Simron Singh SEC-IFF Tuesday 5 July 2011 An Introduction to Social Metabolism and its Operational Tool- Material and Energy Flow Analysis

1. The political
ecology of
indicators
An introduction to social
metabolism and its
operational tool - Material
& Energy Flow Analysis
Simron Jit Singh
Institute of Social Ecology
Alpen-Adria University, Austria
In the last 200 years,
humanity has
transitioned into a
new geological era—
termed the
Anthropocene
— defined by an
accelerating
departure from
stable environmental
conditions of the
past 12,000
years into a new,
unknown state of
Earth.
Source: Steffen et al. 2011
1

2. The science of indicators
The term “indicator” is derived from the Latin verb indicare meaning
to disclose or point out, to announce or make publicly known, to
estimate or put a price on. The three main functions of indicators
are simplification, quantification and communication.
In order to evaluate progress towards sustainability, the need for
indicators and indicator systems was adopted as Agenda 21 at
the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) in Rio.
In the years that followed, significant scientific research was directed
towards developing sustainability indicators. Where we are,
where are we going, and where do we want to go – monitor the
trends and directionality.
MEFA as an indicator system
The development of Economy-wide Material Flow Accounting (MFA) was one
of the prominent attempts in the development of an environmental indicator
system.
Environmental satellite accounts linked to the national accounts covering inter
alia “the stocks and use of the main natural resources, flows of materials
and emissions” became part of the EU agenda in 1999 (Eurostat 2001:9).
However, the science of material and energy flow accounting is older than this;
a pioneering work in this direction was done by Abel Wolman, who
undertook a case study of a model U.S. city of a million inhabitants in 1965.
In 1969, Robert Ayres and Allen Kneese presented a study - which in the 1990s
was carried out as material flow analysis of national economies - for the
United States between 1963 and 1965.
Since, a number of MFAs have been carried out for both industrial, transition
and low-income economies (for an intellectual history of MFA, Fischer-
Kowalski 1998, Fischer-Kowalski & Hüttler 1999; a more recent review in
Singh & Eisenmenger 2011).
2

3. However, there are some painful facts…
No one indicator or indicator system can provide you with all the information
to the problems of the world; the choice of indicator will depend on your
scientific enquiry
Indicators can tell you “how” things are (including past trends and future
probabilities), but not “why” things are the way they are;
Therefore, taking a system dynamics perspective and integration of
disciplinary knowledge (particularly from the social sciences) not only
gives flesh to the numbers (rich narratives) but also allows to understand
structures and processes that cause certain problems (disparities in
wealth and health, conflicts, climate change, etc.)
The development of economy-wide Material (& Energy) Flow Accounting
(MEFA) was one of the prominent attempts in the development of an
environmental indicator system. It allows to:
- analyse the quantity and quality of resources extracted from nature and
their passing through processing, transport, final consumption and
disposal
- understand the spatial dimension of material flows (where extraction,
production, consumption and disposal takes place in the economic
process)
- interpret the impact of these flows within the framework of sustainability
science and ecological economics
- relate these flows to ecological distributional conflicts and reveal
embedded power relations (political ecology)
3

4. Problem shifting via international division of labor
100%
Material
Money
Mass
Value
added
0%
Raw material --> semi-/products -- use disposal
>
developing Developed countries
Why analyze material and energy flows?
Materials and energy are biophysical categories necessary for human
survival and reproduction
They are finite both in terms of availability and productivity
Patterns of material and energy use (in both quantitative and qualitative
terms) affect the future survival of humans and other species
The world is presently experiencing an unprecedented environment crisis
due to the ways we consume our resources (materials, energy, land)
causing sustainability problems on the input side (scarcity) and the
output side (pollution)
This also has social consequences in terms of resource distributional
conflicts and environmental justice
4

5. Environmental problems are a
consequence of the way humans
interact with their natural environment
Undertaking a MEFA entails a number of painful decisions, as
analytical categories come in conflict with ontological ones
Problem 1:
How to conceptualise
society-nature interactions?
5

