1. The material and energetic
basis of social systems
An introduction
Simron Jit Singh
Institute of Social Ecology
Klagenfurt University, Austria
Why analyse material and energy flows?
Materials and energy are biophysical categories necessary for
human survival and reproduction
They are finite both in terms of availability and productivity
Patterns of material and energy use (in both quantitative and
qualitative terms) affect the future survival of humans and
other species
The world is presently experiencing an unprecedented
environment crisis due to the ways we consume our
resources (materials, energy, land) causing sustainability
problems on the input side (scarcity) and the output side
(pollution)
This has also had social consequences in terms of resource
distributional conflicts and environmental justice
1

2. Material and Energy Flow Analysis - MEFA
MEFA is an analytical method that allows to:
Analyse the quantity and quality of resources extracted from
nature and their passing through processing, transport, final
consumption and disposal
Understand the spatial dimension of material flows (where
extraction, production, consumption and disposal takes
place)
Interpret the impact of these flows within the framework of
sustainability science and ecological economics
Relate these flows to ecological distributional conflicts and
embedded power relations (political ecology)
Doing a MEFA involves a number of “wicked” decisions, as
analytical categories come in conflict with ontological ones (as
do semiotics). Let us take for example this statement:
The environmental problems (some
would say crisis) we face today are a
consequence of the ways society
interacts with nature
2

3. “Society as hybrid between material
and symbolic worlds”
cultural sphere of causation
natural sphere of causation
Adapted from:
Fischer-Kowalski & Weisz, 1999
“Society as hybrid between material
and symbolic worlds”
metabolism
labour/technology
Material world
Adapted from:
Fischer-Kowalski & Weisz, 1999
3

4. “Society as hybrid between material
and symbolic worlds”
natural sphere of causation
cultural sphere of causation
metabolism communication,
labour/technology Shared meaning &
understanding
Material world Human Society
Adapted from:
Fischer-Kowalski & Weisz, 1999
The Two Types of Metabolism
4

5. Operationalising Material Flow Accounting
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Imports Exports
Immigrants Emigrants
Economic
Processing
DPO
DE
Stocks
Domestic environment
Problem 1: What belongs to society
and what belongs to nature?
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Imports Exports
Immigrants
Labour as a determining factor Emigrants
Economic
Processing
Humans (what about seasonal migration, tourists)
Livestock DPO
DE
Infrastructure and artefacts (buildings, streets, dams,
electricity grids, etc.)
Stocks
The only exception is agricultural fields, even though they
are reproduced by human labour!!
5

6. Problem 2: How to define a social system’s
domestic territory to differentiate between
domestic flows and imports?
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Imports Exports
Immigrants
Legitimate right Emigrants
Economic
Processing
To exploit the resources within a territory, either
DPO
through traditional or legal control
DE
Where existing political and governing institutions
have the ability to set and sanction standards of social
behaviour within that territory
Stocks
The difficult of a strict systems boundary, particularly in
local rural systems where there are overlaps in land
use with neighbours
Problem 3: How to account for
externalities or hidden flows?
Air, Water
Water Vapour
Flows are accounted for as ‘weight at border’
Imports Exports
Immigrants All materials that are economically valued areEmigrants
considered
as ‘direct’ Processing but not, for e.g. earth removed for
inputs,
Economic
construction or used in ploughing, or dredging.
What about the ‘hidden flows’ or ‘ecological rucksacks’
DPO
DE
that occur during extraction, processing or disposal of
resources where these activities take place?
For e.g. a ton of aluminum requires 9 tons of raw
Stocks
materials, 3 tons of water and 200 GJ of energy!
How to account for these externalities?
Total Material Flow (TMR); Raw Material Equivalent (RME); a
political issue!!
6

7. Inclusiveness or exclusiveness of material flows
If all materials, then water and air make up to 85-90% of the total?
Most studies would not lump water, air and other materials (biomass, fuels,
minerals) so as not to drown economically valued materials in water and
air; so they are kept separate for their sheer amount, as and also
supposedly low impact of their use (toxicity);
But this is changing with many studies quantify the use of water and its
ecological and social impacts, including severe conflicts over its access;
Studies on water footprint of products, embodied water, debating on what
should be produced where depending on water situation, etc.
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8. Socioeconomic metabolism is an interdisciplinary
effort integrating concepts from social and natural sciences
to describe the biophysical relations of society-nature
interactions
The operating instrument for socio-economic metabolism is
Material and Energy Flow Accounting (MEFA)
Consistent with the systems approach, national MFA is a
physical accounting method that provides an aggregate
overview, in tonnes, of annual material inputs and outputs
of an economy.
Its interpretative strength can be greatly enhanced by
historical and institutional narratives
MFA: Conceptual and Methodological options
Frame of reference / unit of analysis: (a) seen from a social science
perspective, the unit of analysis could be the socioeconomic system,
treating it like an organism or sophisticated machine, or (b) the
ecosystem, seen from a natural science perspective, with mutual
feedback loops.
Reference system: Global, national, regional (city or watershed or village),
functional (firm, household, economic sector), temporal (various modes
of subsistence, social formations, historical systems)
Flows under consideration: total turnover of materials, energy or both; one
may select certain flows of materials or chemical substances (inputs or
outputs) for reasons of availability in the reference ecosystem, or to look
at the rates of consumption.
8

