Industrial symbiosis
Encyclopedia
Industrial symbiosis can be defined as sharing of services, utility, and by-product resources among diverse industrial actors in order to add value, reduce costs and improve the environment. Industrial symbiosis is a subset of industrial ecology
, with a particular focus on material and energy exchange. Industrial ecology is a relatively new field that is based on a natural paradigm, claiming that an industrial ecosystem
may behave in a similar way to the natural ecosystem
wherein everything gets recycled.
is one of the ways in which industrial ecology
contributes to the integration of economic growth and environmental protection
. Some of the examples of eco-industrial development are:
• Green Twinning (single material and/or energy exchange)
• Greenfield Eco-industrial Development (geographically confined space)
• Brownfield Eco-industrial Development (geographically confined space)
• Eco-industrial Network (no strict requirement of geographical proximity)
• Virtual Eco-industrial Network (networks spread in large areas e.g. regional network)
• Networked Eco-industrial System (macro level developments with links across regions)
"This classification omits any industrial sector-wide approaches and appreciates the diversity of the industrial system which is a key feature of industrial symbiosis. It is aimed to include initiatives that focus on achieving utility sharing and symbiosis among diverse sectors of industry" . Industrial symbiosis does not limit itself to sectoral boundaries and / or geographical restrictions . It is the diversity and the openness of industrial symbiosis that makes it a unique approach to eco-industrial development.
Industrial symbiosis engages traditionally separate industries in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and/or by-products. The keys to industrial symbiosis are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity”. The sharing of information is even more critical with the emergence of virtual globe
s such as Google Earth. These tools can greatly simplify the geographical analysis involved in determining potential IS opportunities.
Industrial symbiosis systems collectively optimize material and energy use at efficiencies beyond those achievable by any individual process alone. IS systems such as the web of materials and energy exchanges among companies in Kalundborg, Denmark have spontaneously evolved from a series of micro innovations over a long time scale; however, the engineered design and implementation of such systems from a macro planner’s perspective, on a relatively short time scale, proves challenging. Nevertheless there are examples of industrial symbiosis being approached as national / regional initiatives with some significant success particularly in Europe.
Often, access to information on available by-products is non-existent. These by-products are considered waste and typically not traded or listed on any type of exchange.
Industrial ecology
Industrial Ecology is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global industrial economy can be modeled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the Earth and transform those resources into commodities which can be bought and sold to meet the...
, with a particular focus on material and energy exchange. Industrial ecology is a relatively new field that is based on a natural paradigm, claiming that an industrial ecosystem
Industrial ecology
Industrial Ecology is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global industrial economy can be modeled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the Earth and transform those resources into commodities which can be bought and sold to meet the...
may behave in a similar way to the natural ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
wherein everything gets recycled.
Introduction
Eco-industrial developmentEco-industrial park
An eco-industrial park is an industrial park in which businesses cooperate with each other and with the local community in an attempt to reduce waste and pollution, efficiently share resources , and help achieve sustainable development, with the intention of increasing economic gains and improving...
is one of the ways in which industrial ecology
Industrial ecology
Industrial Ecology is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global industrial economy can be modeled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the Earth and transform those resources into commodities which can be bought and sold to meet the...
contributes to the integration of economic growth and environmental protection
Environmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
. Some of the examples of eco-industrial development are:
• Green Twinning (single material and/or energy exchange)
• Greenfield Eco-industrial Development (geographically confined space)
• Brownfield Eco-industrial Development (geographically confined space)
• Eco-industrial Network (no strict requirement of geographical proximity)
• Virtual Eco-industrial Network (networks spread in large areas e.g. regional network)
• Networked Eco-industrial System (macro level developments with links across regions)
"This classification omits any industrial sector-wide approaches and appreciates the diversity of the industrial system which is a key feature of industrial symbiosis. It is aimed to include initiatives that focus on achieving utility sharing and symbiosis among diverse sectors of industry" . Industrial symbiosis does not limit itself to sectoral boundaries and / or geographical restrictions . It is the diversity and the openness of industrial symbiosis that makes it a unique approach to eco-industrial development.
Industrial symbiosis engages traditionally separate industries in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water, and/or by-products. The keys to industrial symbiosis are collaboration and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity”. The sharing of information is even more critical with the emergence of virtual globe
Virtual globe
A virtual globe is a 3D software model or representation of the Earth or another world. A virtual globe provides the user with the ability to freely move around in the virtual environment by changing the viewing angle and position. Compared to a conventional globe, virtual globes have the...
s such as Google Earth. These tools can greatly simplify the geographical analysis involved in determining potential IS opportunities.
Industrial symbiosis systems collectively optimize material and energy use at efficiencies beyond those achievable by any individual process alone. IS systems such as the web of materials and energy exchanges among companies in Kalundborg, Denmark have spontaneously evolved from a series of micro innovations over a long time scale; however, the engineered design and implementation of such systems from a macro planner’s perspective, on a relatively short time scale, proves challenging. Nevertheless there are examples of industrial symbiosis being approached as national / regional initiatives with some significant success particularly in Europe.
Often, access to information on available by-products is non-existent. These by-products are considered waste and typically not traded or listed on any type of exchange.
Example
Recent work reviewed government policies necessary to construct a multi-gigaWatt photovoltaic factory and complementary policies to protect existing solar companies are outlined and the technical requirements for a symbiotic industrial system are explored to increase the manufacturing efficiency while improving the environmental impact of solar photovoltaic cells. The results of the analysis show that an eight-factory industrial symbiotic system can be viewed as a medium-term investment by any government, which will not only obtain direct financial return, but also an improved global environment.See also
- Eco-industrial parkEco-industrial parkAn eco-industrial park is an industrial park in which businesses cooperate with each other and with the local community in an attempt to reduce waste and pollution, efficiently share resources , and help achieve sustainable development, with the intention of increasing economic gains and improving...
- Industrial ecologyIndustrial ecologyIndustrial Ecology is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global industrial economy can be modeled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the Earth and transform those resources into commodities which can be bought and sold to meet the...
- Industrial metabolismIndustrial metabolismIndustrial metabolism was first proposed by Robert Ayres as "the whole integrated collection of physical processes that convert raw materials and energy, plus labour, into finished products and wastes..." The goal is to study the flow of materials through society in order to better understand the...