Can Economic Principles Save the Planet?

If compared to the world’s top 10 economies, the ocean would rank as the seventh largest, with an annual value of goods and services of $2.5 trillion according to a new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report. The analysis, Reviving the Ocean Economy: The Case for Action brings into focus the economic value our oceans represent for this planet, as the future of humanity depends on their healthy living conditions. While figures in the report are a vast underestimation, the economic assets at risk accurately portray the losses we will incur should we continue on the current destructive trajectory.

The report, produced in association with The Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), combines scientific evidence of environmental degradation with an economic case for urgent conservation action. Using an innovative economic analysis, the ocean’s value is quantified based on assessments of goods and services ranging from fisheries to coastal storm protection, resulting in an overall asset value and an annual dividend output (comparable to a GDP).

The Natural Capital Project is a partnership combining research innovation at Stanford University and the University of Minnesota with the global reach of conservation science and policy at The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund. The project group works with leaders around the world to test and demonstrate how accounting for nature's benefits can support more sustainable investment and policy decisions. 

The project has developed practical, science-based approaches and software tools that quantify, map, and value services provided by nature. Accounting for ecosystem services reveals the diverse benefits provided by nature, clarifies trade-offs between alternative development scenarios, and helps people make more informed decisions about how to use lands and waters.

Since their founding in 2006, they have applied their approaches and tools in more than 20 major projects worldwide—guiding investments in water security in Latin America, in coastal protection in the Gulf of Mexico, in food security and economic diversification in Belize, and in community development in Canada and Hawai`i.

In another effort, researchers at Arizona State University are working to calculate the dollar value of nature in an effort to promote sustainability. In a study published recently in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, researchers from Arizona State University (ASU) and Yale University have developed an interdisciplinary equation to estimate the current monetary value of natural resources such as fish stocks, groundwater or forests in the U.S. In assigning monetary value, to natural capital, this approach will have widespread implications for policymakers and various stakeholders, and will advocate for the creation of asset markets for natural capital.

“It is often said that nature is capital, but this has largely been a metaphor thus far; former measurement methods have lacked necessary inputs from experts from various disciplines, resulting in vast gaps of information,” said Joshua Abbott, associate professor at ASU’s School of Sustainability coauthored the study with Eli Fenichel, assistant professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

One example would be the reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico. During their research, Abbott and Fenichel found that the value of preserving live reef fish was more than $3 a pound in 2004, a price that jumped to almost $9 in 2007 after policymakers implemented management reforms that gave fisherman an incentive to conserve fish stocks. Fishermen were assigned individual tradeable quotas or shares of the fish stock, which created a market for the fish as a capital asset.

The Gulf’s reef fish contributed more than $256 million to U.S. national wealth in 2004—and three times that after management reforms. “We know from experience in the corporate world that changes in management practices can enhance the overall value of a company’s assets; it is no different with natural capital—our management of it can either enhance or detract from its value,” said Abbott.

It's safe to say that what goes unmeasured often doesn't get valued. Treating fish in the water as a capital asset encouraged fishermen to preserve the natural resource, which enhanced sustainable fishing practices that led to higher returns. Imagine if this same principle was applied to all of our natural resources?  Let's hope that this principle becomes more widespread and has a positive impact on increasing sustainability practices around the world.

Until next time...become the change you imagine.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm often told by people that they can't eat organic because it's too expensive. In the short term, this is indeed true to some extent. My answer to them is "How much are you spending on over-the-counter remedies, doctor's bills, and prescription drugs? How many health issues can be traced back to an unhealthy diet?" Also, bear in mind that USDA organic certification is a costly process. Many small farms are using sustainable practices, and growing organic, but can't afford the certification.

The law of supply and demand is generally defined as: the amount of a commodity, product, or service available and the desire of buyers for it, considered as factors regulating its price. Historically, the more demand there is for a product, the more production of the product occurs, leading to lower prices for that product. My thought is that maybe we aren't demanding that more healthy food be available. That being said, people who want affordable organic food, do have options. Grow your own. Support a local farmer who uses sustainable/organic practices in the production of food. Local Harvest can help you locate one in your area.

Let's talk about the first option. Many people believe you have to live on a farm to grow your own food. This simply isn't true. Gardens are springing up in abandoned urban lots, on rooftops, in suburban backyards, and even apartment balconies. There's even a website called Shared Earth. This website, which Sustainable America acquired last year, is designed to connect people who want to garden or farm with people who have land or tools to share.  

Most popular vegetables can be grown in containers, making this an attractive option for people with a shortage of space, physical limitations, or short-sighted homeowner's associations and city governments. Mother Earth News has a nice article on container gardening. Rodale's Organic Life also has a good article on the subject.

One of the most important aspects of gardening is healthy soil. Most food produced by large agricultural conglomerates is nutritionally deficient due to use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. In addition to poisoning the food, these chemicals have rendered the soil dead. According to research conducted by Dr. August Dunning, chief science officer and co-owner of Eco Organics, in order to receive the same amount of iron you used to get from one apple in 1950, by 1998 you had to eat 26 apples! Also, the reason food doesn't taste as good as it used to is also related to the deterioration of mineral content. The minerals actually form the compounds that give the fruit or vegetable its flavor.

