Fig. 14. Production system hierarchies, 1950–1995. According to the definition of emergy (energy memory), the total emergies at each scale (in this case many, multiple, and single) are expected to be equivalent in a self-organized system that is maximizing empower, i.e., self-organizing for energy dissipation (Fig. 2E). If the three scales constructed for Bonaire are reasonable, it appears that the island system is again moving toward maximum empower or maximum flow of emergy. In complex-systems terms, these two points could be described as points on a surface with multiple stable states (Fig. 15). The four graphs coincide with the four systems diagrams in Fig. 13.

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