Environmental Remediation Costs Research Articles

Optimizing environmental costs and economic benefits in new energy vehicle production: A case study of FAW Hongqi in China

This study focuses on the environmental cost accounting and economic benefit optimization of China’s FAW Hongqi New Energy Vehicle manufacturing enterprise under uncertain conditions, within the context of the emission permit system This study calculates the pollution situation throughout the manufacturing and production process of FAW Hongqi new energy vehicles, and constructs a multi-level environmental cost evaluation system for FAW Hongqi new energy vehicle manufacturing projects. Through the interval fuzzy model of FAW Hongqi new energy vehicle manufacturing projects, the maximum economic benefits of the enterprise are simulated. The research results indicate that the pollution emissions of enterprises are mainly concentrated in the three processes of welding, painting, and final assembly. Enterprises use their own exhaust gas and wastewater treatment devices to meet the standards for pollution emissions. At the same time, solid waste generated during the automobile manufacturing process is handed over to third-party companies for treatment. Secondly, based on the accounting results of enterprise pollution source intensity and a multi-layer environmental cost evaluation system, the environmental costs of enterprises are accounted for, and the environmental costs are represented in interval form to reduce uncertainty in the accounting process. According to the accounting results of enterprise environmental costs, the main environmental costs of enterprises are environmental remediation costs caused by normal pollution discharge and purchase costs of environmental protection facilities. Pollutant emission taxes and routine environmental monitoring costs are relatively low. Enterprises can adopt more scientific solutions from the aspects of environmental remediation and environmental protection facilities to reduce environmental costs. After optimization by the fuzzy interval uncertainty optimization model, the economic benefits of the FAW Hongqi new energy vehicle manufacturing project were [101,254.71, 6278.5413] million yuan. Compared with the interval uncertainty optimization model, the lower bound of economic benefits increased by 57.68%, and the upper bound decreased by 12.08%, shortening the results of the economic benefits interval. Clarify the current environmental pollution situation of FAW Hongqi’s new energy vehicle manufacturing enterprise, provide data support for sustainable development of the enterprise, and provide reasonable decision-making space for enterprise decision-makers.

A model for quantification of environmental risk in mining ventures

The premature termination of industrial projects, often triggered by insufficient revenue generation to cover liabilities, poses a significant challenge in project evaluation. Although the conventional discounted cash flow (DCF) method remains widely used, its inability to account for project failure probabilities can lead to resource misallocation. This study aims to address this limitation by applying real options theory to assess the risk of premature abandonment within the context of a mineral extraction project. In this proposed system, fluctuations in environmental remediation costs are modelled by considering the cumulative probabilities of cost increases or decreases at each time step. The simulated project value reflects the cumulative activities required for mine closure, where each ton of extracted ore generates an environmental liability demanding remediation. Through the application of this system, the study demonstrates its effectiveness in identifying an escalating probability of project closure over time. Particularly, the findings reveal the existence of a critical threshold date. Beyond this date, any operational suspension exceeding one year renders project closure the economically optimal choice. This closure encompasses all necessary environmental restoration activities. By integrating real options theory into project evaluation, this study offers a more comprehensive approach to assessing the risk of premature project abandonment in mineral extraction projects. Through the consideration of fluctuating environmental remediation costs and the cumulative probabilities of project closure, it provides valuable insights for decision-making in project management and resource allocation. The trigger curve generated allowed for the identification of the viability threshold of the venture. Identifying the threshold to initiate the mining closure project.

