Industrial ecology

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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.

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?"[1]

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," [2] "Industrial Ecology: A Philosophical Introduction," [3] "The Ecology of Markets," [4] and "Industrial Ecology: Reflections on a Colloquium." [5] All twenty three papers are available online.[6]

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.

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.

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.[7]

  1. ^ Frosch, R.A.; Gallopoulos, N.E. (1989) "Strategies for Manufacturing" Scientific American 261:3, pp 144-152.
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA Volume 89(3). http://www.pnas.org/content/vol89/issue3/
  7. ^ 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

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