Industrial Ecology

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Industrial Ecology
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A bit of history

• In 1865 Karl Marx is the first to apply the term
  Metabolism to human society and labour
• In 1989, Robert Ayres developed concept of
  Industrial Metabolism Industry
  metabolizes materials and energy and transforms
  them into useful products, wastes and
  emissions
• In 1989, Robert Frosch and Nicholas Gallopoulos
  developed the concept of Industrial
  Ecosystems The notion creates an analogy
  between biological and industrial food webs.
  In an industrial ecosystem, waste product by
  one company should be used as a resource
  for another.
• In 1991, the National Academy of Science hosts
  Symposium on Industrial Ecology
• In 1994, the National Academy of Engineering
  publishes The Greening of Industrial
  Ecosystems (Eds. Braden Allenby Deanna
  Richards)
• 1997, publication of the first issue of the
  International Journal of Industrial Ecology
• 2001, foundation of the International Society of
  Industrial Ecology (http//www.is4ie.org)
• Both Metaphors were also independently
  developed and used in other countries, like
  Switzerland (Baccini Brunner, 1991), in Belgium
  (Billen et al., 1983) and in Japan (Watanabe,
  1973)

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Definition of Industrial Ecology

• There is currently no single definition that is
  generally accepted, even though all
  containsimilar attributes with different
  emphases. One that I quite like is the following
• The study of the flows of materials and energy in
  industrial and consumer activities, of the
  effects of these flows on the environment, and of
  the influences of economic, political,
  regulatory, and social factors on the flow, use
  and transformation of resources
• (Robert White, 1994, in the preface of The
  Greening of Industrial Ecosystems)
• Whats ecological about IE?
• It looks to natural ecosystems as models for
  industrial activity (e.g. nutrient cycling)
• It places human / industrial activity in the
  context of the larger ecosystem that support it
  (environmental impact of human activities,
  carrying capacity, ecological resilience)

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Solar Radiation (Teff 6000K mainly UV, optical
and IR)
Earths Radiation(Teff 300K mainly IR)
The BIG picture
Needs Wants
Services
Source of Materials Energy Water Land
Sink for Wastes Emissions
Products
Production
Anthroposphere
Ecosphere
Industrial production and consumption systems use
the environment as source of resources and sink
for wastes and emissions
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Methodological Foundation of Industrial Ecology

• Core elements (Lifset Graedel 2002)
• The biological analogy
• The use of a systems perspective
• The role of technological change
• The role of companies
• Dematerialization and eco-efficiency
• Forward-looking research and practice

• Key concepts (Garner Keoleian 1995)
• Analogies to natural systems
• Systems analysis
• Material and energy flows and
  transformations
• Multidisciplinary approach
• Linear vs. cyclical systems

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Systems Theory and Analysis
Definition of system An organized assembly of
components that are united and regulated by
interaction or interdependence to accomplish a
set of specific functions. The system itself is
separated from its environment by the system
boundaries. Most systems are open,i.e. they
interact with their environment.

• Systems can have emergent properties (system is
  more than the sum of its parts)
• ? Impossible to understand system by analyzing
  components independently
• Systems can be self-regulating and
  self-organizing (feedback loops)
• ? Impossible to control system by simple
  manipulations
• Systems can only be optimized on system level
• ? Impossible to optimize system by optimizing
  components (sub-systems) individually

Let us now take a systems look at beverage
containers Consider a glass bottle, an aluminum
can and a PET bottle. Q Which is the
environmentally preferable material?
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Material choice for beverage containers
Question Which container has the lowest
environmental impact?
Material production
Container manufacturing
Use distribution
Recycling or disposal
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Material choice for beverage containers
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Material choice for beverage containers
Production of Lime-Soda Glass
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Material choice for beverage containers
Production of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
Amorphous PET
solid state polymerization
melt polymerization
crude oil extraction refining
natural gas extraction processing
steam reforming
syngas
bottle grade PET
natural gas
bishydroxyethyl terephthalate
methanol production
cracking
naphta
ester interchange
direct esterification
methanol
ethylene glycol
pygas
acetic acid production
terephthalic acid
dimethyl- terephthalate
catalytic reforming
ethylene glycol production
acetic acid
Purified terephthalic acid production
xylenes
Dimethyl terephthalate production
ethylene
p-xylene separation
p-xylene
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Material choice for beverage containers
Environmental impact indicator Primary energy
requirements
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Material choice for beverage containers
Materials can not be compared on a mass basis.
Definition of Functional Unit Containing 1 liter
of beverage

• Reference flows
• 40.2 gram of aluminum cans
• 44.0 gram of PET bottles
• 433.3 gram of glass bottles

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Material choice for beverage containers
How much energy is required to produce the
beverage containers?
How much energy is required to transport the
beverage containers?
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Material choice for beverage containers
How much energy is saved through beverage
container recycling?
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Material choice for beverage containers
Results

• Based on 500 km transportation
• Based on current recycling rates

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Material choice for beverage containers
Conclusion
Products create environmental impacts at all
stages of their life cycles? It is important to
consider the entire life cycle of products
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Course Content and Grading

• Course Content
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Material Flows in the Economy
• Material and Substance Flow Analysis (MFA, SFA)
• Sustainable use of materials (Eco-efficiency
  dematerialization)
• Supply Loops (reuse and recycling)
• Industrial Ecosystems
• Industrial Ecology and Policy
• Industrial Ecology and Business (Environmental
  product design)
• Industrial Ecology and Business (Environmental
  marketing and labeling)
• Sustainable Consumption

• Grading
• 4 Assignments (4 x 20)
• Class participation (20)

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Books and Journals

• Some Books on Industrial Ecology (IE)
• IE and Global Change, Socolow et al. (Eds.),
  1994, Cambridge University Press
• Industrial Ecology, Graedel Allenby,1995
  2002, Prentice Hall
• IE Towards Closing the Materials Cycle, Ayres
  Ayres, 1996, Edward Elgar
• IE Policy Framework and Implementation,
  Allenby,1998, Prentice Hall
• Factor Four, von Weizsäcker, Lovins Lovins,
  1998, Kogan Page
• Natural Capitalism, Hawken, Lovins Lovins,
  2000, Back Bay Books
• A Handbook of Industrial Ecology, Ayres Ayres
  (Eds.), 2002, Edward Elgar
• Cradle to Cradle, McDonough Braungart, 2002,
  North Point Press

• Some Journals covering Industrial Ecology
• Journal of Industrial Ecology (e-journal)
• Int. Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
• Journal of Cleaner Production (Science Direct)
• Resources, Conservation and Recycling (Science
  Direct)
• Environmental Science and Technology (e-journal)
• Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (journal
  of SETAC)
• Ecological Economics (Science Direct)

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Homework for tomorrow, September 26Spend 1-2
hours on the internet in order to find

• The recycling rates for glass, plastic and
  aluminum beverage containers

• The challenges of recycling these three
  container types