IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v55y2013i4p513-524.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Ecosystem Services Replaceable by Technology?

Author

Listed:
  • Alastair Fitter

Abstract

This paper assesses the evidence for and against the view that the processes that deliver ecosystem services are so fundamental within ecosystems that neither the services themselves nor the goods that they deliver to humans could be replaced technologically. I consider cases where the natural processes have been replaced and also the probably more common and usually less invasive cases where they have been enhanced by technological interventions. Supporting services are probably least amenable to technology, with the major exception of nutrient cycling, which has been extensively replaced by the use of chemical fertilizers. Final services offer more examples of actual or potential replacement, including the highly controversial example of geoengineering for climate regulation. Finally, there are numerous examples of replacement technologies for environmental goods, especially in the case of energy (fossil and many renewable fuels), fibres (artificial fibres) and biochemicals (industrial pharmaceuticals). The full economic costs of replacement technologies have rarely been explored, and in some cases it appears that the replacement is more expensive than the natural service. Enhancement technologies, in contrast, supplement the output of ecosystem services and are probably in most cases more benign. The doubts about true costs and the fact that many supporting and final services seem either irreplaceable or only replaceable at huge cost adds to the need to protect them. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Alastair Fitter, 2013. "Are Ecosystem Services Replaceable by Technology?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(4), pages 513-524, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:55:y:2013:i:4:p:513-524
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-013-9676-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10640-013-9676-5
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-013-9676-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lomborg,Bjørn, 2001. "The Skeptical Environmentalist," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521010689, January.
    2. Brennan, Liam & Owende, Philip, 2010. "Biofuels from microalgae--A review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 557-577, February.
    3. T. Helgason & T. J. Daniell & R. Husband & A. H. Fitter & J. P. W. Young, 1998. "Ploughing up the wood-wide web?," Nature, Nature, vol. 394(6692), pages 431-431, July.
    4. Naik, S.N. & Goud, Vaibhav V. & Rout, Prasant K. & Dalai, Ajay K., 2010. "Production of first and second generation biofuels: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 578-597, February.
    5. Graciela Chichilnisky & Geoffrey Heal, 1998. "Economic returns from the biosphere," Nature, Nature, vol. 391(6668), pages 629-630, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Moritz A. Drupp, 2018. "Limits to Substitution Between Ecosystem Services and Manufactured Goods and Implications for Social Discounting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 69(1), pages 135-158, January.
    2. Jarisch, Isabelle & Bödeker, Kai & Bingham, Logan Robert & Friedrich, Stefan & Kindu, Mengistie & Knoke, Thomas, 2022. "The influence of discounting ecosystem services in robust multi-objective optimization – An application to a forestry-avocado land-use portfolio," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Arndt Feuerbacher & Theresa Herbold & Falk Krumbe, 2024. "The Economic Value of Pollination Services for Seed Production: A Blind Spot Deserving Attention," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 87(4), pages 881-905, April.
    4. Jules Pretty, 2013. "The Consumption of a Finite Planet: Well-Being, Convergence, Divergence and the Nascent Green Economy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(4), pages 475-499, August.
    5. Das, Saudamini, 2024. "Examining weak sustainability for storm protection by mangroves," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Schirpke, Uta & Ghermandi, Andrea & Sinclair, Michael & Van Berkel, Derek & Fox, Nathan & Vargas, Leonardo & Willemen, Louise, 2023. "Emerging technologies for assessing ecosystem services: A synthesis of opportunities and challenges," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Georgina M Mace, 2019. "The ecology of natural capital accounting," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 35(1), pages 54-67.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Atadashi, I.M. & Aroua, M.K. & Abdul Aziz, A.R. & Sulaiman, N.M.N., 2011. "Membrane biodiesel production and refining technology: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 5051-5062.
