Zhang Junxue, Zhang He, Asutosh Ashish T, Sun Nameng, Fu Xiaohui, Wang Hairuo, Li Xindi
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhen Jiang, 212100, People's Republic of China.
M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management, College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32603, USA.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Mar;30(14):40670-40697. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-24763-2. Epub 2023 Jan 9.
Severe environmental destruction is being driven by excessive resource consumption in the industrial production process. Therefore, there is a necessity to evaluate the sustainability of the production system. In this study, the emergy method has been adopted to assess the flat building glass production in China based on raw material and chemical composition. A series of problems including key contributors, primary sustainable indexes, unit emergy value (UEVs), sensitivity ratios, and waste impact was studied. The results illustrate that (1) the nonrenewable resources and imported resources showed the dominant impacts. (2) Silica sand and sandstone were the foremost items for the raw material angle emergy. (3) Excessive EIR, serious ELR, and tiny ESI were the main contributors to the unsustainability of the evaluated system. (4) Four UEVs were revealed, which are 1.69E + 12sej/kg, 1.80E + 12sej/kg, 1.60E + 12sej/kg, and 1.71E + 12sej/kg, respectively. (5) The nonrenewable resources showed the biggest fluctuation (7.09%), followed by imported resources (1.62%) in view of the raw material perspective; for the chemical composition, the nonrenewable resources were 7.15%, and imported resources were 1.49%, respectively. (6) Waste gas emissions were found as the major emergy contributor to the economic loss. Furthermore, positive solutions were discussed for improving the sustainability of glass production, including the proportion increase of renewable energy, recycling material replacement, and promotion of energy-saving equipment.
工业生产过程中的过度资源消耗正导致严重的环境破坏。因此，有必要评估生产系统的可持续性。在本研究中，采用能值方法基于原材料和化学成分对中国平板建筑玻璃生产进行评估。研究了一系列问题，包括关键贡献因素、主要可持续指标、单位能值（UEVs）、敏感度比率和废弃物影响。结果表明：（1）不可再生资源和进口资源显示出主要影响。（2）硅砂和砂岩是从原材料角度看能值最高的项目。（3）过高的环境影响率（EIR）、严重的环境负载率（ELR）和微小的环境可持续性指数（ESI）是评估系统不可持续性的主要因素。（4）揭示了四个单位能值，分别为1.69E + 12sej/kg、1.80E + 12sej/kg、1.60E + 12sej/kg和1.71E + 12sej/kg。（5）从原材料角度看，不可再生资源的波动最大（7.09%），其次是进口资源（1.62%）；从化学成分角度看，不可再生资源分别为7.15%，进口资源为1.49%。（6）发现废气排放是经济损失的主要能值贡献因素。此外，还讨论了提高玻璃生产可持续性的积极解决方案，包括增加可再生能源的比例、替换回收材料以及推广节能设备。
