Author : R. Socolow
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 536 pages
File Size : 37,52 MB
Release : 1994
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780521577830
Discusses a different approach to addressing environmental problems, aimed at a broad interdisciplinary audience.
Author : Dominique Bourg
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 35,18 MB
Release : 2017-09-29
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1351282077
Business-as-usual in terms of industrial and technological development – even if based on a growing fear of pollution and shortages of natural resources – will never deliver sustainable development. However, the growing interest in recent years in the new science of industrial ecology (IE), and the idea that industrial systems should mimic the quasi-cyclical functions of natural ecosystems in an 'industrial food chain', holds promise in addressing not only short-term environmental problems but also the long-term holistic evolution of industrial systems. This possibility requires a number of key conditions to be met, not least the restructuring of our manufacturing and consumer society to reduce the effects of material and energy flows at the very point in history when globalisation is rapidly increasing them. This book sets out to address the theoretical considerations that should be made implicit in future research as well as practical implementation options for industry. The systematic recovery of industrial wastes, the minimisation of losses caused by dispersion, the dematerialisation of the economy, the requirement to decrease our reliance on fuels derived from hydrocarbons and the need for management systems that help foster inter-industry collaboration and networks are among the topics covered. The book is split into four sections. First, the various definitions of IE are outlined. Here, important distinctions are made between industrial metabolism and IE. Second, a number of different industrial sectors, including glass, petroleum and electric power, are assessed with regard to the operationalisation of industrial ecology. Eco-industrial Parks and Networks are also analysed. Third, the options for overcoming obstacles that stand in the way of the closing of cycles such as the separation and screening of materials are considered and, finally, a number of implications for the future are assessed. The contributions to Perspectives on Industrial Ecology come from the leading thinkers working in this field at the crossroads between a number of different disciplines: engineering, ecology, bio-economics, geography, the social sciences and law.
Author : Pauline Deutz
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 44,31 MB
Release : 2015-10-30
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1781003572
With its high-level focus on industrial ecology-related policies such as circular economy and industrial symbiosis, this book provides a timely analysis of the industrial ecology experience worldwide. Editors Pauline Deutz, Donald I. Lyons, and Jun Bi combine their diverse experiences in both research and teaching to examine the topic as a business, community, and academic endeavor in different settings worldwide. International Perspectives on Industrial Ecology provides a cutting-edge, in-depth exploration of the commonalities and differences of industrial ecology experiences, comparing geographical contexts from each of the world’s continents. Expert contributors utilize case studies and contextualized reviews of current projects to formulate invaluable insights in the field. Much attention is given to industrial symbiosis, waste management, circular economy, sustainable development, and environmental management as each pertains to the field. This book’s international perspective makes it ideal background reading for academics working in industrial ecology, as well as a valuable reference for postgraduates doing research or taking courses in the field. Public or private sector bodies trying to facilitate industrial symbiosis, economic development agencies considering industrial symbiosis projects, and environmental managers and regulators trying to improve environmental performance in their particular country will also find it engaging and relevant.
Author : Jeroen C. J. M. van den Bergh
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 44,87 MB
Release : 2004
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780262220712
Studies that integrate scientific, technological, and economic dimensions of industrial ecology and material flows. The use of economic modeling techniques in industrial ecology research provides distinct advantages over the customary approach, which focuses on the physical description of material flows. The thirteen chapters of Economics of Industrial Ecology integrate the natural science and technological dimensions of industrial ecology with a rigorous economic approach and by doing so contribute to the advancement of this emerging field. Using a variety of modeling techniques (including econometric, partial and general equilibrium, and input-output models) and applying them to a wide range of materials, economic sectors, and countries, these studies analyze the driving forces behind material flows and structural changes in order to offer guidance for economically and socially feasible policy solutions. After a survey of concepts and relevant research that provides a useful background for the chapters that follow, the book presents historical analyses of structural change from statistical and decomposition approaches; a range of models that predict structural change on the national and regional scale under different policy scenarios; two models that can be used to analyze waste management and recycling operations; and, adopting the perspective of local scale, an analysis of the dynamics of eco-industrial parks in Denmark and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of an economic approach to industrial ecology.
Author : Frank Boons
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 301 pages
File Size : 18,49 MB
Release : 2009-01-01
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 1848449062
From its inception, the field of industrial ecology has taken a distinctly technological approach to understanding and improving ecological consequences of industrial activities. Increasingly however, scholars and practitioners are developing perspectives on the social embeddedness of industrial ecology: the ways in which material and energy flows in regions and product chains are shaped by the social context in which they occur. This book presents empirical work addressing how cognitive, cultural, political and structural mechanisms condition the emergence and operation of industrial ecology. Further exploring such mechanisms holds promise for understanding both the barriers to, and opportunities for, altering the ecological impacts of industrial practice. Through contemplative chapters and intermezzos , authors with different disciplinary backgrounds reflect on the contribution of work from various social sciences to industrial ecology. Unique to the volume, the authors of the commentaries bring in their personal and professional experiences, reflecting on how they have engaged in or have seen the value in cross-disciplinary work. They also include discussion explicitly on the dialogue and its value to the evolution of the field. In these ways, the book develops the dialogue between social science contributors and researchers from other disciplines within the field of industrial ecology. Scholars and students involved in the study of industrial ecology and related fields as well as practising managers and those involved in facilitating industrial ecology projects around the world will find this engaging and comprehensive volume indispensable.
