Eco-industrial development for Aceh<\/p>\n
Erita Narhetali, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Several initiatives have been declared to implement
\nsustainable development in the rehabilitation and reconstruction
\nof post-tsunami Aceh, including to the plan to design Aceh as a
\ngreen province with 40 percent of its area to be protected as
\nlimited utilization areas. The usage of local materials in
\nbuilding houses has also been encouraged.<\/p>\n
However, we must be careful in our of the use the term \"green\"
\nso as not to narrow our understanding of sustainable development
\nto merely mean saving trees.<\/p>\n
Essentially, sustainable development is about creating and
\nassisting a new lifestyle and mindset that fully understands
\ncommunities as living systems embedded in natural systems. It
\ntherefore requires working on solutions with a multisectoral
\napproach such as energy, industry, materials, consumption, design
\nand communities. As a result, improvement in the quality of human
\nlife is achieved in harmony with improving and maintaining the
\nhealth of ecological systems; and where a healthy economy's
\nindustrial base supports the quality of both human and ecological
\nsystems.<\/p>\n
Sustainable materials, in terms of not using illegally logged
\ntimber, are indeed important. Yet, this approach does nothing to
\naddress the critical question of how to make more efficient use
\nof limited resources in the context of a growing population, high
\ndemand and tightened economic situations.<\/p>\n
One of the most promising strategies for sustainable
\ndevelopment is known as Industrial Ecology, which provides a
\nconceptual framework and an important tool for the planning of
\neconomic development, particularly at the regional level.
\nCombining conceptual frameworks with a practical approach to
\nsustainability, it represents one path to provide real solutions
\nto the question -- \"How can the concept of sustainable
\ndevelopment be made operational in an economically feasible way?\"<\/p>\n
As a relatively new field of research that is rapidly emerging
\non a global scale, industrial ecology focuses on the sustainable
\nco-existence of the environment, technology and society.
\nProcesses in nature, where cycles are closed and waste from one
\nprocess is input for another, are models for socio-technological
\nprocesses. Frosch and Gallopoulos (1989) first introduced the
\nterm Industrial Ecology together with the concept of Industrial
\nEcosystems, referring to the design of production sites in
\nanalogy to natural ecosystems. By taking lessons from nature,
\nwhere waste from one process is raw material for another and
\ncycles are closed, society may develop towards sustainability.<\/p>\n
It is also important to highlight that the word \"industrial\",
\nin the context of industrial ecology, refers to all human
\nactivities occurring within a modern technological society. Thus
\nfisheries, housing, medical services, transportation,
\nagriculture, etc., are all a part of the industrial system.<\/p>\n
The rehabilitation and reconstruction phase in Aceh provides
\nus with a huge opportunity to model sustainable development using
\nan industrial ecology approach. Public planners and local
\nofficials now face a number of pressures in planning for economic
\ngrowth and managing local environmental issues especially after
\nthe tsunami.<\/p>\n
Such developments must be socially just, economically fair,
\nand ecologically healthy, while also enabling the recovery of
\nphysical, psychological and social systems. Meanwhile, aid has to
\nbe given to support sectoral developments like housing, health
\nservices, and education, as a matter of urgency.<\/p>\n
As consequence, revising local and regional spatial plans
\nshould reckon ongoing activities relative to the environmental,
\nsocial and economic capacity of local people. Poor planning will
\nreduce potential land use, or interfere with urban activity or
\nimportant natural ecosystem biodiversity. This is where the bulk
\nof industrial ecology design should take place.<\/p>\n
Applying industrial ecology to the development at the local
\nlevel implies looking at activities from a life-cycle perspective
\n-- from cradle-to-grave, including energy and materials at the
\nlocation but also in a wider perspective.<\/p>\n
Let say, for example, we are going to design a system of
\nsustainable fisheries. There are materials needed to build boats,
\nbut these materials are made in industrial processes which also
\nrequire energy. So the nature of the boats and scale of industry
\ndetermine the life-cycle impacts of the fishery system and its
\ninfrastructure and there is a need to look for more sustainable
\nmaterials.<\/p>\n
An alternative for fueling fishery boats could perhaps be
\nbiofuel. Bio-diesel can be made from plants - vegetable oils, or
\nsugar, that will also open an alternative local agricultural
\nopportunities. It also fits into the scale and support for local
\nenergy self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n
In closing cycles and waste streams, it is worth processing
\nfishery waste to be used as feed for local fish ponds, or in
\nshrimp farms. The by-products could also serve as fertilizer,
\nwhile waste water from the industry could be purified in a small
\nlocal waste water treatment plant, together with household
\norganic waste.<\/p>\n
Management of these activities would be chain management.
\nClosing cycles, re-using waste streams or looking at waste as a
\nresource, sharing facilities and infrastructure belong to the
\nmost important of industrial ecology principles.<\/p>\n
Where, for example, there are several different industrial
\nactivities in the same area (for example, coal mining, fisheries,
\npower plants, and housing altogether in a city), the development
\nof an eco-industrial park (EIP) is strongly recommended.<\/p>\n
The most acknowledged model of an eco-industrial park is the
\nDanish coastal city of Kalundborg. In this city, the main
\nindustries and the local government turn by-products into raw
\nmaterials by trading and making use of their waste streams and
\nenergy resources. Kalundborg community and other similar cases
\ndeveloped entirely through market forces.<\/p>\n
In dealing with the energy crisis, industrial ecology strategy
\ngoes further than just cutting consumption or applying an end-of-
\npipe approach. It supports eco-efficiency because a regional
\ncircular economy is encouraged. Therefore, the objectives of
\nsustainable development are more feasible to achieve. Public
\nplanners and policymakers would be well to examine these concepts
\nfor application in post-tsunami Aceh so that the available aid
\nused optimally.<\/p>\n
The writer is a member of Kolaborasi Nurani. She can be
\nreached at melati747@yahoo.com.<\/p>",
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