6. “Society as hybrid between material
and symbolic worlds”
“Society as hybrid between material
and symbolic worlds”
cultural sphere of causation
natural sphere of causation
Adapted from:
Fischer-Kowalski & Weisz, 1999
6

7. “Society as hybrid between material
and symbolic worlds”
metabolism
labour/technology
Material world
Adapted from:
Fischer-Kowalski & Weisz, 1999
“Society as hybrid between material
and symbolic worlds”
natural sphere of causation
cultural sphere of causation
metabolism communication,
labour/technology Shared meaning &
understanding
Material world Human Society
Adapted from:
Fischer-Kowalski & Weisz, 1999
7

8. “Society’s metabolism” means…
…that societies organize (similar to organisms) material and energy
flows with their natural environment;
…they extract primary resources and use them for food, machines,
buildings, infrastructure, heating and many other products and
finally return them, with more or less delay, in the form of wastes
and emissions to their environments.
The Two Types of Metabolism
8

9. Theory of sociometabolic regimes
The theory of sociometabolic regimes (Sieferle 2001) claims that,
in world history, at whatever point in time and irrespective of
biogeographical conditions, certain modes of human
production and subsistence share certain fundamental systemic
characteristics, derived from the way they utilize and thereby
modify nature.
Key constraint: energy system (sources of energy and main
technologies of energy conversion).
Slide courtesy: Fischer-Kowalski and colleagues
Sociometabolic regimes can be characterized by ...
1. a metabolic profile, that is a certain structure and level of energy and
materials use (range per capita of human population)
2. secured by certain infrastructures and a range of technologies, as well
as
3. certain economic and governance structures.
4. A certain pattern of demographic reproduction, human life time and
labor structure, and
5. a certain pattern of environmental impact: land-use, resource
exploitation, pollution and impact on the biological evolution
6. Key regulatory positive and negative feedbacks between the socio-
economic system and its natural environment that mould and
constrain the reproduction of the socioecological regime.
Slide courtesy: Fischer-Kowalski and colleagues
9

10. Historical sociometabolic regimes
Agrarian regime: Industrial regime:
1. Solar energy, resource base flow of 1. Fossil fuel based; exploitation of large
biomass. stocks;
2. infrastructures decentralized. key 2. centralized infrastructures, industrial
technology: use of land through technologies;
agriculture; 3. capitalism and functional
3. subsistence economies & market; if differentiation;
more complex, strong hierarchical 4. thrifty reproduction, prolonged
differentiation; socialization, somewhat lesser
4. tendency of population growth and workload;
increasing workload; 5. large-scale pollution (air, water and
5. potentially sustainable, but soil soil), alteration of atmospheric
erosion, wildlife / habitat reduction; composition, depletion of mineral
resources, biodiversity reduction;
6. distinct limits for physical growth
(low energy density); 6. abolishment of limits to physical
growth; decoupling of land and energy
and labour;
Slide courtesy: Fischer-Kowalski and colleagues
Energy consumption in human history
600
400 Max
500
GJ per capita and year
400
300
200 Min
Max
150
20 70
100
Min
3,5 10 40
0
Human metabolism Hunter & Gatherer Agrarian societies Industrial societies
10

11. Operationalising Social Metabolism
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Imports Exports
Immigrants Emigrants
Economic
Processing
DPO
DE
Stocks
Domestic environment
Problem 1: What belongs to society
and what belongs to nature?
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Imports Exports
Immigrants
Labour as a determining factor Emigrants
Economic
Processing
Humans (what about seasonal migration, tourists)
Livestock DPO
DE
Infrastructure and artefacts (buildings, streets, dams,
electricity grids, etc.)
Stocks
The only exception is agricultural fields, even though they
are reproduced by human labour!!
11

