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Scientific Article details

Title Methodology and Indicators of Economy-wide Material Flow Accounting
ID_Doc 79465
Authors Fischer-Kowalski, M; Krausmann, F; Giljum, S; Lutter, S; Mayer, A; Bringezu, S; Moriguchi, Y; Schütz, H; Schandl, H; Weisz, H
Title Methodology and Indicators of Economy-wide Material Flow Accounting
Year 2011
Published Journal Of Industrial Ecology, 15.0, 6
DOI 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2011.00366.x
Abstract This contribution presents the state of the art of economy-wide material flow accounting. Starting from a brief recollection of the intellectual and policy history of this approach, we outline system definition, key methodological assumptions, and derived indicators. The next section makes an effort to establish data reliability and uncertainty for a number of existing multinational (European and global) material flow accounting (MFA) data compilations and discusses sources of inconsistencies and variations for some indicators and trends. The results show that the methodology has reached a certain maturity: Coefficients of variation between databases lie in the range of 10% to 20%, and correlations between databases across countries amount to an average R2 of 0.95. After discussing some of the research frontiers for further methodological development, we conclude that the material flow accounting framework and the data generated have reached a maturity that warrants material flow indicators to complement traditional economic and demographic information in providing a sound basis for discussing national and international policies for sustainable resource use.
Author Keywords economy-wide material flow analysis (EW-MFA); industrial ecology; material flow accounting (MFA); metabolism; raw material extraction; sustainable resource use
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED); Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000298016200006
WoS Category Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences
Research Area Science & Technology - Other Topics; Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
PDF https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2011.00366.x
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