Urban-Scale Material Flow Analysis: Malaysian Cities Case Study
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www.sciencetarget.com Urban - Scale Material Flow Analysis: Malaysian Cities Case Study Farah Ayuni Shafie 1* , Dasimah Omar 2 , Subramaniam Karuppannan 1 , and Nabilah Ismail 1 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Faculty of Architecture, Surveying and Planning, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah International Journal of Alam, Malaysia Environment and Sustainability [IJ ES ] Abstract. Urban metabolism studies h ighlight the consumption of input ISSN 1927 - 9566 resources, the process within the system together from the source, use phase Vol. 5 No. 2 , pp. 45 - 5 3 and recycling of wastes. The aim of this study was to assess urban metabolism in (2016) three cities in Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur, Ampang Jaya and Selayang by using Material Flow Analysis (MFA). The data that was analysed included electricity inputs, water inputs, food (rice, eggs and sugar) inputs, carbon dioxide outputs, wastewater outputs and solid waste outputs. The national data were down - scaled to prov ide regional data where deemed necessary. The electricity consump tion of 0.188 koe/cap/day in Klang Valley contributed to carbon dioxide of 0.455 kg/cap/day, while 95.32% of water consumption became wastewater. Consumption of 0.38 kg/cap/day of ‘rice, egg s and sugar’ contributed in the production of 4.5 kg/cap/day of solid wastes. The urban metabolism approach provides information on urban management at city level such as material cycling, energy efficiency and waste management and may also assist in decis ion making for future urban development planning as well as providing an informed and rapid assessment on the environmental performance of urban area. Keywords . Urban metabolism, urban - scale material flow analysis, city manage - ment * Correspondence: [email protected] 1. Background The study of urban metabolism was first of an u rban metabolism in an urban system is introduced by Abel Wolman who identified that shown in Figure 1. a city is comparable to an ecosystem (Wolman, Environmental impacts emerge as Greater 1965). Materials and energy flowed into the Kuala Lumpur expands in terms of economic system is similar with consumption o f resources growth and becomes a global liveable metro - by organisms in an ecosystem. As a result of the polis. Since Greater Kuala Lumpur is one of the intake of resources, wastes and products are main economic zones in Mal aysia, the authori - created within the system. The urban metabo - ties take the initiative to control and mitigate lism study quantifies the inputs such as water, the environmental impacts. The rapid trans - food and fuel and the outputs such as sewage, formation of Kuala Lumpur into a wide urban solid refuse and air pollutants by tracking their area during the last decade of the twenty eth respective transformations and flows. Through century has contributed to many of the environ - the study of urban metabolism, researchers are mental i ssues (Abdullah et al., 2012; Zhang, able to understand a variety of systems occur - 2013) . The authorities as well as the public ring in cities, regions and neighbourhoods should work together to uphold the sustainable world wide (Pincetl et al., 2012) . The overview development of the cities in Greater Kuala Lumpur. In light of the idea to achieve the goal 46 © Shafie, Omar, Karuppannan, and Ismail 201 6 | Urban - Scale Material Flow Analysis as well as to introduce a more sustainable city 2.2 Study Location and Variable s policy, the study of urban metabolism of Greater Three thriving cities in the Greater Kuala Kuala Lumpur is deemed essential. Lumpur masterplan were selected: Ampang Jaya, Selayang and the heart of Kuala Lumpur itself within the authority of their respective local governments ( Figure 2). The Greater Kuala Lumpur comprises the area unde r the admini - stration of ten local governments. The indepen - dent variables in this study were residential activities in the area of Kuala Lumpur, Ampang Jaya and Selayang. The dependent variables against the independent variables are energy (electricity) i nputs, water inputs, food (rice, eggs and sugar) inputs, gas (carbon dioxide) out puts, wastewater outputs and solid waste outputs. Figure 1: Urban M etabolism Concept in an Urban System( Minx et al. , 2011 ) 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Methodology Material Flow Analysis (MFA) is a rapid repre - sen tation of the interrelation between the eco - nomy, a subsystem of the environment with the environment and the livin g things that rely on a continuous process of materials and energy (Hinterberger et al., 2003; Kestemont & Ker - khove, 2010; Kennedy et al., 2011) . MFA can be the initial step towards a broader Figure 2: Map of Study Areas (Official Website study of social, economic and environmental of Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley, 2014) aspects of local su