Structural complexity analysis for industrial ecosystems: A case study on LuBei industrial ecosystem in China

Abstract Natural ecosystems and human societies have evolved in many diverse ways and they are both complex systems. Our learning from the structure complexity of natural ecosystems can help us to redesign the structure of industrial system. Thus the materials and energy efficiency of industrial systems can be improved well to achieve the sustainable goals. In this paper, Structural Analysis Method for Industrial Ecosystems (SAMIE) is introduced and applied in the analysis of the structure complexity and efficiency of the industrial ecosystems. The industrial ecosystem is analyzed based on the industrial species’ classification, which is analogous to the natural ecosystem. A set of indicators are developed to evaluate the industrial system, in order to explore the problems of structural complexity, identify the limiting factors of industrial ecosystem evolution, and strengthen the capacity of adaptation and self-organization. A case study on LuBei industrial ecosystem in China has been selected to apply the SAMIE approach.

[1]  A. Windsperger.  INDUSTRIAL METABOLISM , 2022 .

[2]  R. Ayres,et al.  Industrial Ecology and Global Change: Human Impacts on the Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles , 1994 .

[3]  Jouni Korhonen,et al.  Two Paths to Industrial Ecology: Applying the Product-based and Geographical Approaches , 2002 .

[4]  S. Joshi.  Product Environmental Life‐Cycle Assessment Using Input‐Output Techniques , 1999 .

[5]  Mark Goedkoop,et al.  Life-Cycle Impact Assessment: Striving towards Best Practice , 2002 .

[6]  Hans-Jürgen Dr. Klüppel,et al.  ISO 14041: Environmental management — life cycle assessment — goal and scope definition — inventory analysis , 1998 .

[7]  Peter Daniels,et al.  Approaches for Quantifying the Metabolism of Physical Economies: A Comparative Survey: Part II: Review of Individual Approaches , 2002 .

[8]  Robert Costanza,et al.  Investing in natural capital , 1993 .

[9]  Peter Daniels,et al.  Approaches for Quantifying the Metabolism of Physical Economies: Part I: Methodological Overview , 2001 .

[10]  Thomas Graedel,et al.  Industrial Ecology and Global Change: Industrial Ecology: Definition and Implementation , 1994 .

[11]  S. Ryding.  ISO 14042 Environmental management • Life cycle assessment • life cycle impact assessment , 1999 .

[12]  Raymond P. Côté,et al.  Designing eco-industrial parks: a synthesis of some experiences , 1998 .

[13]  Leon Jay Gleser.  Some thoughts on chemical mass balance models , 1997 .

[14]  William R. Moomaw,et al.  Industrial Ecology and Global Change: Contents , 1994 .

[15]  I. Albizu,et al.  Vegetation diversity and vertical structure as indicators of forest disturbance , 2004 .

[16]  Robert U. Ayres,et al.  Industrial Metabolism: Restructuring for Sustainable Development , 1994 .

[17]  C. Hendrickson,et al.  Using input-output analysis to estimate economy-wide discharges , 1995 .

[18]  P. Brunner,et al.  Metabolism of the Anthroposphere , 1991 .

[19]  Kilian Stoffel,et al.  Simulation modelling of ecological hierarchies in constructive dynamical systems , 2007 .

[20]  A. Azovsky.  Structural complexity of species assemblages and spatial scale of community organization: A case study of marine benthos , 2009 .

[21]  H. Odum,et al.  Self-Organization, Transformity, and Information , 1988, Science.

[22]  Sepa Key.  Industrial ecology:a critical review , 2008 .

[23]  Gjalt Huppes,et al.  Evaluation of risks of metal flows and accumulation in economy and environment , 1999 .

[24]  Göran Finnveden,et al.  Best available practice regarding impact categories and category indicators in life cycle impact assessment , 1999 .

[25]  Peter Newmark,et al.  Editorial , 1994, Current Biology.

[26]  C K Patel,et al.  Industrial ecology. , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[27]  Y. Moriguchi,et al.  Resource flows : the material basis of industrial economies , 1997 .

[28]  Göran Finnveden,et al.  Environmental systems analysis tools – an overview , 2005 .

[29]  Stephan Moll,et al.  Material flow analysis, TMR and the MIPS concept: a contribution to the development of indicators for measuring changes in consumption and production patterns , 1999 .

[30]  Howard T. Odum,et al.  Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making , 1995 .

[31]  M. T Brown,et al.  Embodied energy analysis and EMERGY analysis: a comparative view , 1996 .

[32]  H. Weisz,et al.  The Weight of Nations : Material Outflows from Industrial Economies , 2000 .

[33]  W. Bossert,et al.  The Measurement of Diversity , 2001 .

[34]  Thomas E. Graedel,et al.  Industrial ecology: a teenager’s progress , 2004 .

[35]  N. E. Gallopoulos,et al.  Strategies for Manufacturing , 1989 .

[36]  Mark T. Brown,et al.  Monitoring patterns of sustainability in natural and man-made ecosystems , 1998 .

[37]  Robert E. Ulanowicz,et al.  On the nature of ecodynamics , 2004 .

[38]  E. H. Simpson.  Measurement of Diversity , 1949, Nature.

[39]  Edward Cohen-Rosenthal,et al.  Making sense out of industrial ecology: a framework for analysis and action , 2004 .

[40]  Stefan Anderberg,et al.  Industrial metabolism and the linkages between economics, ethics and the environment 1 Workshop on E , 1998 .

[41]  M. Curran.  Life-cycle Assessment: Inventory Guidelines and Principles , 1994 .

[42]  Clinton J. Andrews,et al.  Building a Micro Foundation for Industrial Ecology , 2000 .

[43]  Mary L. Cadenasso,et al.  Dimensions of ecosystem complexity: Heterogeneity, connectivity, and history , 2006 .

[44]  C. Krebs.  Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance , 1973 .

[45]  Jesse H. Ausubel,et al.  Technology and environment , 1989 .

[46]  Thomas G. Spiro,et al.  Industrial Ecology and Global Change: Emissions and Exposure to Metals: Cadmium and Lead , 1994 .

[47]  T. Graedel.  Industrial Ecology , 1995 .

[48]  Perry Pei-Ju Yang,et al.  Applying ecosystem concepts to the planning of industrial areas: a case study of Singapore’s Jurong Island , 2004 .