ENERGY (Embodied)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1087 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The total energy that has been required — directly or indirectly — to construct a system or to produce a product.
This is a very intriguing concept. Any system, natural or constructed, is somehow a totalization of residue of former energy uses. R. CONSTANZA, (quoted by R.N. ADAMS) gives the following example: “… the energy embodied in an automobile includes the energy consumed directly in the manufacturing plant plus all the energy consumed indirectly to produce the other inputs to auto manufacturing… etc.” (CONSTANZA, 1981, p.119).
The real final energy balance and rentability of nuclear power has also been questioned, because of the similar omission of “upstream” energy costs.
Even the energy consumed by the process of scientific and technical research should be accounted for in the global energy cost of products.
D. PIMENTEL, who applied energy accounting to agriculture, showed that real energy costs of industrial agriculture are rarely if ever recuperated in the energy value of the final products (1977).
Still another aspect is the omission in the final cost of replacing lost patrimonial value, as is the case, for instance of the use of non-replanted felled forests.
As to natural systems, the appearance of the entity{GAIA concept shows a nascent conscience of the embodied energy value in natural environments, as a long term totalization during the whole process of evolution towards complexity.