RIASSUNTO
ABSTRACT:
The Inclusive Impact Index “Triple I” is a metric developed to assess environmental sustainability and economic feasibility of ocean utilization technologies to predict their public acceptance. Ecological footprint and environmental risk assessment, which are the basis of the Triple I, are introduced in the first part of this paper. The concept and the structure of the Triple I are then explained in the second part of this paper. Finally, the Triple I calculation method and results for an ocean nutrient enhancer are described, as an example of an application of the Triple I metric.
INTRODUCTION
World population has increased rapidly following the industrial revolution, reaching 6.8 billion in 2010. Several forecasts estimate that this number will rise to about 8 billion in 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau database, 2010), and it is not unreasonable to expect worldwide water, food and energy shortages in the future. To date, growth in the production of these necessities have been accomplished through tremendous use of fresh water, chemical fertilizer and fossil fuels. This, in turn, has resulted in depletion of the fresh water resource, expanding areas of infertile land, climate change, and so forth. It is well known that 70 % of the earth’s surface area is covered by the ocean. Moreover, while the average height of dry land is just 840 m above sea level, the average depth of the ocean is 3,800 m. The ocean is abundant in water and carbon resources, which are fundamental materials of life, retaining 97 % of all water and 85 % of carbon on the earth (Otsuka, 2007a). Therefore, it probably will be necessary for land-based conventional production systems to evolve into ocean utilization systems in order to be able to support human life as the world population increases.