Unified network analysis on the organization of an industrial metabolic system

- SNA and ENA were combined to study the industrial metabolic system.
- Industrial system was analyzed focusing on material and energy flows between nodes.
- Synergism and mutualism occurs in the studied industrial park from the whole view.
- Network analysis shows the park has a certain degree of robustness.
- Environment is the most powerful node which should be protected.

Industrial parks have been playing a crucial role on driving regional economic development, but also been posing threats to local environment due to intensive resource consumption and waste emission. To analyze the trade-off between economic development and environmental pollution, we use an approach based on social and ecologic network analysis to survey the industrial metabolic network and explore their functional characteristics. We conduct a case study in Hefei economic and technological development area, whose components (environment/industrial sectors) are treated as nodes and the relationships (material/energy flows) between nodes are seen as links in this network. Results show that the relationships distribution between components in the entire network basically shows a feature of decentralization. Environment controls the relationships in the network with the greatest advantage. Other industry and fast moving consumer goods industry have considerable ability to build relationships with other components, and are very important for constructing the network. The whole network shows mutualism and synergism based on the ecological relationships between components. In addition the park had a network stability of 0.70, indicating it was in an evolutionary phase, and most material/energy flows are used to improve operational efficiency rather than maintain network stability. This study could provide scientific basis for optimizing industrial park management, thereby reducing environmental pollution and promoting resources conservation.

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