Industrial Metabolism

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Industrial Metabolism Industrial Metabolism Technology in the United States. Johns Hopkins University environmental quality the concept offers an analytical Press, Baltimore framework that is practically motivated to improve Landes D 1969 The Unbound Prometheus. Cambridge University the quality of the natural environment through Press, London changes in industrial and social norms. Lazonick W 1991 Business Organization and the Myth of the Market Economy. Cambridge University Press, New York Industrial metabolism examines the exchange of Lo$ sch A 1954 The Economics of Location, 2nd edn. Yale materials and energy between human society and University Press, New Haven, CT nature at all spatial scales, applying the same analytical Marshall A 1997 Principles of Economics. Prometheus Books, parameters to describe material fluxes within and New York between natural and human systems. At the largest McCraw T 1986 America Versus Japan. Harvard Business scale this includes study of anthropogenic con- School, Boston tributions to atmospheric concentrations of trace gases Rosenberg N, Birdzell L 1986 How the West Grew Rich. Basic and the flow of excess nutrients from agricultural Books, New York activities to water bodies. At smaller scales, industrial Samuels R 1994 Rich Nation, Strong Army, National Security and the Technological Transformation of Japan, 1st edn. metabolism addresses the use of resources in the Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY human economy through the development of Schoenberger E 1997 The Cultural Crisis of the Firm. Blackwell, resource-accounting frameworks for political and Cambridge, MA economic entities as well as life-cycle analyses of the Storper M, Walker R 1989 The Capitalist Imperatie. Blackwell, materials used in the manufacture of industrial and Oxford UK consumer products. Weber A 1971 The Theory of the Location of Industries. Emphasis is placed on following the ‘material flow’ Atheneum, New York from its origins (e.g., mined ore) through the industrial processes used for its transformation, to the products A. K. Glasmeier that contain it, and finally to its disposal or re-entry into the industrial system. At its most comprehensive, industrial metabolism links to human and ecosystem metabolism, for instance by considering the life cycle of metals and organic chemicals in plant tissue and the Industrial Metabolism human diet. The information is used to construct a ‘materials balance’ of a system and draw conclusions The word ‘metabolism’ comes from the Greek, mean- regarding the actions needed to improve the environ- ing to change or transform. The concept in biology mental character of its metabolism. Possible indicated describes the combined effect of numerous biochemi- actions might include industrial process change, prod- cal reactions that convert the materials in a living cell uct substitution, consumer education, government to provide for its growth and maintenance. While the regulation, development of enabling technologies, concept of metabolism is uniformly accepted at the installation of new resource recovery capacity, and cellular level and for individual organisms, its ap- economic incentives by government (see Global En- plication to larger systems of living organisms or ironmental Change: Human Dimensions). human societies remains underdeveloped. The term To determine existing and potential metabolic ‘industrial metabolism’ derives from the notion that pathways, industrial metabolism considers the social industrial economies, like biological organisms or dynamics that influence the integrity of the natural natural ecosystems, can be understood as systems for environment. To establish quantitative relationships material transformation with distinct metabolic path- between material flows and social dynamics, industrial ways that evolve over time. Industrial metabolism metabolism compares indices of industrial production offers a useful perspective for the study of collective and social consumption to social and demographic human behavior and its effect on the materials cycles variables such as population, gender, age, land use, that comprise the workings of the natural environ- and economic activity. To aid in the formulation of ment. public policy, industrial metabolism bases its findings Social analyses have considered industrial pro- in the context of government institutions, economic duction and resource-use statistics as social indicators incentives, and cultural biases that influence the flow since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. In the of physical resources and their impact on the natural decades since the 1960s, industrial metabolism has environment. been used as a paradigm to describe the exchange of materials among industrial operations in a way anal- ogous to the description of material and energy 1. Natural History of Chemistry balances in natural ecological systems. This metabolic analysis contributes to the formulation of techno- One main thrust of research in industrial metabolism logical, economic, and policy instruments aimed at compares the natural history of the basic biogeo- addressing social environmental concerns. In the chemical reactions observed in planetary evolution context of modern social and political awareness about and contemporary ecosystems with those employed by 7331 Industrial Metabolism industrial society. By studying the basic chemical also generally follow a series of linear discrete trans- processes observed in nature for achieving beneficial formations (i.e., unit operations) in contrast to the transformations of materials, this inquiry seeks to more continuous processes found in nature. In ad- identify industrial processes