Material Flow Analysis

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Material Flow Analysis Investigating Societys
Metabolism
Kennecott Open Pit Copper Mine, Utah, 2001
2
Ore Crusher, Kennecott Open Pit Copper Mine, Utah
2001
3
Ore Truck, Kennecott Open Pit Copper Mine, Utah
2001
4
Industrial metabolism Materials in a life cycle
perspective
Recycling
Reuse
Collection
Commoditysupply
Production andmanufacturing
Use
Manufacturing waste
Production waste
Post-consumer waste
Environment
Landfill and other disposal
Renewable and nonrenewable material resources
Releases to air, land, water
5
Industrial ecology Biogeochemical analogy R U
Ayres
mobilization
Inorganic sedimentary rock sulfate phosphate carbo
nate
Nutrients carbon nitrogen phosphorus sulfur
sequestration
assimilation (photosynthesis)
sequestration
mobilization
regeneration
regeneration
Bio-products (non-living) humus detritus
Biomass (living)
death excretion
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Industrial ecology Biogeochemical analogy R U
Ayres
extraction
Natural Environment
Raw Materials
extraction waste
production waste
material consumption
by-products home scrap
product waste
waste recycling
Final Products
Productive Capital
remanufacturing
product manufacturing
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Industrial ecology Food chain analogy T E
Graedel
Solar energy
Primary Producer Plankton
Primary Consumer Invertebrate
Secondary Consumer Small fish
Tertiary Consumer Large fish
Excretions, carcasses
Inorganic materials
Mineral salts
Extractor Bacteria
Decomposer Bacteria
Top Consumer Shark
Carcasses
Minerals, other resources
Lost material
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Industrial ecology Food chain analogy T E
Graedel
Solar energy
Primary Producer Smelter
Primary Consumer Wire producer
Secondary Consumer Cable producer
Tertiary Consumer Computer manufacturer
Copper ingots
Data cable
Copper wire
Copper ingots
Production waste
Concentrated copper ore
Reusables
PC
Extractor Miner
Secondary producer Recycler
Collector
Top Consumer Customer
Eol PC
Recyclables
Copper ore
Lost material
9
Thermodynamics and Material Flows in the Economy
Energy inputs
Transformation process
Useful outputs
Material inputs
Wastes emissions
1. Law of Thermodynamics Conservation of
energy In non-nuclear processes energy can
neither be created nor destroyed. Energy can only
be transformed from one form into another. The
total amount of energy input to a non-nuclear
transformation process is thus equal to the total
amount of energy output. Conservation of
mass The total mass of material inputs into a
(non-nuclear) material transformation process is
equal to the total mass of material
outputs. Conservation of mass per chemical
element The total mass of each chemical element
is conserved during every (non-nuclear) material
transformation process.
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Thermodynamics and Material Flows in the Economy

• 1. Law of Thermodynamics Quantity of energy
  during transformations stays the same.
• Law of Thermodynamics Quality of energy
  decreases during transformations
• 
  (what matters is exergy not energy).
• 2. Law of Thermodynamics
• Short form
• In an isolated system entropy (disorder)
  will increase with time until it reaches its
  highest possible value.
• What does this mean for material transformation
  processes (which are open systems)
• Every order-increasing material transformation
  processes requires high-grade energy inputs.
• Order-increasing material transformation
  processes turn high-grade energy inputs into
  low-grade energy outputs.
• Every production process creates waste and/or
  emissions.
• Without high-grade energy inputs materials tend
  to dissipate during use and disposal.

