Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Creating nutrient cycles The why’s and how’s Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant 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

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant What happened when the living organisms conquered land ? Nutrients in food Nutrients in urine 2 The situation after the first organisms had conquered land

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant After just a few tousand years:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Where are the green fields my ancestors were bragging about?

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Interlude: What are ’nutrients’ ? ’Nutrients’ are the essential elements needed to construct a body These elements need to be attainable in right proportions E.g.: You need four times more tires than steering wheels to build a car

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant 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: H O C N S P Na K Ca …64 P HOCNS Na K Ca …64 With gaseous phases — can be transported by the air Nutrients – phosphorus is the most important nutrient ! P 10 times more common in the body than in the Earth crust

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Nutrients are essential for life -- but phosphorus is the most crucial

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant We need a method to use the phosphorus molecules several times, without losses, so we can retain phosphorus on land! !

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant If we could transfer the phosphorus seamless from organism to organism without losses to sea, we might solve it !

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 DNA Urine Consumption Recycling Reconstruction The regenerative cycle, basic for living systems -- ecosystem level: A seamless transport of phosphorus from organism to organism!

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Petrified newspaper found in the Cretaceous – Devon geosynclinal

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 DNA Urin e Consumption Recycling Reconstruction The regenerative cycle High exergy Low exergy

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Ecosystem maturation A 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 Maturation

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Present times

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Phosphorus and nitrogen were collected by plants In preindustrial times, the farmland nutrients came from the meadows Meadows PO 4 N A certain amount of meadows was therfore needed to maintain the farmland Manure Feed Food Farmland PO 4 Phosphorus was extracted from the soil by the meadow plants The manure was placed on the farmland, to feed the demanding food crops

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant During industrialisation, people moved into cities

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 N The nutrients that went away to the cities never came back Manure Feed Food Other nutrients were collected by the meadow plants In the cities, they also needed food, food from the farms The food contained nutrients The export led to an impoverishment of the agricultural land Food PO 4

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 Foo d The impoverished land produced insufficient harvests This triggered emigration The industrialisation process might have been halted by the loss of nutrients in farmland

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 Food PO 4 Food 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

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 Food PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion But in the cities, the situation was becoming problematic

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 Food PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion But the invention of the piping system eased the problems

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion PO 4 Pollu- tion However, at the end of the pipe, new problems were encountered Plancton algae multiplied gladly from the new phosphorus

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Linear flows HEAP A linear flow from sources to sea PO 4 Energy demanding and unsustainable PO 4 Feed PO 4 Food PO 4 Food Urin e

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Remember ? Nutrients in food Nutrients in urine

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant P Nutrients – phosphorus is the most important nutrient Will energy price affect phosphorus availability?

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Extraction horizons of phosphorus At higher energy price: ?? years 100 – 150 years At current energy price:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Is the regenerative cycle possible at societal level? We face the same problem as the first terrestrial organisms But the solution is more urgent

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant If we could transfer the phosphorus seamless from organism to organism without losses to sea, we might solve it !

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant PO 4 Urin e DNA Micro- organisms Agriculture Consumers Consumption Recycling Reconstruction As long as the sun shines, the regenerative cycle on societal level could go on like this:

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

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Balanced agriculture: Animals are fed with plants growing from their manure ─ about 80% circulation of nutrients PO 4 Feed Urin e One hectare:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant 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 PO 4 Feed Urin e Foo d Urin e = 0,2 ha/pers One hectare:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant these nutrients must be returned to close the cycle With source- separating toilets, these nutrients can be recycled PO 4 Feed Urin e Foo d Urin e PO 4 = 0,2 ha/pers One hectare:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Or, in an even more practical description, think of a few hundred people living in association with a farm

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant The eco-unit, a small population maintained by a balanced agriculture Balanced agriculture Providing most of the human food and 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 the local population Small population, about 200, supported by the agriculture

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant 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 Feed PO 4 Food PO 4

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant The ’ruralisation’ scenario: A city is successively integrated with its hinterland Year:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant The ’ruralisation’ scenario: A city is successively integrated with its hinterland Year:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant The ’ruralisation’ scenario: A city is successively integrated with its hinterland Year:

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant The ’ruralisation’ scenario: A city is successively integrated with its hinterland Year: High diversity Perennial plants Co-operation Mutualism Nutrient circulation On-site consumption Water export by evaporation

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant 0 kr kr kr kr Economic effects of local food production Annual consumer cost for food (four person family) SEK (about € 6.500) Payment to producer, less than 25% Trade, distribution and processing about 75% of the total price Producer cost (fuel, interests etc.) 80% of producer payment Producer salary, about SEK (5% of consumer cost) Total energy investment: about kWh / 4 pers Energy delivered: about kWh/ 4 p.

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant 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)

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Expenses Salary Distribution and trade TraditionalsystemTraditionalsystem But: 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 to , 400% The consumer cost for the food will decrease with 50%

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Let’s hope that the consumers will use their saved money to invest in the agriculture… Cheaper food Saved money A win-win-win relation Increased salary Nutrient circulation

Folke Günther Holon Ecosystem Consultant Thank you! For more information, go to my homepage holon.se