12. Problem 2: How to define a social system’s
domestic territory to differentiate between
domestic flows and imports?
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Imports Exports
Immigrants
Legitimate right Emigrants
Economic
Processing
To exploit the resources within a territory, either
DPO
through traditional or legal control
DE
Where existing political and governing institutions
have the ability to set and sanction standards of social
behaviour within that territory
Stocks
The difficult of a strict systems boundary, particularly in
local rural systems where there are overlaps in land
use with neighbours
Problem 3: How to account for
externalities or hidden flows?
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Flows are accounted for as ‘weight at border’
Imports Exports
Immigrants All materials that are economically valued areEmigrants
considered
as ‘direct’ Processing but not, for e.g. earth removed for
inputs,
Economic
construction or used in ploughing, or dredging.
What about the ‘hidden flows’ or ‘ecological rucksacks’
DPO
DE
that occur during extraction, processing or disposal of
resources where these activities take place?
For e.g. a ton of aluminum requires 9 tons of raw
Stocks
materials, 3 tons of water and 200 GJ of energy!
How to account for these externalities?
Total Material Flow (TMR); Raw Material Equivalent (RME); a
political issue!!
12

13. Inclusiveness or exclusiveness of material flows
If all materials, then water and air make up to 85-90% of the total?
Most studies would not lump water, air and other materials (biomass, fuels,
minerals) so as not to drown economically valued materials in water and
air; so they are kept separate for their sheer amount, as and also
supposedly low impact of their use (toxicity);
But this is now changing with studies quantifying the use of water and its
ecological and social impacts, including severe conflicts over its access;
Studies on water footprint of products, embodied water, debating on what
should be produced where depending on water situation, etc.
13

14. MFA: Conceptual and Methodological options
Frame of reference / unit of analysis: (a) seen from a social science
perspective, the unit of analysis could be the socioeconomic system,
treating it like an organism or sophisticated machine, or (b) the
ecosystem, seen from a natural science perspective, with mutual
feedback loops.
Reference system: Global, national, regional (city or watershed or village),
functional (firm, household, economic sector), temporal (various modes
of subsistence, social formations, historical systems)
Flows under consideration: total turnover of materials, energy or both; one
may select certain flows of materials or chemical substances (inputs or
outputs) for reasons of availability in the reference ecosystem, or to look
at the rates of consumption.
Map of materials of particular interest for accounting
Related policy response:
Small volume with high impact:
policy directed on pollution
control, bans, substitutions, etc.
Medium volume focuses on
policy at reducing materials and
energy intensity or production,
minimization of wastes and
emissions, closing loops
through recycling
High volume flows, policy
objectives will be concerned
with depletion of natural
resources, disruption of habitats
during extractions.
Source: Steurer 1996
14

15. Some theoretical and empirical
applications of MEFA
Social metabolism and its operational tool, MEFA, have contributed
theoretically, conceptually, and empirically to a number of discourses
within sustainability:
- mapping characteristic metabolic profile (lifestyles) of social and production
systems across the world;
- provide empirical evidence on ecological unequal exchange - distributional
(equity) issues;
- allows to understand the determinants of social conflicts;
- provide insights into historical and ongoing transitions through an empirical
examination of coupled energy, material, land, labour and knowledge
systems to reveal inherent power relations and how these are reproduced
over time;
- provide evidence in support for a sustainability transition and the
challenges it entails, the urgent need for new global resource use policies
(UNEP resource use panel);
- provide linkages between social metabolism and environmental impacts
such as on biodiversity, climate, ecosystem services, etc.;
15

16. 1. Characteristic metabolic profiles
for some countries
Composition of materials input (DMC)
material input EU15 (tonnes, in %)
total: 17 tonnes/cap*y
Biomass
construction minerals
industr.minerals
fossil fuels
source: EUROSTAT 2003
16

