Sustainable Development Industrial Ecology Industrial Ecology Infrastructure Sector Initiatives Implementation Initiative Environment Agriculture cology Models and Risk Assessments and ForestrySyster R&D Agenda Databases Risk Prioritizat FIGURE 111.1 Industrial ecology framework. The ideas of industrial ecology, which have begun to take root in the engineering community, have helped established a framework within which the industry can move toward realizing sustainable development. The electrical, electronics, and telecommunications sectors are enablers of sustainability because they allow the provision of increasing quality-of-life using less material and energy, respectively,dematerialization"and decarbonization. This chapter will provide an introduction into industrial ecology and its implications for the electronics industry. Current activities, initiatives, and opportunities will also be explored, illustrating that the concomitant achievement of greater economic and environmental efficiency is indeed feasible in many cases. 111.2 Industrial Ecology Industrial ecology is an emerging field that views manufacturing and other industrial activity including forestry, agriculture, mining, and other extractive sectors, as an integral component of global natural systems. In doing so, it takes a systems view of design and manufacturing activities so as to reduce or, more desirably, eliminate he environmental impacts of materials, manufacturing processes, technologies, and products across their cycles, including use and disposal. It incorporates, among other things, research involving energy supply and se,new materials, new technologies and technological systems, basic sciences, economics, law, management, nd social sciences The study of industrial ecology will, in the long run, provide the means by which the human species can deliberately and rationally approach a desirable long-term global carrying capacity. Oversimplifying, it can be thought of as "the science of sustainability. The approach is"deliberate"and"rational, to differentiate it from other, unplanned paths that might result, for example, in global pandemics, or economic and cultural collapse he endpoint is "desirable, to differentiate it from other conceivable states such as a Malthusian subsistence world, which could involve much lower population levels, or oscillating population levels that depend on death rates to maintain a balance between resources and population levels. Figure 111.1 illustrates how industrial ecology provides a framework for operationalizing the vision of sustainable development. As the term implies, industrial ecology is concerned with the evolution of technology and economic systems such that human economic activity mimics a mature biological system from the standpoint of being self contained in its material and resource use. In such a system, little if any virgin material input is required, and little if any waste that must be disposed of outside of the economic system is generated. Energetically, the system can be open, just as biological systems are, although it is likely that overall energy consumption and intensity will be limited e 2000 by CRC Press LLC© 2000 by CRC Press LLC The ideas of industrial ecology, which have begun to take root in the engineering community, have helped to established a framework within which the industry can move toward realizing sustainable development. The electrical, electronics, and telecommunications sectors are enablers of sustainability because they allow the provision of increasing quality-of-life using less material and energy, respectively, “dematerialization” and “decarbonization”. This chapter will provide an introduction into industrial ecology and its implications for the electronics industry. Current activities, initiatives, and opportunities will also be explored, illustrating that the concomitant achievement of greater economic and environmental efficiency is indeed feasible in many cases. 111.2 Industrial Ecology Industrial ecology is an emerging field that views manufacturing and other industrial activity including forestry, agriculture, mining, and other extractive sectors, as an integral component of global natural systems. In doing so, it takes a systems view of design and manufacturing activities so as to reduce or, more desirably, eliminate the environmental impacts of materials, manufacturing processes, technologies, and products across their life cycles, including use and disposal. It incorporates, among other things, research involving energy supply and use, new materials, new technologies and technological systems, basic sciences, economics, law, management, and social sciences. The study of industrial ecology will, in the long run, provide the means by which the human species can deliberately and rationally approach a desirable long-term global carrying capacity. Oversimplifying, it can be thought of as “the science of sustainability”. The approach is “deliberate” and “rational”, to differentiate it from other, unplanned paths that might result, for example, in global pandemics, or economic and cultural collapse. The endpoint is “desirable”, to differentiate it from other conceivable states such as a Malthusian subsistence world, which could involve much lower population levels, or oscillating population levels that depend on death rates to maintain a balance between resources and population levels. Figure 111.1 illustrates how industrial ecology provides a framework for operationalizing the vision of sustainable development. As the term implies, industrial ecology is concerned with the evolution of technology and economic systems such that human economic activity mimics a mature biological system from the standpoint of being self￾contained in its material and resource use. In such a system, little if any virgin material input is required, and little if any waste that must be disposed of outside of the economic system is generated. Energetically, the system can be open, just as biological systems are, although it is likely that overall energy consumption and intensity will be limited. FIGURE 111.1 Industrial ecology framework