that minimally perturb dition to learning from the design of natural systems, global biogeochemical cycles and least interfere with industrial metabolism seeks to identify, and engineer, the services provided to humans by nature. natural processes to replace commercial ones and thus From a historical perspective, the Earth represents reduce human resource use and waste generation (see an evolved system for recycling materials. Over geo- Greening of Technology and Ecotechnology). logical periods the planet has allowed for the bio- geochemical feedback necessary to arrive at a state hospitable to human life over the majority of the 2. Resource Accounting globe. Characteristic of this evolution is the natural system’s ability to find uses for discarded by-products. A complementary thrust of industrial metabolism For instance, at the planetary scale we find the research explores the actual physical flow of materials development of organisms using photosynthesis to within industries and regions. Materials-flow analyses produce energy. The life-forms employing this process rely on the law of conservation of mass (i.e., no new came to dominate a planet rich in atmospheric oxygen, mass is created or destroyed in a closed system) to the waste product of previous life. This system provide a complete materials balance equating the attribute, a product of evolution, is also evident over quantities identified as inputs with those labeled as shorter timescales in natural ecosystems. For these outputs. Employing the materials balance principle systems, scientists describe a complex web of life allows for estimation of material flows in industrial supported by the wastes from animals and plants, and consumer products as well as in by-products and identifying the significance of those wastes as pro- wastes even when data are missing. The analysis may viding the basic nutrients for regeneration. include material flows apparent to the public, for Industrial metabolism notes that in selected in- example in household wastes, as well as the hidden stances the need to find uses for waste products drives material flows occurring in mines, quarries, power the evolution of processes used in human industry. plants, factories, farms, and disposal sites. For example, the search for uses for unwanted coal tar Because both large- and small-scale flows have an led to the birth of the synthetic dye industry at the impact on the environment, industrial metabolism beginning of the twentieth century in Western Europe. examines bulk materials, typically measured in Natural gas, a leading energy source at the end of the millions of tons, as well as toxic materials measured in twentieth century, was once ‘flared’ at wellheads micrograms. Large-scale flows such as hydrocarbon before its value was recognized for energy and com- fuels used to supply energy, and fixed nitrogen used for mercial products from nitrogen fertilizer to synthetic food production, have an impact on global biogeo- rubber. Chlorine entered the human environment chemical cycles that govern climate and ecosystems. initially as a by-product from the manufacture of Smaller volume flows that enter the human food chain sodium chemicals and eventually became the far more may pose chronic or acute threats to human health marketable product. Following the evolutionary prin- and threaten the biological balance found in natural ciple evident in natural, as well as human, systems, ecosystems. industrial metabolism seeks to reveal opportunities The industrial metabolism of any material must be for using waste materials from contemporary indus- determined within the boundaries of a defined system. trial systems (see Sustainability Transition: Human– Once within system boundaries, flows must also cross Enironment Relationship). an internal boundary in moving from ‘nature’ to the Industrial metabolism stipulates that resource use ‘human’ domain in order
Recommended publications
  • Industrial Ecology: a New Perspective on the Future of the Industrial System
    Industrial Ecology: a new perspective on the future of the industrial system (President's lecture, Assemblée annuelle de la Société Suisse de Pneumologie, Genève, 30 mars 2001.) Suren Erkman Institute for Communication and Analysis of Science and Technology (ICAST), P. O. Box 474, CH-1211 Geneva 12, Switzerland Introduction Industrial ecology? A surprising, intriguing expression that immediately draws our attention. The spontaneous reaction is that «industrial ecology» is a contradiction in terms, something of an oxymoron, like «obscure clarity» or «burning ice». Why this reflex? Probably because we are used to considering the industrial system as isolated from the Biosphere, with factories and cities on one side and nature on the other, the problem consisting in trying to minimize the impact of the industrial system on what is «outside» of it: its surroundings, the «environment». As early as the 1950’s, this end-of-pipe angle was the one adopted by ecologists, whose first serious studies focused on the consequences of the various forms of pollution on nature. In this perspective on the industrial system, human industrial activity as such remained outside of the field of research. Industrial ecology explores the opposite assumption: the industrial system can be seen as a certain kind of ecosystem. After all, the industrial system, just as natural ecosystems, can be described as a particular distribution of materials, energy, and information flows. Furthermore, the entire industrial system relies on resources and services provided by the Biosphere, from which it cannot be dissociated. (It should be specified that .«industrial», in the context of industrial ecology, refers to all human activities occurring within the modern technological society.