17. Composition of DPO: Wastes and emissions
(outflows)
DPO total: 16 tons per capita
D PO t o ai r ( C O2 )
D PO t o ai r*
D PO t o wat er D PO t o land ( wast e)
D PO t o l and ( d issip at ive use)
unweighted means of DPO per capita for
A, G, J, NL, US; metric tons
Source: WRI et al., 2000; own calculations
Patterns of material use: DMC per capita
45
40
35
30
25
[t/cap]
20
15
10
5
0
Egypt
RSA
Chile
Finland
Japan
EU15
Canada
India
Lao PDR
Netherlands
Österreich 1830
Österreich 2000
Biomass Construction minerals Industrial minerals + ores Fossil fuels Minerals
Source: Schaffertzik et al. 2006
17

18. Patterns of material use: DMC per area
60
50
40
[t/ha]
30
20
10
0
Egypt
RSA
Lao PDR
Chile
Finland
Japan
EU15
Canada
India
Netherlands
Österreich 1830
Österreich 2000
Biomass Construction minerals Industrial minerals + ores Fossil fuels Minerals
Source: Schaffertzik et al. 2006
Patterns of material use: DMC per GDP
12000
10000
8000
[t/mio$GDP]
6000
4000
2000
0
Egypt
RSA
Lao PDR
Chile
Finland
Japan
EU15
Canada
India
Netherlands
Österreich 1830
Österreich 2000
Biomass Construction minerals Industrial minerals + ores Fossil fuels Minerals
Source: Schaffertzik et al. 2006
18

19. Domestic Material Consumption / cap in EU Countries, 2000
Source: Weisz et al. 2006
2. Socio-metabolic transitions
19

20. Socio-metabolic transitions
1. Socio-metabolic transition is not the same as a linear
incremental path, but rather a (possibly) chaotic and
dynamic “jump” from one state to the other driven by new
opportunities or the exhaustion of old ones
2. core process of a socio-ecological transition: change in
source of energy, in energy density, in energy cost, in
available energy amounts
Transitions between the grand socio-metabolic
regimes of human history
Neolithic industrial Sustainability
Revolution revolution Transition?
Hunters and
Gatherers
Agrarian
societies
Industrial
societies
? Sustainable
society?
coal | oil
Socio-metabolic regimes
Source: Sieferle et al. 2006, modified
20

21. Systemic links between materials, energy,
demography, labour time and income:
A few empirical examples
the energy transition 1700-2000:
from biomass to fossil fuels
United Kingdom
Share of energy
sources in primary
energy consumption 100
(DEC)
90 biomass
80 coal
70
60
Biomass
50 Coal
Oil / gas OIL/Gas/Nuclear
40 / nuc
30
20
10
0
1700 1725 1750 1775 1800 1830 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Source: Social Ecology Data Base
21

22. the energy transition 1700-2000 - latecomers
United Kingdom UK Austria
Austria
100 100
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
Biomass Biomass
50 Coal 50 Coal
OIL/Gas/Nuclear OIL/Gas/Nuclear
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
1700 1725 1750 1775 1800 1830 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 1700 1725 1750 1775 1800 1830 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Japan
100
90
Japan
80
Share of energy sources in 70
primary energy consumption 60
(DEC) Biomass
50 Coal
OIL/Gas/Nuclear
40
30
20
10
0
1700 1725 1750 1775 1800 1830 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Source: Social Ecology Data Base
Increasing population (density) 1600-2000
Population density (UK incl. Ireland) (cap/km2)
350
300
Japan
250
200
150
100
UK &
50 Ireland
Austria
0
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
Source: Maddison 2002, Social Ecology DB
22

