Measuring eco-sustainability: comparison of mass and/or energy flow based highly aggregated indicators

Abstract

Since the concept of sustainable development has found a broad echo in public and political issues, the need for measures that are highly sensitive to sustainable qualities has arisen. As the dissemination of the sustainability concept unfolded, different indicators claimed to show the right direction for our common future. This paper focuses on flow based measures for eco-sustainability. The life cycle analysis (LCA) combined with a valuation via limit threshold values, the material input per unit service (MIPS), the sustainable process index (SPI), the appropriated carrying capacity (ACC), an abatement cost based approach (PCC) and a concept based on the second law of thermodynamics (entropy) are reviewed and discussed. The application of eco-sustainability measures requires an understanding of the basic ideas (ideology) behind the concepts. Each measure is designed for a special field of application and to achieve a special aim. Therefore, valuations do not necessarily point in the same direction when different indices are used. The application of different measures to numerous case studies shows that results strongly depend on the basic assumptions. None of the described measures singly represents all the important attributes of ecological accounting. However, SPI shows the most important abilities and a big ranking potential: recycling problems and the general problems of accounting for sustainable qualities are solved to a large extent. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.