what is info?

1

What is INFO?

FEA, Unicamp

Enrique OrtegaEcological Engineering Lab.

Fourth Emergy ConferenceUniversity of FloridaGainesville, January 19-21, 2006

in agriculture.Information roleINFO

Agro-eco-systems

A report of a work in progress

2

As shown in Figure 1, information could be a external force that affects the processes of an economic system.

Figure 1. Emergy diagram of Argentina (Ferreyra, 2001)

Figure 1. Emergy diagram of Argentina (Ferreyra, 2001)

3

But even that information is recognized as a force and its symbol is drawn in systems diagrams, until now, as far as we know, its role in agricultural systems has not been explained nor measured.

Valuable discussion on general aspects has been made (Odum, 1976; Odum, 2000; Brown, 2005) but in the case of agricultural systems, as it can be observed in next figure, obtained from Folio 4 (Brandt-Williams, 2001), the main reference for emergy calculation does not include the symbol and does not discuss the issue.

4

Figure 2. Emergy diagram of inputs evaluated for products of Florida Agriculture (Brandt-Williams, 2001)

5

The concept of information

After reading several authors, I think that human information can be defined as the stocks, flows and processing of signals, data, codes, symbols, ideas, concepts, images, emotions, feelings, smells, memories, knowledge structures and life-style.

Information is emitted by a system and can be interpreted, used and transformed by other one.

6

The concept of information

The sequence of processes through raw data become information, knowledge, science, technology, know-how, local public policy, foreign policy and finally norms and laws within a country or in other regions is shown in the next figures.

Please remember that our main focus is information for agriculture or food production.

7

Infra-structure

Processing & consumption

$

InvestmentsInnovations,

INFO : ideological frame

Soybean production unit

Local atmosphere

Soil and local

biodiversity

inputs

Local Sustainable

Forces

Output for External Consumption

$ Money stocks and flows

Atmosphere Regional biodiversity

$

International Debt ($)

Integrated diversified productionAgriculture

fields

R

8

Infra-structure

Processing & consumption

$

Investments , loans , chemical inputs , machinery

INFO : ideological and

Soybean production unit

Local atmosphere

Soil and local

biodiversity

Chemical inputs

Local Sustainable

Forces

$

Output for External Consumption

$ Money stocks and flows

Atmosphere Regional biodiversity

Local non-renewable

social forces

$

International Monetary

FundMultinational

enterprises

International Sustainable

ForcesInternational

Debt ($)

other pressures

Integrated diversified productionAgriculture

fields

R

9

The concept of INFO

Raw information

Data bank and processing

Information

Information processing structures

Knowledge

Structures for study, analysis and

discussion of knowledge

Science and Technology

Enterprise and State structures for

science and technology

Patents, know how

Structures for patent and know how marketing

Knowldege transfer policy Political

structures fot knowledge

transfer

Ideological, scientifical, political,

economical and militar pressures

10

At least two kinds of INFO

ConviviumINFO

DominanceINFO

Raw information


Information


Open source knowledge

Human Values for Convivium

Human Values for Convivium

Raw information


Information


Restricted use knowledge

Human Values for Dominance

Human Values for Dominance

11

Social and environmental impacts of knowledge in Capitalism

Social and environmental products of dominance INFO

Local and global environmental

degradation

Raw information


Knowledge for dominance

Human Values for Dominium

of Nature

Wealth concentration , Loss of Ethical frames ,Excessive consumption ,

Waste

Social exclusion , Jobless, Misery,

Violence

Knowledge for dominance structures

Human Values for Economical

Domination

DominanceINFO

12

Biosphere and culture recovering

knowledge

Renewable resources

Brazilian production

$International

Monetary Fund (IMF)

$International enterprises investments

Animal products and

wastes

Industrial processing for

oil and feed

Human values and explanations for Domination

Local non-renewable

resources

External non-renewable

resources

Monetary resources

($)Economic production

Europe & China consumption

Subsoil water eutrophication,

air and river pollution

Monetary resources

($)

Local banks and investors

($)

External Public

Debt ($)

PrivateDebt ($)

Internal Public

Debt ($)

Human diet use

Local government

actions

Forest destruction

Public services

reduction

Human industrial activities

Local governs

($)

Rural exodus & Immigration

Non renewable fossil fuel

resources and minerals

Ecological and social Debt ($)



How? When?Whom? To whom?

Local enterprises investments

($)

Pandora box and the hope

Hope is the name of a girl … that does not accept the system and makes questions!

