SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 1
INDEX
A general idea of sustainable development
Water as a main reference
Example of unsustainable water: High Guadiana River
Biomass as a new/old resource
“Pastures” as a sustainable agricultural example
Definition
The concept of Sustainable Development was described in 1987 in the report of the commission of Bruntland as “development that satisfies the
needs
of
the
present
generation
without
involving the capacity of future generations to satisfy their own needs”
Biodiversity ď‚›
The effect of human activities - increased these latest years due to the population growth and the global climate change - has decreased the biodiversity
of the systems around the world
Water ď‚›
Although water covers more than two thirds of the
surface of the Earth, it is a scarce resource for many people in the world (less than 0,5% of all the water is immediately available for human use) ď‚›
The lack of water, especially drinking water, is mainly caused by inefficient resource systems and not due to the lack of resources
Education for sustainable development ď‚›
Educating for sustainable development means incorporating the fundamental topics to the teaching and learning process; for example: climate
change, biodiversity, reduction of poverty and sustainable consumption
Sustainable lifestyles ď‚›
Learning to know the products we buy, encouraging curiosity about how and where our goods are produced, as well as the working conditions of the country of origin. How far do our products travel to reach the supermarket shelves? What is the ecological footprint of the production and transport of certain goods?
ď‚›
Learning to change consumption behaviour and habits
SUSTAINABLE WATER
SUSTAINABLE WATER
We have to focus on two important ideas about Spain in terms of water Spanish climate is charaterized by low precipitations and an extremely dry season in summer, we have a Mediterranean climate In Spain it only rains 300-500 mm of water per year
UNDERGROUND WATER Rain water acumulated through pores in the rocks or directly in the ground Underground water represents 70% of the total water used in the European Union and 30% of all the water in Spain We make use of underground water by means of wells
SUSTAINABLE WATER In 1992, the summit of Rio about sustainable development wrote down Agenda 21, the idea of a serious water management for development In Spain, water costs about € 1.36/m3 The average water consumption in Spain (households, factories, agriculture…) goes to 4,804 Hm3 per year
It is really important to purify waste water
Where and how much water is used in Spain
AGRICULTURE, CROPS AND WATER Barley represents 65% of the total crops in Spain, together with corn and sunflower (25%) they are the most important crops of he country. 20% of that water comes from underground water, the extraction cost goes to € 1,000 per Hm3
These data do not make agriculture in Spain as sustainable as we would like it to be
Very common system for crops: Drip irrigation
A system for crops or lawn: Sprinkler A system we are going to talk about: Centre pivots
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
“Increasing agricultural productivity is the main way to satisfy the growing demand for food given the limitations on expanding the amount of land and water used for food production” - (Final Declaration of the World Summit on Food Security in Rome - November 2009) Agriculture sustainability means enough quantity of food and big variety of foods throughout the year This availability has contributed to the improvement of feeding the world’s population
ADVANTAGES Economical Efficiency in production processes Incorporation of value-added products Environmental Optimization of the use of natural resources (energy, water, soil) Decrease of Greenhouse gases emissions and waste per unit of production.
DISADVANTAGES
Soil Erosion: In the world between 5 to 7 million hectares are lost per year Salinization and waterlogging of irrigated soils: Almost half of the world's irrigated lands have decreased their productivity due to this reason Excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides: It causes water pollution when these products are washed away by rain. Depletion of aquifers
THE DRYING OF GUADIANA RIVER AND THE EYES OF GUADIANA
GUADIANA RIVER Guadiana river is the fourth longest river in the Iberian Peninsula with 744 km. Guadiana river rises in the “Eyes of Guadiana” In this area there are some aquifers where water comes
from in a place called High Guadiana.
Guadiana River in a map
Eyes of Guadiana
“TABLAS DE DAIMIEL” National park in Ciudad Real. Wetland which depends on “Eyes of the Guadiana” to keep its humidity “Lagunas de Ruidera” and “Tablas de Daimiel” make up most part of “Wet La Mancha” (25,000 ha.) It is a very important area because of its vegetation
and migratory birds variety
“Tablas de Daimiel” in a map
Aerial Image of “Tablas de Daimiel”
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS For the last 30 years, these aquifers have suffered a huge exploitation and also water pollution because of uncontrolled irrigation In the aquifers the water levels have fallen, causing the drying of “Eyes of the Guadiana”, the loss of water in “Lagunas de Ruidera” and the absolute drying of “Tablas de Daimiel”
Irrigation systems
A COMPARISON
BEFORE
AFTERWARDS
BIOMASS
Biomass is the use of organic matter as energy source. The general uses of biomass are: ď‚› Thermal ď‚› Electrical Industries use it for their thermal needs
Power stations use for electric generation just fuel or a combination with biomass Vehicles use it as fuel (replacing diesel or petrol)
Biomass
Plant and animal biomass Biomass energy is the energy from organic matter (vegetable or animal origin)
Plant biomass comes from plants in general (trunks, branches, stems, fruits, etc.)
Animal biomass is obtained from animal products (fats, excrements, etc.)
Charcoal is fuel elaborated by carbonizing wood Wood is heated in an oven at temperatures above 500째C Water is eliminated and the heating power of wood doubles to 30.000 kJ/kg (the same as coal)
Advantages Decrease of CO2 emissions
Disadvantages Higher production cost than fossil fuels
A tree along its life produces enough Lower energetic performance than fossil oxygen and gets enough CO2 to fuels compensate the amount of CO2 produced in its burning No emission of sulphur pollutants
Need of transformation to use it
Decrease of waste
Big volume, problems of transport and storage
Economic increase in the rural world
Seasonal production
Decreases the dependande of fuels supply
ď‚›
Forests cleared for agriculture and livestock
ď‚›
Interesting ecosystems: good example of balance between human
exploitation and conservation of natural resources
Pastures in Spain
The area where the pastures are were occupied by forests with poor, sandy soils Clearings were opened Goats were replaced by cattle, sheep and pigs
Hibernating
animals
(cranes) “Summer” animals (Montagu's harriers) Sedentary animals (imperial eagles)
Colorful
flowers (daffodils, lilies, lavender, rosemary) Oak trees Aromatic shrubs and bushes.
FAUNA
FLORA
ď‚›
Oak tree is the most representative tree of the Mediterranean climate
Ability to recover after droughts or harvests
Its use produces biomass
It is considered one of the most sustainable types
of agrarian use
Isabel, Paula, Cristian, Carlos, Alberto, Miriam, Araceli, MÂŞ JesĂşs, Silvia and Ana