Ecotechnology in industrial practice: implementation using sustainability indices and case studies

Abstract The paper explains how to design eco-sustainable technologies, following the pathway from ‘high-tech’ to ‘clean/er tech’ and to ecologically as well as societally sustainable ‘eco-tech’. ‘Eco-principles’ are derived from the ecosphere, representing the intelligence of nature as the result of evolution, and serve as guideline for the general eco-restructuring of technology and many other areas of society, e.g., education and landscapes. Indices for the estimation of sustainability with its four dimensions (economical, social, ecological and technical) are presented, the sustainable livelihood security index (SLSI), the sustainable process index (SPI) and a general index (SI) are formulated. Case studies illustrate the achieved ecological sustainability by applying the SPI in case of bioprocesses for industrial productions: drinking water denitrification, control agents in agriculture and polymers comparing the biological with the chemical production.