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03:33PM Tuesday September 13,2016

What we can learn from SwedenBy G Venkatesh Sep 12 2016Tags: Knowledge

Bridging the gap between consumption and regeneration ofnatural resources is key to sustainable development

In the beginning of the 1830s, at the behest of the Swedish parliament, anoak plantation project was undertaken at Visingsö — an island in the lakeVättern in south­central Sweden. The move was aimed at ensuring that inthe future the Swedish navy would have access to timber for the constructionof ships. Over a century­and­a­half later, the oaks still stood; otheralternatives had been availed of by the navy during that period of time. Whenthe forest authorities of the country informed the chief of the navy that theoaks at Visingsö could now be utilised, the latter declined.

Shortage of the wood supply was certainly a concern for the navy.Additionally, the industries (especially those producing iron, and smithiesand foundries), which were springing up in the country in the 18th and 19thcenturies needed wood all through their life­cycles — as a constructionmaterial for the initial setup and as a fuel during their respective operationalphases. As the rate of growth in demand and consumption exceeded theregeneration rate of the wood­providing trees (such as oak), Sweden,around the beginning of the 19th century, was almost completely deforested.

In the light of this knowledge about the dependence of the economic (andmilitary) sectors on biological resources, and the repercussions ofdeforestation, the 1820s witnessed the establishment of the SwedishInstitute of Forestry under the leadership of Israel Adolph Ström — rightfullyremembered now as the father of forest economics in Sweden. This laid thefoundation for scientific approaches to, and rational thinking in theharnessing of the forest resources. Ensuring that the rate of consumptionwas not greater than the rate of regeneration became ingrained as a way ofthinking. The term “sustainable yield” or “sustainable output” comes to mindat this juncture. At the time of writing, about 80 per cent of Sweden’s forestsare productive, economically speaking, and the forest industry is one of thekey sectors of the country’s economy. Approximately 12 per cent ofSweden’s export earnings stem from its forests. This sector is also animportant employment generator for engineers and scientists from Sweden’suniversities.

Of course, if you also factor in the industries, which depend on the forests fortheir fuel requirements — the iron and steel industry, for instance — thecontribution to job creation is still bigger. Just to illustrate — chemicalengineers are concerned about improving the fibre structure of paper,mechanical engineers engage themselves with improving the performanceof the machinery and equipment which find use in paper and pulp mills,software engineers develop new algorithms and control techniques to makethe production in paper mills more efficient — with respect to material andenergy consumption, for instance. If the steel industry is factored in, you havemetallurgists interested in improving the properties of steel (which then isused to build the machinery used by the paper mills, for instance). All this isabout creating value; and sustainable development is a very valuablehandmaiden for all these engineers.

Well, this short historical account goes to show how engineers and scientistsencountered a situation, which arose when a natural resource was beingdepleted at a rapider rate than its regeneration; brainstormed, understoodand acknowledged what was happening and provided the proverbial “stitchin time.” The word “sustainable” had come into vogue.

The words “ecology” and “economy”, at times, may be mistaken to mean thesame. If one delves deeper into the etymology of these two words, one is

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able to understand at once that the first refers to the “study of households”and the second to “management of households.”

“Households” here, of course, could be understood in either a narrow sense,quite literally, or a very wide sense (the world we inhabit). This is the “back tobasics” explanation. However, in modern times, ecology is interpreted as astudy of environmental systems — atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere,pedosphere and biosphere — and the latter as the management ofanthropogenic (created by human beings, but with a great degree ofdependence on the environment) systems.

Yet, it would be easy to accept that both these deal with resources whichhave their limits. Sustainable development, thereby, would include bothecology and economy (the latter being dependent on the former and theformer being impacted upon by the latter) and it logically follows that it haslimited resources as its crux.

The neologism “sustainable development” is reported to have come intobeing sometime in the 1980s, and environmentalist Lester Brown is creditedfor its coinage. Brown is well known, among other things, for his book Plan B,in which he has discussed the ways and means of sustainable development.As it is with some coined terms (jargon, if one may say so), this one becamewell­entrenched the world over, courtesy its adoption by the United Nationsin its report, Our Common Future, in 1987. It was in this report that theenvironmental problems created by economic growth were addressed (aseconomic externalities) in right earnest for the first time. Our Common Futuredefined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs ofthe present without compromising the ability of future generations to meettheir own needs.” It is the all­encompassing nature of this definition(embracing subtly social, economic, environmental, cultural and ethicalaspects) that has contributed to its universal acceptance. But yet, we need toask ourselves the question: Why do we need to bother about sustainabledevelopment?