    2. Bergthorson, Jeffrey M. & Thomson, Murray J., 2015. "A review of the combustion and emissions properties of advanced transportation biofuels and their impact on existing and future engines," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1393-1417.
    3. Goh, Brandon Han Hoe & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Cheah, Mei Yee & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Yu, Kai Ling & Mahlia, Teuku Meurah Indra, 2019. "Sustainability of direct biodiesel synthesis from microalgae biomass: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 59-74.
    4. Vladimir Heredia & Olivier Gonçalves & Luc Marchal & Jeremy Pruvost, 2021. "Producing Energy-Rich Microalgae Biomass for Liquid Biofuels: Influence of Strain Selection and Culture Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Maity, Sunil K., 2015. "Opportunities, recent trends and challenges of integrated biorefinery: Part II," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1446-1466.
    6. Dariusz Kurczyński & Grzegorz Wcisło & Piotr Łagowski, 2021. "Experimental Study of Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Composition of a Diesel Engine Powered by Biodiesel from Waste of Animal Origin," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-22, June.
    7. Marwa G. Saad & Noura S. Dosoky & Mohamed S. Zoromba & Hesham M. Shafik, 2019. "Algal Biofuels: Current Status and Key Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-22, May.
    8. David Pearce, 2008. "Do We Really Care About Biodiversity?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 40(4), pages 611-611, August.
    9. Jessa DG. Carino & Pierangeli G. Vital, 2023. "Characterization of isolated UV-C-irradiated mutants of microalga Chlorella vulgaris for future biofuel application," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 1258-1275, February.
    10. Suganya, T. & Varman, M. & Masjuki, H.H. & Renganathan, S., 2016. "Macroalgae and microalgae as a potential source for commercial applications along with biofuels production: A biorefinery approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 909-941.
    11. Shah, Syed Hasnain & Raja, Iftikhar Ahmed & Rizwan, Muhammad & Rashid, Naim & Mahmood, Qaisar & Shah, Fayyaz Ali & Pervez, Arshid, 2018. "Potential of microalgal biodiesel production and its sustainability perspectives in Pakistan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 76-92.
    12. Sharifzadeh, Mahdi & Wang, Lei & Shah, Nilay, 2015. "Integrated biorefineries: CO2 utilization for maximum biomass conversion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 151-161.
    13. Kosinkova, Jana & Doshi, Amar & Maire, Juliette & Ristovski, Zoran & Brown, Richard & Rainey, Thomas J., 2015. "Measuring the regional availability of biomass for biofuels and the potential for microalgae," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1271-1285.
    14. Correa, Diego F. & Beyer, Hawthorne L. & Possingham, Hugh P. & Thomas-Hall, Skye R. & Schenk, Peer M., 2017. "Biodiversity impacts of bioenergy production: Microalgae vs. first generation biofuels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1131-1146.
    15. Merrylin Jayaseelan & Mohamed Usman & Adishkumar Somanathan & Sivashanmugam Palani & Gunasekaran Muniappan & Rajesh Banu Jeyakumar, 2021. "Microalgal Production of Biofuels Integrated with Wastewater Treatment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-13, August.
    16. Maity, Sunil K., 2015. "Opportunities, recent trends and challenges of integrated biorefinery: Part I," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1427-1445.
    17. Ardit Sertolli & Zoltán Gabnai & Péter Lengyel & Attila Bai, 2022. "Biomass Potential and Utilization in Worldwide Research Trends—A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, May.
    18. Joshi, Girdhar & Pandey, Jitendra K. & Rana, Sravendra & Rawat, Devendra S., 2017. "Challenges and opportunities for the application of biofuel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 850-866.
    19. Jung, Jong-Min & Kim, Sok & Lee, Jechan & Oh, Jeong Ik & Choi, Yoon-E. & Kwon, Eilhann E., 2019. "Tailoring pyrogenic products from pyrolysis of defatted Euglena gracilis using CO2 as reactive gas medium," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 184-190.
    20. Tanmay Chaturvedi & Ana I. Torres & George Stephanopoulos & Mette Hedegaard Thomsen & Jens Ejbye Schmidt, 2020. "Developing Process Designs for Biorefineries—Definitions, Categories, and Unit Operations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-22, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:55:y:2013:i:4:p:513-524. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.