23. Reduction of agricultural population, and gain in income
1600-2000
Share of agricultural population GDP per capita [1990US$]
100% 25.000
80% 20.000
60% 15.000
40% 10.000
20% 5.000
0% 0
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
Source: Maddison 2002, Social Ecology DB
Global commercial energy supply 1900-
Global materials extraction and use 1900
2005
to 2005:
explosion from 8 to 59 billion tons
annually
500 60
Hydro/Nuclear/Geoth. Construction minerals
Natural Gas Ores and industrial minerals
Oil Fossil energy carriers
400
Coal
Biomass
Biofuels
40
300
[billion tons]
[EJ]
200
20
100
- 0
1900
1905
1910
1915
1920
1925
1930
1935
1940
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
1900
1905
1910
1915
1920
1925
1930
1935
1940
1945
1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
Source: Krausmann et al. 2009
23

24. Global metabolic rates and growth in income:
long-term decoupling process
14 7000
ap r]
o rs ap r]
Construction minerals
M ta lic rate [t/c /y
Inc e [intl. D lla /c /y
Ores and industrial
12 minerals 6000
Fossil energy carriers
Biomass
e bo
10 5000
Income
om
8 4000
6 3000
4 2000
2 1000
0 0
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
1 0
1 5
2 0
2 5
90
90
91
91
92
92
93
93
94
94
95
95
96
96
97
97
98
98
99
99
00
00
USA: Transition in energy and material use, 1850 - 2000
Energy
consumption
Material
consumption
Source: Gierlinger 2010
24

25. India: Transition in energy and material use, 1960 - 2006
Energy consumption Material consumption
0.8 5.0
Natural gas Construction minerals
Oil Ores and non metallic minerals
Fossil fuels
Coal 4.0
Biomass
0.6
3.0
[Gt/yr]
[Gt/yr]
0.4
2.0
0.2
1.0
- - 1961
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
2006
1961
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
2006
Source: Singh et. al. submitted
25

26. Metabolic rates of the agrarian and industrial regime
transition = explosion
Agrarian Industrial Factor
Energy use (DEC) per capita [GJ/cap] 40-70 150-400 3-5
Material use (DMC) per capita [t/cap] 3-6 15-25 3-5
Population density [cap/km²] <40 < 400 3-10
Agricultural population [%] >80% <10% 0.1
Energy use (DEC) per area [GJ/ha] <30 < 600 10-30
Material use (DMC) per area [t/ha] <2 < 50 10-30
Biomass (share of DEC) [%] >95 10-30 0.1-0.3
Source: Krausmann et al. 2008
3. Dematerialization or shifting environmental
burdens from north to south
(ecological unequal exchange)
26

27. Meadows et al. (1972) argued that economic growth would
have to be stalled in order to remain within the earth’s
carrying capacity
As opposed to Meadows, Ayres and Kneese’s solution was
more subtle and acceptable to economists…it was not
economic growth that mattered but the growth in the material
throughput of human societies that was significant.
27

28. 28

29. Unequal distribution of global resources
(for the year 2000)
100%
90%
80%
70%
D - Ld - ow
60%
D- Ld - nw
D - Hd
50%
I - Ld - ow
I - Ld - nw
40%
I - Hd
30%
20%
10%
0%
S h a re o f p o p u la tio n S h a re o f te rrito ry S h a re o f G D P
Slide courtesy: Fischer-Kowalski and colleagues
29

30. 4. Relating material
and energy flows
with conflicts
Environmental conflicts
• Conflictual Political Ecology is a research tradition that focuses on issues
of management of natural resources and the environment, often with
“conflict” as the point of departure; deals with ecological distributional
conflicts;
• Ecological unequal exchange looks at the resource flows between north
and south in historical and contemporary context within the framework of
political economy (power and economic relations dominate trade)
Studies in conflictual Political Ecology began in the 1980s with
geographers studying rural areas on the changing relations between
social structures and the use of environment taking into account
differences in class, caste, income, power, gender, labour and knowledge;
30