13

Renewable resources

Brazilian production

$International

Monetary Fund

(IMF)

$International

industrial enterprises investments

Human values, scientific reasons

and economic explanations for

Domination

Local non-renewable

resources

External non-renewable

resources

Local scientific and entrepreneurs

lobby

Economic production

Local banks and investors

($)

Executive government

actions

Forest destruction

Central governments

($)

Who?How? When?Whom? To whom?What cost?

Ideological, political, economic

and military pressures

Legislative government

actions

Juridical government

actions

Monetary resources

($)

laws

regulations

Law obeying actions

infra -structure

omissions

corruption

The information system in detail for measuring (next step)

14

The force of information or knowledge is not neutral; it is linked to the ethical values of the scientific and economic frames where it is created.

Within the Capitalism INFO usually means new technology but behind that image there is an ideological and military force used for its expansion all over the world.

The force of knowledge is not always positive to the system that receives it; usually at present circumstances, it has a negative impact because it will transform the system for the benefit of that one that generates the information.

15

But INFO can be, also, a positive force if the knowledge belongs to a correct scientific framework.

I can constitute a clear perception of how the world and how its ecosystems work. It can be also an unbiased and beneficial knowledge.

So, there are at least two kinds of information; let’s take care with this great force.

16

The concept applied to soybean farming

In capitalist agriculture, INFO is the external technological, political, ideological and economical coercion force used to control an agricultural system for the benefit of chemical and biotechnological industries.

But, as Capitalism is not completely monolithic, in Brazil besides that INFO another information forces act in the agriculture and they provide support for ecological, organic and old-agricultural tradition farms.

17

The concept applied to soybean farming

Table 1 was built to show the links between type of farming with main Scientific Approach and Consumption System for the Brazilian Soybean Production Systems.

18

Type of farm, number of farmers, size and supporting INFO.

Chemical systems

Biotechnological systems

Ecological family-managed small farm (25 000)

10-30 ha Agroecology and forestry and cattle husbandry; Local markets; Payment of environmental services.

Organic producer (500) 300 ha Organic Agriculture, Permaculture and Slow Food Movement; Organic foreign markets.

Chemical inputs small farm (500000)

5-30 ha Agrochemistry; Local markets.

Chemical inputs medium farm (20000)

300 ha Agrochemistry and Biotechnology; Commodities foreign markets.

Chemical inputs big farm (5000)

3000 ha or more

Agrochemistry and Biotechnology; Commodities foreign markets.

Biological systems

19

Recently in Brazil, when important political and economical decisions concerning the use of transgenic soybean seeds were taken by federal government, at Congress audiences the discussion did not consider the biological farming only the chemical and biotechnological farming.

That kind of production was not considered even the small farmers are responsible for almost 20 % of production.

20

But, as we are going to show in the next paragraphs the biological systems give the bigger benefits for the producing country.

The information of biological farming was completely omitted! And the information of the biotechnological option was overwhelming.

Maybe because the main concern was to obtain money (to pay debt) from sales to foreign markets and from this perspective it is more effective to deal with big size farmers that could have rapid answers.

21

Water and mineral

resourcesfrom soil

(M&S)R

Renewable energy

Nitrogen from

atmospherePeople

(M&S)N

Soil

Local processing

Environmental Services

Losses

Wastes

Products Plantation

Forest reserve

Regional biodiversity

Local population

Materials and Services

ProductsSun, Moonand Earth´s internal heat

Albedo

Residues

InfoN

Local resources

CO2 in excess

captured

Acid deposition due to NOx and SOx

liberation

Local and global climate

change

Not filtered UV radiation

InfoR

22

Inputs classification Equation

Ecological Organic Chemical Bio-tech.

