Our Natural Resources – Group 5
Industrial Ecology Project
Creating ‘Shelbyville’ Eco-Industrial Park
Nausherwan Ghaffar
Lauren Hathorn
Oleksandra Kovbasko
Farzin Rabiee
Christian Williams
Ru Wan
Kyungmee Kim
2009
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 3
2.0 Components within the Eco-Industrial Park............................................................................................ 3
2.1 Biogas Production Facility ................................................................................................................... 3
Inputs ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Outputs .................................................................................................................................................. 4
2.2 Organic Cotton Production Farm ........................................................................................................ 4
Inputs ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
Outputs .................................................................................................................................................. 4
2.3 Organic Cotton Textile Factory ............................................................................................................ 4
Inputs ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Outputs .................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.4 Semiconductor Factory ....................................................................................................................... 5
Inputs ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Outputs .................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.5 Beef and Dairy Cattle Farm ................................................................................................................. 5
Inputs ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Outputs .................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.6 IKEA Furniture Factory......................................................................................................................... 6
Inputs ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Outputs .................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.7 Pulp Production Factory ...................................................................................................................... 6
Inputs ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Outputs .................................................................................................................................................. 6
3.0 Layout and Flows within Shelbyville ....................................................................................................... 7
Figure 3.1 Flows of Water and Energy .................................................................................................. 7
Figure 3.2 Flows of Materials and Material Output .............................................................................. 8
4.0 Discussion and Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 8
5.0 References .............................................................................................................................................10
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1.0 Introduction
Industrial Symbiosis is a relatively new concept within the field of industrial ecology, whereby a varying
collection of industries can be co-located within an eco-industrial park and mutually benefit from each
other through the sharing of outputs and waste. Put another way, industries can make use of byproducts from their neighbouring industries, thereby minimising the cost of waste treatment or disposal
for one company and providing cheaper input materials for another. The primary considerations in
planning an eco-industrial park are the flows of energy, water and materials.
The eco-industrial park, (hereby officially named ‘Shelbyville’) described within this report is an attempt
to provide a suitable exchange of materials for five factory’s as well as two neighbouring farms. The
farms include a large cattle farm and a cotton farm producing organic cotton. These are situated nearby
to the central exchange area for the five factories producing pulp, cotton textile, wood furniture,
semiconductors and biogas. These farms and factories are supplied with groundwater. There is also an
existing waste water treatment facility and a district heating plant providing heat, electricity and steam.
For each of the individual farms and factories within Shelbyville, effort has been made to determine
accurate information regarding the material, water and energy use per year and converted to
comparable units to allow flows between the industries to have numerical information as well as
directional flows. However, it should be noted that these figures are generally best estimates, and in
places have been estimated from a variety of sources, or failing this, estimated using a best-guess figure.
Due to time constraints, more effort has been put towards matching the industries rather than obtaining
highly accurate figures, however they should be within a typical range.
2.0 Components within the Eco-Industrial Park
Shelbyville contains a direct heating plant, which supplies heat and electricity (1,636GWh net) to the
surrounding industries. Water is supplied from groundwater extraction, and there is also a wastewater
treatment facility within the complex, capable of treating 4,800m3 of water per hour (42,048,000m3 per
year). Around these plants, there are a number of other farms and industries which are described briefly
below, including the inputs required and the outputs or by-products produced.
2.1 Biogas Production Facility
Biogas is a gas produced by the bacteria in degradation of organic matter and then used as fuel. It is a
renewable fuel and, thus, is seen as a reliable alternative to fossil fuels as a source of energy. The
production process involves anaerobic digestion of biodegradable materials such as biomass, manure,
municipal organic waste and sewage and the resulting gas comprises primarily methane and carbon
dioxide. In Shelbyville, all organic waste available is sent to this facility to produce yearly 912,500m3 of
biogas.
Inputs
• Materials: Manure (1,500 tons), cotton biomass (1029 tons), additional biomass (12,677 tons)
• Water: 18,251m3/year
• Energy: 0.5 GWh/year
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Outputs
• Materials: We assume the mass of the waste remaining to be close to our input quantity.
• Water: 13,688m3/year
• Energy: 912,500m3 of biogas, (equivalent to 1.825GWh)
2.2 Organic Cotton Production Farm
Organic cotton agriculture features pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, and synthetic fertilizer free farming
practices. Soil is fertilized through animal manure, compost, and rock powders. To maintain soil fertility
and mineral balance, crops are rotated over several years. A successful rotation strategy is a 3 year
cotton-legume-corn with various plants used throughout the plantation for pest and weed control. The
organic cotton is harvested by hand and then sent through a ginning machine that runs on diesel fuel.
Farming of other crops requires use of other machinery run on diesel fuel. Water will come from wells
on the farm. Calculations are for a 300 hectare farm for one year with 100 hectares dedicated to cotton,
100 to corn, and 100 to soybean. Farm will also produce potatoes for starch in the cotton textile factory.
