This volume provides a valuable introduction to hybrid I-O analysis and therefore should be useful to the growing number of researchers working with these techniques. Timothy J. Considine, Journal of Industrial Ecology This is a first-rate piece of work. . . Dr Hoekstra s book is the most comprehensive assessment of economic decomposition analysis to date. The author has clarified some confusions, filled in some important gaps in the literature and extended the methods both conceptually and empirically. He has done a most thorough job of constructing hybrid input output tables and applied them to the important issue of trends in material production use. His use of SDA for forecasting and backcasting of trends and policy making is also very impressive. Adam Rose, Pennsylvania State University, US Rutger Hoekstra examines the complex relationship between the monetary economy and the materials flows that are extracted and emitted by economic activities. These physical flows are responsible for many important environmental problems such as unsustainable resource depletion, waste production and climate change. This book discusses, applies and improves upon techniques which link the monetary and physical economies for environmental analyses. The book uses two sources of analysis: the physical input-output table (PIOT), a macro-economic account for the physical economy, recording material and product flows, including resource extraction, emissions and recycling; and structural decomposition analysis (SDA), which assesses the influence of structural changes, such as economic growth, consumption shifts, export growth and technological change, on environmental indicators. Methodological improvements in the PIOT and SDA systems are then presented by the author, and applied to empirical data. Ecological and industrial economists, along with those with an interest in environmental problems associated with the economy will find this book, with its extensive historical analysis and novel fore- and back-casting models, to be a fascinating read.

Is economic growth good for the environment? A number of economists have claimed that economic growth can benefit the environment, recruiting political support and finance for environmental policy measures. This view has received increasing support since the early 1990s from empirical evidence that has challenged the traditional environmentalist's belief that economic growth degrades the environment. This book reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on growth and the environment, giving an in-depth empirical treatment of the relationship between the two. Various hypotheses are formulated and tested for a number of indicators of environmental pressure. The test results indicate that alternative models and estimation methods should be used, altering previous conclusions about the effect of economic growth on the environment and offering an insight into the forces driving emission reduction in developed countries.

How will we meet rising energy demands? What are our options? Are there viable long-term solutions for the future? Learn the fundamental physical, chemical and materials science at the heart of renewable/non-renewable energy sources, future transportation systems, energy efficiency and energy storage. Whether you are a student taking an energy course or a newcomer to the field, this textbook will help you understand critical relationships between the environment, energy and sustainability. Leading experts provide comprehensive coverage of each topic, bringing together diverse subject matter by integrating theory with engaging insights. Each chapter includes helpful features to aid understanding, including a historical overview to provide context, suggested further reading and questions for discussion. Every subject is beautifully illustrated and brought to life with full color images and color-coded sections for easy browsing, making this a complete educational package. Fundamentals of Materials for Energy and Environmental Sustainability will enable today's scientists and educate future generations.

This book provides a factual analysis of material flows and resource productivity in OECD countries in a global context.

The book covers a wide range of concepts pertaining to the sustainable development and successfully captures the inter-connectivity of environmental preservation and sustainable development. International Journal of Ecological Economics and Statistics . . . this book is authoritative, objective and essential reading for academics and policymakers concerned with the application of indicators of sustainable development. It takes great care to emphasize what has worked, what has not and what should be our future priorities for research; the combination of these features certainly sets it apart from some other texts in the field. Lee M. Stapleton, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management This book presents a comprehensive collection of essays from some of the world s leading experts, surveying and highlighting both the potential and the limitations of a number of indicators specifically designed to measure sustainable development. Illustrative applications are presented throughout in order to demonstrate the value of the approaches discussed. This book is highly recommended for all those who are interested in a better understanding of what sustainable development is and its likely associated indicators, and ultimately aims to contribute to a better foundation for public decision-making. Paulo A.L.D. Nunes, Venice International University, Cà Foscari University, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Venice, Italy and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, national governments have introduced a range of policy measures designed to steer their economies along a more sustainable path. Yet how are we to know how successful these have been? This significant new book discusses the ways in which sustainable development indicators can be improved in order to both assess the impact of past policies and avoid the repetition of previous failings. Covering a broad range of indicators relating to national accounts, aggregate welfare, natural capital, ecosystem health and human environment interactions, this volume provides an important assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each. With contributions from some of the most eminent scholars in the field, the book competently analyses the various methods of measuring the sustainable development performance of nations, and suggests many ways in which these can be developed and improved. While the contributors might offer conflicting views, the message they convey is universal the quest for appropriate sustainable development indicators is critically important if we are ever to bring about a fairer, sustainable and more efficient world.

