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Peak Oil, Ecological Engineering, Indigenous Knowledge: Problems, Opportunities, Ideas

Peak Oil, Ecological Engineering, Indigenous Knowledge: Problems, Opportunities, Ideas. Jay Martin Food, Agricultural & Biological Engineering Ohio State University. Special Thanks to Charlie Hall, SUNY-ESF. Peak Oil: It happened, as predicted in the US. King Hubbert. Laherrere 2006.

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Peak Oil, Ecological Engineering, Indigenous Knowledge: Problems, Opportunities, Ideas

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  1. Peak Oil, Ecological Engineering, Indigenous Knowledge: Problems, Opportunities, Ideas Jay Martin Food, Agricultural & Biological Engineering Ohio State University Special Thanks to Charlie Hall, SUNY-ESF

  2. Peak Oil: It happened, as predicted in the US King Hubbert

  3. Laherrere 2006

  4. Global (Campbell, 2009)

  5. Currently, we use 2-4 times more oil each year than we find

  6. Three convincing points: Importance of “Peak Oil” Decreasing oil production and increasing demand. Declining Energy Return on Investment (EROI) Low EROI of alternatives

  7. DEFINITION of EROI Energy return on investment for an activity: Energy delivered to society EROI = __________________________ Energy put into that activity

  8. (Hall, 2008)

  9. Global Energy Trouble Lower Energy Future Oil and NG = >55% Energy Supporting Society

  10. Solutions to environmental problems would be grounded in the technology from natural systems so that the human engineering required would be supplementary rather than primary (Odum 1963) The design of ecosystems for the mutual benefit of humans and nature. (Mitsch and Jogensen 1989)

  11. Ecological Engineering Research Addressing Peak Oil Problems Presentations from the 2012 AEES meeting ???

  12. Ecological Engineering Research Addressing Peak Oil Problems Presentations from the 2012 AEES meeting ???

  13. AEES Conferences:Educational & Fun • Great Talks & Posters • Certificate of Eco. Design • Field Trips: Mud Volcanoes! • Great music: Sophistafunk • Good food & breaks • Student design competition AEES 2013 June 9-12

  14. Stream Mgt. & Restoration (18) • Ecosystem services: Restoring & Maintaining • Two stage Ag. drainage ditches • Nutrient cycling/removal • Designing for climate change impacts • Case studies of specific sites

  15. Wetlands & Water Treatment (17) • Treating agricultural runoff • Distributed wastewater systems • Design to remove pharmaceuticals • Largest stormwater treatment wetlands in Canada & Europe • Algal-based treatment systems

  16. Rain Gardens & Stormwater Mgt. (8) • Nutrient & water retention • Retrofit gardens • Rainwater harvesting • Green roofs • Porous pavements

  17. Agroecosystems & Food Production (8) Restoration of Degraded Sites (7) • Recycling of materials • Rainwater harvesting for food production • Tar Sands sites • Mining sites • Ecosystem design (willows, other species)

  18. Restoration of Degraded Sites (7)Big Scales-Big Impacts Fracking Tar Sands

  19. End Pit Lakes Restoration of Degraded Sites (7)Big Scales-Big Impacts

  20. Coastal & Lake Mgt./Restoration (5) Energy Generation & Digesters (4) • Impacts of green infrastructure • Engineered reefs • Low costs digesters • Biodegradation of Plastics

  21. Social Ecological Systems (4) International Applications (4) • Interdisciplinary advantage • Linkages between humans and ecosystems • Appropriate Technologies • Technology Transfer Lake Erie Algal Bloom

  22. Sustainability Analysis (3) Climate Change (2+) • Emergy/Energy analyses • Prepare for future with declining resources • Ecosystems for cooler urban areas • Ecosystem services from urban forests

  23. Indigenous KnowledgeTraditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Chief Oren Lyons Onondaga Nation Iroquois Confederacy 3000-4000 years!

  24. Ecological Engineering &Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Ecological Engineering 45 (2012) 30-44 Ecological Engineering 36 (2010) 839-849 NSF grant Stewart Diemont et al. 2012

  25. TEK: Philosophy • Ecosystem & connections: “No such thing as nature that exists independent of humans and their activities” (Pierotti and Wildcat 2000) • “Conservation through use” • Uncertainty and unpredictability are intrinsic to all ecosystems. “Control” is impossible. TEK adaptive over time. • Long-term vision • A failure of current resource managment is a lack of attention to long-term implications. • Iroquios- seventh generation • Similarities with Ecological Engineering & Systems Ecology

  26. Corn Production Comparison All flows in are 1014 sej/ha/yr Kansas, Conventional Mexico, Indigenous Purchased F Resources 2.93 Non-renewable Renewable Resources Resources N 0.5 R 32.3 35.7 Polycultural Y production

  27. Terre PretaSoil Building Terre Preta website

  28. Tikal, Guatemala:Catchments & Reserviors Scarborough et al. 1991

  29. “Some older ways, persisting in cultural memory, may be needed again when times of lower energy return” (Odum 2007)

  30. Conclusions • Peak Oil will result in a lower energy future. • Ecological Engineering can help with designs based on ecosystem processes and renewable energy. • Traditional Ecological Knowledge can inspire designs for future. • Come to AEES 2013 at Michigan State (June 9-12)

  31. Conclusions

  32. Ecological Engineering Can Help (Odum, 1996)

  33. How Can TEK Help?Example: Water Management • Problems: Water scarcity and Stormwater runoff • Design urban areas to capture and reuse stormwater • Past cultures adapted to climate change with water catchment and this is advocated for our future (Pandey et al. 2003)

  34. Energy Prices http://econ.worldbank.org

  35. Other Prices and “Peaks”

  36. Natural Gas: Declining EROI

  37. Coal: US and China

  38. US Oil Field Size

  39. Why helpful for Ecological Engineering? design ecosystems for the mutual benefit of humans and nature.

  40. Why helpful for Ecological Engineering? Indigenous cultures relied on renewable energies to design ecosystems for the mutual benefit of humans and nature.

  41. Storage Producer Consumer Switch Tranaction Interaction Heat Sink Constant Force Flow Limited Source Source Combined Units Showing Interior Details Producer with Consumer with Autocatalytic Production Autocatalytic Production

  42. Petroleum production in Norway in 1970 – 2008 EROI Example:

  43. Energetic cost of petroleum production in Norway in 1991 – 2008 Grandell, 2011

  44. EROI of Norwegian petroleum production in 1991 – 2008 EROI for Norwegian oil has declined by half in 11 years 

  45. EROI for Oil: US and other

  46. Mayan Chultunes: Water capture & storage Matheny et al. 1983

  47. Change of Direction in Information Flow “People from an industrial-agricultural region who go to a low energy country to advise on improving agriculture can help only if there is a cheap fuel supply for another zone of fossil fuel agriculture. As fuel prices rise and fuel use decreases, the advice will come in the opposite direction.” TEK “can speed … emergence of agroecological principles, … and biodiversity conservation … in industrial and developing countries”–Miguel Altieri Odum 2007 2010… Green Revolution

  48. Miscellaneous (1) Elizabeth Hunter, SUNY-ESF Deploying Four-legged Engineers: Giant Tortoises on Pinta Island, Galapagos

  49. Global Energy Trouble Lower Energy Future Oil and NG = >55% Energy Supporting Society

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