Journal of Industrial Ecology

Call for Papers:

Special Issue on the Industrial Ecology of Bio-based Materials

The deadline for submissions to this special issue has passed. The issue was published as JIE vol. 7 no. 3-4 (May, 2004).

The Journal of Industrial Ecology invites you to submit articles for a special issue on the environmental impact of bio-based materials. The use of biomass including agricultural residues, industrial bio-process and post-consumer wastes as well as crops intentionally grown as a source of industrial raw materials is attracting considerable attention in industrial and environmental circles (U.S. NRC 2000). This return to renewable raw materials (RRM), in lieu of petrochemically-based feedstocks and energy carriers, has the potential to reduce demand for fossil fuels, lower the generation of greenhouse gases and mitigate a host of other environmental threats. Advances in biotechnology have made this technology pathway both more cost-effective and potentially "greener." Several recent studies (Gerngross 1999, Kurdikar et al. 2000), however, have cast doubt on the environmental desirability of bio-based materials, highlighting the need for systems-based analyses.

Industrial ecology, as a field centrally concerned with materials choice, the opportunities for environmental improvement through technological innovation and the insights to be gained from systems-based analyses, is especially well positioned to examine whether a dramatic shift from petrochemicals to bio-based materials is advantageous.

This special issue will be edited by Professor Robert Anex of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering of Iowa State University, USA and peer reviewed through the Journal's established procedures.

Suggested Topics for the Special Issue

The goal of this special issue is to examine the environmental implications--good and bad--of increased use of bio-based materials and fuels, including biopolymers, bio-ethanol, biodiesel and bulk commodity chemicals and intermediates derived from biomass.

Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to, environmental implications of:

Discussions are sought of how a wholesale--transformative--shift to bio-based materials could be effectively and analytically assessed (in contrast to a product-by-product or substance-by-substance analysis).

Life cycle assessments (LCA) and other forms of systems-based analyses are especially welcome.

Reviews of relevant recent books and reports are also sought to enrich the special issue. Reviews of web sites and electronic services will be considered. Policy perspectives on the technological developments and applications are also relevant. Ancillary data relevant to articles can be posted on the journal's web site in the form of e-supplements.

The Journal of Industrial Ecology seeks to produce a special issue that will present rigorous and state-of-the-art thinking on this topic. The papers need to link explicitly to themes and topics central to industrial ecology.

Industrial Ecology

Industrial ecology provides a powerful prism through which to examine the environmental character of bio-based materials. Industrial ecology is an emerging field that examines local, regional, and global uses and flows of materials and energy in products, processes, industrial sectors and economies. It focuses on the potential role of industry in reducing environmental burdens throughout the product life cycle and encompasses:



How to Submit

Manuscripts should be original, previously unpublished, in English and between 3,500 and 6,500 words in length. Submission implies that the manuscript has not been submitted for publication elsewhere. Detailed instructions for the preparation of the manuscript can be obtained from the Editor or from the Journal's web page (see web address below).
 

Electronic submission of manuscripts to indecol@yale.edu is preferred. The deadline for submissions is December 2, 2002 .

Sources of Additional Information and References

Gerngross, T. 1999. "Can biotechnology move us toward a sustainable society?" Nature Biotechnology, 17:541-544.

Kurdikar, D., F. Laurence, S. C. Slater, M. Paster, K. J. Gruys, T. U. Gerngross, R. Coulon 2001. "Greenhouse gas profile of a plastic material derived from a genetically modified plant." Journal of Industrial Ecology, 4(3):107-122.

OECD 2001. The Application of Biotechnology to Industrial Sustainability. DSTI/STP/BIO(2001)12. Paris: OECD.

U.S. Department of Energy 1998. Plant/crop-based renewable resources 2020 - A vision to enhance U.S. economic security through plant/crop-based resource use. DOE/GO-10098-385, Washington, D.C.

U.S. Department of Energy 1999. The technology roadmap for plant/crop-based renewable resources 2020 - Research priorities for fulfilling a vision to enhance U.S. economic security through renewable plant/crop-based resource use. DOE/GO-10099-706, Washington, D.C.

U.S. National Research Council, Committee on Biobased Industrial Products. 2000. Biobased Industrial Products: Research and Commercialization Priorities. Washington: National Academy Press <www.nap.edu/books/0309053927/html/>

Send inquiries and submissions to:

Reid Lifset
Editor, Journal of Industrial Ecology
Yale University
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
205 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT, 06511-2189  USA
indecol@yale.edu
http://mitpress.mit.edu/JIE 


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 Last Updated by D. Braden, December 8, 2004