This book explores what is needed for an overall evaluation of the prosperity and wellbeing of people within a framework of sustaining the economy, environment and development. The book begins by assessing the validity of available data, indicators and indices in decision and policy making. It describes what the data tell us about the effects of economic activity on the quality of life and prosperity of people and nations, now and in the future, and highlights how a reliance on partial and distorted information can thwart rational policies. It also examines whether less tangible notions of wellbeing and happiness lend themselves to quantification and prediction. Overall, Bartelmus demonstrates the need for integrated accounting and analysis to revise policy priorities around environmental, social, economic and sustainability concerns. Confronting the persisting polarization of environmentalists and economists, this book will be of great relevance to students, scholars and professionals with an interest in environmental and ecological economics, sustainability indicators and their use in integrative policy.

Human societies face a threatening future of resource scarcity and environmental damages. This book addresses the challenge of turning these risks into opportunities and policies. It is a collection of high level contributions from experts of sustainable growth and sustainable resource management. Focussing on economics, sustainability, technology and policy, the book highlights system innovation, leapfrogging strategies of emerging economies, possible rebound effects and international market development. It puts natural resources centre stage and will make an important contribution to achieving the goal of a 21st century Green Economy.

A key area of public policy in the last twenty years is the question of how, and how much, to protect vthe environment. At the heart of this has been the heated debate over the nature of the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Is environemental sustainability economic growth or `green growth', a contradiction in terms? Avoiding the confusion that often surrounds these issues, Ekins provides rigorous expositions of the concept of sustainability, integrated environmental and economic accounting, the Environmental Kuznets Curve, the economics of climate change and environmental taxation. Individual chapters are organised as self-contained, state-of-the-art expositions of the core issues of environmental economics, with extensive cross-referencing from one chapter to another, in order to guide the student or policy-maker through these complex problems. Paul Ekins breaks new ground in defining the conditions of compatibility between economic growth and environmental sustainability, and provides measures and criteria by which the environmental sustainability of economic growth, as it occurs in the real world, may be judged. It is argued that `green growth' is not only theoretically possible but economically achievable and the authors show what environmental and economic policies are required to achieve this. Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability will be welcolmed by students of and researchers in environmental economics and environmental studies, as well as all interested policy-makers.

Studies that integrate scientific, technological, and economic dimensions of industrial ecology and material flows. The use of economic modeling techniques in industrial ecology research provides distinct advantages over the customary approach, which focuses on the physical description of material flows. The thirteen chapters of Economics of Industrial Ecology integrate the natural science and technological dimensions of industrial ecology with a rigorous economic approach and by doing so contribute to the advancement of this emerging field. Using a variety of modeling techniques (including econometric, partial and general equilibrium, and input-output models) and applying them to a wide range of materials, economic sectors, and countries, these studies analyze the driving forces behind material flows and structural changes in order to offer guidance for economically and socially feasible policy solutions. After a survey of concepts and relevant research that provides a useful background for the chapters that follow, the book presents historical analyses of structural change from statistical and decomposition approaches; a range of models that predict structural change on the national and regional scale under different policy scenarios; two models that can be used to analyze waste management and recycling operations; and, adopting the perspective of local scale, an analysis of the dynamics of eco-industrial parks in Denmark and the Netherlands. The book concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of an economic approach to industrial ecology.