HOW DO WE DEFINE 'APPROPRIATE' IN APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS?


 Ane D. Merriam
 Institute of Science and Public Affairs
 Florida State University

 Martha Gilliland
 Energy Policy Studies, Inc.



 Introduction


 Since the 1974 oil embargo a common topic of discussion in energy circles
 has been the investigation and application of 'appropriate technology.'
 As fossil fuels become increasingly costly and less available researchers
 and practitioners have been searching for alternative methods and approaches
 to problem solving.

 In this study we chose a real world example of natural systems providing
 essential services in an urban setting. We sought to measure the values of
 urban vegetation not only to better quantify the services of nature, but
 ultimately to test whether appropriateness may be quantified.

 Concepts of urban forestry as it is developing in conjunction with urban
 renewal programs across the country have lifted the perception of trees from
 one of aestheric components in our cities to that of working components as well
 (Lanphear, 1971; SMUD, 1979; Bernatzsky, 1966). Trees collect, upgrade, and
 store solar energy. The trees and the forests of which they are a part can
 and do use that solar energy in ways that directly benefit cities. However,
 those benefits and associated costs are rarely measured primarily because of
 the inadequacy of measurement methodologies. This paper describes some of
 those benefits and presents and uses a theory and methodology for quantifying
 them. The theory was developed by Professor H.T. Odum (1971, 1976) and the
 method is being applied and tested in research supported by the National
 Research Council (Lavine, 1976), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Center
 for Wetlands, ongoing), the Environmental Protection Agency (Bayley and Odum,
 1973) and the Department of Energy (Odum, 1976).

 The California Resources Agency, under the leadership of Secretary
Huey D. Johnson and Governor Jerry Brown, sought to apply these techniques in
a situation familiar to most people in California. We set out to investigate
and quantify the work (in the form of essential services) being performed by
the 35 acres of natural landscape surrounding the State of California Capitol
Buildings in Sacramento. This paper summarizes descriptively and qualitatively
some of the known functions of trees and urban forests in cities. The second


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