Ecological Economic Evaluation Based on Emergy as Embodied Cosmic Exergy: A Historical Study for the Beijing Urban Ecosystem 1978–2004

Entropy

Jiang Mei Ming³  Chen Zhan-Ming²  Zhang Bo²  Li Shuang Cheng¹  Xia Xiao Hua⁴  Zhou Shi Yi² 

[1] College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100875, P.R. China; E-Mail:;State Key Laboratory of Turbulence and Complex Systems, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; E-Mails:;State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, BeijingNormal University, Beijing 100875, China; E-Mail:;Institute of Low-carbon Industry, BDA Ltd, Beijing 100176, China; E-Mail:

关键词: emergy synthesis;    embodied cosmic exergy;    ecological economic evaluation;    urban ecosystem;    Beijing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/e12071696

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

For ecological economic evaluation based on the unified biophysical matrix this research illustrates an updated emergy synthesis in terms of embodied cosmic exergy instead of embodied solar energy, which successes the foundation of systems ecological theory but changes the starting point for the estimation from simply the sun to the cosmos. According to the modified definition implicating explicit scarcity and strict additivity based on the fundamental thermodynamics laws, the updated emergy approach overcomes the confusable and intractable deficiencies of traditional one and shows firmer theoretical basis as well as better applicability. As a case study for the regional socio-economic ecosystem, a cosmic emergy based ecological economic evaluation of the Beijing urban ecosystem during the period 1978-2004 is presented. The local and external resources supporting the concerned ecosystem are accounted and analyzed in a common unit, i.e., cosmic Joule, according to which a series of indicators are applied to reveal its evolutional characteristics through five aspects as emergy structure, emergy intensity, emergy welfare, environmental impacts, and degree of exploitation and economic efficiency. During the analyzed period, the major emergy source sustaining the operation of the ecosystem had changed from the renewable resources exploited locally to the nonrenewable resources purchased from outside. Emergy intensity for the Beijing urban ecosystem kept rising owing to the continuous investment of resources, which not only improved the living standard but also intensified the environmental pressure. Moreover, the increase of exploitation degree was accompanied with the decline of economic efficiency, while the rising emergy investment ratio implicates that Beijing was at the risks of resources shortage and high dependence on external resources.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2010 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.