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Industrial ecology

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Industrial ecology is an interdisciplinary study of technology, society and ecology that sees industrial systems (for example a factory, an ecoregion, or national or global economy) as being part of the biosphere. It consider it as a particular case of an ecosystem, but based on infrastructural capital rather than on natural capital.

Overview

Industrial ecology is the shifting of industrial process from linear (open loop) systems, in which resource and capital investments move through the system to become waste, to a closed loop system where wastes become inputs for new processes.

Much of the research focuses on the following areas:[1]

Industrial ecology proposes not to see industrial systems (for example a factory, an ecoregion, or national or global economy) as being separate from the biosphere, but to consider it as a particular case of an ecosystem - but based on infrastructural capital rather than on natural capital. It is the idea that if natural systems do not have waste in them, we should model our systems after natural ones if we want them to be sustainable.

Along with more general energy conservation and material conservation goals, and redefining commodity markets and product stewardship relations strictly as a service economy, industrial ecology is one of the four objectives of Natural Capitalism. This strategy discourages forms of amoral purchasing arising from ignorance of what goes on at a distance and implies a political economy that values natural capital highly and relies on more instructional capital to design and maintain each unique industrial ecology.

History

Industrial ecology was popularized in 1989 in a Scientific American article by Robert Frosch and Nicholas E. Gallopoulos. Frosch and Gallopoulos' vision was "why would not our industrial system behave like an ecosystem, where the wastes of a species may be resource to another species? Why would not the outputs of an industry be the inputs of another, thus reducing use of raw materials, pollution, and saving on waste treatment?"[2] A notable example resides in a Danish industrial park in the city of Kalundborg. Here several linkages of byproducts and waste heat can be found between numerous entities such as a large power plant, an oil refinery, a pharmaceutical plant, a plasterboard factory, an enzyme manufacturer, a waste company and the city itself.[3]

Frosch's and Gallopoulos' thinking was in certain ways simply an extension of earlier ideas, such as the efficiency and waste-reduction thinking annunciated by Buckminster Fuller and his students (e.g., J. Baldwin), and parallel ideas about energy cogeneration, such as those of Amory Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute. However, the term Industrial Ecology was first introduced by Harry Zvi Evan at a seminar of the Economic Commission of Europe in Warsaw (Poland) in 1973 and an article was subsequently published by Evan in the Journal for International Labour Review in 1974 (vol. 110 (3), pp. 219-233). Evan defined industrial ecology as a systematic analysis of industrial operations including factors like: Technology, environment, natural resources, bio-medical aspects, institutional and legal matters as well as the socio-economic aspects.

Many elements of modern industrial ecology were commonplace in the industrial sectors of the former Soviet Union.[4] For example, “kombinirovanaia produksia” (combined production) was present from the earliest years of the Soviet Union and was instrumental in shaping the patterns of Soviet industrialization. “Bezotkhodnoyi tekhnologii” (waste-free technology) was introduced in the final decades of the USSR as a way to increase industrial production while limiting environmental impact. Fiodor Davitaya, a Soviet scientist from the Republic of Georgia, described in 1977 the analogy relating industrial systems to natural systems as a model for a desirable transition to cleaner production:

Nature operates without any waste products. What is rejected by some organisms provides food for others. The organisation of industry on this principle—with the waste products of some branches of industry providing raw material for others—means in effect using natural processes as a model, for in them the resolution of all arising contradictions is the motive force of progress. [5]


In 1991, C. Kumar Patel organized a seminal colloquium on Industrial Ecology, held on May 20 and 21, 1991, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C. The papers were later published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, and they form an excellent reference on Industrial Ecology. Papers include "Industrial Ecology: Concepts and Approaches," [6] "Industrial Ecology: A Philosophical Introduction," [7] "The Ecology of Markets," [8] and "Industrial Ecology: Reflections on a Colloquium." [9] All twenty three papers are available online.[10]

