Logistics of Sustainability

Here is the complete list of necessary skills for a self-sufficient lifestyle with a high standard of living:

FOOD:

Agriculture, Permaculture, Aquaponics, Seed saving, Compost, Mushrooms, Foraging, Greenhouse, Irrigation, Soil fertility, Mulching
Animals, Bee Keeping, Fowl, Fish, Hunting, Game management
Storage, Fat, Cheese, Milking, Eggs (candling), Smoking, Salt curing, Drying, Butchery, Oil, Threshing, Hulling, Grinding, Storing, Cellars, Canning, Drying, Brewing
Food Preparation, Fire stove

WATER:

Charcoal filter, Irrigation, Plumbing

SHELTER:

Heat, Structure, Storage, Work Space, Forestry, Water, Terra-forming

TOOLS:

Forging, Sharpen, Quenching/carbon control, Chain/Gear, Tools
Plumbing, Making pipe, Heated water, Fittings, Pressure/pumps
Glass-work, Clay-work, Stonework, Woodwork, Storage
Home-crafts, Soap, Sewing/Knit/Quilt/Leather-work, Predict weather, Bike

COMMUNITY:

Making Money, Taxes, Teaching, Interns, Community events

If I can master these, I think I'm set. I've highlighted the ones I fell I've mastered in yellow, and the ones I feel well acquainted with in green. I think I'm at least passingly familiar with all of them except butchery. Any additional suggestions welcome.

I think I can narrow down the list of skills I collected in the data selection a lot if I'm willing to live at a lower standard of living. Really all you need is a hut and a garden, or a hut and a lot of acreage. Food storage is necessary if your growing grain. I've narrowed it down to what I want by category here, with occasional explanations of why I chose each element.

FOOD:

Agriculture - start with what I know to grow food
Permaculture - move towards lower maintenance practices
Aquaponics - several ponds will be nescessary anyway
Seed saving - nescessary for sustaining production
Compost - better to use the waste than not
Mushrooms - are tasty and easy
Foraging - if there is enough land
Greenhouse - if I can make glass or some equivalent
Irrigation - probably by hand or flooding, not sure I can make pipe in quantity
Soil fertility - very important
Mulching - weeds are half a gardeners work

Animals - animal products are far easier in the winter
Bee Keeping - for pollination, honey and wax
Small grazers animal husbandry - maybe, not sure I want meat or milk enough yet
Fowl - for eggs and meat, very little effort
Fish - in the ponds for ecological reasons, also to eat
Trapping - not sure I like trapping
Hunting - for meat in the winter

Storage - for the winter
Fat, Cheese, Milking, Eggs (candleing) - harvesting and storing animal products
Smoking, Salt curing, Drying, Butchery - harvesting and storing meat
Oil - growing and pressing for cooking
Threshing, Hulling, Grinding, Storing - grain production
Cellars - for other vegetables
Canning - if I can make cans
Drying - easy storage
Brewing - for storage purposes and vinegar

Preparation - nescessary for most stored foods
Fire stove - need to figure out heat control
Cooking - good food should be cooked well
Home remedies - maybe

WATER:

Charcoal filter - seams easiest
Irrigation - requires pump and channels
Plumbing - for bathroom, requires hot water

SHELTER:

Heat, Structure, Storage and Work Space - for comfort
Forestry - to make sure its sustainably used
Game management - food sustainability
Water - for livestock, plants and personal use
Terraforming - to make water control and growing easier

TOOLS:

Forging - most farm tools are steel
Sharpen - makes work more efficient
Quenching/carbon control - allows high quality end products
Chain/Gear - converting energy
Tools - various tool use skills like hoeing, ax, scythe etc.

