[p2p-research] do we need to shift to closed systems again?

[Michel Bauwens]

Dear friends,

I'm publishing this on march 4,
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/do-we-need-closed-systems-for-lean-economies/2009/03/04,
from the full original at
http://www.feasta.org/documents/review2/fleming.htm

Counter-intuitively, these localization advocates propose a return to
'closed' systems of production.

Reactions would be most appreciated, for publication as comments on the blog
as well,

Michel

Do we need closed systems for lean
economies?<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=2509>

 This one is counter-intuitive to me, i.e. Irish localization advocates are
proposing a shift to closed systems of
production<http://www.feasta.org/documents/review2/fleming.htm>
.

Reactions from ‘open advocates’ would be very welcome.

*David Fleming:*

*“Lean thinking, adapted to this context, is about establishing and
sustaining a closed system which provides food, water, energy and materials
from local resources and, as far as possible, conserves and renews these
primary assets in the local economy. A closed system means no material
imports, no material waste, and dependence on solar energy. Well, you cannot
get completely closed systems in human affairs, except on the scale of the
planet as a whole, but, on a local scale, you can get very much closer than
we are at present.*

*A closed system in the case of food requires fertility to be retained
locally - that is, not only nitrogen, phosphates and potash - but the
micronutrients too. If conserved as capital, composted and used again and
again, fertility - including human waste - can be more than simply
sustained; it can be built up towards the extraordinarily high local yields
achieved by such virtuosos of food production as Alan Chadwick and John
Jeavons.*

*You don’t have to do this, quite, with water, because it rains, of course,
though we will have to get used to droughts as global warming intensifies,
but even in a rainy climate, a local economy needs to maintain, shall we
say, a conservation system in its use of water. Among the reasons for this -
first, lean production will use aquaculture, which is a more productive food
system than the soil; secondly, permaculture, which loves closed, circular
systems, typically has a central place for water - for instance, the pond is
habitat for water weeds, that fertilise the land, that grows the food, which
is attacked by slugs, that are eaten by the ducks, that live in the pond,
and fertilise the water weeds. Water has a way of connecting things up. One
immensely effective form of it is the Japanese Aigamo method for rice
production. It can be many times more productive, for a given area of land,
than the most high-tech agriculture.*

*In the case of energy, closed systems do not really apply since they are
defined in terms of materials, and energy takes a one-way ticket from the
sun to dissipation in the form of low-level heat. But the principle is
similar, because the Lean Economy is built on “solar string” technologies -
that is, various forms of renewable energy derived ultimately from the sun,
and strung out in a minigrid in which every member of the grid is generator,
user or storage depot as opportunity offers.*

*A minigrid uses the full range of technologies including solar, wind, water
and biomass, conserving energy through the use of the benign army of
emerging energy technologies that is on the way. It stores energy with the
use of media such as hydrogen, biomass, supercapacitors, flywheels, ceramics
and pumped storage. It uses information technology to manage demand. And the
giant users of energy - transport and industry, and houses that leak energy
- are not, and cannot be, part of that world.*

*The stabilised Lean Economy gives a sharp and very ambitious meaning to
energy efficiency. Changes in behaviour, including (for example) a
drastically reduced dependency on transport, could reduce the demand for
energy-services by two thirds (a factor of 3); and energy efficiency - the
energy services provided by a kilowatt of energy - could be improved by as
much. That multiplies up to a 90 percent improvement - or a demand for just
10 percent of the energy we use now - and that is well within the capability
of renewables.*

*Figure 6. The Carbon Budget for Domestic Tradable Quotas is defined over
ten years: the first five years (the Commitment) cannot be changed; the
second five years is set in advance but can be revised. There is then a ten
year “forecast” which gives guidance on the scale of the reduction that can
be expected in the future. The budget represents a guarantee that reduction
targets are met and it enables people to make informed preparation for it.*

*The transition will require energy rationing. There is an electronic
rationing system for energy called Domestic Tradable Quotas (DTQs) which
uses information technology to distribute fair access to fossil fuels,
guaranteeing that a year-on-year budget for reduced consumption is achieved.
The DTQ budget looks like this (figure 6). It is the basis for a
step-by-step decline in emissions of carbon dioxide from all fossil fuels.
This is, I would argue, the only way of achieving equitable allocation of
the declining access to fuel that we will face in the near future. It will
need to be a national scheme, firmly based on a strong sense of national
solidarity. And its significance extends beyond energy. A decisive and
persistent reduction in energy use could provide the pathway by which our
present day economy can achieve the transition - a massive achievement it
would be, if it happened - to the stabilised Lean Economy.*“


-- 
Working at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University -
http://www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/info/Research.html -
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