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Week 3 Crux Questions Feedback

January 26, 2014

In this weeks crux question answers, I am instituting the BS detector. Simply, does it sound like you know what you are talking about or does your answer repeat the question and fail to make any substantial points. I won't call it BS because that might be insulting. I'll say that

"you should be more concise and to the point".

 

Q1. One aspect of "scale effective technologies" is that they are adapted or suited to particular situations. For products and services, this often means that the sources are closer to the end uses.

Explain how the ideas around "net energy" help us understand why having local sources for energy and products is inherently more efficient. Give an example of where this would probably be a good idea, and a counter example of where larger scale projects are probably required.

- bigger scale example should be more than just shipping produce out of season

looking for a balanced and fair comparision

that is a balanced and fair comparison of examples that illustrates scale and efficiency tradeoffs

- need more details on the comparison of examples

OK, but the comparison of efficiency at different scales was weak, should be more than just that a bigger farm needs more resources

Comments:

Many mentioned that the energy in the fruits and vegetables decreases with time. Is this really true? Is it significant in the calculation of the energy to grow and transport produce?

 

 

Q2. Environmental problems and solutions occur over a range of time and space scales. It is necessary to use different decision criteria for these ranges.  The figure shows a Stommel diagram with the areas in which you could use the precautionary principle (labelled as the safe-management-strategy=SMS)  or cost-benefit analysis (CBA). 

SMS-CBA decision

Explain the difference between SMS and CBA.

Explain why you would use the different criteria at these time/space scales.

How does this relate to the idea of resilience and avoiding traps?  Explain how cross-scale ("panarchy") processes play a role in creating resilience.

trying things at small scale allows for learning instead of system wide failure

- didn't explain resiliency and traps

-the ability to change at the short time/space scales and have that accumulate over the larger scale is the essence of panarchy and how to avoid traps

trying stuff at smaller scales allows learning and correcting mistakes that would otherwise lead to large scale failures

 

 
 

Examples of good answers with my comments:

Contrarily, there could be the production cost of say oranges grown in Florida and shipped to Washington State. While it would be conceivable for Washington state farms to build and heat large green houses to maintain local sourcing this could be a detriment. The reason could be that growing oranges in Florida has a lower gross cost that that of growing them in Washington.  

my comment: good, your explaination showed why it's not just shipping but the alternative would require big industrial approach

 It is important to understand that if the system and resources are locked into a conservation period on a large scale, the problems may become more irreversable.  When there is a smaller scale release and a continual renewal the system becomes more resilient and traps are avoided.