Carbon Management and Infrastructure Development: Lessons from Industrial Ecology

Dr. Robin CurryInstitute for a Sustainable World

Queen’s University, Belfast

r.curry@qub.ac.uk

Overview

Industrial Ecology (IE), resource management and Climate Change

Examples of IE applications in the UK and Ireland

Opportunities and synergies

The future role of IE methods in policy development and decision making

Industrial Ecology (IE), resource management and Climate Change

Industrial Ecology and Industrial Metabolism

Tools, techniques and approaches

Industrial Ecology and Industrial Metabolism

‘The systematic examination of local, regional and global material and energy uses and flows in products, processes, industrial sectors and economies’

Industrial Ecology and Industrial Metabolism

Industrial Ecology and Industrial Metabolism

Our Infrastructure must develop/adapt and change;

We need to make decisions about these changes and developments;

We need tools and techniques to support these decisions; and

IE is about Applied Research: What are the optimum decisions?

Tools, techniques and approaches

Material and Energy Flow Studies

Dematerialisation and Decarbonisation

Life-Cycle Analysis and Carbon and Ecological Footprinting

Eco-Industrial Parks ('Industrial Symbiosis')

Geographical Information Systems

Examples of IE applications in the UK and Ireland

• Northern Limits. A Resource Flow Analysis and Ecological Footprint of Northern Ireland (2004/2006)

• Island Limits. A Material Flow Analysis and Ecological Footprint of Ireland (2008)

• SAMFA: A GIS application of material flow analysis in Ireland (2010)

• UK Construction Sector Resource Efficiency Model (2007)

• INTRAWaste. Integrated Resource and Waste Life Cycle Model for Ireland (2010)

Northern Limits. A Resource Flow Analysis and Ecological Footprint of Northern Ireland

Completed as part of the UK Mass Balance Programme, a £10m programme which and covered more than 60 project areas

http://www.massbalance.org/resource/massbalance/

Northern Limits. Ecological Footprint of Sample Menus

Island Limits. A Material Flow Analysis and Ecological Footprint of Ireland

Economy wide material flow accounts

An economy wide MFA was calculated for the Irish economy for 2003. The flows of materials and products were quantified by industrial sector (NACE Rev.1.1), using the Eurostat guidance.

Eurostat. Economy-wide material flow accounts and derived indicators. A methodological guide. 2002

Mass Balance/Material Flow Analysis Principles

Environment

materials materials

energy energy

Society/Economy

For a given system such as production or consumption processes, companies, regions or

national economies, the material balance principle leads to the following identity:

total inputs = total outputs + net accumulation

meaning that what goes into the system is either accumulated in the system or is leaving the

system again as an output.

Material flow model of Ireland

Note: Net addition to stock is a balancing item as calculation of stock was

outside the scope of the present study.

DMI and DMC by sector in Ireland in 2003

1 Agriculture

2 Forestry

5 Fishing

10 Coal, lignite

and peat

extraction

11 Oil and gas

extraction

13 Metal ores

extraction

14 Other mining

and quarrying

1 Agriculture

2 Forestry

5 Fishing

10 Coal, lignite

and peat

extraction

11 Oil and gas

extraction

13 Metal ores

extraction

14 Other mining

and quarrying

MFA Indicators

Indicator type Indicator Unit Value

Input DMI Tonnes 119,647,733

DMI per capita Tonnes per capita 30.5

Consumption DMC Tonnes 115,129,904

DMC per capita Tonnes per capita 29.4

Output DPO Tonnes 117,997,978

DPO per capita Tonnes per capita 30.1

DMO Tonnes 127,137,366

DMO per capita Tonnes per capita 32.5

Balancing PTB Tonnes 17,240,695

PTB per capita Tonnes per capita 4.4

Resource productivity GDP/DE Euros per tonne 998

GDP/DMI Euros per tonne 817

GDP/DMC Euros per tonne 849

Resource intensity DE/GDP Tonnes per euro 0.001

DMI/GDP Tonnes per euro 0.00122

DMC/GDP Tonnes per euro 0.00118

Direct Material Input

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

1800000

2000000

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

DM

I ('

000 M

T)

Austria

Belgium/Luxembourg

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Netherlands

Portugal

Spain

Sweden

United Kingdom

DMI from 1980-2003 for the EU-15

Direct Material Input per capita

DMI per capita from 1980-2003 for the EU-15

Input-Output Analysis

Methodology

Environmentally extended Ireland’s 2000 monetary I-O tables by extending a multiplier matrix derived from the MIOT by a resource intensity vector.

IO Sectors

1 2 … 40 41

Final

Demand

Total

Output

1 Z1,1 Z1,2 Z1,j Z1,40 Z1,41 F1 X1

2 Z2,1 Z2,2 Z2,j Z2,40 Z2,41 F2 X2

… Zi,1 Zi,2 Zi,j Zi,40 Zi,41 Fi Xi

40 Z40,1 Z40,2 Z40,j Z40,40 Z40,41 F40 X40

IO Sectors

41 Z41,1 Z41,2 Z41,j Z41,40 Z41,41 F41 X41

Primary Inputs P1 P2 Pj P40 P41

Total Inputs X1 X2 Xj X40 X41

Material Input R1 R2 Rj R40 R41

Separate analyses

were carried out for:

DMI (Direct

Material Input)

