tide. However, emergy inputs from nonrenewable resources and purchased goods and services increased with new categorization and use of more detailed data, combined with updated unit emergy values. This led to higher emergy-money ratio for the Korean economy, indicating that previous emergy valuations might have overestimated the contributions of marine ecosystem to the real wealth of the Korean society. The base year for gross domestic product used in the emergy evaluation needs to be clearly indicated due to its impact on the calculation of the emergy-money ratio. A standardized emergy table for the Korean economy will contribute to ensuring consistency among future emergy researches on the valuation of marine ecosystem services.

Emergy Cost-Benefit Evaluation of the Down Stream of Nakdong River Using Environmental-Ecological Concept (환경 생태학적 개념을 이용한 낙동강 하류의 에머지 비용-편익 평가)

  • Jung, Hwa-Sook;Lee, Seog-Mo;Son, Hyeng-Sik;Son, Hee-Jong
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.507-514
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    • 2013
  • The Nakdong River being used as drinking water sources for the Busan metropolitan city has the vulnerability of water management due to the fact that industrial areas are located in the upper Nakdong River. This study used emergy analysis method to evaluate ecological-economics of water treatment systems of D water treatment plant (WTP) where located in the downstream of the Nakdong River. The emergy methodology is a system evaluation tool that uses energy as the common currency to compare different resources on a common basis. Emergy yield ratio (EYR) and emergy sustainability index (EmSI) of D WTP were 1.16 and 0.18, respectively. It means not resources and sustainable system but consumer goods and not sustainable system. Ratio of emergy benefit to the purchaser (EBP) shows 2.7 times higher than economic costs. To change the weak water source and situations we need to diversity water intake.

A Study on the Sustainable Development of Pusan Metropolitan City by the EMERGY Evaluation (EMERGY 평가에 의한 부산광역시의 지속적인 발전가능성 평가)

  • Son, Ji-Ho;Lee, Suk-Mo
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.185-191
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    • 2000
  • Sustainable development has been the key concept, both in economic policies and in environmental management since 1970s. In the view of systems ecology, sustainable resource use strategies are considered to be essential in achieving sustainable development. During the last three decades, the discipline of systems ecology has applied ecological energetic analysis to the evaluation of the contribution of natural environments to economic systems. ENERGY analysis of main energy flows driving the economy of humans and life support systems of a city was made including environmental energies, fuel, and inputs, all expressed as solar emjoules. Total EMERGY use of Pusan was 3.89 E22 sej/yr, about 90 percent of it was purchased sources from outside during eleven years from 1985 to 1995. EMERGY flows from the environment were less than 10 percent. EMERGY yield ratio and environmental loading ratio were 1.10 and 10.45, respectively. EMERGY sustainability index is there(ore less than one, which is indicative of highly developed consumer oriented economies. Development of a city has been achieved in the short run by the economic growth, but it can be sustained in the long run by the use of renewable resource systems.

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Emergy evaluation of the optimum number of stories of new apartment buildings (아파트의 적정 건설층수 결정을 위한 에머지(emergy)평가)

  • Im Jung-Hyuk;Kang Dae-Seok;Lee Suk-Mo
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.14 no.5
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    • pp.473-480
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    • 2005
  • The cost of the construction and management of new apartment buildings was evaluated using a monetary analysis and an emergy concept to provide a new perspective regarding the housing policy of Korea. The systems of analyses were typical apartment buildings with an area of $76.03m^2$ per household in Korea built on the same size of land area. Three apartment buildings with different stories were evaluated and compared; 5-story, 15-story, and 20-story apartment buildings. The durable years of those apartments were assumed to be 40 years. The total cost of the construction and management of an apartment building was divided into three categories of construction, land purchase, and management. A 20-story apartment showed the highest cost and a 15-story apartment the lowest in the monetary cost analysis. In contrast, the emergy evaluation revealed a different pattern in the cost of construction and management, the cost increasing from a 5-story apartment to a 20-story one. This means that the higher the apartment constructed, the greater the cost in terms of real wealth. This result suggests that new evaluation methodologies like the emergy analysis should be used together with the monetary analysis to provide better insights on the national housing policy.