Inputs
•
•
•
•
Materials: Organic seeds for crops, and weed and pest control plants
Fertilizer: Manure, compost, rock powders- 6,000 tons
Water: 1,800,000 m3/year
Energy: Diesel for machinery
Outputs
• Materials:
o Cotton yield: 60 tons
o Cottonseed shells ideal for biofuel: 28.6 tons
o Cottonseed and oil for cattle: 54.3 tons
o Corn yield: 1,000 tons
o Soybean yield: 200 tons
o Corn and soybean biomass: 1,000 tons
o Potatoes: 12 tons
• Water: N/A. Only minimal runoff to waterways
2.3 Organic Cotton Textile Factory
Factory produces organic cotton fabric (96 tons per year) from locally supplied cotton grid and
additional supply of raw materials outside the industrial park. The production cycle consists of four
stages (preparation of yarn, spinning, weaving, finishing) and is designed according to the requirements
of Global Organic Textile Standard, which prohibits use of APEO, EDTA, as active detergents, aromatic
solvents, formaldehyde, phenols, heavy metals and other toxic substances. Only natural additives are
used: paraffin oils during spinning, starch in sizing and weaving and hydrogen peroxide in bleaching
process. This enables further use of treated wastewaters in pulp production
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Inputs
• Materials: cotton yarn - 120 tons, various additives (chemicals)– 36 tons, potato starch - 12 tons
• Water: 4,800 m3/year
• Energy: 44.76 GWh
Outputs
• Materials: fibres - 24 tons
• Waste-water: 4,800 m3/year
2.4 Semiconductor Factory
Semiconductor factory manufactures chipsets for using in computers as microprocessor. The main
material for producing chipset is silicon that should be purified to 99.999%. To obtain refined Silicon, it is
heated up to 1,410°C. This process is responsible for major part of energy consumption. Also chemical
materials are used in manufacturing process. The capacity of manufacturing in the factory is 800,000
pieces per year
Inputs
• Materials: silicon 1,600 tons, chemical material 2,300 tons
• Water: 900,000 m3/year
• Energy: 190 GWh/year
Outputs
• Materials: Solid wastes (silicon, wood etc): 800 tons, chemical waste: 1,000 tons
• Water: 230,000 m3/year
2.5 Beef and Dairy Cattle Farm
The beef and dairy cattle farm is located in the surrounding countryside, with the main facilities located
in the vicinity of Shelbyville, including milking sheds and sheds for winter shelter. Both require some
electricity and heat and the winter shelter facility is required to be maintained at a minimum
temperature for animal welfare. The cattle are fed with a combination of grazing (predominant in
summer) and grain and animal feed (particularly in winter), supplied from the cotton farm. The animals
are transported off site for slaughtering and processing. The farm is 300 hectares and contains 200
cattle. Farm runoff is mostly into local streams aside from around the milking and sheltering sheds
where it is collected and piped to the waste water treatment facility.
Inputs
• Materials: 900kg/year nitrogen fertiliser, 960 tonnes additional cattle feed per year.
• Water: 620,000 m3/year predominantly for irrigation of the farm
• Energy: 0.6 GWh (or 2,160 GJ/yr) , 5,000 litres diesel for farm machinery.
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Outputs
• Materials: 1,500 tons of manure per year collected, beef and milk products
• Water: 6,200 m3/year from milking/sheltering stations into waste water treatment plant
2.6 IKEA Furniture Factory
During the process of production, if the wood purchased is not seasoned, it is seasoned by leaving the
wood slices under normal environmental temperature for considerable duration. The seasoned wood
blocks are cut into desired shape and slices according to the requirement of design and then
assembled or fixed together to give the shape to the final product. Assembled product is grind to make
the surface smooth. Once the surface is smooth, finishing material is applied to make the surface ready
for paint or polish. The factory is designed to produce 100,000 wood tables per year.
Inputs
• Materials: Softwood 2,050 tons/year ; fiberboard 155 tons/year ; paint 45 tons/year
• Water: 22,000 m3/year, generally for rinsing the sawdust during production
• Energy: 3.55 GWh/year
Outputs
• Materials: Solid waste (mainly sawdust) 43 tons/yr; Chemical 11 tons/yr
• Water: 14,000 m3/yr
2.7 Pulp Production Factory
On this factory pulp is made by chemithermal-mechanical method from primary wood so that no
deinking is involved. Chopped wooden cubs are put together with sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide,
sodium sulphite into huge digesters, than pulp is washed and bleached. Elemental Chlorine Free
bleaching process is used, which results in less toxic material and consumes less water and energy. Even
though best available technology is used, production process requires significant amount of water,
energy and produces big amount of chemical waste.
Inputs
•
•
•
Materials: wood 1,933 tons/year; sawdust 43 tons/year; fiber 24 tons/year
Water: 95,600 m3/year
Energy: 7.23 GWh/year
Outputs
•
•
Materials: waste wood 20 tons/year
Water: waste water 65,800 m3/year; cooling water and steam 29,800 m3/year
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3.0 Layout and Flows within Shelbyville
The figures below show the layout for Shelbyville. The first also shows the flows of water and energy
while the second figure shows the material flows.
