Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature

This paper examines the hydrological cycle and its implications for the production capacity of two countries, China and the United States. While it takes a macro-level view, it illustrates the relevance of understanding the circularity of nature as exemplified by the hydrological cycle, for urban an...

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Autores principales:	Thomas S. Kakovitch, Sabine O’Hara
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	circular economy physical economics economic capacity water-energy-economy nexus water-use and water savings Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/10f34367ffb84636936f27f680c13876
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:10f34367ffb84636936f27f680c138762021-11-25T19:02:21ZWater and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature10.3390/su1322125972071-1050https://doaj.org/article/10f34367ffb84636936f27f680c138762021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12597https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050This paper examines the hydrological cycle and its implications for the production capacity of two countries, China and the United States. While it takes a macro-level view, it illustrates the relevance of understanding the circularity of nature as exemplified by the hydrological cycle, for urban and regional circular economy considerations. Taking the circularity of nature as a starting point is a departure from common circular economy conceptions, which take an anthropocentric perspective rather than a nature based one. We calculate the amount of solar energy available for freshwater evaporation and the allocation of freshwater to its key uses in the domestic, industrial, and agricultural sectors. Our calculations indicate that the capacity to generate economic output can be accurately described by the embodied solar energy distribution that determines the availability of freshwater for allocation to different uses. This illustrates the need to take environmental/physical conditions more fully into account in economic development decisions at every level, from local to regional, national, and global. We begin our analysis with a review of circular economy concepts and argue that they reveal a limited understanding of the circularity of nature evident in energy and material cycles and their economic capacity implications. Achieving further expansions of economic capacity may increasingly depend on an improved understanding of nature’s circularity, especially when competing resource pressures and land-use constraint exacerbate economic capacity limits. Our findings suggest three particularly important lessons for decision makers: first, the efficiency increases needed to realize growing economic output will require circular economy models that consider the efficient processing capacity of nature rather than relying solely on technological solutions; second, the non-use of resources may be as valuable or more than their use; and third, price policies can be effective in steering resource use and non-use in the right direction.Thomas S. KakovitchSabine O’HaraMDPI AGarticlecircular economyphysical economicseconomic capacitywater-energy-economy nexuswater-use and water savingseconomic capacityEnvironmental effects of industries and plantsTD194-195Renewable energy sourcesTJ807-830Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENSustainability, Vol 13, Iss 12597, p 12597 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	circular economy physical economics economic capacity water-energy-economy nexus water-use and water savings economic capacity Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	circular economy physical economics economic capacity water-energy-economy nexus water-use and water savings economic capacity Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Thomas S. Kakovitch Sabine O’Hara Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature
description	This paper examines the hydrological cycle and its implications for the production capacity of two countries, China and the United States. While it takes a macro-level view, it illustrates the relevance of understanding the circularity of nature as exemplified by the hydrological cycle, for urban and regional circular economy considerations. Taking the circularity of nature as a starting point is a departure from common circular economy conceptions, which take an anthropocentric perspective rather than a nature based one. We calculate the amount of solar energy available for freshwater evaporation and the allocation of freshwater to its key uses in the domestic, industrial, and agricultural sectors. Our calculations indicate that the capacity to generate economic output can be accurately described by the embodied solar energy distribution that determines the availability of freshwater for allocation to different uses. This illustrates the need to take environmental/physical conditions more fully into account in economic development decisions at every level, from local to regional, national, and global. We begin our analysis with a review of circular economy concepts and argue that they reveal a limited understanding of the circularity of nature evident in energy and material cycles and their economic capacity implications. Achieving further expansions of economic capacity may increasingly depend on an improved understanding of nature’s circularity, especially when competing resource pressures and land-use constraint exacerbate economic capacity limits. Our findings suggest three particularly important lessons for decision makers: first, the efficiency increases needed to realize growing economic output will require circular economy models that consider the efficient processing capacity of nature rather than relying solely on technological solutions; second, the non-use of resources may be as valuable or more than their use; and third, price policies can be effective in steering resource use and non-use in the right direction.
format	article
author	Thomas S. Kakovitch Sabine O’Hara
author_facet	Thomas S. Kakovitch Sabine O’Hara
author_sort	Thomas S. Kakovitch
title	Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature
title_short	Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature
title_full	Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature
title_fullStr	Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature
title_full_unstemmed	Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature
title_sort	water and the circular economy: learning from nature
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/10f34367ffb84636936f27f680c13876
work_keys_str_mv	AT thomasskakovitch waterandthecirculareconomylearningfromnature AT sabineohara waterandthecirculareconomylearningfromnature
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Water and the Circular Economy: Learning from Nature

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