ENV 584a () / 2023-2024

Applications of Industrial Ecology

Credits: 1.5 Fall 2023: Th, 10:30-11:50, 380 Edwards

Industrial ecology (IE) is an interdisciplinary environmental field that blends environmental and social science, engineering, management, and policy analysis. IE is centered on the study of physical resource flows through systems at different scales. The unusual name “industrial ecology” stems from an analogy made with biological ecosystems and borrows from it on several fronts, such as its focus on resource cycling, multi-scalar systems, resource and energy stocks and flows, and food webs. Increasingly, industrial ecology contributes insights into environmental management and policy on issues ranging from industrial waste to global climate change. YSE 584 is a 1.5 credit survey course that combines basic introductions to industrial ecology tools and concepts with examples of their use in environmental policy and management.