Sustainable development models for the analysis of the Province of Modena (Italy)

It is becoming fundamental that public policy is based on a system of values, which are in agreement with the dynamics and equilibria of the biosphere. We present an holistic approach, emergy, analysis, essentially devoted to the assessment of sustainable development. With this methodology it is possible to compare the value of human and natural systems on a common basis: the quantity of solar energy directly and indirectly required for the production of an item. This quantity is called emergy and represents the memory of all the energy, matter and time that the biosphere used to make a product available. The emergy concept is the basis of a system of indicators able to evaluate the efficiency, the environmental stress and the sustainable use of the resources, involved in a single process or in systems at various scales. We applied the emergy analysis to study the Province of Modena (Italy), in which seven districts were identified. The Province as a whole has results that are generally worse than the Italian average, expecially for the quantity of imported non-renewable inputs that are fundamental for the local economy. This fact implies that the impact of the economic activities is not only on the Province of Modena itself, but also on the regions from which the energy and material are imported. The Province exports twice the imported emergy. Within the Province of Modena there is not homogeneity among the districts: the Sassuolo district shows the worst results for environmental loading but relatively good efficiencies; while the mountain-hill zone has the lowest environmental impact, still maintaining good efficiency and use of natural resources. Between these two extremes, are all the other districts. Maps are produced in order to show a pattern of sustainability throughout the Province.