Agroecological symbiosis (AES) - food system redesign for bioenergy and recycling Juha Helenius1, Kari Koppelmäki1, Tuure Parviainen1 & Elina Virkkunen2 1University of Helsinki, Agroecology Research Group 2LUKE Natural Resources Institute Finland Acknowledgement Markus Eerola & Knehtilä Farm, Peter Zukale & Samsara Bakery, Jukka Kivelä (UH), Sophia Albov (UH), Erika Winquist (LUKE), Ari-Matti Seppänen (UH & LUKE), Rogier Schulte (WUR), the many co- reators in Hyvinkää and in Mäntsälä, steering group members, RAKI-recycling program of the Ministry of Environment 2 3 ”nature” = infinite resource “Food chain”: open ended, distanced, insensitive of place, globalizing, corporated, … Farming Processing Marketing Households - Consumers 4 ””The European food chain funnel” (Source: Poux et al. 2016. Transition scenarios to agroecology in Europe: relevance and challenges of a fundamental contribution to the EU debate on agriculture and environment, IDDRI & European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism. Fig. 3. 6 Symbiosis (mutually beneficial) non-obligatory co-existence fungi + algae = lichen 7 Industrial Ecology • ecosystems as models for industrial systems • no ”waste”, only (recyclable) resources – by-products, material flows from one process to another – form cradle to cradle 8 Industrial Symbiosis Chertow, M.R. 2000. Annual Review of Energy and Environment 25: 313-317. • spatial proximity of production partners in an ecoindustrial system – possibility to maximize material and energy efficiency – enhanced interaction 9 Agroecological Symbiosis (AES) • the idea of industrial symbiosis applied in food system – equality among the actors – from linear, open-ended to cyclic – from uniformity to diversity – from centralized to distributed – from global to local & situated – from unidentifiable to identifiable food – from consumerism to food citizenship 10 Circular food system: socio-ecologically situated food cycle Community members producing Community members cooking Community members marketing Community members sharing the meal 11 12 Biogas plant Units: MWh/a Methane refining Bakery Electr. grid Farming operations BIOMETHANE BIOGAS HARVESTED BIOMASS FROM LAYS Heat prod. BIOGAS HEAT FOR THE PROCESS BIOGAS BOUGHT ELECTRICITY BIOMETHANE FOR SALE BIOGAS HORSE DRY MANURE L CHICKEN DRY MANURE L 13 Farm operations P t/a: import 1.0, export 1.8 (negative balance, mining excess soil P) Sales of plant production Bakery Biogas plant Horse manure Chicken manure 14 Nitrogen and Phosphorous balances and nutrient use efficiency for arable land in the CS and AES -models. Uncertainties in the brackets. Source: Koppelmäki et al. 2018. N P CS AES CS AES Input 120 (95-144) 133 (110-156) 7.3 (6.4-8.1) 8.9 (8.1-9.7) BNF 96 (76-117) 77 (63-92) Manure/organic fertilizers 20 (17-23) - 7.3 (6.4-8.1) - Digestate 52 (44-60) 8.9 (8.1-9.7) Nitrogen deposition 3 (2-5) 3 (2-5) Output in harvested products 23 (19-27) 75 (62-87) 4.0 (3.3-4.6) 9.3 (7.8-10.7) Balance (surplus) 97 (76-117) 58 (44-72) 3.3 (4.8-1.8) -0.3 (-2.6-1.9) 15 AES and environment (source: Helenius et al. 2017) Environmental variable Units Effect size and direction Reliability Nutrient loading to waterways Nitrogen loading kg/ha ++ high kg/kg food +/- low Phosphorus loading kg/ha + medium kg/kg food +/- low Erosion (solids) kg/ha + medium kg/kg food +/- low Biodiversity Habitats + high Species ++ high GHG emissions, CO2 eq Energy inputs kg/ha +++ high kg/kg food ++ high N fertilizers kg/ha +++ high kg/kg food +++ high Farmland kg/ha + medium kg/kg food +/- low Soil Soil organic matter SOM content +++ high Carbon in soil kg/ha ++ high 16 Why AES? 1. Ecological imperative: nutrient cycling, bioenergy, sustained productivity – genuine bio-economic and circular society model 2. Need for food security, food sovereignty – basic unit for a resilient, fair, and food securing global network of localized food systems 3. Desperate situation of farmers, largely also of food processors – prize margin keeps increasing: the circular localized model removes power inequality in the transaction chain 4. Peripherification of rural, “1oo ha loneliness” – a model to stop rural decline; a model resilient for future de- urbanization 5. Erosion of food cultures – restoration of linkage to origins of food: sense of food; diversification to local products 17 References: Chertow, M.R. 2000. Industrial symbiosis: literature and taxonomy. Annual Review of Energy and Environment 25: 313-317. Helenius, J., K. Koppelmäki & E. Virkkunen (eds.) 2017. Agroecological symbiosis in nutrient and energy self- sufficient food production. The Ministry of Environment Reports 18/2017. 66 p. (In Finnish with English abstract) (ISBN 978-952-11-4716-6) http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-11-4716-6 Koppelmäki, K., M. Eerola, S. Albov, J. Kivelä, J. Helenius, E. Winquist & E. Virkkunen 2016. ’Palopuro Agroecological Symbiosis’ A pilot case study on local sustainable food and farming (Finland). In: P. Rytkönen & U. Hård (eds.) Challenges for the New Rurality in a Changing World. 7th Int. Conf. Localized Agri-Food Systems, 8-10 May 2016 Stockholm, Sweden. Proceedings, in COMREC Studies in Environment and Development 12: 171-172. ISSN 1652-2877, ISBN 978-91-980607-1-3 http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:956067/FULLTEXT01.pdf Kopelmäki, K., T. Parviainen, E. Virkkunen, E. Winquist, R.P.O. Schulte & J. Helenius 2018. Increasing environmental efficiency in organic farming and food processing by integrating bioenergy production into nutrient recycling. Manuscript (submitted to Agricultural Systems) blog: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/palopuronsymbioosi/english/ 18 Thank you. Photo: tiedebasaari.wordpress.com 19