Biomass

Metals

Fossil fuels

Minerals

Imports

Total material requirements of sectors to produce total final demand

1 - 5 Agriculture, forestry and f ishing

10 - 14 M ining and quarrying products

15 Food and beverages

16 Tobacco products

17 Text iles

18 Wearing apparel

19 Leather and leather products

20 Wood and wood products (excl furniture)

21 Pulp, paper and paper products

22 Printed matter and recorded media

23 & 36 Petroleum and other manufacturing products

24 Chemical products and man-made f ibres

25 Rubber and plast ics

26 Other non-metallic mineral products

27 Basic metals

28 Fabricated metal products

29 M achinery and equipment n.e.c.

30 Off ice machinery and computers

31 Electrical machinery and apparatus n.e.c.

32 Radio, television and communicat ions apparatus

33 M edical, precision and opt ical instruments

34 M otor vehicles and trailers

35 Other transport equipment

37 Recycling

40 Electricity and gas

41 Water collect ion and distribut ion

45 Construct ion work

50 M otor fuel and vechicle trade and repair

51 Wholesale trade

52 Retail t rade and repair of household goods

55 Hotel and restaurant services

60 Land transport services

61 Water transport services

62 Air t ransport services

63 Auxiliary transport services and travel agencies

64 Post and telecommunicat ion services

65 Financial intermediat ion services

66 Insurance and pension services

67 Services auxiliary to f inancial intermediat ion

70 Real estate services

71 Renting services of machinery and equipment

72 Computer and related services

73 Research and development services

74 Other business services

75 Public administrat ion and defence

80 Educat ion

85 Health and social work services

90 Sewage and refuse disposal services

91 M embership organisat ion services n.e.c.

92 Recreat ion

93 Other services

95 Private households with employed persons

Highest requirements:

Construction – 36% of

DMI

Food & Beverages –

24%

Non-metallic mineral –

9%

Agri, forestry, fishing –

8%

SAMFA: A GIS application of material flow analysis in Ireland

Combines national MFA accounts with dynamic MFA (dMFA) work by Muller, to spatially allocate material flows using vectors such as material intensity & building lifetime simulations.

(Roy, Ellis, Curry. In print)

Muller, D. Stock dynamics for forecasting material flows—Case study for housing in The Netherlands. Ecological

Economics. 59. 2006

SAMFA: A GIS application of material flow analysis in Ireland

SAMFA

National/ regional govt. policy & standards

- Housing provision

- Energy standards

- Resource management

- Waste and recovery

Local govt. authority development factors

Existing housing

- Year built

- Energy efficiency

Land & planning factors

- Land availability

- Planning permission

Geographic factors

- Density

- Planning constraints

Demographic factors

- Population

- Lifestyle (e.g. floor area)Analysts/ professional bodies/LA Industries & services Private Households

New house building

Restoration/ retrofitting

Demolition/ recycling/ waste

M2:

Spatial allocation of new housing units

M3:

Material-balance at various spatial levels

M1:

Material intensity & building lifetime simulation

Further analysis/application

SAMFA: A GIS application of material flow analysis in Ireland

SAMFA

National/ regional govt. policy & standards

- Housing provision

- Energy standards

- Resource management

- Waste and recovery

Local govt. authority development factors

Existing housing

- Year built

- Energy efficiency

Land & planning factors

- Land availability

- Planning permission

Geographic factors

- Density

- Planning constraints

Demographic factors

- Population

- Lifestyle (e.g. floor area)

Analysts/ professional bodies/LA Industries & services Private Households

New house building

Restoration/ retrofitting

Demolition/ recycling/ waste

M2:

Spatial allocation of new housing units

M3:

Material-balance at various spatial levels

M1:

Material intensity & building lifetime

simulation

M6:

Total energy use at various spatial levels

M5:

OE at various spatial levels

M4:

EE at various spatial levels

Use of existing building

UK Construction Sector Resource Efficiency Model

Links material and product flows to building type vis Bills of Quantities and combines this with the Carbon Trust Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) for Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE);

Allows designers to assess the resource use and carbon footprint of different products and material choices at the design stage.

UK Construction Sector Resource Efficiency Model

INTRAWaste. Integrated Resource and Waste Life Cycle Model for Ireland

INTRAWaste structure

Opportunities and synergies

Construction Sector dynamic Material Flow Analysis (dMFA) Model for resource and energy use, waste and emissions – comparative evaluation of economies?

International Open-Source Life Cycle Analysis Model for Integrated Waste and Resource Management – align with current developments in International LCA standards – ILCD and ISO.

Construction Sector dynamic Material Flow Analysis (dMFA) Model

Offers the possibility of:

Assessing the Whole Life Carbon and Resource Footprint of infrastructure development (including both direct and embodied energy);

Identify when material inputs will become wastes and what the policy measures, capacity building and waste infrastructure needs will be;

Can be combined with other tools such as GIS or Life Cycle Analysis/Carbon Footprinting.

Construction Sector dynamic Material Flow Analysis (dMFA) Model

Duffy and Woodward. Cement and concrete flow analysis in a rapidly expanding economy: Ireland as a case study.

Resources, Conservation & Recycling. Under review

Opportunities and synergies

Conclusions

Resource efficiency is as important as direct energy use in reducing our carbon emissions;

A range of tools and techniques from Industrial Ecology can be combined to give us a complete picture of the metabolism of our infrastructure over time; and

This ‘picture’ provides the evidence base to make informed decisions about creating low-carbon infrastructure and economies.