Green innovation and industrial ecosystem reconstruction in achieving environmental sustainability PDF Download

Author: Huaping Sun
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2832508820
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Author: K. Green
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1847202950
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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This is an especially timely book. Carefully organized and well motivated, its power lies in the explicit effort to ask how industrial ecology and innovation studies do, can and should intersect. Reid Lifset, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and editor, Journal of Industrial Ecology This book explores the disciplinary interfaces and practical implications of working across the two disciplines of industrial ecology (IE) and innovation studies (IS). Both disciplines have something to say about instigating environmental improvement and more sustainable futures. IE is predicated on the idea that social and economic systems mirror, or should be made to mirror, natural ecological systems. Proponents of IE devise models and techniques to trace material and energy resource flows as they move through social and economic systems. They propose policy and management improvements to increase the resource efficiency of such systems. By contrast, IS researchers work with the idea that innovation is a dynamic activity, vital to social and economic change and is shaped by a range of actors in industry, in government and in households. The authors illustrate the conceptual and practical problems and opportunities of working across this bi-disciplinary interface, with case studies presented from each and from hybrid perspectives that draw on both. These include applied examples from IE such as an evaluation of industrial symbiosis in the UK and from working projects in industrialising countries. Cases that originate with IS cover the areas of food, construction and waste incineration. New directions for conceptual development and further research are also offered. Conceptual blindspots and research gaps are identified at the interface of the two disciplines. Industrial Ecology and Spaces of Innovation will appeal to a wide and interdisciplinary audience including academics and researchers of environmental innovation, management and economics, industrial ecology and schools of environmental engineering. Business environmental practitioners, consultants and managers working with techniques such as life-cycle analysis, environmental impact assessment and collaborative industrial symbiosis initiatives will also find much to engage them within this book.

Author: Arnold Tukker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135128018X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) was adopted as a priority area during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 and has since become one of the main vehicles for targeting international sustainability policy. Sustainable consumption focuses on formulating equitable strategies that foster the highest quality of life, the efficient use of natural resources, and the effective satisfaction of human needs while simultaneously promoting equitable social development, economic competitiveness, and technological innovation. But this is a complex topic and, as the challenges of sustainability grow larger, there is a need to re-imagine how SCP policies can be formulated, governed and implemented. The EU-funded project "Sustainable Consumption Research Exchanges" (SCORE!) consists of around 200 experts in the field of sustainable innovation and sustainable consumption. The SCORE! philosophy is that innovation in SCP policy can be achieved only if experts that understand business development, (sustainable) solution design, consumer behaviour and system innovation policy work together in shaping it. Sustainable technology design can be effective only if business can profitably make the products and consumers are attracted to them. To understand how this might effectively happen, the expertise of systems thinkers must be added to the mix. System Innovation for Sustainability 1 is the first result of a unique positive confrontation between experts from all four communities. It examines what SCP is and what it could be, provides a state-of-the-art review on the governance of change in SCP policy and looks at the strengths and weaknesses of current approaches. The SCORE! experts are working with actors in industry, consumer groups and eco-labelling organisations in the key consumption areas of mobility, food and agriculture, and energy use and housing – responsible for 70% of the life-cycle environmental impacts of Western societies – with the aim of stimulating, fostering or forcing change to SCP theory in practice. The System Innovation for Sustainability series will continue with three further volumes of comprehensive case studies in each of these three critical consumption areas. Each chapter of this book examines problems and suggests solutions from a business, design, consumer and system innovation perspective. It primarily examines the differing solutions necessary in the consumer economies of the West, but also comments on the differing needs in rapidly emerging economies such as China, as well as base-of-the-pyramid economies. The System Innovation for Sustainability series is the fruit of the only major international research network on SCP and will set the standard in this field for some years to come. It will be required reading for all involved in the policy debate on sustainable production and consumption from government, business, academia and NGOs for designers, scientists, businesses and system innovators.