Environmental Conservation Costs and Sustainable Business Growth in Listed Oil and Gas Companies in Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between the costs of environmental conservation and sustainable business growth of publicly traded Nigerian oil and gas companies. The study’s major objectives were to determine how the independent variables of environmental conservation represented by community development cost, pollution cost and environmental remediation cost affected the dependent variables of sustainable business growth represented by return on asset and gross margin return on investment. Data for the study came from financial statements and annual reports covering the years 2011–2022, and it employed an ex post facto research design. Regression analysis in E-View 10.0 was used to test the hypotheses. According to the empirical data analysis, there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between community development costs, and gross margin returns on investment (0.526033 and 0.000918), which implies that there is a significant relationship between the gross margin return on investment and sustainable business growth. Similarly, 2.652824 and 0.000000 indicate a favorable and statistically significant relationship between pollution cost and GMRI. However, -0.233125 and 0.000000 demonstrate a negative and statistically significant relationship between environmental remediation costs and GMRI. A total of three independent factors accounts for 53% of the variance in the dependent variable, according to the R-squared value of 0.534613. According to the study’s conclusions, there is a positive correlation between the costs of environmental conservation and the sustainable growth of listed oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The study also suggests that oil and gas companies should maintain a friendly environment for this will reduce the amount spent in repairing the damaged that their activities had caused on the environment. The goal of this initiative is to boost the efficiency of community development groups by providing incentives for their work on the created friendly environment.

A Semi-Analytical Model of Contaminant Transport in Barrier Systems with Arbitrary Numbers of Layers

In regions with sanitary landfills, unsuitable liner designs can result in significant soil and groundwater contamination, leading to substantial environmental remediation costs. Addressing this challenge, we propose a semi-analytical model for solute transport that uses the advection–dispersion–reaction equation in a multi-layered liner system. A distinctive feature of our model is its ability to account for infiltration velocity, arbitrary numbers of layers, thin layers such as geomembranes, and mass flow. We validated our model against existing published models and applied it to a case study of a real sanitary landfill in the capital of Brazil. Through parametric analyses, we simulated contaminant transport across various layers, including the geomembrane (GM), geosynthetic clay liner (GCL), soil liner (SL), and compacted clay liner (CCL). The analyses showed the importance of choosing the most appropriate construction system based on the location and availability of materials. Considering toluene contamination, a GM molecular diffusion coefficient (DGM) greater than 10−13 m2 s−1 exhibited similar efficiency when compared with CCL (60 cm thick). In addition, the results showed that the liner system may have the same efficiency in changing SL (60 cm thick) for a GCL (1 cm thick).

Ecological accounting of the Chinese society 2012–2020 based on extended exergy

China's social system has undergone unprecedented economic transformation in the past decade. It is essential that the relationship between the country's socio-economic development and natural ecosystem be revealed, thereby revealing the evolutionary trajectory of its biophysical sustainability. The extended exergy accounting (EEA) method offers a thermodynamics-based tool to evaluate the structure and function of a social system and objectively estimate the impacts of human activities on sustainable development and broader ecosystems. This study aims to perform extended exergy analysis to trace the flows of resources, labor, capital, and environmental remediation exegetics in China's society from 2012 to 2020. During the accounting period, the average annual growth rate of total extended exergy (TEE) was just 1.2%. The TEE in the conversion and tertiary sectors ew noticeably faster than those in other sub-sectors, while the TEE in the extraction and agriculture sectors showed a declining trend. The TEE in 2020 reached 764.50 EJ, of which 179.13 EJ were attributed to Cumulative Exergy Consumption, 74.89 EJ were attributed to labor, 68.85 EJ to capital, and 441.63 EJ to environmental remediation costs. The indicator assessment reflects an enhancement in the sustainability of the Chinese social system, particularly the rapid improvement in labor and capital-related indicators. Comparing the results with other countries demonstrates that the gap between China and developed nations has narrowed, with China's indicators for balancing resource production and capital flows rivaling those of the U.S. and the U.K. The objective revelation of the developmental and transitional trajectory of Chinese society, based on the EEA approach, provides valuable insights for other developing countries in achieving sustainable development.

