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Synergies between industry and nature – An emergy evaluation of a biodiesel production system integrated with ecological systems

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  • Saladini, Fabrizio
  • Gopalakrishnan, Varsha
  • Bastianoni, Simone
  • Bakshi, Bhavik R.

Abstract

Techno-ecological synergy (TES) is a framework that encourages integration of technological and ecological systems. Specifically, it incorporates the role of natural capital in engineering assessment and design by quantifying both demand and supply of ecosystem services. Emergy can provide valuable support to improve and interpret TES evaluation, as it is a methodology particularly useful for evaluating systems at the biosphere–technosphere interface. The present study evaluates how the TES framework based on emergy can shed new light by comparing conventional technological alternatives and ecological alternatives for meeting a particular ecosystem service demand. Both the demand and supply of ecosystem services are quantified in consistent units of emergy to obtain aggregated TES metrics. Specifically it was found that additional equipment to treat air pollutants have a higher emergy investment as compared to the forest ecosystem, while the technological unit to treat wastewater requires less emergy as compared to the horizontal subsurface flow wetland, its ecological counterpart. This new approach is tested by application to a biodiesel production plant and by calculating emergy metrics. This work shows that emergy can provide a fundamental improvement to the current TES framework, as it provides an aggregated metric for multiple ecosystem services.

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  • Saladini, Fabrizio & Gopalakrishnan, Varsha & Bastianoni, Simone & Bakshi, Bhavik R., 2018. "Synergies between industry and nature – An emergy evaluation of a biodiesel production system integrated with ecological systems," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(PB), pages 257-266.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:30:y:2018:i:pb:p:257-266
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.02.004
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    2. Galychyn, Oleksandr, 2022. "Towards sustainable cities: A multi-criteria assessment framework for studying urban metabolism," MPRA Paper 121584, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 11 May 2022.
    3. Zuoxi Liu & Yongyang Wang & Shanshan Wang & Huijuan Dong & Yong Geng & Bing Xue & Jiaming Gu & Run Dong Li & Tianhua Yang, 2018. "An Emergy and Decomposition Assessment of China’s Crop Production: Sustainability and Driving Forces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Alizadeh, Sadegh & Avami, Akram, 2021. "Development of a framework for the sustainability evaluation of renewable and fossil fuel power plants using integrated LCA-emergy analysis: A case study in Iran," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1548-1564.
    5. Sun, Jun & Xiong, Xiaoqian & Wang, Mudan & Du, Hua & Li, Jintao & Zhou, Dandan & Zuo, Jian, 2019. "Microalgae biodiesel production in China: A preliminary economic analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 296-306.

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