pply chains (Courtonne et al., 2015), as the material flow that can be exam - ined includes energy inputs, water inputs, food 2.3 Data Collection and Analy sis and drink inputs, gas outputs, wastewater Data of materials input and output were outputs and solid waste outputs. obtained from utilities providers as well as from In order to understand more about material the local government of the cities. The national consumption a nd sustainability levels, trends figures were divided with population of need to be observed for a period of several Malaysia and number of days in a year to obtain years. Proper comparisons can be made by consumption and productio n per capita per day. undertaking studies using the same method - The national data were downscaled to city ology in other developing cities (Zhang, 2009; levels in instances where the available data was Hoekman, 2015). not available. Table 1 summarized the mater - ials, their respective units and source of data from desktop literature. Science Target Inc. www.sciencetarget.com International Journal of Environmen t and Sustainability , 2016, 5( 2 ): 45 - 5 3 47 Table 1 input and output according to localities and in comparison with Aveiro, Portugal. The follow - Sources of seconda ry information ing sections discuss the respective material Material Unit Source & Year flows in Table 2 and Table 3 with supporting Electricity ktoe Energy Commission (2011) explanation. Water million National Water Services litres/day Commission (2011) 3.1 Energy Input Rice, eggs tonnes Food and Agriculture Energy inputs are expressed in kilogram of oil and sugars Organization of the United equivalent. The highest electricity input was in Nations (FAOSTAT) (2014) Kuala Lump ur for the year 2010 with 298 685 Carbon billion kg Ahmad (2004) dioxide koe/day. The second highest input of electricity Wastewater litres/day Kling (2007) is Selayang with 101 972.89 koe/day, followed Solid Waste kg/cap/day Sakawi (2011) by Ampang Jaya with 88 164.67 koe/day. The total electricity consumption was 488 822.56 koe/day and agrees with the number of 3. Results and Discussion p opulation in the three cities. From the data collection and analysis, an The consumption of electricity depends on the overview of the material flow resources and development and population in the cities. Kuala output was established ( Fig ure 3). The overall Lumpur is one of the most urbanised states in material balance reveals that the system is in a Malaysia, hence, massive economic activities as near steady state where the total input almost well as other residential and commerc ial equals total output. This section presents the activities are undertaken to meet the demands results and discussion of the material flows in of the country and its inhabitants. Although the three cities with a total population of 2 .6 Selayang is less developed compared to Ampang million people. Table 2 presents the outline for Jaya, the high electrical consumption was the average individual consumption for all the mostly because of in dividual use in the popu - input and output for the three localities. Table 3 lation. demonstrates the total consumption of each Note: 1 tonne is equal to 1,000 kg, 1 liter is equal to 1 kg, 1 ktoe is equal to 1,000,000 koe and 1 koe is equal to 1 kg. Figure 3: Schematic outline of Material Flow Analysis for Greater Kuala Lumpur Science Target Inc. www.sciencetarget.com 48 © Shafie, Omar, Karuppannan, and Ismail 201 6 | Urban - Scale Material Flow Analysis Table 2 sump tion of electricity in Aveiro according to Lemos (2011) is higher, which is 0.347 koe/ Input Output outline for Kuala Lumpur, Ampang cap/day. Meanwhile, the individual consump - Jaya and Sel ayang tion in Klang Valley is 0.188 koe/cap/day. Avei - Input / Output Unit Average Individual ro has winter months in which the population Consumption/Productio may consume more electricity to warm their n i n a Day habitation. Kuala Lumpur, Ampang Jaya a nd Selangor 3.2 Water Input INPUT The total inputs of water was 613 773 926.7 Energy koe/cap/day 0.19 m 3 /day for the year 2010 in K uala Lumpur is Water kg/cap/day 236.06 375 033 970 m 3 /day (61.1%), 110 701 057.82 Foods kg/cap/day 0.38 m 3 /day (18%) in Ampang Jaya and 128 038 Rice 0.24 3 Eggs 0.06 898.90 m /day (20.9%) in Selayang. The major Sugar 0.08 differences were due to the variations in population density. A high population will lead OUTPUT to higher demand of wat er consumption inputs. Gas (CO 2 ) kg/cap/day 0.46 Wastewater kg/cap/day 225 The water input in Kuala Lumpur was the Solid Waste kg/cap/day 4.5 highest (61.1%) compared to the other two cities combined (38.9%). The individual consumption in Aveiro in a day When the total consumption of electricity of according to Lemos (2011) is 112.60 kg/cap/ each city in a day is compared with the city of day, which is lower than the indivi dual con - Aveiro in Portugal where this methodology was sump tion in Klang Valley in a day (236.056 adopted, the consumption of the three cit ies kg/cap/day).