Author: Edward Cohen-Rosenthal
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351281461
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Old-style manufacturing, embodied in industrial parks that litter the landscape, may soon become dinosaurs of industrial development. These "Jurassic Parks" of the past will be replaced by new eco-industrial parks (EIPs) that link manufacturers more closely together into an industrial ecosystem for business and environmental excellence. Companies have always depended on a larger ecology of suppliers, customers, geography and market to be successful, but a popular mythology was that each company was an island. Abandoning this fantasy by consciously integrating into a larger industrial ecology is smart business that draws on the overall system of interactions to nourish corporate success-and the environment. Eco-industrial development, born from the realisation that the places where we work waste too much and unnecessarily pollute the land, air, and water, simply stated, demands a better way of working. From eco-parks-most famously at Kalundborg in Denmark-to virtual networks, this progressive perspective on economic development is taking shape in communities across the United States and around the world. Eco-industrial Strategies is edited by Ed Cohen-Rosenthal, a pioneer in the field of industrial ecology, whose untimely passing early in 2002 has left this book as a legacy to his passion and commitment to improving both the environment and places in which people work. The book explores the key issues involved in eco-industrial development and identifies the stakeholders and their roles in such projects. In addition, it offers a compendium of eco-industrial development case studies. While an increasing number of handbooks and manuals focus on eco-industrial development, no other book containing process analysis, a breakdown of stakeholder responsibility, and case study assessment exists. What sets this work apart is the pooling together of resources and knowledge from a wide array of sources within the eco-industrial field and the framing of the concept from multiple angles. Eco-industrial Strategies aims to accomplish a two-step "inform and empower" process. First, it familiarises readers with eco-industrial development, its innovative proclivity and applicability to diverse circumstances. Second, it provides the fundamental tools and motivational creativity to implement independent eco-industrial projects. The introductory chapters of this book present several overarching concepts and perspectives of the field, which pay particular attention to the technological, economic and social elements. The next section focuses on the role of the various stakeholders involved in eco-industrial development. Each chapter sets out to answer various questions relating to the stakeholders' place in the system, specifically: what are the stakeholders' particular interests, in what ways can they participate in the process, and how do they relate to other actors and stakeholders? These chapters also respond to questions regarding the relationship between stakeholders and eco-industrial development. Chiefly, they trace the flow of benefits, and various other impacts and repercussions, among and between the stakeholders and the development project. Since eco-industrial development involves countless groups and individuals, this book focuses on five distinct and comprehensive categories: namely, central government, local government, surrounding community, development community, and energy resources. The third section outlines several matters related to conceptualisation, design, operation and assessment of eco-industrial projects. Concentrating on the core legal, environmental, management, financial, real estate and evaluative aspects, the book presents the critical components of each issue and also provides an understanding of the unique attributes eco-industrial development brings to the equation. The case-study portion of this book provides vignettes of actual work in progress. Each chapter details the key characteristics of the effort and the process undertaken in developing the eco-industrial project. The studies focus primarily on issues considered in the preceding sections, such as project funding, stakeholder engagement and environmental stewardship. In addition, they recount achievements, threats to success, ways obstacles were overcome, and details on the project's future. Eco-industrial Strategies showcases development projects from around the world, including Asia, Canada, Denmark and the United States, situated in a variety of settings: for example, army bases, industrial parks and virtual networks. This eclectic mix of development structures and contexts is indicative of the diversity apparent in eco-industrial projects overall and allows readers to glean functional and constructive lessons adaptable to their particular circumstances. Accordingly, this section stands as a testament to the widespread applicability of eco-industrial development, and as inspiration for practitioners in both traditional and unconventional settings. An idea and practice still in its infancy, eco-industrial development will undergo many evolutions beyond what this collaborative work is able to capture. As a document of the concept's earliest theorists, Eco-industrial Strategies provides current and future readership with an understanding of eco-industrial development's foundations, its beginnings and its aspirations. Most excitingly, policy-makers, industry professionals, community developers, grass-roots activists, and all other readers yearning for a better way to work and live, will experience a glimpse of the thoughts, concerns, ambitions, technological insight, communities and economies that embody eco-industrial development.

