The dynamics of regions and networks in industrial ecosystems

Matthias Ruth and Brynhildur Davidsdottir, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2009, 264 pp., £58-50 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-84720-742-5

This book, a companion to the first volume that was reviewed previously (Clegg 2009), has three parts: (1) Concepts and methods (two chapters); (2) Regional dynamics and industrial systems (five chapters); and (3) Evolution of networks in industrial ecology (six chapters). There are 30 contributing authors, including John Ehrenfeld who refers to eco-efficiency as the art of obtaining more value for less impact in his foreword and addresses the problem of complexity, advocating the need to distinguish between the complicated and the complex.

In Chapter 1, the editors explain that the complexity of dynamic industrial ecosystems results from the many possible interactions at the physical and technological levels; the many pathways through which their ramifications permeate environmental, economic and social systems and the many diverse perceptions and actions of the individuals making up those systems. Cherow, in Chapter 2, explores the concept of industrial symbiosis based on the flow of materials and energy through networks of businesses in geographic proximity sharing resources, by-products and waste.

While considering regional dynamics, Rigby, in Chapter 3, notes that cross-border flows imply that regions are not isolated or independent. Simple trade flows between regions shift patterns of supply and demand make analysis of regional industrial ecosystems more complex, but not impossible. He reports the use of an economic input–output LCA (EIO-LCA). In Chapter 4, Lloyd and Ries present a proof-of-concept LCA framework with temporal and spatial resolution. Modelling resource is increased beyond that for normal LCA but has the potential to more accurately identify those aspects of the product system with large environmental impact.

Gallego and Lentzen use a RAS balancing method to assemble a multi-regional input–output (MRIO) framework of Australia in Chapter 5. It covers 344 industrial sectors over 8 regions with the objective of identifying the key players behind the regional dynamics of the Australian economy. The implications of US Airways entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy status in 2004 on the economic activity and environmental impact in Pennsylvania were investigated using an input–output LCA (REIO-LCA) and is reported in Chapter 6. In Chapter 7, the whole urban economy is considered equivalent to an industrial ecosystem and the regional metabolism was simulated addressing the broader implication for sustainability by explicitly incorporating strategic choices. The ‘design approach’ was used in which the decision maker is employed as an integral part of the mechanics by which simulations of the future are calculated.

Part III opens the way to the issue of learning and evolution of industrial ecosystems. Chapter 10 focuses on the creation of a framework for modelling and simulating the growth, evolution and dynamics of regional industrial clusters typical of those that evolved in the twentieth century. The aim of Chapter 11 is to define and demonstrate a scenario macro-modelling framework for future studies of industrial ecosystems, with particular reference to the urban freight and inter-regional passenger transportation tasks in Australia. In Chapter 12, the authors describe the development of PowerPlay to understand better the evolution and dynamics of energy efficiency choices in the combined context of household, firm and regulatory decision-making. It explores the evolution of US electricity generation and use in an uncertain, multiplayer world.

In the final chapter, the editors summarise the preceding contributions and suggest future directions:

1. a move beyond analogies to actual applications of concepts and tools;

2. the likely confluence of methods and tools;

3. sustainable solutions to engineering challenges require that economic, environmental and social constraints should not simply be acknowledged but be explicitly dealt with as part of the industrial ecologist's repertoire.

Like its companion volume, this is a book for the academic rather than the practitioner. Academics and postgraduate researchers are the most likely audience to benefit from this book.