A framework for modeling local production systems with techno-ecological interactions

Journal article

At the local scale, interconnected production, consumption, waste management and other man-made technological components interact with local ecosystem components to form a local production system. The purpose of this work is to develop a framework for the conceptual characterization and mathematical modelling of a local production system to support the assessment of process and component options that potentially create symbiosis between industry and ecosystem. This framework has been applied to a case study to assess options for the establishment of a local energy production system that involves a heathland ecosystem, bioenergy production and wastewater treatment. We found that the framework is useful to analyze the two-way interactions between these components in order to obtain insight into the behavior and performance of the bioenergy production system. In particular, the framework enables exploring the levels of the ecosystem states that allow continuous provisioning of resources in order to establish a sustainable techno-ecological system.

Authors: Martinez-Hernandez, E; Leung Pah Hang, M; Leach, M; Yang, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Journal of Industrial Ecology
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 815–828
• Publication date: 2016-08-22
• Acceptance date: 2016-04-03
• DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12481
• EISSN: 1530-9290
• ISSN: 1530-9290
• Keywords: techno-ecological system; industrial ecology; bioenergy; systems modeling; localized production; symbiosis