Plumbing - for sink and bathroom
Making pipe - most dificult portion of DIY plumbing
Filtration - health reasons
Heated water - for showers
Fittings - for use in irrigation
Pressure/pumps - to move water as needed

Glasswork - to make windows, bottles and other storage containers

Claywork - for bowls, tools, pots etc.
Aquire - finding clay seems difficult

Stonework - for the house and fences

Woodwork - for general structures and tools
Roofing - wood seems the best roof
Storage - making barrels and boxes for food storage

Homecrafts - for cleaning, clothing, entertainment etc.
Soap - also making lye and fat
Candles - for light
Sewing/Knit/Quilt/Leatherwork - for clothing, blankets tools etc.
Washing clothing - without electricty
Predict weather - for planning
Bike - for transport

COMMUNITY:

Making Money - for taxes
Teaching, Interns - for company and education
Community events - for friends

Needs and wants determine the skills required, so here are my needs:

Food
Water
Shelter
Tools
Community

Those can be broken down as follows:

Food = Animal, Vegetable, Storage, Preparation
Water = Drinking, Plumbing, Irrigation
Shelter = Heat, Structure, Storage and Work Space
Tools = Metal, Glass, Clay, Wood, Clothe
Community = Taxes, Making Money

Under each label, I've listed the individual skills required as follows. I broke them down to the point at which I can remember all the subskills involved for each category

FOOD:

Plants-
Agriculture
Permaculture
Aquaponics
Herbs, Spices
Veggies
Grains
Sugar
Seed saving
Compost
Mushrooms
Foraging
Greenhouse
Irrigation
Soil fertility
Mulching
Weed ID
Pest ID
Pest control

Animals-
Bee Keeping
Small grazers animal husbandry
Fowl
Breeding and Rearing
Fish
Trapping
Hunting

Storage-
Fat
Cheese (waxing, press)
Milking
Eggs (candleing)
Smoking
Salt curing
Drying
Butchery
Oil
Stock
Freezer
Harvesting
Threshing
Hulling
Grinding
Storing Grain
Cellars
Canning
Drying
Brewing
Jam/Chutney/Sauce
Oils (press)
Vinegar

Preparation-
Fire stove
Cooking
Home remedies
Sourdough, kefir

WATER:

Distilling
Charcoal filter
Irrigation
Plumbing

SHELTER:

Heat, Structure, Storage and Work Space
Forestry
Game management
Water
Terraforming
Mowing

TOOLS:

Forging-
Sharpen
Shape
Quenching/carbon control
Thredding
Repair
Chain/Gear
Forge-fire
Tools

Plumbing-
Making pipe
Filtration
Heated water
Fittings
Pressure/pumps
Drainage

Glasswork-
Make
Shape
Clear
Bottle

Claywork-
Aquire
Shape
Fire
Glaze

Stonework-
Wall
Fence

Woodwork-
Roofing
Heat
Pumps
Machines
Storage
Pipe

Homecrafts-
Soap
Candles
Fire
Sewing Knit quilt
Leatherwork
Washing clothing
Predict weather
Bike

COMMUNITY:

Money-
Planning
Taxes
Sales

I think I've cracked the code to land requirements for food.

Instead of measuring outputs, which can vary, I'm going to measure inputs to determine the maximum possible output. Virtually all organic energy (otherwise known as food) is generated by phototrophs. Virtually all energy use is from materials that were once biological. Firewood, coal, natural gas and oil are all either biological or are the result of biological decay. So it makes sense that solar power would be the largest limiting factor on the amount of space it would take to support one person.

Accounting for solar energy from the sun, and subtracting for energy loss to the atmosphere, rotation of the planet, angle of the ground, heat, reflection and weather, an estimated 164 Watts per square meter per day.

Watts = Joules/Second
Joules = Watts x Second
Joules = 164 x 1 day
Joules = 164 x (24 x 60 x 60)
Joules = 164 x 86400
Joules = 14,169,600

So the sun provides 14, 169,600 joules of energy per square meter every day.

4184 Joules = 1 (food) Calorie
14,169,600 Joules = 3386.6 Calories

So the sun provides 3387 Calories per square meter per day. We need those calories, but obviously cant eat sunlight directly. It has to be converted to food by plants first. Now we must look into how efficiently the plants can convert the sunlight into energy. Professor Emeritus of Biophysics, Biochemistry, and Plant Biology Dr. Govindjee of Illinois University states that the average photosynthetic efficiency of plants is around 0.1%, while crop plants average in at 1-2% efficiency. Sugar can can reach up to 8% efficiency, which is close to Dr. Bolton's suggested theoretical maximum efficiency. Unfortunately, we can't eat most plants, only their fruits. The average sunlight to fruit efficiency is near 0.25%. So lets put that number into the equation.