Author: Xiaohong Li
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331967501X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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This book opens up a critical dimension to the interdisciplinary field of Industrial Ecology (IE) and one of its four areas - Industrial Symbiosis (IS). Presenting the concept of closed-loop thinking, this timely book explains how industries and societies can achieve environmental sustainability, a necessity for today’s businesses. Providing a critical review of the definitions and developments of both IE and IS, this study establishes their fundamental role in improving environmental sustainability. The author identifies valuable lessons to be learned and presents conceptual frameworks to guide future IE and IS applications. Transforming industrial systems into closed-loop industrial ecosystems dramatically reduces the negative impact of industrial activities on the environment. Therefore, this book is an important read not only for operations management scholars, but also those who are interested in ensuring an environmentally sustainable future.

Author: Syed Abdul Rehman Khan
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9819963842
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Author: Ray Côté
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 0774832681
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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It might, at first glance, seem to many that industry and ecology make strange bedfellows. For proponents of sustainable development, however, such a union is crucial. How else are we to make the industries that are so central to modern societies consistent with our visions of a sustainable future? Linking Industry and Ecology explores the origins, promise, and relevance of the emerging field of industrial ecology. It situates industrial ecology within the broader range of environmental management strategies and concepts, from the practices of pollution prevention through life cycle management, to the more fundamental shift toward dematerialization and ecological design. The book makes a compelling argument for the need to think ecologically to develop innovative and competitive industrial policy. The contributors to this volume draw on their experience in a variety of disciplines to chart a clear path for industrial ecology. Their work not only affirms what has been learned to date in this nascent field but also provides new insight for a discourse traditionally dominated by natural scientists and engineers, by demonstrating that technologies are socially and politically embedded.

Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309374030
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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In the 1970s, the first wave of environmental regulation targeted specific sources of pollutants. In the 1990s, concern is focused not on the ends of pipes or the tops of smokestacks but on sweeping regional and global issues. This landmark volume explores the new industrial ecology, an emerging framework for making environmental factors an integral part of economic and business decision making. Experts on this new frontier explore concepts and applications, including: Bringing international law up to par with many national laws to encourage industrial ecology principles. Integrating environmental costs into accounting systems. Understanding design for environment, industrial "metabolism," and sustainable development and how these concepts will affect the behavior of industrial and service firms. The volume looks at negative and positive aspects of technology and addresses treatment of waste as a raw material. This volume will be important to domestic and international policymakers, leaders in business and industry, environmental specialists, and engineers and designers.

Author: Salah M. El-Haggar
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
ISBN: 1617976938
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
One of the most urgent problems facing the world today is environmental sustainability. Current practices of pollution control, waste treatment, and environmental protection are not only hugely expensive and a burden on development but also unsustainable in the long run for their steady depletion of the world's natural resources. Any solutions must have proven economic benefits, be technologically viable, and meet prevailing environmental and social perspectives. The main objective of this new set of studies is to describe methods that help to protect the environment and conserve natural resources. This can be achieved by applying the 'cradle-to-cradle' concept, which aims to use materials in closed cyclic loops without generating any type of waste or pollution. The authors provide the reader with an introduction to basic concepts of sustainable development, describe the mechanisms and benefits of related technologies, and suggest potential uses on a practical level by examining innovations developed in the mechanical engineering laboratories of the American University in Cairo. Particular focus is placed on innovation as a vital means of attaining sustainability. A timely contribution to the debate on environmentally sustainable practices, this book will be indispensable to environmentalists, scientists, economists, engineers, development specialists, and policy-makers, as well as being of interest to the lay reader.

Author: Akkucuk, Ulas
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1799889025
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
The rise of technology in human culture has changed almost every facet of society. Technology is especially useful regarding sustainable development. These technologies can cause significant greenhouse gas reductions and other benefits in terms of logistics and smart cities. New technology applied in this way can greatly help the human effort to restore the environment. Disruptive Technologies and Eco-Innovation for Sustainable Development provides an in-depth look into the new techniques, strategies, and technologies for achieving environmental sustainability through best business and technology practices. The book covers topics such as eco-innovation, green criteria, Agriculture 4.0, and topics related to logic, philosophy, and history of science and technology from the green/sustainable point of view. It is essential for managers, academicians, scientists, students, and researchers in various government, public, and private sectors.