folke günther holon ecosystem consultant folke@holon.se creating nutrient cycles the why’s and...

Folke GüntherHolon Ecosystem Consultant

www.holon.se/folke/ folke@holon.se

Creating nutrient cycles

The why’s and how’s

The history of the living organisms conquering land

Nutrients in food

Nutrients in urine

Elementary nutrients

1. The situation in the primordial sea, 400 millon years ago

CREATCEAN SEA

What happened when the living organisms conquered land ?

Nutrients in food

Nutrients in urine

2 The situation after the first organisms had conquered land

After just a few tousand years:

Where are the green fields my ancestors

were bragging about?

Interlude:

What are ’nutrients’ ?

’Nutrients’ are the essential elements needed to construct a body

These elements need to be attainable in right proportionsE.g.: You need four times more tires than steering wheels

to build a car

Without gaseous phases — must be transported as solids or liquids

More common in the Earth crust than in the body

The constituents of an animal (or vegetable) body:HHOOCCNNSSPPNaNaKKCaCa……6464

HHOOCCNNSS

NaNaKKCaCa……6464

With gaseous phases — can be transported by the air

Nutrients

– phosphorus is the most important nutrient !

PP 10 times more common in the body than in the Earth crust

Nutrients are essential for life -- but phosphorus is the most

crucial

We need a method to use the phosphorus molecules several

times, without losses, so we can retain

phosphorus on land!!

If we could transfer the phosphorus seamless from

organism to organism without losses to sea, we might solve it !

Consumption

Recycling

Reconstruction

The regenerative cycle, basic for living systems-- ecosystem level:

A seamless transport ofphosphorus from organism to organism!

Petrified newspaper found in the Cretaceous – Devon geosynclinal

Consumption

Recycling

Reconstruction

The regenerative cycle

High exergy

Low exergy

Ecosystem maturationA v a i l a b l e s o l a r e x e r g y

Immature system

• Low diversity• Annual plants• Competition• Parasitism• Nutrient leakage• Export• Fast change• Water export by drainage

Mature system• High diversity• Perennial plants• Co-operation• Mutualism• Nutrient circulation• On-site consumption• Slow change• Water export by evaporation

Present times

Phosphorus and nitrogen were collected by plants

In preindustrial times, the farmland nutrients came from the meadows

Meadows

A certain amount of meadows was therfore needed to maintain the farmland

Manure

FoodFarmland

Phosphorus was extracted from the soil by the meadow plants

The manure was placed on the farmland, to feed the demanding food crops

During industrialisation, people moved into cities

The nutrients that went away to the cities never came back

ManureFeed

Other nutrients were collected by the meadow plants

In the cities, they also needed food,

food from the farmsThe food contained nutrients

The export led to an impoverishment of the agricultural land

The impoverished land produced insufficient harvests

This triggered emigration

The industrialisation process mighthave been halted by the loss of nutrients in farmland

FoodPO4

The situation was solved by the invention of artificial fertilizers

By that, the nutrients from the meadows became unnecessary

Even more food could be produced

PO4Pollu-tion

PO4Pollu-tion PO4Pollu-

PO4Pollu-tion

But in the cities, the situation was becoming problematic

PO4Pollu-tion

PO4Pollu-tion PO4Pollu-

PO4Pollu-tion

But the invention of the piping system eased the problems

PO4Pollu-tion

However, at the end of the pipe, new problems were encountered

Plancton algae multiplied gladly from the new phosphorus

Linear flows

A linear flow from sources to seaPO4

Energy demanding and unsustainable

PO4 Food

Remember ?

Nutrients in food

Nutrients in urine

Nutrients

– phosphorus is the most important nutrient

Will energy price affect phosphorus

availability?

Extraction horizons of phosphorus

At higher energy price:

?? years

100 – 150 yearsAt current energy price:

Is the regenerative cycle possible at societal level?

We face the same problem as the first terrestrial organisms

But the solution is more urgent

If we could transfer the phosphorus seamless from

organism to organism without losses to sea, we might solve it !

Micro-

organisms

Agriculture ConsumersConsumption

Recycling

Reconstruction

As long as the sun shines, the regenerative cycle on societal level could go on like this:

In a more practical way, the regenerative cycle can be implemented by the cooperation between a balanced agriculture and a group of people

Balanced agriculture: Animals are fed with

plants growing from their manure ─ about 80%

circulation of nutrients

Feed Urine

One hectare:

.. but 3-4 kg of the phosphorus (20%) is exported as food

The 3-4 kg amounts to the P content of the excrements from 5 persons

Feed Urine

= 0,2 ha/pers

One hectare:

.. these nutrients must be returned to close the cycle

With source-separating toilets,

these nutrients can be recycled

Feed Urine

= 0,2 ha/pers

One hectare:

Or, in an even more practical description, think of a few hundred people living in

association with a farm

The eco-unit, a small population maintained by a balanced agriculture

Balanced agriculture

Providing most of the human foodand all of the animal fodder

Area: 50 ha for 200 inhabitants

• High diversity• Perennial plants• Co-operation• Nutrient circulation• On-site consumption

•Nutrient reclaim•Landscape diversity•Predator habitat•Lee – planting•Biomass production

Open ditches

Nutrients from the settlement is recycled to agricultural land

Balanced agriculture,aimed at the

support of thelocal population

Small population,about 200,

supported by the

agriculture

The eco-unit

Biological greywater treatment plant (wetpark)Clean water is returned to

the households

• High diversity• Perennial plants• Co-operation• Mutualism• Nutrient circulation• On-site consumption• Water export by evaporation

PO4FoodPO

The ’ruralisation’ scenario: A city is successively integrated with its hinterland

023451

689101171213141516

17192021221823242526272829303132333435

363839404137424344454647484950

• High diversity• Perennial plants• Co-operation• Mutualism• Nutrient circulation• On-site consumption• Water export by evaporation

www.holon.se/folke/ folke@holon.se0 kr

15 000 kr

30 000 kr

60 000 kr

Economic effects of local food production

Annual consumer cost for food (four person family)

60.000 SEK (about € 6.500)

Payment to producer, less than 25%

Trade, distribution and processingabout 75% of the total price

Producer cost (fuel, interests etc.)80% of producer payment

Producer salary, about 3.000 SEK (5% of consumer cost)

Total energy investment: about 40.000 kWh / 4 pers

Energy delivered: about 4.000 kWh/ 4 p.

Assume a group of consumers subscribe for food from a local farmer

They will drive the industry out of the market by paying the double industrial price (half of the consumer price)

www.holon.se/folke/ folke@holon.se0

15 000

30 000

45 000

60 000

Expenses

Salary

Distribution and trade

Traditional system

Because of the increased food diversity produced, the farmers expenses will increase, here assumed to +50%

..but the remaining is the salary, which will increase from 3.000 to

12.000, 400%

The consumer cost for the food will decrease with 50%

13.000

18.000

60.000

30.000

12.000

Let’s hope that the consumers will usetheir saved money to invest in the agriculture…

Cheaper food

Saved money

A win-win-win relation

Increased salary

Nutrient circulation

Thank you!

For more information, go to my homepage

holon.se

folke günther holon ecosystem consultant folke@holon.se creating nutrient cycles the why’s and...

farmland nutrients

loss of nutrients

citiespo4nthe nutrients

phosphorus seamless

nutrientsthe export

living organisms

farmsthe food

phosphorus molecules

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