    [Show full text]
  • Achieving Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing: Organization, Procedures and Implementation
    ACHIEVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN MANUFACTURING: ORGANIZATION, PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION _______________________________________ A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science __________________________________________________________________ By SÂNDINA PONTE Dr. Bin Wu, Thesis Supervisor MAY 2011 © Copyright by Sândina Ponte 2011 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the thesis entitled ACHIEVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN MANUFACTURING: ORGANIZATION, PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION presented by Sândina Ponte, a candidate for the degree of master of science and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Bin Wu Professor James Noble Professor Hongbin Ma Thank you to my wonderful husband for the much needed motivation during those last few weeks. Thanks to Dr. Wu for supporting this project and being such a wonderful advisor and friend. Thanks to my managers Bernt Svens and Stefan Forsmark at ABB Inc. for believing in Energy Efficiency and the need for sustainable development. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks to my advisor, Dr. Bin Wu, for his contribution and support to my research. I also wish to thank Chatchai Pinthuprapa for his previous research on energy audits and web tool development. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Industrial Ecology: the Role of Manufactured Capital in Sustainability Helga Weisza,B,1, Sangwon Suhc, and T
    SPECIAL FEATURE: INTRODUCTION Industrial Ecology: The role of manufactured capital in sustainability Helga Weisza,b,1, Sangwon Suhc, and T. E. Graedeld The lack of quantitative results over two aResearch Domain Transdisciplinary Concepts & Methods, Potsdam Institute for Climate decades ago was paralleled by a compelling Impact Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany; bDepartment of Cultural History and Theory and c underrepresentation of methodological sug- Department of Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Bren gestions. Among the few exceptions in those School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, early papers were Ayres’ material flow anal- d CA 93106; and Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 ysis of toxic heavy metals (17) and Duchin’s proposal to use economic input-output anal- ysis (18) to describe and analyze the meta- In 1992 PNAS presented a Special Feature with transition has increased in parallel, and the bolic connectedness among physical factors 22 contributions from a colloquium entitled technological and economic feasibility for such of production, industrial production, and “ ” Industrial Ecology, held at the National a transition has been demonstrated, especially consumptions sectors. Those two approaches Academy of Sciences of the United States in for the energy system (13, 14). have developed into core methods of Indus- Washington, DC (1). In these articles Industrial How did Industrial Ecology originally de- trial Ecology today (6, 19–25). The research Ecology was presented as an approach to un- fine its scope in what we now call sustain- articles included in the present Special Fea- derstand and ultimately optimize the total ma- ability science and what is its role today? If ture provide ample evidence for Industrial terial cycles of industrial processes (2).
