Emergy analysis of the Oak Openings region

• Published in: Ecological engineering Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 75 - 109
• Main Author: Higgins, Julie Brotje
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-11-2003
• Subjects: Ecological economics; Emergy; Oak Openings region; USA, Ohio; Oak Openings region; Emergy; Ecological economics
• ISSN: 0925-8574; 1872-6992
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2003.09.007

This study examines an alternative to market valuation for determining worth through a case study of the Oak Openings region in Northwest Ohio, USA. Emergy analysis methods are explained, illustrated and used to tabulate environmental, cultural and economic subsystems of the region. The emergy yield ratio for the region at 1.57 suggests sustainability but is less than the findings of other researchers looking at environment-dominated systems. Its loading ratio at 15.2 indicates very high levels of stress—undeveloped and developing areas in the US typically exhibit loading ratios of between 1 and 5. The region’s emergy investment ratio at 2.3 is much more efficient than some urban areas with investment ratios as high as 26; but it still suggests less efficiency and greater reliance upon non-renewable resources than other studies of natural systems where investment ratios are less than one. The inclusion of cultural emergy analysis, which is still in its infancy, complicates the findings here reported. Questions regarding cultural emergy are considered.