31. Conflictual Political Ecology
• For instances, explanations of land erosion in the mountain regions by
peasants was explained by the fact that they are forced to farm mountain
slopes because the fertile valley land is appropriated by large landholdings
• Or, in other cases, because of state policies, peasants are caught up in a
“scissors crisis” of low agricultural prices, which forces them to shorten
fallow periods and intensify production; increased soil erosion and land
degradation
• In other cases, communal system of collectively fallowed lands break down
because of the pressure from population growth or market, leading to
overgrazing; degradation of land (supports the ‘tragedy of the commons’)
Conflictual Political Ecology
• Other examples may not include the market or take place in fictitious
markets; thus, potential conflicts may arise due to inequalities in per capita
exosomatic energy consumption and in the use of the Earth’s recycling
capacity of carbon dioxide emissions;
• Or, the territorial asymmetries between sulphur dioxide emissions and the
burdens of acid rain;
• Or, the intergenerational inequalities between the enjoyment of nuclear
energy (or emissions of carbon dioxide), and burdens of radioactive wastes
and global warming;
• Classical economists disguise these ecological distributional conflicts by
terms such as “externalities” and “market failures” while political ecologists
or ecological economists call these “cost-shifting successes” in space and
time;
31

32. Types of Ecological Distributional Conflicts
Name Definition
Environmental racism Dumping of toxic waste in locations inhabited by
Arfrican Americans, Latinos, Native Americans
Toxic imperialism Dumping of toxic wastes in poor countries
Ecological unequal Importing products from poor regions or
exchange countries at prices which do not take into
account of exhaustion or of local externalities
Ecological debt Claiming damages from rich countries on
account of past excessive emissions or
plundering natural resources
Transboundary pollution Applied to Sulphur dioxide emissions crossing
over from Europe and causing acid rain
Biopiracy The appropriation of genetic resources without
adequate payment or recognition of IPR
Guha & Martinez Alier 1997,
Martinez-Alier 2002
Types of Ecological Distributional Conflicts
Name Definition
Ecological Footprint Ecological impact of regions or large cities on
the outside space
Omnivorous vs. Contrast between people living on their own
Ecosystem people resources and those living on the resources of
others / territories
Indigenous Use of territorial rights and ethnic resistance
environmentalism against external use of resources of regulation
Social ecofeminism The environmental activism of women
motivated by their social situation
Environmentalism of the Social conflicts with an ecological conflict of the
poor poor against the rich
Guha & Martinez Alier 1997,
Martinez-Alier 2002
32

33. Reported tree plantation
conflict cases world-
wide (excluding
Indonesia and Malaysia,
until November 2009)
Metabolism of cities and conflicts
• Cities require large inputs of
material and energy resources,
but they have very little
productive land of their own; they
depend on hinterlands (national
or international) for their supply of
materials and energy for their
metabolism (infrastructure, food,
products) as well as waste
disposal; corporations and
enterprises organise this
production – supply – disposal
chain for the city at profitable
rates, while ignoring proper
compensation and externalities of
the hinterland populations…
E.g. Barcelona produces 800 t of
waste each day, dumped in rural
sites, leading to conflicts
33

34. Energy metabolism of Catalan
The conflicts in Catalan can be
seen as a problem of
energy metabolism where
energy production takes
place in rural hinterlands
(nuclear, wind); while city
dwellers enjoy most of the
energy supply, and
capitalists make high gains
in this production – supply
chain, the low economic
compensation as well as
externalities are borne by
the rural populations;
Monetary and physical trade balance in Equador
Source: Vallejo (2010)
34

35. Resource extraction and conflicts in Equador
Source: Vallejo (2010)
The “power”
of indicators
35

36. Indicator development is a political process
Which indicators to create, and which numbers goes into an indicator,
and remains outside, what is the systems boundary – is a political
process and has embedded power relations;
The science of indicators can be highly useful for activist agenda; to
reveal existing inequalities and imbalances between those
privileged and those marginalised
Indicators may serve as evidence in court, seek new state regulations,
or in getting mass public support
Synergism between ecological economics and political ecology;
mutually complementary
How do these national
and global processes
affect the sustainability
of local systems?
36

37. Thank you for being
silent!
37