To answer this, we need to understand the implications of the two wordsseparately – “sustainable” and “development”. And how does one convinceoneself that sustainable development is actually happening, if at all, one istold that it has been set in place? Well, let us go down to first principles.Development can entail, for instance, the following:

a) Economic growth (rise in GDP, increase in the economic output)

b) Acquiring knowledge and skills (science, research and education)

c) Being creative (scientific and technological innovations, culturaldevelopment)

d) Improvement in social welfare

Development, thus, in a nutshell could simply mean “a change for the better”.But then, is it necessary to develop? To answer this, try to imagine what theabsence of development would connote. In the best case, stagnation andprevalence of the status quo (if one is fortunate), and in the worst case, oreven for that matter, the most probable case, a retrogression, or ‘decline’ inother words.

The word “sustainable” is linked somewhat to the words “durable” and“enduring”. From a historical point of view, as we have seen, it has itsbackground in forestry. Over time, since its origin in the forestry sector, it wasapplied in the 1960s and 1970s to environmental issues and, of late, itsapplication has been extended to the concerns related to climate changethat dominate discussions and decision­making on strategic levels.

The environmental issues, which sprung up in the 1960s, were those thathad a direct bearing on human health and well­being — the use ofpesticides like DDT and the presence of heavy metals in soil, air and water.A bellwether, if it could be termed thus, came in the guise of Rachel Carson’s1962 book — The Silent Spring. Carson took a strong stand in this book ofhers against the widespread use, and, thereby, dispersal in theenvironmental media, of pesticides that, as we know now, have adverseimpacts on the environment. This kickstarted the process of identifyingseveral other undesirable environmental impacts, like acidification,eutrophication, desertification, ozone depletion, freshwater scarcity, loss ofbiodiversity and climate change. Well, though we have commenced the

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discussion on environmental issues, these form only a part of the challenge.Sustainable development encompasses the social, economic, cultural andethical aspects as well.

Let’s imagine someone asking you this question: Must development besustainable? He/she could be posed with a counter­question rather than ananswer. “Well, what do you think the alternative is?” or “What, in youropinion, would the absence of sustainable development look like?”

Recalling the definition from the Brundtland report, if development isunsustainable, it would satisfy the needs of the current generation, but wouldleave the generations to come with disastrous consequences to tackle andovercome. This, you would agree with me, is certainly not desirable at all.

Fact, they say, is stranger than fiction. Reality is complex. It is a case of“easier written, thought about and spoken, than done”. We, however, agreenow that sustainable development, no matter how complex, is certainly verydesirable and also extremely necessary. To demonstrate the complexity, letus consider the sustainable development of the energy sector (heat,electricity and transport fuels) as an example. The first question which cropsup would be this: Which primary energy resources must one focus ondeveloping if sustainable development is on the agenda? Fossil fuels (coal –black and brown, oil and natural gas), as we all know, are not sound optionsfrom an environmental point of view.

One of the problems associated with the use of these fuels is the emission ofcarbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. Ofcourse, we also need to bear in mind that global warming is just one of theseveral sustainability­related challenges. Biofuels — pellets, wood chips,biogas, bio­ethanol and biodiesel — are being touted as “green”alternatives. Well, wait a minute. You would instantly wonder why. Carbondioxide is still emitted when these alternatives are combusted for theirenergy content, right? But, if you consider the fact that these biofuels arerenewable, and they absorb as much carbon dioxide during their growthphase as they emit when they are combusted as fuels, you at once realisethat their use is carbon­neutral. What is given out is captured back during theregeneration…ad infinitum! A closed­cycle, one may say, for the carbondioxide.

Another advantage is that these fuel resources can be cultivated locally toguarantee supply security. After all, geopolitical issues today can threatenthe certainty of fuel material imports/exports. And renewability, of course, is aclear advantage, with the caveat that consumption remains sustainable andthe regeneration rates are respected. Well, what then is the complexity here?

The different alternatives available must be compared with each other,especially when considering the fact that even though we are closing thecarbon dioxide cycle, it may take a long time before the carbon dioxideemitted is reabsorbed and assimilated in the crops/trees. The time rangesfrom a few days for algae, to about two years for field crops, and over ahundred years for some types of forests. If the time factor is to be contendedwith, then, simply by replacing fossil fuels with biofuels, we will not be able tomake appreciable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions quickly. Toreiterate then, reality is indeed complex.

(The article is a translated excerpt from the book Hållbar Utveckling by Jon­Erik Dahlin. The writer is senior lecturer, department of engineering andchemical sciences, Karlstad University, Sweden)

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