Ecology, Industrial Ecology

1. THE WORLD OF INDUSTRIAL
ECOLOGY

2. INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
The study of the flows of materials and energy in industrial
and consumer activities, the effects of these flows on the
environment, and the influences of economic, political,
regulatory, and social factors on the flow, use and
transformation of resources (Braden Allenby & Deanna
Richards, 1994)
The primary goal of industrial ecology is to promote
sustainable development at the local, regional, national, and
global levels

3. IE is a dynamic system-based framework that enables
management of human activity on a sustainable basis by:
 Minimizing energy and materials usage
 Ensuring acceptable quality of life for people
 Minimizing the ecological impact of human activity to levels natural
system can sustain
 Maintaining the economic viability of systems for industry
 Trade and commerce

4. The Dimensions of Industrial Ecology
• Science – Values – Policy process
Justice – Equity, Cleaner-production, consumers’ choice
The role of Technology
Democracy
• Time
Present – Future
• Space
Local – Regional – Global
What should be sustainable?
• Sector
Economy – Social – Environment
What is most important?
Consumer – NGO – Company – Public sector

5.  However, most definitions comprise similar attributes with
different emphases: These attributes include the following:
• A multidisciplinary approach (ecology, economics, sociology,
engineering, etc.)
• A change from linear (open) processes to cyclical (closed) processes,
so the waste from one industry is used as an input for another
• Systems approach - An emphasis on harmoniously integrating
industrial activity into ecological systems – holistic view
• The idea of making industrial systems emulate more efficient and
sustainable natural systems
•Means of balancing environmental protection with economic and
business viability

6. The Biological Analogy
Industrial: It focuses on product design and manufacturing processes
Ecological: Non-human natural ecosystems as models for industrial activity
Example: Symbiotic relationship of organisms as to Industrial Symbiosis
 The biological analogy has been applied at the level of facilities, districts,
and regions, using notions borrowed from ecosystem ecology regarding
the flow and the cycling of materials, nutrients and energy in ecosystems
as a potential model for relationships between facilities.

7. Some applications of ecological principles to industrial systems:
In natural systems, there is no such thing as waste due to nutrient
cycling
Concentrated toxins are not stored or transported in bulk at the
system level, but are synthesized and used as needed only by
individuals of a species
Each member of an ecosystem performs multiple functions as it
interrelates with other member
Carrying capacity limits the extent of which populations grow

8. INDUSTRY AS A “LIVING SYSTEM WITHIN LIVING SYSTEMS.”
View each level of industry as a living system participating in larger
natural systems
Use the principles and dynamics of ecosystems to guide industrial
design
Life cycle thinking - all environmental impacts caused by a product,
system, or project during its life cycle are taken into account
Systems thinking - solving problems must involve understanding the
connections that exist between these systems

9. INDUSTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
 A community or network of companies and other organizations in a
region who chose to interact by exchanging and making use of by-
products or energy in a way that provides one or more of the following
benefits:
1.Reduction in the use of virgin materials as resource inputs
2.Reduction in pollution i.e. emission of GHG
3.Increased energy efficiency leading to reduced energy use in the
system as a whole
4.Reduction in the volume of waste products requiring disposal

10. Industrial Symbiosis
 It was first coined in 1989 to describe the collaboration of businesses
in Kalundborg
 involves the physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and by-
products among several organizations

11. Eco-industrial Park
- A community of
manufacturing and service
businesses seeking enhanced
environmental and resource
issues including energy, water,
materials, information, and
natural habitat
Kalundborg Eco-Industrial Park (Denmark)

12. A timeline of the creation of the industrial park:
1959 The Asnaes Power Station was started up
1961 Tidewater Oil Company constructed a pipeline from Lake Tisso to
provide water for its operation
1963 Tidewater Oil Company's oil refinery is taken over by Esso
1972 Gyproc establishes plaster-board manufacturing plant. A pipeline
from the refinery to the Gyproc facility is constructed to supply excess
refinery gas
1973 The Asnaes Power Station is expanded. A connection is built to the
Lake Tisso-Statoil pipeline
1976 Novo Nordisk starts delivering biological sludge to neighboring
farms

13. 1979 Asnaes Power Station starts supplying fly ash to cement
manufacturers in northern Denmark
1981 The Kalundborg municipality completes a district heating
distribution network within the city that utilizes waste heat from the
power plant
1982 Novo Nordisk and the Statoil refinery complete construction of
steam supply pipelines from the power plant. By purchasing process
steam from the power plant, the companies are able to shut down
inefficient steam boilers
1987 The Statoil refinery completes a pipeline to supply its effluent
cooling water to the power plant for use as raw boiler feed water.
1989 The power plant starts using waste heat from its salt cooling water
to produce trout and turbot at its local fish farm