3387 Calories x 0.0025 = 8.47 Calories

So that means we could theoretically generate 8.5 calories per square meter per day from the sun using plants, provided that we could capture all the light provided. How much land do we need to satisfy a 2,700 calorie worldwide average diet (according to National Geographic)?

2700 calories/(8.5 calories/m2/day) = 317.6 m2

There are 4047 square meters per acre, so using this measure we can safely state that 1/13th of an acre is the absolute minimum that can be used to provide food for a single human if there are no external inputs and perfect energy conversion.

If you want to eat an around a third of your calories through animal products as is average, then the land must be recalculated to factor in the ten percent rule. This rule states that no more than ten percent of the energy within an organism within a trophic level can be passed on to another organism in a higher trophic level by consumption.

2700 calories x 1/3 = 900 calories

1800 calories (plant food) / 8.5 calories/m2/day = 211.7 m2
(900 calories (animal product) / 8.5 calories/m2/day) / 10% (10 percent law)=  1058.8 m2

212 m2 + 1059 m2 = 1271 m2 or a third of an acre

An average American has a 3640 calorie diet and around 40% animal product, so the equation changes slightly.

((3/5 x 3640 calories)/8.5 calories/m2/day) + ((2/5 x 3640 calories)/8.5 calories/m2/day) / 0.10)
= 256.9 m2 + 1712.9 m2
= 1973 m2 or a half acre

In conclusion, it is theoretically impossible to use less than 1/2 acre for an average American diet. If anyone suggests otherwise, they must be getting energy from somewhere else, either by the introduction of animal feed, power or other external inputs.

Problems:

• Theoretical capacity is always greater than actual capacity.
• The sun is irregular by day, season, and weather, and the efficiency level stated is therefore only rarely accurate. It is almost always lower.
• It is also very difficult to get plants to capture every photon hitting a square meter and still be able to harvest them easily. A lot of sunlight is lost simply because it hits the ground and not the plant.
• This doesn't account for growing plants to maturity, only their production at maturity.
• This system doesn't account for plants grown to save seed.
• The average consumer eats 0.4 cows, 0.7 pigs etc. but you can only grow whole cows.
• Food isn't produced consistently year round, and storage methods lose calories.
• This calculation doesn't account for other biologically necessary elements like nutrients, water etc., all of which are recyclable but not necessarily available in sufficient quantity on this size of land.

Sources:
http://www.colorado.edu/geolsci/courses/GEOL3520/Solar_Power.pdf
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/disted/ph162/l4.html
http://www.ccfg.org.uk/conferences/downloads/P_Burgess.pdf
http://www.life.illinois.edu/govindjee/whatisit.htm
https://www.researchgate.net/journal/1751-1097_Photochemistry_and_Photobiology" Photochemistry and Photobiology (Impact Factor: 2.27).01/2008; 53(4):545 - 548.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetic_efficiency
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/what-the-world-eats/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_percent_law


This is just a series of links and summaries on the topic:

One Acre Feeds a Person - States that on a modern American diet about one acre is needed per person using conventional methods. This article relies on a study by Cornell University and does not discuss the sustainability or efficiency of this diet.

Per Square Mile - I love this blog. He talks about how the more people live together the less land they need per person, even on a hunter gatherer type lifestyle. Rough numbers are 1 person needs 1 square mile, but 100 people only need 32 square miles. That's 205-640 acres/person. Read it.

Can New York State Feed Itself? - The answer is no. Also noted is the fact that diet can change land requirements from a just under a half acre a person to over two acres a person. Uses the same Cornell University study.

129 Persons Fed from 1 Acre - Raederle seems to think that a revised aquaponic, sprouts, and permaculture system could allow everyone to live in the state of Texas. This is a very good study of most of the factors involved. The solution provided ignores a lot of remaining factors and feels like an attempted biosphere, which judging from our other biosphere experiments, won't work . Problems include the impossibility of growing anything between multiple eight story buildings and trees due to shade, and building eight story buildings out of mud. My purpose is not to argue about overpopulation. Instead, Ill note the interesting fact that Raederle thinks you can feed 12 people year round on 0.03 acres using aquaponics, or 100 ft2/person. Sounds fishy.
This article bugged me enough to write the light energy efficiency analysis.

