Ecological Economics: Valuing Life, Risks, and Environmental Impact

Posted on Jul 16, 2025 in Geology

Ecological Economics: Assessing Environmental Value

The field of ecological economics grapples with a fundamental question: Can we truly assess a reasonable quality of life, environmental risks, or ecological consequences purely in economic terms? This complex challenge drives the search for comprehensive responses to pressing environmental problems.

Responses to Environmental Problems

The Nature of Intervention

Responses to environmental problems involve various forms of intervention:

  • Legal: Establishing regulations and frameworks.
  • Economic: Implementing market-based instruments and incentives.
  • Social: Fostering community engagement and behavioral change.

Key Actors and Promoters

Effective environmental action requires collaboration between:

  • Government bodies
  • The Private Sector

Decision Scale

Environmental challenges often necessitate interventions at a global scale.

Technological Responses to Environmental Issues

Technological solutions are based on several types of modifications:

  • Preventive: Aiming to avoid environmental damage before it occurs.
  • Operative: Involving environmental control and the introduction of technological changes to mitigate ongoing issues.
  • Rehabilitation: Focusing on restoring degraded environments.

Renewable Energy Sources

Solar Energy

Generating electricity from solar radiation through photovoltaic cells or thermal cycles, and for heating applications using solar panels.

Wind Power

Electricity is produced by the kinetic energy of wind, which rotates turbines. While efficient, wind farms can impact the current landscape.

Hydropower

Electricity generation through water power, primarily from large hydroelectric dams that retain significant river volumes, as well as smaller hydraulic installations.

Biomass

Utilizing living matter from the entire planet as an energy source, drawing energy from organisms or their products.

Ocean and Geothermal Energy

  • Ocean Thermal Energy (Maremotèrmica): Harnessing thermal energy from the sea.
  • Wave Energy: Converting the motion of ocean waves into electricity.
  • Geothermal Energy: Utilizing heat from the Earth’s interior.
  • Tidal Stream Energy (Mareomatriu): Capturing energy from the movement of tidal cycles.

Biofuels

  • Bioalcohols: Produced from energy crops, used as a petrol substitute.
  • Biodiesel: Derived for diesel vehicles.
  • Biogas: Generated from organic matter.

Hydrogen Energy

Hydrogen does not emit CO2 when used as fuel. Methods for hydrogen production include:

  • Steam Reforming: Obtained from hydrocarbons.
  • Electrolysis: Decomposing water into oxygen and hydrogen, which allows for the use of renewable energy and leverages existing infrastructure.

Clean Technologies and Sustainable Practices

Clean Motors

Advancements in vehicle technology, including electric cars, hybrid engines, and fuel cells.

Improvements in Agriculture

While intensive agriculture has significant environmental impacts, organic farming offers a sustainable alternative by:

  • Recycling resources.
  • Using renewable resources.
  • Employing biological control against pests.

This includes inclusive intermediate production and various irrigation methods like flood irrigation and drip irrigation.

Water Management

Addressing water supply problems through:

  • Wastewater Treatment Plants: Facilities that return treated water to river courses for reuse.
  • Gray Water Reuse: Utilizing water from showers or washing machines for purposes where drinking water is not necessary.
  • Desalination: Obtaining fresh water from seawater.

Green Chemistry

A scientific and ideological approach that seeks to improve energy efficiency through chemical processes, minimizing hazardous substances and waste.

Bioclimatic Architecture

Designing homes and buildings that take into account natural options to save energy, optimizing for local climate conditions and natural light/ventilation.

Limits of Technological Responses

Despite their potential, technological solutions face inherent limitations:

  • Improving efficiency does not always imply a reduction in global consumption (the rebound effect).
  • Efficiency improvements often lead to the development of new technologies that imply new consumption patterns.
  • The application of technological responses requires social incentives and broader societal solutions.
  • Technological responses often offer only partial solutions to complex problems.
  • The implementation of innovative technological responses can cause unforeseen consequences.

Sustainable Development Principles

Sustainable development is defined as a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony, improving current and potential future needs and satisfying human aspirations.

Herman E. Daly’s Principles of Sustainability

According to Herman E. Daly, sustainability requires that:

  • Renewable resources are not used faster than their regeneration rate.
  • Non-renewable resources are not exploited faster than the rate at which renewable alternatives are implemented.
  • Waste production is recycled and absorbed by the environment.

Types of Sustainability

  • Weak Sustainability: Aims to maintain or increase the total capital (natural + manufactured).
  • Strong Sustainability: Emphasizes preserving natural capital, recognizing its irreplaceable functions and limits.

Environmental and Ecological Economics Frameworks

In traditional economics, only a part of production costs are seen through the market. Environmental economics seeks to include ecosystem services to permit their monetary valuation, aiming to internalize external costs.

Non-Economic Indicators

Given the insufficiency of purely economic measures for assessing human welfare, alternative systems are used, such as:

  • Human Development Index (HDI): Measures well-being beyond economic output.
  • Living Planet Index: Tracks the evolution of populations of species, indicating biodiversity health.
  • Ecological Footprint/Rucksack: A metaphor for mapping human demand on nature’s resources.

Sustainable Cities

Key characteristics of sustainable cities include:

  • Self-sufficiency.
  • Promotion of collective transportation.
  • Alternative facilities (e.g., bike rental schemes).
  • Reduction of pollution.

Participatory Democracy

Encourages the direct intervention of citizens in decision-making processes related to environmental and sustainable development issues.

International Treaties and Agreements

International agreements are crucial for nations to advance towards a better world. These can be categorized into three levels:

  • International Law: General practices accepted as law, which all nations are expected to meet.
  • Related Treaties and Agreements: Specific commitments acquired by states concerning particular topics.
  • Non-Binding Agreements: Manifestations of political will by different states, without strict legal enforcement.