Emergy-Based Assessment of Territorial Sustainability in Palmira, Colombia

Ivan Darío López Villalobos, Luis Alberto Vallejo Moran, Fabian Felipe Fernández Daza

Abstract

This study evaluates the environmental sustainability of the municipality of Palmira, Colombia, using the emergy accounting approach. It provides an updated assessment of the territory’s social-ecological metabolism for 2023 and offers a quantitative basis for planning in intermediate agro-industrial cities. The research is motivated by the increasing pressure that urbanization, agro-industrial expansion, and metropolitan integration place on the natural resources of intermediate municipalities, whose sustainability depends on the balance between the local ecological base and socioeconomic demands. In this context, the objective of the study is to evaluate the environmental performance of Palmira’s territorial system using emergy indicators that integrate ecological and economic flows.
The methodology is based on Odum’s emergy accounting framework. The system boundary was defined as the municipal territory of Palmira, and the main flows of energy, materials, food, goods, services, and economic transactions were identified. A system flow diagram was developed to represent these interactions. Physical and economic data for 2023 were obtained from official statistical sources and converted into solar emergy units (seJ) using emergy transformities reported in the scientific literature.
The results show a total emergy use of 3.20 × 10²² seJ/year, of which 41% corresponds to renewable resources, 34% to local non-renewable resources, and 25% to imports. The calculated indicators were EYR = 4.0, ELR = 1.44, and ESI = 2.78. These values suggest that Palmira has a relatively strong contribution from local resources and a moderate environmental loading level.
The study concludes that Palmira operates as an agro-industrial social-ecological system with a significant ecological base supporting its territorial metabolism. However, dependence on external inputs and soil degradation remain important challenges for its long-term sustainability.

 

Keywords: emergy accounting; territorial sustainability; urban metabolism; agro-industrial systems; intermediate cities; environmental performance; social-ecological systems.

 

DOI https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.53.5.7


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References


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