Environmental economic analysis of the large scale biofuels production : an application of MSIASEM

许多研究人员声称，大规模生产生物燃料是化石燃料的理想和可行的替代品。本研究基于对社会和生态系统代谢的多尺度综合分析，探讨了大规模生物燃料生产对发达社会是否可行或可取。在简要介绍了本研究要调查的主题之后，使用两个比喻来解释为什么生物质能在工业革命期间首先被放弃：(1)社会代谢的流动的回收（以增加生态兼容性）和线性化（以增加经济竞争力）之间的阴阳紧张关系；(2)社会的能源部门被视为人体的心脏。打个比方，一个可供选择的心脏必须在数量和质量上提供身体其他部位所期望的血液供应。结论是，对于一个发达社会来说，并不是所有可以燃烧的东西都应该被认为是理想的燃料，并为这种评估提供了一个框架。然后，我们对生物燃料作为石油替代品的选择进行了批判性的评估。向社会提供的每单位生物燃料的高劳动力和土地需求使得这种选择与发达社会的典型代谢模式不相容。在生态兼容性方面，化石能源使人类历史上第一次有可能在汇方面（大气中二氧化碳的积累）而不是在供应方面（对太阳能在养分循环中转换的生态过程的结构性破坏）产生问题。人类必须找到化石能源的替代品，这一共识并不意味着这种替代品应该是生物燃料。

Many researchers claim that large scale biofuels production is a desirable and viable alternative to fossil fuels. This research examines whether or not large scale biofuels production is either feasible or desirable for developed society based on multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism. After providing a brief introduction to the subject matter to be investigated in this research, two metaphors are used to explain why biomass energy was abandoned during the industrial revolution in the first place: (1) the Yin-Yang tension between recycling(to increase ecological compatibility)and linearization(to increase economic competitiveness)of the flows metabolized by society: (2) the energy sector of a society seen like the heart for the human body. Metaphorically speaking, an alternative viable heart must deliver the supply of blood which is expected by the rest of the body both in terms of quantity and quality. It is concluded that for a developed society not everything that can be burned should be considered as a desirable fuel and provides a framework for such an evaluation. Then we provide a critical appraisal of the option biofuels as an alternative to oil The high labor and land demand per net unit of biofuel delivered to society makes this option not compatible with the typical patterns of metabolism found in developed societies. In relation to ecological compatibility, fossil energy made it possible for the first time in the history of humankind to generate problems on the sink side (accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere) rather than on the supply side (structural damage to the ecological processes of conversions of solar energy over cycles of nutrients). Agreeing on the fact that humans must find a substitute for fossil energy does not entail that this substitute should be biofuels.