[1] Industrial Ecology

Question 1

List

What are the 3 definitions of sustainability?

Answer 1

1. stabilizing currently disruptive relationship between human culture & the living world
2. ability to meet needs of the present w/o compromising ability of future generation to meet their own needs
3. capacity to improve the quality of human life while living w/in the carrying capacity of the earth’s supporting ecosystems

Question 2

Define

carrying capacity

Answer 2

• how much of our **needs nature can provide **in that area + how much waste nature can receive
• not just needs, but also wastes
• for how many square meters, how can a population’s needs and wastes be handled?

Note
* tech should improve life, but also work within carrying capacity

Question 3

T/F

Technology can be 100% sustainable

Answer 3

F
Sustainability technologies will always bring up a new problem

Question 4

T/F

Technology can be 100% sustainable

Answer 4

F

Sustainability technologies will always bring up a new problem

Question 5

Explain

How can we use coal to generate power?

Answer 5

1. Burn coal through boiler → produce steam
2. Steam moves through a small tube → high pressure
3. Steam moves turbines
4. Generator functions, Mechanical energy → electrical energy

Question 6

List

Historical Context of Industrial Ecology

5

Answer 6

1. 1300: extensive logging (reliance on wood)
2. 1700: fossil fuels to power machines to increase production
3. 1800: energy production and inventions
4. 2000: awareness of environmental degradation
5. 2100: environmental management & sustainability

LFEDS

Question 7

Define

industrialization

Answer 7

mass production
“en masse” = in a group

Question 8

Define

technology

Answer 8

application of science to improve quality of life

Question 9

Define

ecology

Answer 9

study of natural ecosystems and processes

Question 10

What is the goal of industrial ecology?

Answer 10

• to move from linear system → cyclical system (closed loop system)
• be like natural ecosystems (where waste becomes input of another process)

Question 11

Differentiate

linear vs circular economy

Answer 11

linear economy
* resource extraction → production of goods → consumption → waste disposal
* “cradle to grave”

circular economy
* reduce use of resources
* use waste as raw materials
* “cradle to cradle”

Question 12

List

Forms of circular economy

2

Answer 12

• biological: product degrades
• technological: use resources from another factory

(technological: although virgin materials are usually better quality)

Question 13

Define

fractional distillation

Answer 13

separate a mixture into fractions/its components
Ex. getting oxygen from air

Question 14

List

Principles of Industrial Ecology

6

Answer 14

1. Create industrial ecosystems
2. Balance industrial inputs and outputs to a natural level
3. Dematerialization of industrial input/output
4. Improve efficiency of industrial processes
5. Energy use
6. Align policies with industrial ecology concept

EBDEEP