1. Biosystems Engineering Class 14 August 2009
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Biosystems Engineering Class
14 August 2009

2. Biosytems Engineers
A biological systems engineer has a background in what both environmental engineers and biologists do, thus bridging the gap between engineering and the biological sciences.
For this reason, biological systems engineers are becoming integral, valuable parts of many environmental engineering firms, consulting firms, federal agencies, and biotechnology industries.

3. Specialization Options
Land and water resources engineering
Food and bioprocess engineering
Machinery systems engineering
Natural resources and environmental engineering

4. Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
(UN World Commission on Environment and
Development 1987, the ‘Brundtland Report’)

5. Food for Thoughts Health is wealth
The nation’s resources and wealth should not be plundered
There’s a price to pay for development
We humans should be aware of this need to collectively police the environment
Systematic planning for development so that the future generations won’t have to suffer from our misdoings

6. Ecological Footprint

7. Earth Ecological Footprint
Earth – 11.2 billion hectares (27.7 billion acres) of biologically productive land and sea surfaces such as cropland, forest, fishing grounds for a global population of 6.7 billion people that is
1.8 hectares per person

8. World Footprint Do we fit on the planet?
Today, humanity uses the equivalent of 1.3 planets to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and four months to regenerate what we use in a year.
Moderate UN scenarios suggest that if current population and consumption trends continue, by the mid 2030s we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support us. And of course, we only have one.

10. Ponder this … Everyday we have an impact on the environment
We use fuel / energy, inhale oxygen, create waste, breath CO2 into the air
Do we walk lightly on the Earth?

11. Footprint Basics - Overview
Humanity needs what nature provides, but how do we know how much we’re using and how much we have to use?
The Ecological Footprint has emerged as the world’s premier measure of humanity’s demand on nature.
It measures how much land and water area a human population requires to produce the resource it consumes and to absorb its wastes, using prevailing technology.

12. Ecological Footprint - Definition
The ‘ecological footprint’ of a specified population is the area of land and water ecosystems required, on a continuous basis, to produce the resources that the population consumes, and to assimilate the wastes that the population produces, wherever on Earth the relevant land / water may be located.

14. How is an Ecological Footprint calculated?
Ecological Footprints can be calculated for individuals, groups of people (such as a nation), and activities (such as manufacturing a product).

15. How is an Ecological Footprint calculated?
The Ecological Footprint of a person is calculated by considering all of the biological materials consumed and all of the biological wastes generated by that person in a given year. All these materials and wastes are then individually translated into an equivalent number of global hectares.

16. How is an Ecological Footprint calculated?
To accomplish this, the amount of material consumed by that person (tonnes per year) is divided by the yield of the specific land or sea area (annual tonnes per hectare) from which it was harvested, or where its waste material was absorbed.
The number of hectares that result from this calculation are then converted to global hectares using yield and equivalence factors.
The sum of the global hectares needed to support the resource consumption and waste generation of the person is that person's Ecological Footprint.

17. EF Quiz Give yourself 3 points for every “a” answer
Give yourself 2 points for every “b” answer
Give yourself 1 point for every “c” answer

18. ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT QUIZ

19. EF Quiz SCORE RANGE 15-18 11-14 7-10 1-6 YOUR IMPACT HIGH MEDIUM LOW
VERY LOW

20. Use of EF
The Ecological Footprint is now in wide use by scientists, businesses, governments, agencies, individuals, and institutions working to monitor ecological resource use and advance sustainable development.
It now takes the Earth one year and four months to regenerate what we use in a year.

21. What is the Ecological Footprint?
The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool to answer a specific resource question:
How much of the biological capacity of the planet is required by a given human activity or population?

22. Biocapacity
Biocapacity (short for biological capacity) represents the ability of ecosystems
to produce useful biological materials and
to absorb wastes generated by humans

23. Measure of Ecological Footprint
Remainder =
Biocapacity - Ecological Footprint
Where each term is in global hectares (gha), a form of area normalized for average productivity.
(1 hectare = approx. 2.5 acres)

24. What is a global hectare?
A global hectare is a common unit that encompasses the average productivity of all the biologically productive land and sea area in the world in a given year.
Biologically productive areas include cropland, forest and fishing grounds, and do not include deserts, glaciers and the open ocean.