1,0E+13 1,0E+13 1,0E+13 1,0E+13

sej/ha/yr sej/ha/yr sej/ha/yr sej/ha/yr

Renewable resources from Nature R=Max(Renewables) 253,1 252,9 251,5 251,5

Non renewable resources from Nature N=Sum(Non renewables) 2,3 27,4 380,8 62,9

I = R + N 255,4 280,3 632,3 314,4

Materials from Economy M=Sum(Materials) 26,3 52,6 169,3 200,7

Local Labor L=Sum(Labor) 22,9 18,0 8,7 4,7

Services from Economy S=Sum(Services) 13,2 14,6 15,7 15,8

Externalities X=Sum(Externalities) 4,1 27,8 96,2 133,2

F = M + L + S + X 66,5 113,0 289,8 354,5

Emergy used Y= I + F 321,8 393,3 922,1 668,9

Mass of products kg dry matter/ha/yr 2968,0 2968,0 3500,0 3430,0

Mass of env. products kg dry matter/ha/yr 685800,0 685800,0 51435,0 51435,0

Total mass of output kg dry matter/ha/yr 688768,0 688768,0 54935,0 54865,0

1,0E+10 1,0E+10 1,0E+10 1,0E+10

J/ha/yr J/ha/yr J/ha/yr J/ha/yr

Energy of products 7,2 7,2 8,5 8,4

Energy of services 0,3 0,3 0,0 0,0

Output energy 7,6 7,6 8,5 8,4

23

Sales of products Dollars 592,0 592,0 620,0 620,0

Value of Env. Services Em-dollars 100,7 100,7 7,6 7,6

Value of output if env. services were paid 692,7 692,7 627,6 627,6

Costs 168,6 230,5 523,3 598,1

Private Profit 423,4 361,5 96,7 21,9

Externalities 11,0 75,0 260,0 360,0

Social Profit 412,4 286,5 -163,3 -338,1

Area of farm 15 300 300 3000

Monthly profit / Farm 529,3 9037,8 2418,1 5476,2

Real monthly profit / Farm 641,4 9680,8 -3893,0 -82635,3

Real monthly profit / ha Productivity 42,8 32,3 -13,0 -27,5

Emergy Indices Equation Ecological Organic Chemical Bio-tech.

Transformity (sej/J) Tr=Y/E=Emergy/Energy 4,3E+04 5,2E+04 1,1E+05 8,0E+04

Transformity (sej/kg)Tr=Y/M=Emergy/Dry Mass 4,7E+09 5,7E+09 1,7E+11 1,2E+11

Renewability Ren=(100)*(R/Y) 78,6% 64,3% 27,3% 37,6%

Emergy Yield Ratio EYR=Y/F 4,84 3,48 3,18 1,89

Emergy Investment Ratio EIR=F/I 0,26 0,40 0,46 1,13

Emergy Exchange Ratio EER=Y/EmS 1,81 2,21 4,96 3,60

Emergy Sustainability Index ESI=EYR/EIR 18,6 8,6 6,9 1,7

24

Transformity

0,0E+002,0E+044,0E+046,0E+048,0E+041,0E+05

sej/J

Transformity

0,0E+002,0E+044,0E+046,0E+048,0E+041,0E+051,2E+05

sej/

J

25

Renewability

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


%

Renewability

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


%

26

Emergy Sustainability Ratio

0,0

5,0

10,0

15,0

20,0


ES

I

Emergy Sustainability Ratio

0,0

5,0

10,0

15,0

20,0


ES

I

27

Emergy Yield Ratio

0,001,002,003,004,005,00

EY

R

Emergy Yield Ratio

0,00

1,00

2,00

3,00

4,00

5,00

6,00


EY

R

28

Emergy Exchange Ratio

0,00

1,00

2,00

3,00

4,00

5,00


EE

R

Emergy Exchange Ratio

0,00

1,00

2,00

3,00

4,00

5,00

6,00


EE

R

29

Emergy Investment Ratio

0,000,200,400,600,801,001,20


EIR

Emergy Investment Ratio

0,00

0,20

0,40

0,60

0,80

1,00


EIR

30

Area of farm 15 300 300 3000

Monthly profit / Farm 529,3 9037,8 2418,1 5476,2

Real monthly profit / Farm 641,4 9680,8 -3893,0 -82635,3

Real monthly profit / ha 42,8 32,3 -13,0 -27,5

31

Monsanto research and marketing costs;

Political Lobby and Military costs;

Specific subsidies for certain farmers;

Biosphere’s opportunity costs!

It is still necessary to include as INFO:

32

Final considerations There is a biosphere need of a new culture

and, as part of it, a economy based in expanded emergy analysis;

It is important to understand the information process to promote Auto-Organization;

(a) Develop efforts between Open Science, Open Religion, Open Social Movements;

(b) Maintain Conscious Courage and Creativity and keep Patience and Hope.

33

Sub-systems

The future!

NR

R

The present!

Agenda 21 World Social ForumCollective Intelligence

Oil producing countries

Industrialized countries

Raw-materials producing countries

Global System

World System

R

Open religion movementSocial movementsEthical Renascence

34

Just a pair of the cited references:

Maria Cecilia Ferreyra, 2001.“Emergy perspectives on the Argentine economy and Food production systems of the rolling pampas during the twentieth century”. Master of Science Thesis. University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.

Sherry L. Brandt-Williams (2001) Folio #4 (2nd printing): Emergy of Florida Agriculture, August 2001, Revised September 2002. Center for Environmental Policy. Environmental Engineering Sciences, Box 116450 University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611-6450.

35

Thanks for your attention!

www.unicamp.br/fea/ortega/

More of these at:

what is info?

Documents

information system

force of knowledge

kinds of information

stepthe force of information

human information

external force

positive force

knowledge structures