Assessing the capacity of local ecosystems to meet industrial demand for ecosystem services

Despite the importance of ecosystems, engineering activities continue to ignore or greatly undervalue their role. Consequently, engineered systems often overshoot nature's capacity to support them, causing ecological degradation. Such systems tend to be inherently unsustainable, and they often fail to benefit from nature's ability to provide essential goods and services. This work explores the idea of including ecosystems in chemical processes, and assesses whether such a techno-ecological synergistic system can operate within ecological constraints. The demand for ecosystem services is quantified by emissions and resources used, while the supply is provided by ecosystems on the manufacturing site. Application to a biodiesel manufacturing site demonstrates that ecosystems can be economically and environmentally superior to conventional technologies for making progress toward zero emissions and net positive impact manufacturing. These results highlight the need for shifting the paradigm of engineering from that of dominating nature to embracing nature and respecting its limits

Essential perspectives for Design for Environment: Experiences from the electronics industry

Consolidation of knowledge, information and experiences in application of Design for Environment principles is done at various levels, ranging from easy to understand slogans to design guidelines, and even to tailor-made solutions. This brings about that dissemination of this knowledge should be done taking carefully the intended audience and relevant contexts into account– especially when dissemination is done in the form of ‘principles’, which are usually presented without context at all. It is discussed in this paper how interpretations of consolidating principles can lead to misinterpretations and even counterproductive actions. At least three principles can be identified that should be taken into account when disseminating DFE knowledge, discussing 1) different perspectives of what is environmentally friendly, 2) the life-cycle perspective, and 3) the integration of environmental and economical considerations.Design EngineeringIndustrial Design Engineerin

The effects of international agreements on water security: A critical study of EU and MERCOSUR Approaches

The consequences of overuse of the planet´s water supplies are the subject of emerging concern. This chapter aims to critically discuss the effects of different regulatory approaches to water security, comparing the European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and paying close attention to industrial activity. Water security can be understood as the adequate availability of water to meet the needs of society, the economy and the ecosystem. In this sense, the study intends to: (i) question the legal base, its coercive power and extent; (ii) explore effects of agreements on internal water regulation, focusing especially on the industrial sector; (iii) identify hydro-sustainable policies adopted by governments to control industrial activity taking into consideration domestic and international laws. The chapter employs the critical hermeneutics methodology, examining publications of governments, international organizations, NGOs, academic articles, and international newspapers and magazines. The chapter notes that the most effective treaties with regard to water security are those that have economic coercion clauses, such as the Basel and Stockholm Conventions. It concludes that current regulation and policies, especially in MERCOSUR, need to be urgently revised to ensure the quantity, quality and accessibility of water reserves are to be maintained for present and future generations.Fil: Melo de Carvalho, Kleverton. Universidade Federal de Sergipe; BrasilFil: Minaverry, Clara María. Universidad Nacional de Luján. Instituto de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Ecología y Desarrollo Sustentable; Argentin

Industrial ecology at factory level : A prototype methodology

The concept of sustainable manufacturing is a form of pollution prevention that integrates environmental considerations in the production of goods while focusing on efficient resource use. Taking the industrial ecology perspective, this efficiency comes from improved resource flow management. The assessment of material, energy and waste resource flows, therefore, offers a route to viewing and analysing a manufacturing system as an ecosystem using industrial ecology biological analogy and can, in turn, support the identification of improvement opportunities in the material, energy and waste flows. This application of industrial ecology at factory level is absent from the literature. This article provides a prototype methodology to apply the concepts of industrial ecology using material, energy and waste process flows to address this gap in the literature. Various modelling techniques were reviewed and candidates selected to test the prototype methodology in an industrial case. The application of the prototype methodology showed the possibility of using the material, energy and waste resource flows through the factory to link manufacturing operations and supporting facilities, and to identify potential improvements in resource use. The outcomes of the work provide a basis to build the specifications for a modelling tool that can support those analysing their manufacturing system to improve their environmental performance and move towards sustainable manufacturing