Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Estimation of Cropland Ecological Footprint within Danish Climate Commissions 2050 Scenarios for Land use and Bioenergy Consumption

Mwambo, Andrew Ekoka LU (2015) In Student thesis series INES NGEM01 20141
Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Abstract
The ecological footprint of Denmark has been rising since (and likely even before) 1961, which signifies an unsustainable living by the Danish population. Global footprint reports show Denmark as one of many countries on earth which has exceeded its biocapacity (BC), which means natural resource consumption in Denmark is faster than the land’s regenerative capacity. The residents of Denmark are consuming more than the BC locally available for the population. We would need a land area equivalent to the size of 4.51 planets (Earth) in 2008, if the world’s population lived in the same way as the Danish population
In this research, the ecological footprint methodology, which tracks human demand on natural resources, was used to assess some... (More)
The ecological footprint of Denmark has been rising since (and likely even before) 1961, which signifies an unsustainable living by the Danish population. Global footprint reports show Denmark as one of many countries on earth which has exceeded its biocapacity (BC), which means natural resource consumption in Denmark is faster than the land’s regenerative capacity. The residents of Denmark are consuming more than the BC locally available for the population. We would need a land area equivalent to the size of 4.51 planets (Earth) in 2008, if the world’s population lived in the same way as the Danish population
In this research, the ecological footprint methodology, which tracks human demand on natural resources, was used to assess some underlying sustainability implications with respect to changes in the sizes of Danish cropland Ecological Deficit (ED), Ecological Overshoot (EO), Ecological Remainder (ER) and Ecological Trade Deficit (ETD) within the Danish Climate Commissions 2050 scenarios. The role of drivers in influencing cropland footprint of consumption patterns (EFc) were analysed using the STIRPAT model.
Results suggests, that the size of Danish cropland BC from 2013 reduced slightly under the land use scenario producing an ED, EO, and ETD at 2050, lower than that of 2013. The GDP per Capita and quadratic GDP per Capita were the most important influential EFc drivers, as opposed to Danish population, for the time period of 1988-2008. (Less)
Popular Abstract
The ecological footprint of Denmark has been rising since (and likely even before) 1961, which signifies an unsustainable living by the Danish population. Global footprint reports show Denmark as one of many countries on earth which has exceeded its biocapacity (BC), which means natural resource consumption in Denmark is faster than the land’s regenerative capacity. The residents of Denmark are consuming more than the BC locally available for the population. We would need a land area equivalent to the size of 4.51 planets (Earth) in 2008, if the world’s population lived in the same way as the Danish population
In this research, the ecological footprint methodology, which tracks human demand on natural resources, was used to assess some... (More)
The ecological footprint of Denmark has been rising since (and likely even before) 1961, which signifies an unsustainable living by the Danish population. Global footprint reports show Denmark as one of many countries on earth which has exceeded its biocapacity (BC), which means natural resource consumption in Denmark is faster than the land’s regenerative capacity. The residents of Denmark are consuming more than the BC locally available for the population. We would need a land area equivalent to the size of 4.51 planets (Earth) in 2008, if the world’s population lived in the same way as the Danish population
In this research, the ecological footprint methodology, which tracks human demand on natural resources, was used to assess some underlying sustainability implications with respect to changes in the sizes of Danish cropland Ecological Deficit (ED), Ecological Overshoot (EO), Ecological Remainder (ER) and Ecological Trade Deficit (ETD) within the Danish Climate Commissions 2050 scenarios. The role of drivers in influencing cropland footprint of consumption patterns (EFc) were analysed using the STIRPAT model.
Results suggests, that the size of Danish cropland BC from 2013 reduced slightly under the land use scenario producing an ED, EO, and ETD at 2050 lower than that of 2013. The ED, EO, and ETD from the “Ambitious” scenario with biomass had lower values, compared with the land use scenario. The “Ambitious” scenario without biomass had no effect on cropland ED, EO, and ETD. The ED, EO, and ETD values from the “Unambitious” scenario were higher than that of the land use and “Ambitious” scenarios. STIRPAT model results suggests, GDP per Capita and quadratic GDP per Capita as the most important influential EFc drivers, as opposed to Danish Population, for the time period 1988-2008.The ecological footprint methodology does not take into account cropland intensification or any environmental pressure which may be associated with rising ED, EO, and ETD. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Mwambo, Andrew Ekoka LU
supervisor
organization
course
NGEM01 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Global Footprint Network, ecological trade deficit, ecological remainder, ecological overshoot, ecological deficit, Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analysis, biocapacity, STIRPAT Model, ecosystem sustainability
publication/series
Student thesis series INES
report number
331
language
English
additional info
External supervisors: Marianne Thomsen and Pia Frederiksen, Danish Center for Environment and Energy, Aarhus University, Denmark
id
4991890
date added to LUP
2015-01-28 10:02:43
date last changed
2015-01-28 10:02:43
@misc{4991890,
  abstract     = {{The ecological footprint of Denmark has been rising since (and likely even before) 1961, which signifies an unsustainable living by the Danish population. Global footprint reports show Denmark as one of many countries on earth which has exceeded its biocapacity (BC), which means natural resource consumption in Denmark is faster than the land’s regenerative capacity. The residents of Denmark are consuming more than the BC locally available for the population. We would need a land area equivalent to the size of 4.51 planets (Earth) in 2008, if the world’s population lived in the same way as the Danish population 
In this research, the ecological footprint methodology, which tracks human demand on natural resources, was used to assess some underlying sustainability implications with respect to changes in the sizes of Danish cropland Ecological Deficit (ED), Ecological Overshoot (EO), Ecological Remainder (ER) and Ecological Trade Deficit (ETD) within the Danish Climate Commissions 2050 scenarios. The role of drivers in influencing cropland footprint of consumption patterns (EFc) were analysed using the STIRPAT model. 
Results suggests, that the size of Danish cropland BC from 2013 reduced slightly under the land use scenario producing an ED, EO, and ETD at 2050, lower than that of 2013. The GDP per Capita and quadratic GDP per Capita were the most important influential EFc drivers, as opposed to Danish population, for the time period of 1988-2008.}},
  author       = {{Mwambo, Andrew Ekoka}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Student thesis series INES}},
  title        = {{Estimation of Cropland Ecological Footprint within Danish Climate Commissions 2050 Scenarios for Land use and Bioenergy Consumption}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}