Environmental Accounting: Energy and Environmental Decision Making

FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this important new work, Howard T. Odum, widely acknowledged as the father of systems ecology, lucidly explains his concept of emergy, a measure of real wealth that provides a rational, science-based method of evaluating commodities, services, and environmental goods. Using specific real-world examples, Dr. Odum clearly demonstrates the revolutionary role of emergy in environmental management and policy making. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making offers environmental professionals - policymakers, managers, ecologists, planners, developers, and activists - a systematic approach to environmental and economic valuation that will eliminate much of the rancor and adversarial decision making that often plagues environmental issues.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
Pioneer ecologist Odum (environmental policy, U. of Florida) introduces the concept of emergy, the cost of making a product or providing a service, as a balance to energy, the benefit expected. He explains how it can be applied to environmental management to maximize real wealth, the whole economy, and the public benefit. The dimensions he considers include evaluating environmental resources, fuels and electricity, alternative development, states and nations, international exchange, information and human services, and policy perspectives. He includes several appendixes of formulas and other data, and a simulation program in BASIC. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Book Description
In this important new work, Howard T. Odum, widely acknowledged as the father of systems ecology, lucidly explains his concept of emergy, a measure of real wealth that provides a rational, science-based method of evaluating commodities, services, and environmental goods. Using specific real-world examples, Dr. Odum clearly demonstrates the revolutionary role of emergy in environmental management and policy making.
Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making offers environmental professionals—policymakers, managers, ecologists, planners, developers, and activists—a systematic approach to environmental and economic valuation that will eliminate much of the rancor and adversarial decision making that often plagues environmental issues. Specifically, this book:

Describes the theoretical basis, calculation procedures, and applications of emergy
Introduces the concept of "transformity," the ratio of emergy (work put into a product) and energy (value received from the product)
Provides formulas for emergy calculations, procedures for making an emergy evaluation table, and parameters for updating evaluations
Demonstrates the use of emergy to evaluate environments, minerals, waters, primary energy sources, economic developments, and international trade
Compares the emergy approach to environmental evaluation with others
Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help environmental decision makers and the society they serve maximize economic vitality with less trial and error, innovate with fewer failures, and adapt to change more rapidly. It provides the tools they need to arrive at the best policies in resource management, economics, and the environment.

Balancing the economy and the environment— from the father of systems ecology

Increasing economic dependence on diminishing natural resources has sparked a highly charged debate over the use and fate of the world environment. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making presents a unique method of environmental management based on maximizing real wealth, the whole economy, and the public benefit.

Renowned ecologist Howard T. Odum introduces the concept of emergy to provide a rational alternative to the tug-of-war over the world's most vital assets. Emergy measures the energy put into making a product and is the cornerstone of Odum's revolutionary text. This timely and important book offers key insights into:

Determining the real value of a product or service
Transformity, or the relationship between emergy (input) and energy (output)
Stored wealth, available energy, and the final product
Balancing economic and environmental needs
Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help economists, ecologists, policymakers, and planners make more responsible, informed decisions to sustain economic and environmental development.

Book Info
Presents a unique method of environmental management based on maximizing real wealth, the whole economy, and the public benefit. DLC: Natural resources - Accounting.