Summary of Everglades Restoration Note Location Emvalue (Billions Em$/yr)

1. Everglades Restoration Everglades Restoration Present day... Historic... Systems Diagram showing the main flows of water... Summary of Emergy Contributions of the Everglades when Restored Note Item Solar Emergy EmDollars (E18 sej/yr) (E6 em$/yr) Renewable Resources 1 Transpiration 1131.8 1120.5 2 Discharge (FL Bay) 595.4 589.4 Nonrenewable Resources 3 Fuels 170.9 169.2 4 Labor 142.8 141.4 5 Total Assets (pumps, canals, etc.) 45.3 44.9 6 SFWMD Assets (pumps, canals, etc.) 22.1 21.9 7 Restoration Assets (pumps, ASR, etc.) 23.2 23.0 8 Urban 826.1 817.9 9 Total Goods & Services 1087.3 1076.6 10 Agricultural Goods & Services 1029.6 1019.4 11 SFWMD Goods & Services 10.6 10.5 12 Park Goods & Services 13.8 13.7 13 Restoration Goods & Services 33.3 33.0 Total Renewables 1727.2 1709.9 Total Nonrenewables 2272.5 2249.8 Total Emergy Contributed 3999.7 3959.7 Summary of Emergy Contributions of the Everglades (c. 1995) Note Item Solar Emergy EmDollars (E18 sej/yr) (E6 em$/yr) Renewable Resources 1 Transpiration 1131.8 1120.6 2 Discharge (FL Bay) 535.8 530.5 Nonrenewable Resources 3 Fuels 172.7 171.0 4 Labor 146.3 144.9 5 Assets (pumps, canals, etc.) 25.4 25.1 6 Urban 826.1 817.9 7 Total Goods & Services 1106.2 1095.3 8 Agricultural Goods & Services 1071.7 1061.1 9 SFWMD Goods & Services 10.6 10.5 10 Park Goods & Services 23.8 23.6 Total Renewables 1667.7 1651.2 Total Nonrenewables 2276.7 2254.2 Total Emergy Contributed 3944.4 3905.4 EMERGY - The energy required directly and indirectly to make something • Expressed in energy of the same FORM … usually solar energy • Sometimes called Energy Memory = Emergy • Similar to Embodied Energy • Units = Solar Emergy joules = sej Emergy Evaluation of Ecological Services: the costs and benefits of Everglades Restoration Emergy Benefit/Cost of Restoration Mark T. Brown, Matt Cohen, Eliana Bardi, and Wes Ingwersen Center for Environmental Policy/Center for Wetlands University of Florida Net benefit of active restoration The contribution of environmental work to the watershed of Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades of Florida can be estimated using emergy and its economic equivalent, emdollars. Emergy evaluates the work that generates real wealth and is useful for selecting those alternatives that contribute most to both the economy of humans and to environmental sustainability. Emergy and emdollars put environmental and economic items on a common basis. Economic potentials are increased by those developments that also maximize values in the environment. These calculations show the real wealth contribution of the water resources of the Everglades watershed. In 1975 a set of projects on the Everglades and south Florida was conducted at the Center for Wetlands of the University of Florida sponsored by the U.S. Department of Interior and the Florida Division of State Planning in Tallahassee. Energy systems methods of modeling, evaluation, and computer simulation were applied to ecosystems, counties, and the region as a whole. The models were numerically calibrated bringing heterogeneous data together. Many of the recommendations in that earlier study are being considered and employed in current restoration efforts. Net benefit of restoration activities is the net increase in restoration of ecosystem services when compared to natural recovery Summary of Everglades Restoration Note Location Emvalue (BillionsEm$/yr) 1 Annual total Em$ Everglades System 3.96 2 Net increase in emergy value of Env. Services 1.02 3 Projected cost in dollars 7.6 4 Em$/$ cost ratio over 36 years: (1.02 E9 Em$/yr)(36 yr)/($7.6 E9) = 4.8/1 4.8/1 Net Benefit Ratio