Industrial ecology (IE)
Industrial ecology (IE) is a multidisciplinary field that examines the interactions between industrial systems and the natural environment to promote sustainable development. It encompasses the physical, chemical, and biological processes that occur across industrial, economic, and ecological systems. By evaluating these interactions, researchers aim to design products and processes that enhance resource efficiency and minimize waste, often envisioning industrial systems as cyclical rather than linear. This perspective draws on concepts such as industrial metabolism, where materials and energy flow through the economy in a manner akin to biological ecosystems, emphasizing the recycling of materials and the reduction of pollution.
The origins of industrial ecology can be traced back to systems analysis in the 1960s and 1970s, which highlighted the unsustainable nature of industrial practices. Key figures in the field have contributed to the understanding of industrial ecosystems and the relationships between industries that can lead to mutual benefits, known as industrial symbiosis. Life-cycle analysis (LCA) is a widely used tool in IE, assessing the environmental impacts of products from creation to disposal. The field continues to evolve, advocating for a diverse array of approaches and practices aimed at achieving a more sustainable relationship between human activities and the planet. The International Society of Industrial Ecology plays a central role in promoting research, education, and policy formulation in this important area.
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Industrial ecology (IE)
Summary: Industrial ecology is an applied, multidisciplinary field that studies the impacts of human industrial processes on the natural world in order to understand how sustainable development can be achieved.
Industrial ecology is defined as the objective, multidisciplinary study of the physical, chemical, and biological processes and interactions that occur between and within industrial, economic, and natural ecological systems. In its simplest form, it can be thought of as the science and engineering of sustainability. Researchers in the field explore a range of topics, including energy supply and use, new materials and technologies, natural and social sciences, and economics and public policy.
A fundamentally normative discipline that views conventional industrial processes as detrimental to ecological integrity, industrial ecology is generally understood as a tool that can and should be used in design, policy making, or business in order to solve anthropogenic environmental problems and promote sustainable development. From a practical perspective, this generally means designing products and processes to maximize resource efficiency and allow for the continuous recycling of materials. Although perspectives in the field vary, some industrial ecologists argue that it also includes identifying and implementing measures that make industrial and economic systems behave more like natural ecological systems.
The origins of industrial ecology can be traced back to the field of systems analysis, which was first used to highlight the unsustainable course of industrialization in the 1960s and 1970s. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jay Forrester pioneered the field of system dynamics, which used computer modeling to analyze the world as a set of systems. Soon after, Donella and Dennis Meadows and others used systems analysis to model trends of environmental degradation as a result of the industrial economy, which they published in the 1972 book The Limits to Growth.
In the late 1980s, Robert Ayres coined the term industrial metabolism to describe the flow of materials and energy through the economy, whereby raw inputs (including natural resources and human labor) are converted into finished products and finally waste outputs. He described the modern industrial system as analogous to a primitive stage of biological evolution and saw the global biosphere as a near-perfect system for recycling materials and one from which society should learn. Borrowing tools from chemistry and the physical sciences, such as mass balance equations, he showed that it was possible to analyze the flows of materials and energy in the industrial system quantitatively. This analysis could be used to trace the source of environmental problems, such as resource depletion and pollution, and identify solutions to those problems.
The study of industrial metabolism soon led to the concept of industrial ecosystems and the term industrial ecology, which was first used by Robert Frosch and Nicholas Gallopoulos in 1989. An ideal industrial ecosystem is analogous to the highly evolved global biosphere, in which the waste outputs of one “corporate organism” become the raw inputs for another. This metaphor has become the fundamental conceptual basis for efforts to characterize and adopt sustainable practices by members of academia, industry, and government.
The underpinning logic of industrial ecology is that, since global environmental problems are systemic, it is necessary to understand systems in order to solve these problems. Industrial ecology characterizes conventional industrial systems as linear, in that raw materials and energy are put into a system, undergo conversions, and then are eventually output as waste heat, pollution, and other by-products. The framework of a linear system is inherently problematic, as it implies that both resource inputs and the capacity of the world outside the system to receive waste are unlimited. The reality of a finite natural world, which is the context for all industrial systems, leads to resource depletion and pollution when these linear processes go unchecked.
The solution proposed by industrial ecology is to design systems that are cyclical rather than linear, wherein by-products are used as inputs for a new product or process and the concept of waste becomes obsolete. This follows from the metaphor of industrial ecosystems, which mirror natural systems by incorporating practices such as symbiosis that are typically observed in the study of biological and environmental sciences.
In 1991, the National Academy of Sciences held a colloquium on industrial ecology, which resulted in a more formal conceptualization of the field. However, industrial ecology remains a diverse and pluralistic practice that encompasses a range of beliefs on how it should be interpreted and implemented.
The International Society of Industrial Ecology (ISIE) is the principal entity working to advocate for the use of industrial ecology in research, education, policy, community development, and industrial practices. The Journal of Industrial Ecology is the official journal of ISIE. It is owned by Yale University and edited at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The Journal of Industrial Ecology publishes articles on topics ranging from industrial metabolism to technological change, dematerialization and decarbonization, life-cycle planning, design and assessment, environmental design, product stewardship, industrial symbiosis, product-oriented environmental policy, and eco-efficiency.
One of the main tools used to support industrial ecology is Life-cycle analysis (LCA). LCA is used to evaluate the environmental consequences of a product or process from “cradle to grave.” It generally engages three components: inventory analysis, impact analysis, and improvement analysis. LCA can also be conducted on the industry scale by using economic input-output (EIO) modeling.
Another concept important in industrial ecology is Industrial symbiosis, which occurs when two or more industries cooperate in such a way that the presence of each adds value to the other, to the mutual benefit of each other, society, and the environment.
Generally, this is done by turning the waste product of one industry into a useful input for another industry, thereby conserving resources and/or ameliorating pollution. This is analogous to the biological phenomenon of symbiosis or, more specifically, mutualism, in which two dissimilar organisms benefit from a relationship, as in the process of pollination by birds and bees. The ultimate example of industrial symbiosis can be found in the eco-industrial park, where these relationships form largely based on geographic proximity and through the cultivation of a shared mentality of environmentally oriented, systems-based thinking.
Bibliography
Ayres, Robert U., et al. Industrial Metabolism: Restructuring for Sustainable Development. New York: United Nations University Press, 1994.
Benson, Emily, et al. "Industrial Ecology: Closing a Loop in Circularity." Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2 Nov. 2021, www.csis.org/analysis/industrial-ecology-closing-loop-circularity. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
Frosch, Robert A., and Nicholas E. Gallopoulos. “Towards an Industrial Ecology.” In The Treatment and Handling of Wastes, edited by A. D. Bradshow, et al. London: Chapman and Hall, 1992.
Patel, C., and N. Kumar. “Industrial Ecology.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 89, no. 3 (1992).
"What Is Industrial Ecology?" International Society for Industrial Ecology, is4ie.org/about/what-is-industrial-ecology. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.