14. 1989 Novo Nordisk enters into agreement with Kalundborg municipality,
the power plant, and the refinery to connect to the water supply grid
from Lake Tisso
1990 The Statoil refinery completes construction of a sulfur recovery
plant. The recovered sulfur is sold as raw material to a sulfuric acid
manufacturer in Federicia
1991 The Statoil refinery commissions the building of a pipeline to
supply biologically treated refinery effluent water to the power plant for
cleaning purposes, and for fly ash stabilization
1992 The Statoil refinery commissions the building of a pipeline to
supply flare gas to the power plant as a supplementary fuel
1993 The power plant completes a stack fuel gas desulfurization project.
The resulting calcium sulfate is sold to Gyproc, where it replaces
imported natural gypsum

18. Annual wastes avoided in Kalundborg as of 1997
Annual resource savings in Kalundborg as of 1997

19. INDUSTRIAL METABOLISM
 Proposed by Robert Ayres
which states that the use of
materials and energy by the
industry and the way these
materials flow through
industrial systems and are
transformed and then
dissipated as wastes
 The concept of what goes in
must come out

20. LINEAR VERSUS CLOSED-LOOP:
a. Type I Linear – materials and energy enter one part of the system
then leave either as products or by-products/wastes
b. Type II Semi-cyclic – some wastes are recycled or reused while others
still leave it
c. Type III Closed-loop – energy and wastes are constantly recycled and
reused by other organisms and processes within the system

21. Type I Linear system

22. Type II Semi-cyclic

23. Type III Cyclic/closed loop

24. brewery Spent grain mushroom Residual to feed pigs
dung
3 gallons of gasoline per day
Waste residue to algal ponds in fish ponds
Floating gardens
From: Gunter Pauli – Director of the Zero Emissions
Research Initiative, Japan
2 tons of rice per year
barley

25. "from cradle to grave"

27. Material Flow Analysis (MFA)
Is an analytical method of quantifying flows and stocks of materials or
substances in a well-defined system.
MFA can be used for environmental impact assessments, development
of environmental policy for hazardous substances, nutrient management
in watersheds, waste management and for sanitation planning

29. Sustainable Development
 meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising
the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs (By: the
World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)
• high-quality products and services to customers

30. • Pollution Prevention
• Waste Minimization – A process of elimination that involves reducing the
amount of waste produced in society and helps eliminate the generation of
harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the efforts to promote a more
sustainable society
- e.g. 3R’s, 4R’s
• Source Reduction – e.g. “Pay as You Throw” program
• Total Quality Environmental Management (TQEM) -- business management
practices that reduce or prevent environmental pollution

31. Pollution Prevention Design
for the Environment
 Solid Waste Management Act - RA 9003
e.g. waste segregation
 Clean Air Act - RA 8479, June 23, 1999, "Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999" / An
act providing for a Comprehensive Air Pollution Control Policy and for Other
Purposes
e.g. traffic coding scheme
 Clean Water Act – RA 9275, “Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004”
e.g. sanitation
 US Pollution Prevention Act of 1990

32. CLEANER PRODUCTION
 A preventive, company-specific environmental protection initiative
 It is intended to minimize waste and emissions and maximize product
output
 By analyzing the flow of materials and energy in a company, one tries to
identify options to minimize waste and emissions out of industrial processes
through source reduction strategies.
 Improvements of organization and technology help to reduce or suggest
better choices in use of materials and energy, and to avoid waste,
wastewater generation, and gaseous emissions, and also waste heat and
noise

33. ECO-EFFICIENCY
 Aims at minimizing ecological damage while maximizing efficiency of
the firm’s production processes, such as through the lesser use of
energy, material , and water, more recycling, and elimination of
hazardous emissions by-products

34. Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit
Environmental Impact
Assessment is a tool designed to
identify and predict the impact
of a project on the bio-
geophysical environment and on
man's health and well-being, to
interpret and communicate
information about the impact,
to analyze site and process
alternatives and provide
solutions to sift out, or
abate/mitigate the negative
consequences on man and the
environment.

35. Environmental Auditing (or Audit)
 Is the systematic documentation, periodic and objective evaluation of activities
and processes of an ongoing project.
 The goal of EA is to establish if proponents are complying with environmental
requirements and enforcing legislation.
The purpose of EA is to determine the extent to which the activities and
programs conform to the approved environmental management plan
A comprehensive EA ensures a safe and healthy environment at all stages of
project operations and decommissioning