Industrial Input-Output Analysis: Implications for Industrial Ecology
Author(s)
Duchin, Faye
Abstract
Industrial Ecology (IE) is an emerging field that deals with conserving and recycling energy and other materials in the production process. IE faces two challenges. First, practical methods must be identified for reducing and recycling wastes in a wide range of situations. While some changes may be profitable in the short run and therefore adopted voluntarily, these may not be the most important ones from a system-wide or long-term perspective. Secondly, IE should provide a framework both for evaluating the long-term advantages and disadvantages of different patterns of industrial change, and for identifying the short-term bottlenecks that may be associated with these changes. These studies will assist in both public discussions and private calculations. This paper discusses how Structural Economics and an input-output model can assist in the development of the IE framework.
