Exam

Question 1

What is industrial ecology all about?

Answer 1

Understand and optimise the interactions between industrial systems and natural ecosystems. It draws inspiration from the principles of ecology, by mimicking the closed-loop, resource-efficient cycles found in natural ecosystems, to create more sustainable and efficient processes.

Question 2

The name Industrial Ecology?

Answer 2

• Industrial: Societal perspective, focus on industrial activities such as product design and manufacturing processes
• Ecology:
  1. Ecosystems as models for industrial
  activity (e.g., recycling of resources, cycle material within society)
  2. Places human societal activities in the context of the ecosystems that support it (society surrounded by ecosystems)

Question 3

Aim of industrial ecology?

Answer 3

Optimise how we use resources, (recycle) to reduce waste and losses from society, lead to limit need of resources going in.

Nature (limit resources) –> Society (extraction, manufactures, consumers, waste management) –> Nature (limit waste)

Question 4

6 core elements

Answer 4

1. The biological analogy
   Suggests that industrial material systems can be designed to mimic sustainable cycles found in nature.
2. The use of a systems perspective
   Adopts to a holistic view, lifecycle thinking, interconnections.
3. The role of technological change
   Key driver in achieving more sustainable practices, innovation, adaptation. Tech is both a part of the problem and solution to reduce environmental impact.

Project 2: Tech assessed and result may affect in a sustainable direction.

4. The role of companies
   Crucial role in implementing. Both possibility and responsibility. Provides expertise and can act proactive. Policy makers instead of policy takers.

Project 2: Companies are stakeholders.

5. Dematerialization and eco-efficiency
   Reduce amount of material used and creating more value with less environmental impact. Optimise use of resources.
6. Forward-looking research and practice
   Importance of future oriented research and proactive measures. This is to avoid environmental impact in the first place. Still relevant to learn from history.

Project 2: TA includes future scenarios that could be used to recommend sustainable direction.

Question 5

Describe Industrial metabolism?

Answer 5

The word: analogy between how it is in nature and society. Biological organisms metabolise nutrients and industry metabolise materials and energy. Circularity also important, optimal to have in society. Limit linear and dissipative use (losses during use phase).

Question 6

Characteristics of MFA. For which purpose and for who?

Answer 6

MFA - describes the industrial metabolism, like; activities, flows and stocks for material in geographical region during one year. Can be displayed through flowchart.

Actors: researchers, policy makers

Strength: broad system perspective of material use

Challenge: how to find data with good quality

Question 7

Characteristics of Indicators. For which purpose and for who?

Answer 7

Indicators - Indicators are operationalisations of
something that we want to measure.

Give information to a complex system to better understand the system. Assess and say something more.

Actors: Researchers, policy makers

Strength: Indirect measurement (tech och economic reasons). Quantitative figures, identify hot spots of a system, where to put focus.

Challenge: Make a relevant choice of indicators. Choice of reference value. Find data. Draw a proper conclusion.

Question 8

Procedure for MFA

Answer 8

4 steps:

Problem definition
Define the issue. Decide material in focus?

System definition
Set the scope for the MFA by defining time and space.

Determination of flows and stocks
Find the data, how determine material in goods (concentration of substande in goods or emission factors). Mass balance to calculate missing flows (can just be done when only one flow missing). Stock (tons of material accumulated in society), change of stock (mass/year).

Emissions if not found in data bases:
Dissipative use or emission factors to approximate.

Emissions [mass/time] = emission factor [%] * stocks [mass]

Illustration and interpretation
Analyse data by drawing a flowchart and interpret.

Question 9

Procedure for Indicators. What is done in all steps. Show ex on how you do that?

Answer 9

PICABUE

Framework:

Principles
Define core principles that guide analysis. Objective of indicator use.

Issues
Identify key issues relevant to context.

Construction:

Construct
Develop indicator to assess issues.

Augment - enhance basic indicator by adding more detailed/ specific measures.

(Boundary)
(Uncertainty)

Evaluation:

Evaluate - evaluate performance of indicator with respect to desired indicator characteristics and objectives.

Question 10

Indicator design (equation)

Answer 10

Indicator = measurement / reference value

Should have same dimension.

Question 11

Criteria for step 7 in PICABUE (Evaluation). Explain and apply for indicators.

Answer 11

1. Relevance and scientific validity
   Purpose of indicator, principles for sustainability, based on scientific knowledge.
2. Sensitivity to change
   Across space or groups over time. Should change with a change over time or in change in different objects (such as countries).
3. Consistency of data
   To facilitate comparison across space and groups over time. Same definition of data must be used.
4. Comprehensible
   Should be easily understood, distinguish acceptable conditions, direction towards sustainability should be obvious. Value of 1 is a threshold value in a sense.
5. Measurable data
   Technically and economically feasible. Repeatable on regular basis and use of existing monitoring networks if possible. Availability of data. Easy to find data for reserves and extraction on regular basis.

Question 12

Make and use simple models to asses and deal with complex phenomena: make model in MFA (flowchart) draw flow chart in general

Answer 12

service at the top, environment at the bottom.

Five processes:
1. extraction
2. material production
3. product manufacture
4. end use
5. wast handling

From 2 and 3: losses to nature
From 4: dissipative use to nature and arrow to service
From 5: depositing to nature

Recycling from waste to 2 and 3.

Question 13

Sustainability assessment. Show that you understand and can explain the tree restrictions. Equations.

Answer 13

• Limitation in availability of non-renewable resources
  From earths crust: metals, minerals, fossil fuels.