Consider using organic/non-GMO heirloom seeds. Seed Savers Exchange, Johnny's Seeds, and Annie's Heirloom Seeds, all have these types of seeds available. These companies have signed the Safe Seed Pledge — a written commitment to sell only non-GM seed — or made public declarations that they will not knowingly sell GM seeds. Don't forget to check which growing zone you are in so you grow the appropriate plants for your area.

When choosing pots, you need to consider size, style, material, and weight, as well as what will be planted in them. Here's a guide to choosing the right size based on what you are growing.

OrganicGuide is a place where you can search for organic - and related - businesses and resources in your local area as well as helpful articles. Another good resource for how-to articles is Mother Earth News and Grow It Organically. There's even Organic Gardening for Dummies.  There's plenty of information and support out there to help you get started, and be successful. 

Until next time...become the change you imagine.

Returning to the Path

It's been quite some time since I posted.  Somehow life intruded on my best intentions to post often.  Look for renewed posting in June!

Until next time...become the change you imagine.

Agroforestry and the Future of Farming

What is agroforestry, you ask?  Agroforestry is an integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock.  It combines the technologies of agriculture and forestry to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy, and sustainable land-use systems. It offers increased productivity, economic benefits, and more diversity in the ecological goods and services provided.

Depending upon the application, potential impacts of agroforestry can include:

• Reducing poverty through increased production of wood and other tree products for home consumption and sale
• Contributing to food security by restoring the soil fertility for food crops
• Cleaner water through reduced nutrient and soil runoff
• Countering global warming and the risk of hunger by increasing the number of drought-resistant trees and the subsequent production of fruits, nuts and edible oils
• Reducing deforestation and pressure on woodlands by providing farm-grown fuelwood
• Reducing or eliminating the need for toxic chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, etc.)
• Through more diverse farm outputs, improved human nutrition
• In situations where people have limited access to mainstream medicines, providing growing space for medicinal plants

Agroforestry practices may also realize a number of other associated environmental goals, such as:

• Carbon sequestration
• Odor, dust, and noise reduction
• Green space and visual aesthetics
• Enhancement or maintenance of wildlife habitat

Sustainable America has more information about agroforestry here.

Until next time...become the change you imagine.

Algoil? Little green plants and the future of fuel.

From my friends at Sustainable America: 

Algae Whiz Kid: Seventeen-year-old scientist Sara Volz has been making some algae news of her own lately, as she explained to ABC News. The high school senior beat out 1,700 other science stars nationwide to win the 2013 Intel Science Talent Search, and her winning project was on, you guessed it, algae bio-fuel. Algae produces a natural oil that can be used as diesel bio-fuel, but doesn’t traditionally produce enough of the oil to make the process financially viable. For her research, Volz grows algae under her bed and works to make it increase its oil production by artificial selection. Simply put, she eliminates the algae populations with low oil production and develops the algae populations with high oil production. The great thing about the oil produced is that it can be used as a drop-in fuel that can be used directly in diesel engines with no modification. The U.S. Navy has already done demonstration flights using similar fuel. Volz won $100,000 from Intel and will be using it for her education at MIT.

Amazingly enough, half of algae's composition, by weight, is lipid oil and scientists have been studying this oil for decades.  They want to convert it into algae biodiesel -- a fuel that burns cleaner and more efficiently than petroleum. What's not to love about that?

The Marine Research station in Ketch Harbor, Nova Scotia, has been involved in growing algae for 50 years. The National Research Council (NRC) and National Byproducts Program have provided $5 million to fund this project. The aim of the program has been to build a 50,000 liter cultivation pilot plant at the Ketch harbor facility. The station has been involved in assessing how best to grow algae for bio-fuel and is involved in investigating the utilization of numerous algae species in regions of North America. NRC has joined forces with the United States Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado and Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.



From The National Renewable Energy Laboratory:

Why is algal research important?

Algae have the potential to produce the feedstock for transportation fuels. In the near term, algae may also mitigate the effects of carbon dioxide from sources such as power plants. In the future, they may be used to capture and reuse fossil fuel-generated carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. Microalgae (microscopic algae) include a variety of photosynthetic microorganisms that use solar energy and carbon dioxide to create biomass more efficiently and rapidly than terrestrial plants.

RICHLAND, Wash., May 21 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory issued the following news release:

A new analysis shows that the nation's land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country's yearly needs.

The findings come from an in-depth look at the water resources that would be needed to grow significant amounts of algae in large, specially built shallow ponds. The results were published in the May 7 issue of Environmental Science and Technology, published by the American Chemical Society.

"While there are many details still to be worked out, we don't see water issues as a deal breaker for the development of an algae biofuels industry in many areas of the country," said first author Erik Venteris of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

For the best places to produce algae for fuel, think hot, humid and wet. Especially promising are the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern seaboard.

"The Gulf Coast offers a good combination of warm temperatures, low evaporation, access to an abundance of water, and plenty of fuel-processing facilities," said hydrologist Mark Wigmosta, the leader of the team that did the analysis.

 

My hope is that further research and development will find a way to produce sustainable energy from plants that will not compete with food sources, or damage the environment through processing. Maybe Sara Volz is already working on that.

Until next time...become the change you imagine.