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
Approach
Effect on Technology
Implications
Radical Ecology
Return to low-tech
Unmanaged population
crash and disruption
Status quo
Ad hoc adoption of mandates
Unmanaged population
crash and disruption
Deep Ecology
Appropriate technology, lowtech where possible
Lower population,
substantial adjustments
to life-style
Industrial Ecology Reliance on technological
evolution within constraints,
high-tech welcomed
Moderately higher
population, substantial
adjustments to life-style
The Master Equation
GDP
EI
GEI  Pop *
*
person unit GDP
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 DevelopmentEnvironment 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
Define
Scope
Inventory
Analysis
Impact
Analysis
Feedback
Manufacture
Improvement
Analysis
RERP
Where RERP is the “Environmentally Responsible
Product Rating”
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 by next week
• Email a 1 page description of your project:
– List of team members
– Product or service to be analyzed
– Proposed scope of your analysis
Questions?
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