Reserves - part that is technically and economically possible to extract at present.
Resources - total on earth.

total resources or reserves in country / extraction rate in country = years until empty reserves or static lifetime

Will change in time but can indicate if scarce or common. this and the fact that we will have less concentration in the future –> indication of cost increase –> more circularity needed.

Note that is not dimensionless.

• Limitation in space for bioproduction and ecosystem services
  Food, bioenergy, biodiversity from biosphere. Competing use of land (and sea), degradation of land, land use efficiency. Competing interests.

land use for specific crop / total agricultural land = share of land used for specific crop (less room for other and fullfil of needs)

• Limited assimilation capacity of emitted substances
  Fossil CO2, toxic substances etc. Is heavy metal, toxic, etc main challenge? When there is a systematic increase of substances in nature. Risk to pass some kind of threshold that cause damages that we can not except. We do not always know ok level.

anthropogenic emissions/ natural emissions = how many times larger societal emissions.

High risk of systematic increase if ratio above 1.

Question 14

What type of conclusion can be drawn using indicators?

Answer 14

How materials are used:
+ circular, small scale
- linear, large scale

What materials are used:
+ harmless, abundant
- toxic/harmful, scarce

Question 15

How assumptions influence sustainability assessment (MFA, indicators).

Answer 15

MFA - assumptions and estimations about the data

Indicators - choice of indicator and reference value.

Question 16

Describe results and conclusions from MFA and indicators for a set of materials. Qualitative, main characteristics. Connected to three restrictions.

Answer 16

An answer should include a description of the flow chart from the MFA but instead of qualitative figures there should be qualitative descriptions of the size of the flows, such as small, medium or large. However, to be able to do so the flows must be in relation to each other, such as:

The import in relation to export of a material,
The import in relation to domestic extraction,
the recycled material in relation to waste material from the use phase,
etc.
Additionally, the answer can include the following information:

what kind of products that the material is mainly used for,
if there is any dissipative use, and in that case for which applications,
if the material is toxic or has some environmental impact.

Silver - primarily extracted from ores as a by-product from lead and copper. Sweden is the 13th largest producer while Mexico, China and Peru produce way larger amount. Large share of silver ore exported. Silver is separated from other elements in refining process and purification. It is mostly used in electronics, bar and coin investments and jewelry. Silver is highly recyclable but the EOL RR is only at around 30 percent in Sweden (30-50 worldwide). Lower rates in electronic waste. Demand might increase due to usage in Solar PV.

Cotton - grown in warmer climates such as China and India and requires significant water and pesticide use. Harvested cotton is processed and the fibres spun into yarn or thread and this process cause quite amount of cotton fibre waste. The yarn or thread are used to manufacture textile which in turn are used in various products. A lot of products in use phase are imported. Waste management far from circular.

Leather - made from animal hides. The hides undergo tanning process to convert into durable leather which includes extensive chemical processing. A large amount in the tanning process goes to solid leather waste. Range of applications: clothing, furniture, automobile interior. In India, only halv of the amount that could be recycled are so.

Foresty
Harvested from environment and processed into sawmill, bioenergy and pulp and paper. Sawmill and papermass largest in Sweden. Large fraction from pulp and paper goes as losses to environment. Quite a lot of paper products exported. Used in a wide range of applications and people come in contact with it every day. There is probably large stock in society and the wast management can be improced.

Question 17

History and development of TA

Answer 17

Initial focus on social (job, demographics, migration effects) due to the great depression.
* Hoover - recent social trends in US (1933)
* Technological trends and national policy (1937).

Then environment entered
* Carson - silent spring (1960).
DDT to avoid malaria within military but caused other negative consequences on environment.

Office of TA in the US closed during 1995 due to budget cuts decided by Republicans.

TA in EU particularly related to foresight analysis.

Question 18

Describe idea of technology assessment? Characteristics of TA. For which purpose and for who?

Answer 18

Technology Assessments attempt to anticipate the societal and
environmental impacts, in particular those which are unplanned or
unanticipated, of the introduction or expansion of technologies in new
ways.

Question 19

Methodology of TA

Answer 19

6 steps

1. Policy issue - mix of what and why
2. Map ecosystem - what, why, who, where, when, how. Steeped tool.
3. Finding evidence.
4. Societal context.

Wide scope - catching unanticipated consequences, better overview, harder to understand biggest impacts/risks.

Narrow scope - easier to quantify, highlight policy needs, risk of missing unwanted consequence.

Specific sector + mature –> narrow.
Wide sectoral use + immature –> wide

Map actors:
wide scope - wider actor group (companies, consumers, users). More diverse.
narrow scope - more focus on sectoral actors involved in tech development and policymakers. (what user, what companies, pro and con stakeholder groups, indirectly affected people). Fewer actors affected

Scenarios.

5. The policy briefing. Four roles of a scientist.

Pure scientist - presenting facts/information, no direction.
Issue advocate - Push specific direction of action.
Science Arbiter - gives source of information of which policymaker ask for.
Honest broker - provides basic overview and policy options to help decisionmaker.

6. Communication

Question 20

Explain flow and stocks

Answer 20

Flow - movement of materials through a system over time. Capture the dynamic aspect of material use. Ex amount of material extracted from nature. [mass/time]

Stock - accumulated quantities of material stored within a system at a given time. Ex amount of copper contained in electronics. [mass]

Question 21

For which reasons can it be relevant to use a methodology, such as
PICABUE, when developing indicators?

Answer 21

Increase efficiency in developing indicators.
Increase credibility of indicators.
Increase quality of indicators.

Question 22

Storytelling scenarios

Answer 22

Alternative futures
Parameters with high degree of uncertainties
1. Identify driving forces
2. Priorotize
Difference between pre-determined elements and critical uncertainties.