Human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) as an approach to economic metabolism

Abstract

Human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) as an approach to economic metabolism.

Ecological economics points out that the economy has to be seen as a sub-system of the environment and sustainability is basically a "scale issue", that is, it refers to the size ocuppied by the economic system inside the Biosphere. This "scale" can be measured in physical terms, i.e., by quantifying the flows of energy, materials and wastes that constitute the metabolism of the economy. Just like a living organism ingests energy and food to provide for its own maintenance and reproduction, the economic system converts raw materials, energy and labor into finished products, infrastructures and wastes. Renewable resources and products of photosynthesis are an important part of the economic metabolism because are the basis for manteinace, growth and reproduction of all heterotrophs (human beings included). For this reason, we can use the Human Appropiation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) to measure the ecological impact of economic metabolism on this key fraction of resources. In this paper, we explore the possibilities of this tool for evaluating the ecological-economic sustainability of industrial societies, and estimations of HANPP at world level (from 20% to 40%) are analized. The influence of such an indicator for describing the nature-economy relationships are considered too.