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Thermodynamics and Material Flows in the Economy
All material transformation processes that
together form a material cycleare subject to the
laws of thermodynamics
Transformation process
Direct materials
Economic output
Ancillary materials
Wastes emissions
Low-entropy energy
High-entropy energy
1. Law of TD
2. Law of TD
12
Literature

• Biogeochemical analogy and industrial ecology
• Industrial Ecology, Ayres Ayres, 1996, Edward
  Elgar
• Accounting for Resources 1, Ayres Ayres, 1998,
  Edward Elgar
• Accounting for Resources 2, Ayres Ayres, 1999,
  Edward Elgar

• Food chain analogy and industrial ecology
• Industrial Ecology, Graedel Allenby,1995
  2002, Prentice Hall

• Thermodynamics and material flows in the economy
• The Entropy Law and the Economic Process,
  Georgescu-Roegen, 1971, Harvard University
  Press
• Evolution, Time, Production and the
  Environment, Faber Proops, 1990, Springer
• Integrating Economics, Ecology and
  Thermodynamics, Ruth, 1993, Kluwer
• Eco-Thermodynamics Economics and the Second
  Law, 1996, INSEAD working paper

13
Solar Radiation (Teff 6000K mainly UV, optical
and IR)
Earths Radiation(Teff 300K mainly IR)
Material Flows in the Economy
Needs Wants
Energy
Services
Sink for Wastes Emissions
Products
Materials
Production
Anthroposphere
Ecosphere

• All materials that enter the economic system
  will eventually leave it
• Large amounts of high-grade energy are needed to
  drive the economic system
• All economic activity is essentially dissipative
  of both energy and materials

14
Central paradigm of MFA IN OUT
Monday January 31 2005
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15
Scientists warn growing acidity of oceans will
kill reefs Paul Brown, environment
correspondentFriday February 4, 2005The
Guardian Scientists have given warning of a
newly discovered threat to mankind, which will
wipeout coral and many species of fish and other
sea life. Extra carbon dioxide in the air,
caused by the burning of fossil fuels, is not
only spurring climate change, but is making the
oceans more acidic endangering the marine life
that helps to remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. So alarmed have marine scientists
become about this that special briefings have
been held for government departments. Carol
Turley, head of science at Plymouth Marine
Laboratory, warned of a "potentially gigantic"
problem for the world.
16
Declining ore grades greatly increases the amount
of wastesgenerated during mining and refining
Tons of tailings per ton of metal
Ore grade () ? Tailings (tons / ton)
Examples
Ore grade X ()
Does not account for overburdenor ancillary
materials
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Definition of Material/Substance Flow Analysis
(MFA/SFA)
According to Bringezu and Moriguchi (2002), MFA /
SFA can be defined as the quantitative
accounting of material / substance inputs and
outputs of processes in a systems or chain
perspective.

• According to Graedel (2002) MFA / SFA is usually
  employed to answer one or several of the
  following questions
• How much material enters the economic system?
• How is the material transformed?
• How much material is added to the stock in use?
• How much material is recycled?
• How much material escapes from the economic
  system to the environment?
• How much material ends up in land?ll?
• What trends exist in these stocks and ?ows?

• MFA / SFA comprises a variety of flow analysis
  types
• Stocks and flows of individual substances, e.g.
  chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, lead, etc.
• Stocks and flows of bulk materials, e.g. paper,
  plastics, aluminum, steel, copper, etc.
• Stocks and flows of products and their
  constituent materials, e.g. diapers, batteries,
  etc.
• Total material flows on different levels, e.g.
  national, sectoral, regional, household, etc.

18
History of MFA/SFA

• 1800-1850 Concept of metabolism is introduced to
  describe the sum of biochemical
  reactions on the level of cells, organs and
  organisms
• 1842 Formulation of the Law of Conservation of
  Energy
• 1860s The term metabolism is first applied to
  human societies by Marx to describe
  material exchanges between man and nature
• 1880s Geddes develops first national MFA
  (80 years ahead of his time and largely
  ignored)
• 1905 Mass-Energy-Equivalency is formulated by
  Einstein in his theory of special
  relativity
• 1910s Ostwald and Soddy discuss the importance
  of availability and conversion of
  energy to human societies and their development,
  but this never entered the social
  sciences mainstream
• 1930s Notion of the ecosystem is established
• 1940s The metabolism of ecosystems is first
  studied
• 1950-1960 Some discussion of the input aspects
  of societal metabolism (mainly by
  geographers and geologists)
• 1969 First modern MFA of a national economy
  presented by Ayres Kneese
• Apply mass balancing to MFA
• Environmental pollution and its control is a
  materials balance problem
• Reduction of wastes and emission by reduction of
  inputs