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Woody Biomass as a System Part I: The Woody Biomass to Ethanol System

Woody Biomass as a System Part I: The Woody Biomass to Ethanol System . What Is Systems Thinking?. A strategy to help us think about The whole picture (the system) All of the parts of the system and how they interrelate

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Woody Biomass as a System Part I: The Woody Biomass to Ethanol System

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  1. Woody Biomass as a SystemPart I: The Woody Biomass to Ethanol System

  2. What Is Systems Thinking? • A strategy to help us think about • The whole picture (the system) • All of the parts of the system and how they interrelate • How changes to one part of the system can impact other parts of the system • A good strategy for thinking about complex issues and scenarios

  3. What Is a System? • Systems have inputs and outputs • Input = something that enters the system; required for the processes of the system to occur • Output = something produced by the processes that occur within the system • A group of individual parts interacting to form a whole

  4. System Example • Buses bringing students to school • What are the parts of the system? • What are the inputs? • What are the outputs? • What happens when a bus is one hour late? • How does this impact different parts of the system?

  5. Brainstorm Can you think of additional examples of systems? What are the inputs and outputs of these systems?

  6. TREE FARM GAS STATION ETHANOL PLANT Woody Biomass to Ethanol System • Using woody biomass to make ethanol (a liquid fuel) • Ethanol is mixed with gasoline to make E10 or E85 for vehicles • This system has 3 main components: • Each component has inputs and outputs

  7. ActivityPart I: The Woody Biomass to Ethanol System Working with a partner, use the system cards to make a diagram of the woody biomass to ethanol system

  8. Fuel Rain Sun Fertilizers Herbicides Land Trucks Water Seedlings Forester Engineers & Employees TREE FARM Forestry Equipment (skidder & chipper) GAS STATION ETHANOL PLANT Fuel Trucks Timber Station Attendants Ethanol E10/E85 Chemicals (sulfuric acid & gypsum) Clean Air Steam Steam Recreational Opportunities Money Money Money Money Electricity Electricity Clean Water Wood Chips Landowner INPUTS Gasoline Industrial Land CO2 Busy Intersection SYSTEM COMPONENTS Air Emissions Vehicle Emissions OUTPUTS Wastewater Wildlife Habitat CO2 CO2 CO2

  9. Fuel Rain Sun Fertilizers Herbicides Land Trucks Water Seedlings Forester Engineers & Employees TREE FARM Forestry Equipment (skidder & chipper) GAS STATION ETHANOL PLANT Fuel Trucks Timber Station Attendants Ethanol Chemicals (sulfuric acid & gypsum) E10/E85 Clean Air Steam Steam Recreational Opportunities Money Money Money Money Money Money Electricity Electricity Electricity Clean Water Wood Chips Landowner CO2 Gasoline Industrial Land Busy Intersection Air Emissions Vehicle Emissions Wastewater Wildlife Habitat CO2 CO2 CO2

  10. Fuel Rain Sun Fertilizers Herbicides Land Trucks Water Seedlings Forester Engineers & Employees TREE FARM Forestry Equipment (skidder & chipper) GAS STATION ETHANOL PLANT Fuel Trucks Timber Station Attendants Ethanol Chemicals (sulfuric acid & gypsum) E10/E85 Clean Air Steam Steam Recreational Opportunities Money Money Money Money Money Money Electricity Electricity Electricity Clean Water Wood Chips Landowner Gasoline INPUTS Industrial Land CO2 Busy Intersection Air Emissions Vehicle Emissions CO2 CO2 OUTPUTS Wastewater Wildlife Habitat CO2

  11. Woody Biomass as a SystemPart II: The Impact of a Policy

  12. What Is a Policy? • A deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes • Developed in several stages • Issue identification • Policy formation • Policy implementation • Policy analysis and evaluation

  13. Why Are Policies Important? • To address an identified issue by either reducing negative impacts or producing positive impacts

  14. Impacts of a Policy • Impacts can be both intended and unintended • Impacts are difficult to predict • Issues are complex with many related factors (a system) • Unintended impacts may be caused by • Lack of knowledge • Imperfect implementation of the policy

  15. Brainstorm Can you think of examples of recent local, state, national, or international policies? What are some impacts of these policies (intended and unintended)?

  16. Recent Bioenergy Policies • International • Kyoto Protocol • National • Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 • United States Farm Bill of 2008 • State • Florida Farm to Fuel Grants Program of 2007

  17. ActivityPart Two: The Impact of a Policy Working in groups, predict the impacts of a specific policy on the woody biomass to ethanol system

  18. Fuel Rain Sun Fertilizers Herbicides Land Trucks Water Seedlings Forester Engineers & Employees TREE FARM Forestry Equipment (skidder & chipper) GAS STATION ETHANOL PLANT Fuel Trucks Timber Station Attendants Ethanol Chemicals (sulfuric acid & gypsum) E10/E85 Clean Air Steam Steam Recreational Opportunities Money Money Money Money Money Money Electricity Electricity Electricity Clean Water Wood Chips Landowner Gasoline INPUTS Industrial Land CO2 Busy Intersection Air Emissions Vehicle Emissions CO2 CO2 OUTPUTS Wastewater Wildlife Habitat CO2

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