Ecology of Scale
According to the theory of Ecology of Scale , the specific expenditure and ecological effects for making a food available on the market ( point of sale ) depend degressively on the size of the company .
Scientific theory
To produce a certain amount of food, a larger company needs z. B. Much less energy than several small businesses would need for the same amount. In this respect, the energy expenditure related to the production or transport volume decreases with the size of the company. This also applies if this results in further transport and distribution routes to the end consumer. The environmental impacts related to the production volume are lower in larger companies, whereby the energy turnover can be used as an important parameter for the overall environmental impact.
The mere distance between primary production and point of sale, which is often used as a benchmark for assessing the environmental impact of complete process chains under the catchphrase "Food Miles", plays only a very subordinate role in the scientific analysis of the environmental impact of a complete process chain, especially since the food Miles concept is historically based on the so-called Thünenschen Ringen ( Johann Heinrich von Thünen , 1825). The scientific theory of the “Ecology of Scale” newly introduced by Elmar Schlich ( Justus Liebig University of Gießen ) for this matter was developed in analogy to the term “Economy of Scale” (also: Economies of Scale ). With this term , economics describes the degressive dependence of the unit costs on the number of units .
Investigations
As part of extensive and lengthy on-site surveys, the first step was to collect final energy sales for complete process chains - from primary production to the point of sale - in each case for different company sizes, including energy expenditure for transport and distribution. In the second step, the final energy turnover is the basis for calculating the primary energy used and the associated carbon dioxide emissions . As part of the allocation, all results are related to the respective production or transport volume. The final results are the specific - i.e. volume-related - final energy sales, the specific primary energy sales and the specific carbon dioxide emissions of the entire process chain. The balance period is in all cases a calendar year. In that regard, it is in the method by the same procedure as with a life cycle assessment according to DIN EN ISO 14040, consisting of elements LCI is, impact assessment and allocation. The following examples are now available: apples, fruit juices and wine from producer bottling as examples of plant-based foods and lamb, beef and pork as examples of animal-derived foods.
Results
All the cases examined so far clearly confirm the scientific thesis of the Ecology of Scale. Sufficiently large companies can - from an energy point of view - provide food on the market much more cheaply than small companies, regardless of whether these companies operate in German regions, within the EU or globally. This statement applies including all expenses for continental or global transports that are carried out as bulk goods by container ship, rail and truck. The often assumed advantages of short transport routes within a region can very quickly be nullified if the company is too small due to deficiencies in logistics and vehicles that are too small and underutilized.
But even in rural regions, food can be made available on the market in an energetically competitive way, provided the size of the company is sufficient. For all foodstuffs examined, the associated minimum farm sizes can be identified that could easily be achieved in the region, if necessary with the help of the establishment of cooperatives and cooperatives.
The data collected on the specific final energy turnover of local, regional, European-continental and global process chains also serve as the basis for calculating additional ecological parameters such as B. specific primary energy consumption and specific carbon dioxide emissions (carbon footprint). The results available so far show that in the case studies examined, the specific primary energy consumption (= primary energy per kg of food) and the specific carbon dioxide emission (= CO 2 emission per kg of food) decrease degressively with the size of the company. In this respect, the “final energy” indicator has proven to be a good characteristic for the ecological assessment of complete process chains.
From a scientific point of view, there is no reason to denounce global or continental process chains for food because of the allegedly high energy sales of the transports or to regard regional providers in principle and in all cases as more environmentally friendly. Because the opposite can also be true: in some cases, local or regional process chains can even generate higher energy sales per kg of food than continental or global process chains, and always when the production facilities in the region are too small. Global or continental container transport by ocean-going vessel, inland waterway, rail and truck requires very little final energy per kg of food. Air transport, which is very energy-intensive, plays a rather subordinate role in the food sector as a mass market. At the same time, it must be taken into account that Germany, as a densely populated industrial country, is dependent on international food imports to adequately supply the population.
The degrees of self-sufficiency , which are determined annually by the German Federal Statistical Office , are z. B. for table apples approx. 33%, for wine from producer bottling approx. 35% and for lamb approx. 60%. There are no tropical fruits in Germany at all. The mean value of the degree of self-sufficiency for all types of fruit and vegetables is just under 20%. Other foods that need to be imported include: B. rice, coffee, tea, fish and seafood. In the case of foods that can be produced in Germany, there are also large seasonal fluctuations. Examples are potatoes, cereals, summer and winter vegetables. A year-round high quality supply of the German population with food is not possible without their importation.
Others
Ecology-oriented business administration began in the 1980s . These and other scientific disciplines developed ever more sophisticated and meaningful life cycle assessments . These make it clear that with particularly efficient transport, the distance can become a subordinate factor. For example, in the spring in the northern hemisphere it can be more ecological to buy apples from the current harvest in the southern hemisphere than apples from the previous year's harvest from Germany, which have been stored for several months in a cold store under a modified atmosphere, for which a lot of electricity is used (see also: Fruit storage ). Today, container ships are often much larger than they used to be; fuel consumption per tonne-kilometer has fallen significantly.
See also
literature
- E. Schlich: Energy Economics and the Ecology of Scale in the Food Business. In: PG Caldwell, EV Taylor (Editors): New Research on Energy Economics. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York, 2008, ISBN 978-1-60456-354-2 .
- E. Schlich (Ed.): Apples from Germany. Final energy sales in production and distribution. Cuvillier, Göttingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-86727-541-5 .
- E. Schlich, B. Hardtert, F. Krause: Beef from the perspective of the Ecology of Scale. In: Fleischwirtschaft. 89 (9) 2009, pp. 114-118.
- E. Schlich: On the energy efficiency of regional and global process chains: the example of wine from producer bottling. In: Journal for Consumer Protection and Food Safety. 4, no. 1, (2009), ISSN 1661-5751 , pp. 68-74.