Over Population is a Myth - I like this website. I think it would help if they produced a video that acknowledge that overpopulation is theoretically possible, and at what point they project that would be. Again, it seems like everyone wondering how many acres are needed to feed a person is also concerned about overpopulation. I would also like a definition of overpopulation which they could reference to point out we aren't there yet. I understand that this is difficult.

What are the logistics of sustainability?

I wanted to know the answer to this question, but could not find most of my answers, and those I could find were all here and there. I want to be sustainable, so I started collecting them and now I am storing and presenting that information.  

This weblog is designed to be a central location for all information I might need to live completely sustainably. It includes a list of topics ranging from pre-sustainable life preparation to practical day-to-day considerations. 

I believe that I can buy a property and within five years convert it into a homestead which can provide all of my families material needs. All food, clothing, housing, entertainment, money, tools etc.. I think I can provide everything we could use, such that we never have to buy anything again. In this blog, I will hopefully make that transition from my current job as a production manager at a small farm to a self-reliant homesteader.

I sometimes let my fear that it is impossible to make enough money for taxes and expenses from my land drift, and I fear that it is impossible to get all of ones resources (food, home, tools etc.) from the land. Then I remember that that was what everyone did up until very recently. It was just a lot of work. And in the past self-sufficiency usually worked more like small community-sufficiency, with labor shared during harvest and in specialized skills like smithing. Communal sufficiency is more ideal, and I would like to be a part of such a community, but I doubt there are sufficient people similar to myself to make such a community work. and so I will plan for the more difficult solitary scenario. 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.

How much land do I need dedicated to growing food to completely feed all the members of my household?

This is related to a similar question: What is the minimum land requirement for food per person?

I answered the second question through calculations, and used the energy provided by sunlight as my limiting factor. I concluded that for an average American diet, 1/2 acre per person is the absolute theoretical minimum required to sustainably produce food with no external inputs. The practical minimum is of course higher than the theoretical minimum, as it is rare that all the factors involve should be aligned to provide for perfect production.

Due to the the inefficiency of the real world, I answered the first question by concluding that I wanted at least 1 acre per person for sustainable food production on my land.

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed calculating the land for food requirements. I did it by calculating how much energy the sun provides per unit of land, and then calculating how much of that energy can be converted to use. I hypothesize that this the final limiting factor in land production, and that any production greater than my estimation on a smaller plot of land must have some external input that is not being accounted for correctly. My final calculation revealed that an average American diet (3700 calories, 1/3 animal products, 2/3 veggies/grains) requires an absolute minimum of 1/2 acre of land.

Even though I advocate for vegitarianism, I recognize that animals fill the function that shipping, canning and freezers fill in modern society, and that vegetarianism is exceedingly difficult to follow during the winter months without those aids. I will, therefore, plan on having a mixed diet with some animal products during winter and some foraged food along with my fruits, vegetables and grains. So I now have the numbers I need to determine what I want exactly in terms of land space dedicated to food production.

I know the bare minimum is 1/2 acre per person for my diet. I know hunter-gatherers lived at approximately 200-700 acres per person. I don't have the resources to buy that much land, but I'd like to.

I feel that it is unwise for someone who is not an expert in subsistence living to aim for the minimum acreage, and I would like a permacultural style garden, which lowers my efficiency. I know that modern estimates for conventional farming put the rate at about one acre per person

Therefore, I feel that one acre per person is the minimum I would like available to use for food production on my land. I hope to be more efficient than that, and an acre per person sounds like a lot of hoeing work, so hopefully I can produce enough food on less land with less effort. Until I'm sure I can, I will aim for a minimum of 1 acre per person (including children, who will one day be teenagers and eat more than I do).

Ramblings:

I think that my calculations reveal the theoretical limits of land production, and I cant find any other similar study or analysis. There is definitely a lot more to be done on to further extend the implications of this hypothesis, with the first focus being in energy use, and the second in non-edible plant products (like clothing, wood, plastic etc.). I plan on investigating those separately.

This study definitely supported my quasi-vegetarianism. There is such a radical difference in the land requirements for veggies v meats.