25. What is Ecological Overshoot?
Overshoot, which in this context is shorthand for ecological overshoot, occurs when a population’s demand on an ecosystem exceeds the capacity of that ecosystem to regenerate the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes.

26. Ecological Overshoot
Turning resources into waste faster than waste can be turned back into resources puts us in global ecological overshoot, depleting the very resources on which human life and biodiversity depend.
The result is collapsing fisheries, diminishing forest cover, depletion of fresh water systems, and the build up of pollution and waste, which creates problems like global climate change. These are just a few of the most noticeable effects of overshoot.

27. What is Ecological Overshoot?
The Ecological Footprint is often used to calculate global ecological overshoot, which occurs when humanity’s demand on the biosphere exceeds the available biological capacity of the planet.
By definition, overshoot leads to a depletion of the planet’s life supporting biological capital and/or to an accumulation of waste products.

28. Overshoot Problem
Today the spotlight is on carbon, but climate change is happening as we approach other critical limits in fisheries, forests, cropland, and water. Unless we focus on ending overshoot as a whole-systems problem, some of our solutions to global warming could cause large, unintended impacts.
In the rush toward biofuels, for example, we are in many cases shifting pressure to cropland and forestland.

29. What EF indicates
By measuring the Ecological Footprint of a population—an individual, city, business, nation, or all of humanity—we can assess our pressure on the planet, which helps us manage our ecological assets more wisely and take personal and collective action in support of a world where humanity lives within the Earth’s bounds.

30. Carbon Footprint
The carbon component of the Ecological Footprint goes beyond this definition and translates this amount of carbon dioxide into the amount of forest area required to sequester carbon dioxide emissions. This tells us the demand on the planet that results from burning fossil fuels.

31. Carbon Footprint
There is a carbon component to the Ecological Footprint.
the term ‘carbon footprint’ often refers to the number of tonnes of carbon emitted by a given person or business during a year, or to the tonnes of carbon emitted in the manufacture and transport of a product.
It measures the amount of biological capacity, in global hectares, demanded by human emissions of fossil carbon dioxide.

32. Carbon Footprint
Global climate change is one of humanity’s greatest challenges and one of the most important indicators that we are in ecological overshoot. Since the carbon footprint is 50 percent of humanity’s overall Ecological Footprint, reducing our carbon footprint is essential to ending ecological overshoot.

33. Impact of EF
The Footprint tracks current human demand on nature in terms of the area required to supply the resources used and absorb the waste emitted in providing goods and services.
Footprint assessments are historical rather than predictive, and make no judgment about the value of technologies that may become available in the future.

34. Impact of EF
As new technologies come on line that affect biocapacity and resource-efficiency, their impact on resource supply and demand are reflected in biocapacity and Footprint assessments. In other words, the Footprint and biocapacity results reported in any given year are in part a function of the technology used in that year.

35. Ecological Footprint
Summary

36. What does the Ecological Footprint measure?
The Ecological Footprint measures the amount of biologically productive land and sea area an individual, a region, all of humanity, or a human activity requires to produce the resources it consumes and absorb the waste it generates, and compares this measurement to how much land and sea area is available.

37. What does the Ecological Footprint measure?
Biologically productive land and sea includes area that
1) supports human demand for food, fiber, timber, energy and space for infrastructure and
2) absorbs the waste products from the human economy.
Biologically productive areas include cropland, forest and fishing grounds, and do not include deserts, glaciers and the open ocean.

38. What does the Ecological Footprint measure?
Current Ecological Footprint Standards use global hectares as a measurement unit – which makes data and results globally comparable.

39. Overshoot Impact
Overshoot also contributes to resource conflicts and wars, mass migrations, famine, disease and other human tragedies
Using tools like the Ecological Footprint to manage our ecological assets is essential for humanity’s survival and success.
Knowing how much nature we have, how much we use, and who uses what is the first step, and will allow us to track our progress as we work toward our goal of sustainable, one-planet living.

40. We Have Only One Earth
We Manage Our Planet
DR OTHMAN HASHIM