Industrial ecology Flashcards
Four challenges in IE
- Increasing material extraction and trade
- Uneven distribution of extraction and use
- Resources scarcity in the short term and long term
- Environmental impact
Two types of decoupling
Relative - economic activity (usually measured in GDP) increases more than other pressures
Absolute - economic activity increases and other pressures decreases
3 extensive and increasing global resource trade
- trade ags doubled its share
- more fossil fuel share and metal share
The IPAT equation
I = P + A + T Impact = population + Affluence (consumption per person) + Technology (pressure/GDP; Impact per unit of consumption)
- for understanding the impact of human activity on the environment
How will future material be extracted?
Resource efficiency
Climate mitigation and removal
Landscape and biodiversity protection
Healthy diets and reduced food waste
Measures of minerals available
Three squares
Reserves - identified and economic to extract with current prices and technology
Resources - reserves and currently identified or unidentified deposits that are expected to become economic to extract within foreseeable future
Resource base - what is in the crust but not found
Explain stocks, funds and flows
Resource type - renewability - exhaustability - examples
Stock - Non-renewable - Exhaustable - Metals, fossil fuels
Fund - Renewable - Exhaustability - Flora and fauna
Flow - re-occuring or permanantly present - non exhaustability - fresh water, solar power, land area (but availability could be limited because of eg competition)
Examples on env. impacts of using natural resources
- climate change impacts
- meter stress
- particulate matter health impacts
- Land use related biodiversity loss
What is a circular measure? (3)
- Circular measure: a physical measure for resource efficiency that leads to changes in material flows, thus distinguished from enablers for such measures, eg business models and policy
- Resource life-extending strategies: to extend resource life, ex reuse, recycling, remanufacturing, repair, waste-to-energy, product longlivety approaches
- Value retention options: suggesting options which allow resources to be censemed closest to their original state
What measures during a products life cycle phases
Extraction - measures in extraction and production
Use - measures to use effectively and efficiently
- measures to extend use
Post use - post use measures
Measures in the extraction and production phase:
- Reduce losses of material or energy in production
ex. internal scrap recycling, internal energy recovery, process integration - Reduce material quantity
ex. non-massive designs - Change material composition
ex. substitute fossil, hazardous or scarce materials, lighter material
Measures in the use phase: to use effectively or efficiently:
- Use effectively: the function satisfies users needs and no more
ex. costumization of product - Use efficiency: As much function as possible retrieved with as little additional input of material and energy as possible
ex. sharing of cars, tools and clothes, energy and water efficiency improvements
Measures in the use phase: to extend use:
- Non-restorative measures
- use more of the technical lifetime by reuse
ex. reuse IT, leasing, second hand sales
- Redesign for increased technical lifetime or for multiple uses
ex. LED systems, refrigerators, from single to multiple use - Restorative measures
- Maintenance: inspect, maintain, protect before failure
ex. monitoring machines
- Repair: replace parts after wear, malfunction or failure
ex. cars, smartphone, bicycle
- Remanufacturing: restore product to functional state as good as new or better, through disassembly, repair and exchange of components, re-assembly and quality assurance
ex. modular, car design
- Repurposing: reuse in a different function than the original one
ex. smartphone as parking meters
Measures post use:
- Recycling: recovers and returns materials to use, but often with quality loss
- Anaerobic design: biodegradable materials. Yields biogas. Recovery of plant nutrients and landscaping material may be possible
- Composting: Biodegradable materials. Recovery of plant nutrients and landscaping material
- Waste incineration with energy recovery: Commonly mixed waste. Combustible waste yields energy. Metals may be separated from residues
- Landfilling: Common for many waste types, out likely also necessary for residues without other options. Controlled landfills may include landfill gas collection for energy recovery.
Priority when keeping resources in use
Reduce the risk for scarcity of resources (that supply cannot meet demand)
- flows and funds in short-term, ex. land, water, critical raw material
- Stocks in long-term (several generations), ex minerals and metals
Reduce environmental impact caused by emissions (from extraction to end-of-life resource)
- climate change
- eutrophication (overfirtilization)
- Human and ecotoxic effect (urban regional air, pollution, toxic emissions to water)