    [Show full text]
  • Product Design and Business Model Strategies for a Circular Economy
    KES Transactions on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing II Sustainable Design and Manufacturing 2015 : pp.277-296 : Paper sdm15-026 Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy Nancy M.P. Bocken 1 *, Conny Bakker1 and Ingrid de Pauw1 1 Design Engineering department Industrial Design Engineering Delft University of Technology Landbergstraat 15, 2628 CE Delft, The Netherlands * [email protected] Abstract There is a growing need for and interest in the business concept of a circular economy. The move to a circular economy brings with it a range of practical challenges for designers and strategists in businesses that will need to facilitate this transformation from a linear take-make-dispose model to a more circular model. This paper seeks to develop a framework to guide designers and businesses strategists in the move from a linear to a circular economy. The following research question is addressed: What are the product design and business model strategies for businesses that want to move to a circular economy model? Building on Stahel (1994, p. 179) the terminology of slowing, closing and narrowing resource loops is introduced. A list of product design strategies and business model strategies for strategic decision-makers is introduced based on this to facilitate the move to a circular economy. 1. Introduction Governmental organisations as well as business representatives report an increasing pressure on our global resources and the climate due to human activity (WBCSD, 2014; IPCC, 2014). The circular economy is viewed as a promising approach to help reduce our global sustainability pressures (European Commission, 2014; Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • Industrial Metabolism and River Basin Studies: a New Approach for the Analysis of Chemical Pollution
    INDUSTRIAL METABOLISM AND RIVER BASIN STUDIES: A NEW APPROACH FOR THE ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL POLLUTION William M. Stigliani International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria Peter R. Jaffe Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey RR-93-6 September 1993 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY Princeton, NJ, USA INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS Laxenburg, Austria Research Reports, which record research conducted at IIASA, are independently reviewed before publication. Views or opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Institute, its National Member Organizations, or other organizations supporting the work. Copyright 01993 International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This is a joint publication with Princeton University. Cover design by Martin Schobel. Printed by Novographic, Vienna, Austria. Contents Foreword Overview vii 1. Introduction 2. Pathways of Chemical Pollutants through the Industrial Economy 2.1 Categorization of sources of pollution 2.2 0 bstacles to reducing emissions 3. Trace Pollutants in the Environment 3.1 The dispersion of trace pollutants in the environment 3.2 Processes that disperse trace pollutants in the environment 3.3 The effect of environmental changes on the dispersion of trace pollutants
    [Show full text]
  • Download PDF (87.5
    Index AccountAbility 1000 Stakeholder Engagement Behavioural Insights Team 314 Standard (AA1000SES) 347 behaviourally informed disclosure 318–19 act-related consumption 212 choice architecture 313–14, 315, 317, 325 Africa 225 confusion, avoidance of 319 agency 86, 88, 92–5 default rules 319–23 collective 84–5, 96 and automatic enrolment 319–21 Agenda 21 55–6 extreme 322 agent-based model, modified 166–7 implicit endorsement 321 Agyeman, J. 422 mass 321 Akenji, L. 26 personalized 321 Albinsson, P.A. 419 energy use 318, 320–21, 325 Allwood, J.M. 142 findings 315–17 American Institute for Cancer Research 196 framing 316, 318 Antonides, G. 209–23 inertia and procrastination 315–16, 321, ascription of responsibility (AR) 256 322 Asia 62–3, 165, 193, 287 internalities 313, 315 Asia-Pacific 225 libertarian paternalism 314–15 attitude–behaviour (value–action) gaps 88, 107, ‘nudging’ 314, 318, 325 278 nutrition 318 attitude–behaviour–choice (ABC) model 95, presentation 316 105 probability assessment and attitude to risk attitudes–facilitators–infrastructure (AFI) 317 framework 26 reference point for consumer decisions 321 attitudinal factors 105, 278 salience 323–4 Austgulen, M.H. 204 savings 319–20, 325 Australia 59, 135, 140, 164, 172, 226 social norms 316–17, 324, 325 Global Green Tag 296 Belgium 64, 155 Austrian economics 394, 397–400, 401, 406, Belk, R. 415 408 Bell, D. 433 availability bias 317 Bentham, J. 396 Berg, A. 28 Baatz, C. 124, 127 best available technologies (BATs) 289, 378 Baker, S. 210, 211 Bhamra, T. 103 Ballantine, P.W. 419 Bhate, S. 105, 106 Bamberg, S.
