What is Industrial Ecology?

• “The Science of Sustainability”

• Predicated upon two assumptions:– Society will continue to be industrial– We are interested in sustainability

• Named for a metaphor with Biological Ecosystems

Humanity and Environment: The Metaphor

• The Tragedy of the Commons (Garrett Hardin, Science, 1968):– A society that permits freedom of activities that

adversely influence common properties is eventually doomed to failure

– The community pasture example– A modern example: personal transportation

• Global environment is a “Commons”• Population growth forces the issue

Society and Sustainable Development

• Sustainable development “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

– World Committee on Environment and Development, 1987

• Societies are moving toward greater appreciation of sustainable development, but slowly

Options for Technology-Society Relationships

• Status quo– Not sustainable

• Radical Ecology– Rejects industry, likely reduces carrying capacity

• Deep Ecology– Little role for technology, return to low-tech

options

• Industrial Ecology– Technology is part of the solution

Options Table

Moderately higher population, substantial adjustments to life-style

Reliance on technological evolution within constraints, high-tech welcomed

Industrial Ecology

Lower population, substantial adjustments to life-style

Appropriate technology, low-tech where possible

Deep Ecology

Unmanaged population crash and disruption

Ad hoc adoption of mandatesStatus quo

Unmanaged population crash and disruption

Return to low-techRadical Ecology

ImplicationsEffect on TechnologyApproach

The Master Equation

GDPunit **

EI

person

GDPPopGEI =

Where• GEI = Global Environmental Impact• Pop = Population• GDP = Gross Domestic Product• EI = Environmental Impact (per unit GDP)

Notice the similarity to the I=PAT model!

Population Growth

• Species exist within the notion of a Carrying Capacity

• r-selective species reproduce without regard to carrying capacity => exponential growth, followed by crashes

• K-selective species dampen their growth as they approach the carrying capacity, resulting in logistic or sigmoid growth

• Whichever we are, no decline in population is predicted in the foreseeable future

Per capita GDP

• GDP is a general measure of the productivity of an economy

• Per capita GDP varies widely from country to country, but is generally increasing; usually seen as a measure of quality of life

• No decline in per capita GDP is predicted – in fact, it is not desired, since this is a measure of quality of life– We at least want those with less to achieve ours!

Why?

Environmental Impact per unit GDP

• In the industrial world, this can be modeled as a bell-curve in three regions:– Industrial Revolution: rapid increase in

consumption of resources and waste– Remediation: addressing the most pressing

environmental problems that resulted– Longer term vision: impacts reduced while

maintaining quality of life (this has yet to be seen)

Interpreting the Equation

• Population is largely a social problem and, barring disaster, is unlikely to decrease

• Increasing per capita GDP is generally seen as a good thing; continued increases are likely

• Therefore, to decrease the Global Environmental Impact, we must employ technology to reduce environmental impact per unit GDP

Reducing the Technology Term

• Do we have any reason to believe that we can reduce the environmental impact per unit quality of life?– Automobile efficiency

• Pinto vs. Lupo

– Air quality• NYC eyes don’t burn!

– Water quality• Cyahoga River doesn’t catch on fire!

Industrial Ecology: The Concept

• Firms do not exist in a vacuum

• Thousands of linkages and interactions are involved in industrial processes

• While companies have done well in attending to customer needs/demands, they have not evaluated the overall interaction of their products and processes with the global environment

A Systems Science

• Industrial Ecology (as applied in manufacturing) involves the dual perspectives of product competitiveness and environmental interactions

• IE approaches sustainability by taking a systems approach and a long-term view

• By looking at the whole system, IE rejects the concept of waste (like biology does)

Linking IE and Environmental Science

• Industrial Metabolism: interactions between suppliers and customers

• Environmental Metabolism: relationships between trophic levels, species, populations, and communities

• Industrial Engineering and Environmental Science must collaborate on Industrial Ecology

• These are, perhaps, Environmental Systems Engineers

The Beginnings of Industrial Activity

• Industry is defined as the commercial production and sale of goods and services

• This has been going on for many thousands of years

• In some instances, industrial practices led to local disruption and shortages, but in most cases had no significant environmental impact

• This lasted until about 1750

The Industrial Revolution

• ca. 1750 several technological innovations led to the industrial revolution:– Iron refinement technology led to better tools– Coal provided energy for the production of iron

• Advanced machines rose from the iron industry

• These machines dramatically increased labor productivity, a.k.a. per capita GDP

• Production of other metals followed apace

Modern Industrial Operations

• Manufacturing process technology has developed quickly, taking new leaps every 30 or 40 years

• Industrial Energy Density looks at energy consumed per unit monetary value added

• While this has decreased for developed nations, for developing nations it can be increasing

• Fossil carbon release is proportional to energy consumption

Trends in Technology

• Dematerialization– Less material for same or better service

• Substitution– Use more environmentally suitable materials

• Decarbonization– Move away from release of fossil carbon

• Computerization– Improved management and control

The Evolving Development-Environment Relationship

• The manner in which the developing world achieves improvement in quality of life will be critical

• Sustainability may be an environmental goal, but cannot be achieved through economic injustice

Relationships of Society to Industry and Development

• Industrial systems operate within society, not apart from it

• The interactions between society and industry must be understood to be optimized

Wants and Needs: The Driving Factor

• Needs differ from Wants

• Both generate industrial demand

• Both can usually be satisfied in a variety of ways

• Perhaps rethinking products as services?– E.g. Xerox

Stages of Technological Transformation

• Economic Commission of Europe 1992 Meeting:– Stage 1: Ignorance

• Environmental problems unknown

– Stage 2: Lack of Interest• Problems known, but people don’t care

– Stage 3: Reliance on Technology• Hope that technology will solve problems

– Stage 4: Toward Sustainability• Conversion toward environmentally adapted development

– Stage 5: Absolute Sustainability• Ecological thinking has been brought full-circle

Implications for Industrial Ecology

• Implementation of industrial ecology and migration toward sustainable development will involve significant and difficult change:– Cultural– Religious– Political– Social

Implications for the Corporation

• Private companies must be partners in regulation

• New organizations and information flows will be required to internalize issues

• Full-cost accounting will be required to incorporate environmental costs into economic decisions

• Corporations need to view society as a whole, along with their communities, as full partners

Technological Evolution

• To achieve technological evolution, we must understand the total impacts of our processes, products, and services

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides a methodology for achieving this

Introduction to Life Cycle Assessment

• In short, LCA is the evaluation of a product from cradle to grave– Energy– Materials– Economics

• Three basic steps:– Inventory analysis– Impact analysis– Improvement analysis

LCA Process

Where RERP is the “Environmentally Responsible Product Rating”

Define Scope

Manufacture RERP

Inventory Analysis

Improvement Analysis

Impact Analysis

Feedback

Scoping

• What materials, processes, or products will be considered in the LCA?

• How broadly will alternatives be defined?

• E.g. Drycleaning– Narrow Scope: look at controls, process changes,

perhaps alternative solvents– Broader Scope: look at alternative services (such

as pressing) and alternative clothing materials

Choice of Scope

• Factors include– Who is performing the analysis?

• How much control can they exercise over choice of options?

– What resources are available to conduct the study?– What is the most limited scope of analysis that still

provides for adequate consideration of the systems aspects of the problem?

• Can a comparative LCA be used to reduce scope?

Course Project

• Your project for this course is to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment of a product or service of your choice

• Groups of 3 students

• Some time will be available to work on this during the next few weeks

Assignment

• Email a 1 page description of your project:– List of team members– Product or service to be analyzed– Proposed scope of your analysis