The scientific field Industrial Ecology has grown fast in recent years. The Journal of Industrial Ecology (since 1997), the International Society for Industrial Ecology (since 2001), and the journal Progress in Industrial Ecology (since 2004) give Industrial Ecology a strong and dynamic position in the international scientific community. Industrial Ecology principles are also emerging in various policy realms such as the concept of the Circular Economy that is being promoted in China. Although the definition of the Circular Economy has yet to be formalized, generally the focus is on strategies such as creating a circular flow of materials, and cascading energy flows. An example of this would be using waste heat from one process to run another process that requires a lower temperature. This maximizes the efficiency of exergy use. The hope is that strategy such as this will create a more efficient economy with fewer pollutants and other unwanted by products.[11]

Future Directions

The ecosystem metaphor popularized by Frosch and Gallopoulos [12] has been a valuable creative tool for helping researchers look for novel solutions to difficult problems. Recently, it has been pointed out that this metaphor is based largely on a model of classical ecology, and that advancements in understanding ecology based on complexity science have been made by researchers such as C. S. Holling and James J. Kay [13]. For industrial ecology, this may mean a shift from a more mechanistic view of systems, to one where sustainability is viewed as an emergent property of a complex system. [14] [15] To explore this further, several researchers are working with agent based modeling techniques [16] [17].

Sources

  1. ^ International Society for Industrial Ecology | History http://www.is4ie.org/history.html Accessed 6/20/2007
  2. ^ Frosch, R.A.; Gallopoulos, N.E. (1989) "Strategies for Manufacturing" Scientific American 261:3, pp 144-152.
  3. ^ The Kalundborg Centre for Industrial Symbiosis (2007) http://www.symbiosis.dk/
  4. ^ Sathre, R. and Grdzelishvili, I. (2006) "Industrial symbiosis in the former Soviet Union" Progress in Industrial Ecology 3(4): 379-392.
  5. ^ Davitaya, F. (1977) "Changes in the atmosphere and some problems of its protection" Pp. 99-110 in Society and the Environment: A Soviet View; Moscow: Progress Publishers.
  6. ^ L. W. Jelinski, T.E. Graedel, R. A. Laudise, D. W. McCall, and C. K. N. Patel, "Industrial Ecology: Concepts and Approaches", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89(3):793-797 (1992) http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/89/3/793
  7. ^ R. A. Frosch, "Industrial Ecology: A Philosophical Introduction," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89(3):800-803 (1992) http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/89/3/800
  8. ^ W. D. Nordhaus, "The Ecology of Markets," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89(3):843-850 (1992) http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/89/3/843
  9. ^ J. H. Ausubel, "Industrial Ecology: Reflections on a Colloquium," Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 89(3):879-884 (1992) http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/89/3/879
  10. ^ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA Volume 89(3). http://www.pnas.org/content/vol89/issue3/
  11. ^ Yuan, Z; Bi, J; Moriguichi, Y "The Circular Economy: A New Development Strategy in China" Journal of Industrial Ecology Vol 10:1-2, pp 4-8
  12. ^ Frosch, R.A.; Gallopoulos, N.E. (1989) "Strategies for Manufacturing" Scientific American 261:3, pp 144-152.
  13. ^ Kay, J.J. "On Complexity Theory, Exergy and Industrial Ecology: Some Implications for Construction Ecology.",Construction Ecology: Nature as the Basis for Green Buildings,edited by Kibert, C., Sendzimir, J., Guy, B., pp 72-107, Spon Press, 2002
  14. ^ J. Ehrenfeld (2004), "Can Industrial Ecology be the Science of Sustainability?",Journal of Industrial Ecology, 8:1-2, pp 1-3
  15. ^ J. Ehrenfeld (2007), "Would Industrial Ecology Exist without Sustainability in the Background?", Journal of Industrial Ecology,11:1
  16. ^ R.L. Axtell, C.J. Andrews, M.J. Small (2002), "Agent-Based Modeling and Industrial Ecology",Journal of Industrial Ecology, 5:4, pp 10-13
  17. ^ S. Kraines and D. Wallace (2006), "Applying Agent-based Simulation in Industrial Ecology", Journal of Industrial Ecology, 10:1-2, pp 15-18

See also

Organizations

Journals

Conferences

Academic/Research Programs

Articles & Books

Template:Sustainability and Energy Development

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