    [Show full text]
  • Chpter 19: Industrial Ecology and Environmental Chemistry
    Manahan, Stanley E. "INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY" Fundamentals of Environmental Chemistry Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC, 2001 19 INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY __________________________ 19.1 INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY At the beginning of Chapter 11, mention was made of the anthrosphere consisting of the things humans construct, use, and do in the environment. The anthrosphere constitutes a fifth sphere of the environment, along with the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Any intelligent effort to maintain and enhance environmental quality must consider the anthrosphere along with these other four spheres. This chapter is devoted primarily to the anthrosphere. In so doing, it emphasizes the emerging science of industrial ecology, defined and explained below. Industrial ecology is an approach based upon systems engineering and ecolo- gical principles that integrates the production and consumption aspects of the design, production, use, and termination (decommissioning) of products and ser- vices in a manner that minimizes environmental impact while optimizing utilization of resources, energy, and capital. The practice of industrial ecology represents an environmentally acceptable, sustainable means of providing goods and services. It is closely tied with environmental chemistry, and the two sciences work synergistically with each other. Industrial ecology works within a system of industrial ecosystems, which mimic natural ecosystems. Natural ecosystems, usually driven by solar energy and photosynthesis, consist of an assembly of mutually interacting organisms and their environment, in which materials are interchanged in a largely cyclical manner. An ideal system of industrial ecology follows the flow of energy and materials through several levels, uses wastes from one part of the system as raw material for another part, and maximizes the efficiency of energy utilization.
    [Show full text]
  • Dematerialization and Capital Maintenance: Two Sides of the Sustainability Coin
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Bartelmus, Peter Working Paper Dematerialization and capital maintenance: Two sides of the sustainability coin Wuppertal Papers, No. 120 Provided in Cooperation with: Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy Suggested Citation: Bartelmus, Peter (2002) : Dematerialization and capital maintenance: Two sides of the sustainability coin, Wuppertal Papers, No. 120, Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie, Wuppertal, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:wup4-opus-13592 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/49124 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Wissenschaftszentrum Kulturwissenschaftliches Nordrhein-Westfalen Institut Institut Arbeit Wuppertal Institut für und Technik Klima, Umwelt, Energie GmbH Peter Bartelmus* Dematerialization and Capital Maintenance: Two Sides of the Sustainability Coin Papers No.
    [Show full text]
  • Industrial Ecology
    Industrial Ecology Fall 2010 • Management Orit Ofri • Business Administration Jennifer Howard-Grenville • Assistant Professor • Management Acknowledgements Special thanks to Annie Gorski from the City of Salem for her time and attention. Many thanks to the following: Stephanie Eisner, Willow Lake Water Pollution Control Facility, City of Salem Tyson Keever, SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel Mark Steele, NORPAC Tory Banford, City of Salem John Wales, City of Salem 2 About SCI The Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI) is a cross-disciplinary organization at the University of Oregon that seeks to promote education, service, public outreach, and research on the design and development of sustainable cities. We are redefining higher education for the public good and catalyzing community change toward sustainability. Our work addresses sustainability at multiple scales and emerges from the conviction that creating the sustainable city cannot happen within any single discipline. SCI is grounded in cross-disciplinary engagement as the key strategy for solving community sustainability issues. We serve as a catalyst for expanded research and teaching, and market this expertise to scholars, policymakers, community leaders, and project partners. Our work connects student energy, faculty experience, and community needs to produce innovative, tangible solutions for the creation of a sustainable society. About SCY The Sustainable City Year (SCY) program is a year-long partnership between SCI and one city in Oregon, in which students and faculty in courses from across the university collaborate with the partner city on sustainability and livability projects. SCY faculty and students work in collaboration with staff from the partner city through a variety of studio projects and service-learning courses to provide students with real-world projects to investigate.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainability
