Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making - Hardcover

Odum, Howard T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471114421 ISBN 13: 9780471114420

Publisher: Wiley, 1995

Synopsis

In this important new work, Howard T. Odum, widely acknowledged asthe father of systems ecology, lucidly explains his concept ofemergy, a measure of real wealth that provides a rational,science-based method of evaluating commodities, services, andenvironmental goods. Using specific real-world examples, Dr. Odumclearly demonstrates the revolutionary role of emergy inenvironmental management and policy making.

Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Makingoffers environmental professionals--policymakers, managers,ecologists, planners, developers, and activists--a systematicapproach to environmental and economic valuation that willeliminate much of the rancor and adversarial decision making thatoften plagues environmental issues. Specifically, this book:
* Describes the theoretical basis, calculation procedures, andapplications of emergy
* Introduces the concept of "transformity," the ratio of emergy(work put into a product) and energy (value received from theproduct)
* Provides formulas for emergy calculations, procedures for makingan emergy evaluation table, and parameters for updating evaluations
* Demonstrates the use of emergy to evaluate environments,minerals, waters, primary energy sources, economic developments,and international trade
* Compares the emergy approach to environmental evaluation withothers

Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Makingwill help environmental decision makers and the society they servemaximize economic vitality with less trial and error, innovate withfewer failures, and adapt to change more rapidly. It provides thetools they need to arrive at the best policies in resourcemanagement, economics, and the environment.

Balancing the economy and the environment-- from the father ofsystems ecology

Increasing economic dependence on diminishing natural resources hassparked a highly charged debate over the use and fate of the worldenvironment. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and EnvironmentalDecision Making presents a unique method of environmentalmanagement based on maximizing real wealth, the whole economy, andthe public benefit.

Renowned ecologist Howard T. Odum introduces the concept of emergyto provide a rational alternative to the tug-of-war over theworld's most vital assets. Emergy measures the energy put intomaking a product and is the cornerstone of Odum's revolutionarytext. This timely and important book offers key insights into:
* Determining the real value of a product or service
* Transformity, or the relationship between emergy (input) andenergy (output)
* Stored wealth, available energy, and the final product
* Balancing economic and environmental needs

Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Makingwill help economists, ecologists, policymakers, and planners makemore responsible, informed decisions to sustain economic andenvironmental development.

About this title

From the Publisher

A renowned expert in systems ecology presents methods of environmental management based on maximizing the actual wealth produced. Odum describes, in layman terms, the concept of emergy as a means of placing the value of commodities, services and environmental goods of various types on a common basis. He outlines the procedure for making an emergy evaluation table to assess environments, minerals, waters, primary energy sources, economic developments, nations and international trade.

About the Author

HOWARD T. ODUM is Graduate Research Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Policy at the University of Florida. Dr. Odum is universally recognized as one of the pioneering figures in the development of systems ecology. In addition to numerous other publications, he is the author of Systems Ecology and Environment, Power, and Society, both published by Wiley.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0471114421
• ISBN 13: 9780471114420
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384