9. Map of materials of particular interest for accounting
Related policy response:
Small volume with high impact:
policy directed on pollution
control, bans, substitutions, etc.
Medium volume focuses on
policy at reducing materials and
energy intensity or production,
minimization of wastes and
emissions, closing loops
through recycling
High volume flows, policy
objectives will be concerned
with depletion of natural
resources, disruption of habitats
during extractions.
Source: Steurer 1996
Some theoretical and empirical
applications of MEFA
9

10. 1. Characteristic metabolic profiles and
transitions across scales and
production regimes
Composition of materials input (DMC)
material input EU15 (tonnes, in %)
total: 17 tonnes/cap*y
Biomass
construction minerals
industr.minerals
fossil fuels
source: EUROSTAT 2003
10

11. Composition of DPO: Wastes and emissions
(outflows)
DPO total: 16 tons per capita
D PO t o ai r ( C O2 )
D PO t o ai r*
D PO t o wat er D PO t o land ( wast e)
D PO t o l and ( d issip at ive use)
unweighted means of DPO per capita for
A, G, J, NL, US; metric tons
Source: WRI et al., 2000; own calculations
Metabolic profiles of the agrarian and
industrial regime:
transition = explosion
Agrarian Industrial Factor
Energy use (DEC) per capita [GJ/cap] 40-70 150-400 3-5
Material use (DMC) per capita [t/cap] 3-6 15-25 3-5
Population density [cap/km²] <40 < 400 3-10
Agricultural population [%] >80% <10% 0.1
Energy use (DEC) per area [GJ/ha] <30 < 600 10-30
Material use (DMC) per area [t/ha] <2 < 50 10-30
Biomass (share of DEC) [%] >95 10-30 0.1-0.3
Source: Social Ecology DB
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12. Domestic Material Consumption / cap in EU Countries, 2000
Source: Weisz et al. 2006
Global material use 1900 – 2005 (DMC = DE)
Total material use (Gigatons / year) Metabolic rate (tons / cap / year)
Source: Krausmann et al. 2009
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13. India: Domestic Material Consumption
(DMC) total tons I tons per capita
5.000.000 5
Construction Construction
4.500.000 minerals 4 minerals
Ores and non Ores and non
4.000.000 metallic minerals metallic minerals
Fossil fuels 4 Fossil fuels
3.500.000 Biomass Biomass
3
3.000.000
3
1000t
t/cap
2.500.000
2
2.000.000
2
1.500.000
1
1.000.000
1
500.000
- -
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
00
03
61
64
67
70
73
76
79
82
85
88
91
94
97
00
03
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
Source: Lanz 2008
2. Dematerialization or shifting
environmental burdens from north to south
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14. Meadows et al. (1972) argued that economic growth would
have to be stalled in order to remain within the earth’s
carrying capacity
As opposed to Meadows, Ayres and Kneese’s solution was
more subtle and acceptable to economists…it was not
economic growth that mattered but the growth in the material
throughput of human societies that was significant.
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15. 15

