ABSTRACT
An important aspect of an industrial ecosystem is the practice of a high degree of industrial symbiosis. Industrial ecosystems can be broadly defined to include all types of production, processing, and consumption. It is useful to define five major components of an industrial ecosystem. These are a primary materials producer, a source or sources of energy, a materials processing and manufacturing sector, a waste processing sector, and a consumer sector. Each constituent of the system evolves in a manner that maximizes the efficiency with which the system utilizes materials and energy. The most often cited example of a functional industrial ecosystem is that of Kalundborg, Denmark. Natural ecosystems are self-organizing, and self-organization must occur in a successful industrial ecosystem as well. Liquid crude oil is separated into its components by distillation, which can be taken all the way to solid petroleum coke, a material commonly used in electrodes.