Author : Roland Clift
Publisher : Springer
Page : 373 pages
File Size : 19,85 MB
Release : 2015-12-11
Category : Science
ISBN : 3319205714
How can we design more sustainable industrial and urban systems that reduce environmental impacts while supporting a high quality of life for everyone? What progress has been made towards reducing resource use and waste, and what are the prospects for more resilient, material-efficient economies? What are the environmental and social impacts of global supply chains and how can they be measured and improved? Such questions are at the heart of the emerging discipline of industrial ecology, covered in Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology. Leading authors, researchers and practitioners review how far industrial ecology has developed and current issues and concerns, with illustrations of what the industrial ecology paradigm has achieved in public policy, corporate strategy and industrial practice. It provides an introduction for students coming to industrial ecology and for professionals who wish to understand what industrial ecology can offer, a reference for researchers and practitioners and a source of case studies for teachers.
Author : Dominique Bourg
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 567 pages
File Size : 25,61 MB
Release : 2017-09-29
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1351282069
Business-as-usual in terms of industrial and technological development – even if based on a growing fear of pollution and shortages of natural resources – will never deliver sustainable development. However, the growing interest in recent years in the new science of industrial ecology (IE), and the idea that industrial systems should mimic the quasi-cyclical functions of natural ecosystems in an 'industrial food chain', holds promise in addressing not only short-term environmental problems but also the long-term holistic evolution of industrial systems. This possibility requires a number of key conditions to be met, not least the restructuring of our manufacturing and consumer society to reduce the effects of material and energy flows at the very point in history when globalisation is rapidly increasing them. This book sets out to address the theoretical considerations that should be made implicit in future research as well as practical implementation options for industry. The systematic recovery of industrial wastes, the minimisation of losses caused by dispersion, the dematerialisation of the economy, the requirement to decrease our reliance on fuels derived from hydrocarbons and the need for management systems that help foster inter-industry collaboration and networks are among the topics covered. The book is split into four sections. First, the various definitions of IE are outlined. Here, important distinctions are made between industrial metabolism and IE. Second, a number of different industrial sectors, including glass, petroleum and electric power, are assessed with regard to the operationalisation of industrial ecology. Eco-industrial Parks and Networks are also analysed. Third, the options for overcoming obstacles that stand in the way of the closing of cycles such as the separation and screening of materials are considered and, finally, a number of implications for the future are assessed. The contributions to Perspectives on Industrial Ecology come from the leading thinkers working in this field at the crossroads between a number of different disciplines: engineering, ecology, bio-economics, geography, the social sciences and law.
Author : T. E. Graedel
Publisher :
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 32,28 MB
Release : 2003
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :
To a significant degree, the first edition of this book defined the new field of industrial ecology, the restructuring of technological activity to incorporate environmental concerns. Important topics from that book are updated here, among them life-cycle assessment product design for the environment the incorporation of environmental considerations into product development integrating industrial ecology into corporations budgets and cycles In addition, the new edition includes entire chapters on topics that are becoming or have become newly important to the field: the biological model applied to industrial systems the status of resources the transition from products to services systems analysis Earth systems engineering and management While still serving as a practical guide to product designers and corporate managers, the new edition also provides guidance for the broader task of mapping a societal evolution to a more sustainable world, thus justifying industrial ecology's label as "the science and technology of sustainability."
Author : Robert U. Ayres
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 712 pages
File Size : 35,36 MB
Release : 2002-01-01
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781843765479
'The editors of this handbook have brought together 58 of the world's greatest environmental systems experts. These professionals have, in 46 specific topic headings, divided into six major sections, provided very insightful information and guidance as to what industrial ecology entails, how it can be implemented, and its benefits . . . a very valuable tool . . . This book provides essential information to mid- and top-level management that can enable industry to make more prudent business decisions regarding the manufacturing of its products.' - Robert John Klancko, Environmental Practice Industrial ecology is coming of age and this superb book brings together leading scholars to present a state-of-the-art overviews of the subject.
Author : Xiaohong Li
Publisher : Springer
Page : 144 pages
File Size : 30,79 MB
Release : 2017-12-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 331967501X
This book opens up a critical dimension to the interdisciplinary field of Industrial Ecology (IE) and one of its four areas - Industrial Symbiosis (IS). Presenting the concept of closed-loop thinking, this timely book explains how industries and societies can achieve environmental sustainability, a necessity for today’s businesses. Providing a critical review of the definitions and developments of both IE and IS, this study establishes their fundamental role in improving environmental sustainability. The author identifies valuable lessons to be learned and presents conceptual frameworks to guide future IE and IS applications. Transforming industrial systems into closed-loop industrial ecosystems dramatically reduces the negative impact of industrial activities on the environment. Therefore, this book is an important read not only for operations management scholars, but also those who are interested in ensuring an environmentally sustainable future.
