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Human transformities in a global hierarchy: Emergy and scale in the production of people and culture

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  • Abel, Thomas

Abstract

In emergy research, transformities are of fundamental importance. They are factors that are used to convert the inputs to a process into emergy. Once placed in emergy units, the inputs to any process can then be added together or compared. Furthermore, as a product of an emergy analysis, new transformities for outputs can be used in other analyses. By this process the collection of known transformities grows, and subsequent emergy analyses become more accurate. Human labor is often a critical input to an emergy analysis. Transformities for humans have only been roughly estimated based on education level, and should be judged as first approximations. This paper refines the existing values for human services, using similar techniques, but with some different assumptions. The result is a larger range of human transformities, expanded at both lower and upper ends that range from 7.53E4 to 7.53E13. There are many applications of this knowledge, from improving empirical studies to expositions of hierarchy that more reliably “locate” humans, economic production, and information within energy transformation hierarchies.

Suggested Citation

  • Abel, Thomas, 2010. "Human transformities in a global hierarchy: Emergy and scale in the production of people and culture," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(17), pages 2112-2117.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:221:y:2010:i:17:p:2112-2117
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.05.014
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    Cited by:

    1. Amaral, Luís P. & Martins, Nélson & Gouveia, Joaquim B., 2016. "A review of emergy theory, its application and latest developments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 882-888.
    2. Tian, Xu & Sarkis, Joseph, 2020. "Expanding green supply chain performance measurement through emergy accounting and analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    3. Abel, Thomas, 2013. "Emergy evaluation of DNA and culture in ‘information cycles’," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 85-98.
    4. Andreas Kamp & Hanne Østergård, 2016. "A Systematic Approach to Explorative Scenario Analysis in Emergy Assessment with Emphasis on Resilience," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Lupinacci, Daniel M. & Bonilla, Silvia H., 2018. "Exploring approaches and dimensions of human transformity through an educational case," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 368(C), pages 336-343.
    6. Falkowski, Tomasz B. & Martinez-Bautista, Isaias & Diemont, Stewart A.W., 2015. "How valuable could traditional ecological knowledge education be for a resource-limited future?: An emergy evaluation in two Mexican villages," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 300(C), pages 40-49.
    7. Jing An & Aitian Tao & He Yang & Ang Tian, 2021. "Sustainability Assessment of the Rare-Earth-Oxide Production Process and Comparison of Environmental Performance Improvements Based on Emergy Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, November.

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