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sustainability Sustainability accepted definition of sustainability: "[to meet] the needs of the present without com- promising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”[6] Definition Blue Marble composite images generated by NASA in 2001 (left) and 2002 (right). The supreme reality of our time is the vul- nerability of this planet. —John F Kennedy... Sustainability, in general terms, is the abil- ity to maintain balance of a certain process or state in any system. It is now most fre- quently used in connection with biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of Scheme of interaction of the three "pillars" of an ecosystem to maintain ecological pro- sustainable development[7] cesses, functions, biodiversity and productiv- ity into the future.[1] Although the definition of sustainable devel- Sustainability has become a complex term opment (above), given by the Brundtland that can be applied to almost every system on Commission, is frequently quoted,[8] it is not Earth, particularly the many different levels universally accepted and has undergone vari- of biological organization, such as; wetlands, ous interpretations.[9][10] Definitions of sus- prairies and forests[2] and is expressed in hu- tainability may be expressed as statements of man organization concepts, such as; eco-mu- fact, intent, or value with sustainability nicipalities, sustainable cities, and human treated as either a "journey" or activities and disciplines, such as; sustain- "destination."[11] Where we are now, where able agriculture, sustainable architecture and we need to be going, and how we are to get renewable energy.[3] there are all open to interpretation[12] and For humans to live sustainably, the will depend on the particular context under Earth’s resources must be used at a rate at consideration.[13] This difficult mix has been which they can be replenished.
    [Show full text]
  • A Distributed Model of Oilseed Biorefining, Via Integrated Industrial Ecology Exchanges
    North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Aggie Digital Collections and Scholarship Dissertations Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2014 A Distributed Model Of Oilseed Biorefining, Via Integrated Industrial Ecology Exchanges Jeremy C. Ferrell North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.library.ncat.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Ferrell, Jeremy C., "A Distributed Model Of Oilseed Biorefining, Via Integrated Industrial Ecology Exchanges" (2014). Dissertations. 65. https://digital.library.ncat.edu/dissertations/65 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at Aggie Digital Collections and Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Aggie Digital Collections and Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Distributed Model of Oilseed Biorefining, via Integrated Industrial Ecology Exchanges Jeremy C. Ferrell North Carolina A&T State University A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department: Energy and Environmental Systems Major: Energy and Environmental Systems Major Professor: Dr. Abolghasem Shahbazi Greensboro, North Carolina 2014 i The Graduate School North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University This is to certify that the Doctoral Dissertation of Jeremy C. Ferrell has met the dissertation requirements of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Greensboro, North Carolina 2014 Approved by: Dr. Abolghasem Shahbazi Dr. Lyubov Kurkalova Major Professor Committee Member Dr. Lijun Wang Dr. Jeff Ramsdell Committee Member Committee Member Dr. Keith Schimmel Dr. Sanjiv Sarin Department Chair Dean, The Graduate School ii © Copyright by Jeremy C.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Production and Consumption by Upcycling Understanding and Scaling-Up Niche Environmentally Significant Behaviour
    Sustainable production and consumption by upcycling Understanding and scaling-up niche environmentally significant behaviour Kyungeun Sung A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment May 2017 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT This work is the intellectual property of Kyungeun Sung. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights. 2 ABSTRACT Upcycling is the creation or modification of a product from used materials, components and products which is of equal or higher quality or value than the original. Scaling-up upcycling, in theory, contributes ultimately to reducing carbon emissions by extending lifetimes of used materials, components and products, and thereby decreasing embodied energy. This PhD focuses on the emerging household behaviour of upcycling as niche environmentally significant behaviour. It aims to understand the current upcycling behaviour and factors that influence behaviour in order to develop design and policy interventions to influence behaviour in order to upscale upcycling. Interviews, a short questionnaire study, a survey and use of a ‘semi-Delphi’ method (a questionnaire study followed by a workshop with experts) were employed. The interviews provided insights into current upcycling behaviour (e.g. approaches to and context for upcycling), behavioural factors influencing upcycling, and potential differences arising from demographic characteristics.
    [Show full text]