Journal ArticleDOI
Society's Metabolism-The Intellectual History of Materials Flow Analysis, Part I, 1860-1970
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TLDR
A review of the earlier intellectual background of societal metabolism in terms of material and substance flows can be found in this article, followed by an integrated discussion of some of the major conceptual and methodological properties of MFA, with a particular focus on the field of bulk materials flows on a national level.Abstract:
Summary
“Societal metabolism” provides the appropriate conceptual basis for the rapidly growing development and analylical and policy interest in materials flow analysis (MFA). Following the review of the earlier intellectual background of societal metabolism in the first installment of this two-part article, this paper focuses on the current state of the art by examining more recent research referring t o societal metabolism in terms of material and substance flows. An operational classification of the literature according to frame of reference (socioeconomic system, ecosystem), system level (global, national, regional, functional, temporal), and types of flows under consideration (materials, energy, substances) highlights some of its characteristic features. There follows an integrated discussion of some of the major conceptual and methodological properties of MFA, with a particular focus on the field of bulk materials flows on a national level, comparing the major empirical results. Finally, the theoretical stringency research productivity, and political relevance of the MFA-related studies are assessed.read more
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Dissertation
Resource extraction and the planetary extension of the urban form : understanding sociospatial transformation in the Huasco Valley, Chile
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the production of urban space that underlies geographies of extraction is intrinsically uneven and in that sense, symptomatic of a world order dependent on the ongoing fabrication of invisibilised and fractured peripheries that are subservient to the consolidation of a seamless global space for the efficient circulation of commodities.
Marcos conceptuales interdisciplinarios para el estudio de los servicios ecosistémicos en américa latina
Adriana Carolina Flores Díaz,Patricia Balvanera,Alicia Castillo,Elena Lazos Chavero,Karina Caballero,Sandra Quijas,Claudia Galicia,Lucía Martínez,Adriana Saldaña,Mabel Sánchez,Manuel Maass,Patricia Ávila,Yessica Martínez,Luis Miguel Galindo,José Sarukhán +14 more
Proceedings ArticleDOI
Material Flow Analysis (MFA) for Liveable Cities
Dexter V. L. Hunt,Joanne M. Leach,Susan E. Lee,Christopher J. Bouch,Peter Braithwaite,Christopher D. F. Rogers +5 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the precursory step for any Urban Metabolism (UM) study (Mass Flow Analysis -MFA) is identified and applied to a case study (Birmingham, UK) in order to show how it could contribute to the measurement, assessment and understanding of liveability, defined as 80% reduction in carbon (from 1990 levels); resource secure (an ethos of One planet living); with maintained or enhanced wellbeing.
Journal ArticleDOI
Examining the historical and present energy metabolism of a Rust Belt City: Syracuse, NY 1840–2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the energy metabolism (respiration) of a typical rust-belt city, Syracuse, NY, with the net primary production in the surrounding county (production) over its development (1840-2005).
Book ChapterDOI
Complex Systems Thinking and Renewable Energy Systems
Mario Giampietro,Kozo Mayumi +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the heart transplant metaphor to check the feasibility and desirability of alternative energy sources using benchmark values: what is expected according to societal characteristics; and what is supplied according to the energy system used to supply energy carriers.
References
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