16. Problem shifting via international division of labor
100%
Material
Money
Mass
Value
added
0%
Raw material --> semi-/products -- use disposal
>
developing Developed countries
Unequal distribution of global resources
(for the year 2000)
100%
90%
80%
70%
D - Ld - ow
60%
D- Ld - nw
D - Hd
50%
I - Ld - ow
I - Ld - nw
40%
I - Hd
30%
20%
10%
0%
S h a re o f p o p u la tio n S h a re o f te rrito ry S h a re o f G D P
Slide courtesy: Fischer-Kowalski and colleagues
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17. 3. Relating material and energy
flows with conflicts
Metabolism of cities and conflicts
• Cities require large inputs of
material and energy resources,
but they have very little
productive land of their own; they
depend on hinterlands (national
or international) for their supply of
materials and energy for their
metabolism (infrastructure, food,
products) as well as waste
disposal; corporations and
enterprises organise this
production – supply – disposal
chain for the city at profitable
rates, while ignoring proper
compensation and externalities of
the hinterland populations…
E.g. Barcelona produces 800 t of
waste each day, dumped in rural
sites, leading to conflicts
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18. Energy metabolism of Catalan
The conflicts in Catalan can be
seen as a problem of
energy metabolism where
energy production takes
place in rural hinterlands
(nuclear, wind); while city
dwellers enjoy most of the
energy supply, and
capitalists make high gains
in this production – supply
chain, the low economic
compensation as well as
externalities are borne by
the rural populations;
Monetary and physical trade balance in Equador
Source: Vallejo (2010)
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19. Resource extraction and conflicts in Equador
Source: Vallejo (2010)
Analysing the
material and
energetic
basis of local
rural systems
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20. Which scientific skills do we need
for undertaking local studies?
Conceptual and analytical Innovative and logical Anthropological field
skills; ability to think in terms thinking on the field to research skills, social &
of systems and feedback generate reliable primary process skills, participant
loops, etc. quantitative data observation, ability to
generate qualitative data
on the socio-cultural system
Why study local rural systems?
Local systems are the base of national economies
in terms of food production & resource extraction;
They are most vulnerable to environmental
impacts and ecological repercussions on the
output side
The health of a local base is to a large extent an
indication of the health of its national economy
Thus, the sustainability of local systems is crucial
when we speak of national or global sustainability
To me it provides a meaningful point of entry into
the sustainability discourse
And of course a certain amount of field work is
always exciting!
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21. Material Flows on Trinket, Nicobar Islands (tons/cap/yr)
IMPORTS EXPORTS
0.35 2.4
DMI DMC
INPUTS 6.2 3.8
OUTPUTS
5.8 Socio-economic System
Minerals 0.2 and its Physical
Compartments
Biomass 0.1
Biomass 2.3 •Human Population Sand 2.3
•Livestock population
Fossil fuels 0.04 •Artefacts (huts,
government buildings,
Products 0.01 wells, boats, pathways)
Minerals 3.5 Copra 0.13
Deliberate
disposal
Wastes,
emissions
Energy Flows on Trinket (GJ/cap/yr)
IMPORTS EXPORTS
3.0 3.5
DEI DEC
33.0 29.5
DOMESTIC PRIMARY FINAL USEFUL OUTPUTS
EXT. 30 ENERGY ENERGY ENERGY
Food
Biomass 3.7 2.82
Processing Part of this
Human Work Applied
0.1 Human
Biomass 17 Livestock Nutrition
0.37 Labour alters the
Environment
Biomass 1.1
Biomass 6.2 Copra Copra 3.5
Production
Solar 0.00 0.0009
Solar 0.09 Electricity Light
Panels 9
1.2 Mechanical Heat
Diesel
Fossil Fuels 1.9 Energy Dissipated
or lost
Fuelwood Process
Fuelwood 3.0 0.75 Energy
Heat Dissipated Heat Dissipated
& Outflows of & Outflows of
Energy Rich Energy Rich
Materials Materials
21

22. Local case comparison of metabolic size and rates
Metabolic parameters Trinket (2000) Campo Bello (2004) Nalang (2003) Sang Saeng (1998)
(Copra production and (Shifting cultivation) (Intensive rice (Intensive rice
exchange for rice) Cultivation + Cultivation)
shifting cultivation)
Higher level interventions Subsidies, services Subsidies, services, Supply of fossil Supply of fossil
based technologies based technologies
& infrastructure & infrastructure
Pop density (cap/km²) 11 38 43 93
Stock of artefacts 8.3 1.4 1.7 18.6
Material metabolic rate 3.7 1.6 2.6 3.6
(DMC t/cap/yr)
Energy metabolic rate 29.5 20.6 26.3 40.5
(DEC GJ/cap/yr)
Share of fossil fuel (% in DEC) 6.4 1.0 1.5 8.3
Share of biomass (% in DMC) 61% 98% 96% 64%
Industrial products 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.50
(DMC t/cap/yr)
Energy burden on environment 3.2 7.8 11.3 37.7
(DEC GJ/ha/yr)
Material burden on environment 0.4 0.6 1.1 3.3
(DMC t/ha/yr)
Fischer-Kowalski et al. (submitted)
Local Case comparison of food production & consumption
Metabolic parameters Trinket (2000) Campo Bello (2004) Nalang (2003) Sang Saeng (1998)
(Copra production and (Shifting cultivation) (Intensive rice (Intensive rice
exchange for rice) Cultivation + Cultivation)
shifting cultivation)
Higher level interventions Subsidies, services Subsidies, services, Supply of fossil Supply of fossil
based technologies Based technologies
& infrastructure & infrastructure
Land productivity [GJ/ha] 43 (rice) 8.0 20.3 21.6
Labour productivity [MJ/h] 297 (rice) 15 13 38
Nutritional energy from
agriculture, incl. imports [%] 31 84 89 90
Nutritional energy from
hunting/fishing/gathering [%] 69 16 11 10
Time-use in economic activities
[Hours / adult] 1.19 4.69 5.85
Fischer-Kowalski et al. (submitted)
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