Figure 3.1 Flows of Water and Energy
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Figure 3.2 Flows of Materials and Material Output
4.0 Discussion and Conclusion
In the article Industrial Symbiosis, Marian Chertow describes the elegant concept of eco-industry and
how industrial symbiosis manifests in the real world. Our eco-industrial park is a type 3 park consisting
of industries located in a defined area (323). Our park is based on input and output matching techniques
(327). Chertow notes that in theory this type of eco-industry works beautifully, but the reality of
attracting business willing to invest time, and take financial risks in eco-industry is very difficult (330).
Success of the park hinges on the interdependence and cooperation of stakeholders, the firms and the
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local community (328). Chertow suggests that an eco-industrial park most easily evolves over time
through subsequent additions of firms when they see competitive advantage (314) in involvement in the
industrial symbiosis.
In Shelbyville, we start with some “anchor tenants” (333), the heating plant and the water treatment
plant. These plants benefit the local community in that they supply water and heat. We could imagine
that the cattle farm and the cotton farm already existed in the community (329). These four firms start
materials flows that could attract businesses such as the cotton textile factory, the biogas facility, and so
on. Thus, difficulties in construction of the eco-park would be eased through the natural evolution of the
industrial system within the community.
The energy and water flows within Shelbyville are more than sufficient. We find that our total water
consumption is around 3.5 million cubic meters per year while the waste water treatment facility is
capable of processing around 42 million cubic meters per year. We are recycling about 10% of our water
through treatment. This percentage is fairly small, mainly due to farming use where most water is lost
through runoff and evaporation. Our yearly energy consumption is 246.7 GWh and the yearly supply
from the plant is 1,636 GWh; in other words Shelbyville is only using about 15% of available energy, a
large proportion of which goes to the semi-conductor facility. Meanwhile, the biogas facility is exporting
gas that could be used efficiently in the surrounding community.
Shelbyville succeeds in connecting material and waste flows in an efficient manner. Due to geographic
proximity we avoid the transportation costs and subsequent emissions from thousands of tons of
materials each year, a sizeable competitive advantage. We find that we have a conflict between the
needs of the biogas facility and municipal heating plant for biomass. We also would need to import large
amounts of wood. There is a shortage in organic fertilizer that would need to be imported. The cotton
farm only supplies 50% of cotton to the textile factory due to crop rotation. Finally most of our chemical
waste and used silicon is not useful as a by-product. As Chertow suggests, this problem could be solved
by participating in waste exchange with businesses outside our park (321).
Through adjustment of scale and addition of industry we could maximize the efficiency of our ecoindustry. We have room to scale up Shelbyville because we are using only a fraction of energy and water
treatment capacity. Sizing up would reduce the amount of materials that we need to import like cotton
and biomass. We could add other industries, for example a forestry industry to provide wood, or a
plastic production plant to use waste plastic. With expanded production of biomass, we would relieve
the conflict between the municipal heating plant and biogas facility. Overall, we conclude that an
industrial symbiosis of our firms is the best solution for sustainable use of energy and resources.
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5.0 References
1. Chertow, M. “Industrial Symbiosis: Literature and Taxonomy.” Annual Reviews of Energy and
Environment. 2000. 25:313-37.
2. Holden, J. Pioneer Dupont Company. “Corn’s Benefits in the Cotton Rotation.”
<http://australia.pioneer.com/MediaReleases/Cornsbenefittocotton/tabid/163/Default.aspx>
3. Hub Pages. “Cotton Processing.”< http://hubpages.com/hub/Cotton-Processing>
4. Hulugalle, N. Et al. “Cattle Manure and Composted Gin Trash.”
<http://www.greenmountpress.com.au/cottongrower/Back%20issues/297djcot08/16_Cattle.pd
f>
5. Intel. “EHS Indicators.” <http://www.intel.com/intel/other/ehs/update.htm>
6. Krypton Systems Organic and Biofuel. “Biogas Plant.” <http://www.jatrophabiofuel.com/BioGas%20Plant.htm>
7. Nation Master. “Agricultural Statistics: Yield Soybean by Country.”
<http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/agr_yie_soy-agriculture-yield->
8. Naturland E. V. “Organic Farming in the Tropics and Subtropics- Cotton.”
<http://www.naturland.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/Publication/English/cotton.pdf>
9. Organic Trade Association. “2006 U.S. Organic Production & Marketing Trends.”
http://www.ota.com/organic/www.ota.com/pics/documents/Cotton07Reportfinal.pdf
10. Kalpesh Damor. “Cotton yield may cross world average.” <http://www.businessstandard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=336512>
11. Wikipedia. “Textile Manufacturing.”
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_manufacturing#Cotton>
12. International Starch Institute, Denmark. Determination of Starch in Potatoes according to EUdirection. <http://www.starch.dk/isi/methods/starchct.htm>
13. Economy Watch http://www.economywatch.com
14. Grycksbo Paper, Sweden http://www.grycksbopaper.com/
15. Holmen Paper, Sweden http://www.holmenpaper.com/
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