Development of a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment Evaluation by the Emergy Analysis (Emergy 분석을 이용한 환경영향평가의 종합평가 방법 개발)

  • Kang, Seo Hee;Lee, Suk Mo
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.335-343
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    • 2017
  • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an important policy implemented before starting development projects to estimate and reduce environmental impact. However, the difficulty of quantification on several rating categories has hampered comprehensive analysis. Instead of it, the current EIA just summarizes outcome of investigation. Therefore, EIA fails to definitively ascertain whether the development shold be approved or not. This study aimed at providing the way to comprehensive decision-making by applying Emergy analysis and Emergy indicators to EIA. Production (P), Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR), Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR) and Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI) were selected for indicators. The indicators of range approving the development were set up with comparing before and after development or according to circumstances of which view of average that was classified as region or industry is appropriate to analysis. As a result, the value after development of P should be higher than the value before development. EYR and ESI of the value before development should be higher than region or industry average. On the contrary to these, ELR of the value after development should be lower than region or industry average. To verify applying Emergy indicators to EIA comprehensive analysis, Emergy evaluation was conducted to real case. As a result, applying Emergy analysis could suggest whether the development is appropriate or not. These indices and the result of this research are expected to be applied decision-making on environmental impact for sustainable development.

Sustainability Evaluation of Western Nakdong River Basin by the Systems Ecology (시스템 생태학적 접근법에 의한 서낙동강 유역의 지속성 평가)

  • Kim, Jin Lee;Park, Bae Kyung;Lee, Su Woong;Rhew, Doug Hee
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.439-445
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    • 2010
  • An emergy analysis of the main energy flows driving the economy of humans and life support systems consists of environmental energies, fuels, and imports, all expressed as solar emjoules. Total emergy use (371 E20 sej/yr) of the Western Nakdong River Basin is 97 per cent from imported sources, fuels and goods and services. Emergy flows from the environment such as rain and geological uplift flux accounted for only 2.9 percent of total emergy use. Emergy yield ratio and environment loading ratio were 1.03 and 33.27, respectively. Emergy sustainability index, a ratio of emergy yield ratio to environment loading ratio, is therefore less than one, which is indicative of highly developed consumer oriented economies. It is necessary for an efficient management of Western Nakdong River Basin to reduce pollution load basically and to restructure economic activities into an environmental friendly industrial structure depending on renewable energy and resources.

Emergy Evaluation of Korean Agriculture (한국 농업의 에머지 평가)

  • Kang, Daeseok
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.26 no.9
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    • pp.1087-1099
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    • 2017
  • Emergy methodology was used to analyze the biophysical basis of Korean agriculture and assess its sustainablility. Total yearly emergy input into Korean agriculture was $7.72{\times}10^{22}sej/yr$ in 2013. Purchased inputs were the dominant emergy source, accounting for 90.1% ($6.95{\times}10^{22}sej/yr$) of the annual input. This clearly indicates that the Korean agriculture is a modern, industrialized system that depends mostly on market goods and services derived from nonrenewable resources. The monetary equivalent of the total emergy input was 18.9 trillion \/yr, 1.5 times greater than the total production cost from farm expense surveys. Emergy return on investment of Korean agriculture was low, with an emergy yield ratio of 1.11. Korean agriculture appears to exert pressure on the environment as revealed by the high environmental loading ratio of 9.30. With very low emergy input from renewable sources (9.7%) and high environmental pressure, Korean agriculture is not sustainable, with an emergy sustainability index of 0.12. This study suggests that higher use efficiency of and lower dependence on nonrenewable purchased inputs need to be prioritized in an effort to enhance the sustainability of Korean agriculture.