Work in pairs and agree or disagree with the statements.

1) There are a few definitions of industrial ecology and all of them are generally accepted.

2) Industrial ecology has the closest relationship with applied and social ecology.

3) Applied ecology integrates the study of human and natural ecosystems through understanding the interrelationships of culture and nature.

4) Industrial ecology should promote the sustainable use of renewable resources and minimal use of non-renewable ones.

5) Human beings are the only component in a complex web of ecological interactions and their activities can be separated from the functioning of the entire system.

16. Read Text C and decide if these statements in Activity 15 are True or False.

Text C

Industrial ecology is rooted in systems analysis and is a higher level systems approach to framing the interaction between industrial systems and natural systems.

The word ecology is derived from the Greek oikos, meaning «household», combined with the root logy, meaning «the study of».

Thus, ecology is, literally the study of households including the plants, animals, microbes, and people that live together as interdependent beings on Spaceship Earth, as already the environmental house within which we place our human-made structures and operate our machines provides most of our vital biological necessities; hence we can think of ecology as the study of the earth’s life-support systems.

In industrial ecology, one focus (or object) of study is the interrelationships among firms, as well as among their products and processes, at the local, regional, national, and global system levels.

Industrial ecology perhaps has the closest relationship with applied ecology and social ecology. According to the Journal of Applied Ecology, applied ecology is: application of ecological ideas, theories and methods to the use of biological resources in the widest sense. It is concerned with the ecological principles underlying the management, control, and development of biological resources for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, nature conservation, wildlife and game management, leisure activities, and the ecological effects of biotechnology.

The Institute of Social Ecology’s definition of social ecology states that: Social ecology integrates the study of human and natural ecosystems through understanding the interrelationships of culture and nature.

Ecologycan be broadly defined as the study of the interactions between the abiotic and the biotic components of a system. Industrialecology is the study of the interactions between industrial and ecological systems; consequently, it addresses the environmental effects on both the abiotic and biotic components of the ecosphere.

The primary goal of industrial ecology is to promote sustainable development at the global, regional, and local levels.

Key principles inherent to sustainable development include: the sustainable use of resources, preserving ecological and human health (e.g. the maintenance of the structure and function of ecosystems), and the promotion of environmental equity.

Industrial ecology should promote the sustainable use of renewable resources and minimal use of nonrenewable ones. Industrial activity is dependent on a steady supply of resources and thus should operate as efficiently as possible.

Human beings are only one component in a complex web of ecological interactions: their activities cannot be separated from the functioning of the entire system. Because human health is dependent on the health of the other components of the ecosystem, ecosystem structure and function should be a focus of industrial ecology. It is important that industrial activities do not cause catastrophic disruptions to ecosystems or slowly degrade their structure and function, jeopardizing the planet’s life support system.

A primary concept of industrial ecology is the study of material and energy flows and their transformation into products, byproducts, and wastes throughout industrial systems.

Efforts to utilize waste as a material input or energy source for some other entity within the industrial system can potentially improve the overall efficiency of the industrial system and reduce negative environmental impacts.

The challenge of industrial ecology is to reduce the overall environmental burden of an industrial system that provides some service to society.