Centrate as a sustainable growth medium: Impact on microalgal inocula and bacterial communities in tubular photobioreactor cultivation systems

Centrate is a low-cost alternative to synthetic fertilizers for microalgal cultivation, reducing environmental burdens and remediation costs. Adapted microalgae need to be selected and characterised to maximise biomass production and depuration efficiency. Here, the performance and composition of six microalgal communities cultivated both on synthetic media and centrate within semi-open tubular photobioreactors were investigated through Illumina sequencing. Biomass grown on centrate, exposed to a high concentration of ammonium, showed a higher quantity of nitrogen (5.6% dry weight) than the biomass grown on the synthetic media nitrate (3.9% dry weight). Eukaryotic inocula were replaced by other microalgae while cyanobacterial inocula were maintained. Communities were generally similar for the same inoculum between media, however, inoculation with cyanobacteria led to variability within the eukaryotic community. Where communities differed, centrate resulted in a higher richness and diversity. The higher nitrogen of centrate possibly led to higher abundance of genes coding for N metabolism enzymes.

An improved extended exergy accounting method for assessing the sustainability of the Chinese society

This study presents an ecological accounting for the Chinese society using improved extended exergy accounting method. Based on the input–output table of China, we capture the economic linkages of societal labor and capital fluxes, and improve the equivalent exergy metrics of labor and capital to be consistent with the Chinese situation. Material and externalities-equivalent exergy structures are examined by the quantitative estimation and indicator assessment. Results show that the total resource consumption of the Chinese society amounted to 151.6 EJ in 2012, while the total equivalent exergetic values of labor, capital and environmental remediation cost were estimated at 67.0 EJ, 69.1 EJ and 411.5 EJ, respectively. The national total capital and labor input was close to its resource consumption, but only equal to one third of the environmental remediation cost, highlighting the contribution of ecosystem products and services. An overall system diagram covering major extended-exergy inflows and outflows within the society was designed to display the complex metabolism process and network relationship of resource use, economic production and environmental externalities in an integrative way. Exergy and extended exergy analyses of the Chinese society for a benchmark year contributes to understanding the operation of a socio-economic system from a biophysical perspective and establishing effective regulatory strategies of production and consumption activities to accelerate a shift towards sustainability.

Environmental Disclosure and Financial Performance of Listed Non-Financial Companies in Nigeria

This study examines the influence of environmental disclosure (ED) on financial performance of listed non-financial companies in Nigeria from 2013-2020. A sample of seventy-six (76) companies listed as non-financial was drawn from the population of one hundred and thirteen (113) companies. Audited annual reports and accounts were used for data extraction. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. Explanatory research designed was adopted in the study to find out the influence of ED on financial performance. Variables used include the ED measured using ordinal coding scheme based on GRI guidelines (G4) focusing on environmental prevention expenditure disclosure(EN40), Waste disposal, emission treatment and remediation cost disclosure (EN41), Prevention and environmental management cost disclosure (EN 41) used as proxies for independent variable and financial performances’ accounting and market based measures proxy by earnings per share and Tobin’s Q was used as the dependent variable. Robustness tests such as multicollonearity test, heteroscedasticity test, normality test and Hausman specification test were conducted to validate the results. The study revealed that there is positive significant relationship between EPED, WDCD, PMCD and EPS while negative with TQ of listed Nigerian non-financial companies. The study therefore, recommends that the management of listed non-financial companies in Nigeria should create awareness on the importance of EPED, WDCD, PMCD and the other benefit that can be derived by a company and investors as a result of engaging in environmental activities as this may create good relationship between the company and the environment and consequently will improve financial performance. And also professional accounting bodies in Nigeria like the ICAN and the ANAN should key into introducing environmental and sustainability reporting into their mandatory professional education programs as this is a contemporary issue in accounting development this will help accountants to be trained on environmental accounting and reporting.

ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA'S SELECTED EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY

The continued depletion of environmental resources in a bid to meet up with human needs coupled with the desire of every business entity to remain profitable has aroused the need to explore the right mix to balance the desire of all stakeholders. This study thus examined the effect of environmental cost on financial performance in the extractive industry in Nigeria. 18 companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange were sampled for the study and secondary data from their annual financial reports for a period of 11 years (2010-2020) was collected and analyzed using panel regression estimation model. Findings from the result (R2 = 0.476728: F-statistic < 0.01) indicates that cost of Environmental variables like Environmental Remediation Cost, Administrative Cost has a positive effect on Financial performance, Business location Cost has a negative and highly significant effect on financial performance while Research and Development Cost and Social Cost has no effect on financial performance of selected sampled extractive industry in Nigeria. The study therefore concluded that Business location Cost exert negative and highly significant effect on financial performance while Research and Development Cost and Social Cost has no significant effect on financial performance of selected sampled extractive industry in Nigeria. Thus, it was recommended that extractive industry in Nigeria should be objective in their financial expenses so as to improve on their performance possibilities.

ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF OIL AND GAS COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

This study ascertains the effect of environmental costs on financial performance of oil and gas companies on the Nigeria stock exchange. The specific objectives are to: Ascertain the effect of Environmental Remediation Cost on Tobin’s Q of Oil and Gas Companies listed on Nigeria Stock Exchange, and evaluate the effect of Compliance Cost on Tobin’s Q of Oil and Gas Companies on the Nigeria Stock Exchange. Ex Post Facto research design was adopted for the study. Data were gathered from the published financial statements of the eleven (11) Oil and Gas companies for eleven (12) years period. The study found that Compliance Cost and Environmental Remediation Cost have significant effect on Tobin’s Q of Oil and Gas Companies listed on Nigeria Stock Exchange. Based on this, the researchers recommended amongst others that since Environmental Remediation Cost and financial performance are positively related, then oil and gas firms should be environmentally friendly to enable them gain competitive advantage, high liquidity and reduced environmental cost in the long run.

Shape from function: The exergy cost of viscous flow in bifurcated diabatic tubes

Bifurcated flows are ubiquitous in nature. Their being such a common feature of many natural “structures” has prompted a multitude of investigations in diverse scientific branches: botanists, neurophysicians, biologists and chemists have attempted to find a “structural plan” on which to build a general model of the formation and evolution of bifurcations. Not incidentally, the engineering side of the issue is also extremely interesting: from heat exchangers to pipelines to district heating networks, the existence of a “general geometric model” would much facilitate a designer’s life.The study reported in this paper is based on a straightforward application of the exergy cost theory to the development and self-sustenance of natural bifurcated structures and leads to the conclusion that the shape, connectivity and evolution of a dycotomic depend on several factors that are irreducibly case dependent.This result is of great importance for engineered bifurcations, for which the same impossibility to generalize is again demonstrated: here though, since the “design goals” are formulated as rather simple constraints (simpler than in nature!), a somewhat larger degree of (albeit always application-dependent) generality is found.The exergy cost method is valid for any virtual or real system, and assigns a “resource cost” to its products: it consists in evaluating the exergy inflows (in W) and in keeping an accurate bookkeeping of the embodied exergy (in W/kg or W/m3) into the system, to calculate an average (instantaneous or lifetime-based) exergy input. The cost is then obtained by dividing this “cumulative input” by the exergy flux of the “products” in the same time window. In natural processes, this cost is called the Exergy Footprint, because it represents the actual primary resource consumption necessary to generate the outputs. In engineered artifacts, an additional procedure can be used to internalize the externalities (Labour, Capital and Environmental Remediation cost) so that the total equivalent primary exergy consumption needed to generate a unit of “product” can be again applied as a cost indicator.The novelty of the method and of the results discussed in this paper is twofold: first, the two most popular bifurcation models (Fractal and Constructal) are critically re-evaluated to show that neither one succeeds in generating credible predictive correlations. Second, it is demonstrated that the exergy costing paradigm provides a feasible and rigorous method for identifying the optimal bifurcation geometry for practical engineering applications. To express the results in a concise sentence: it is indeed possible to accurately and rigorously predict the optimal shape of a bifurcated structure once its function is known, but at the loss of generality. Neither in nature nor in engineering sciences bifurcated flows can be optimized by a universally valid allometric rule.

Effect of Environmental Cost Disclosure on Profitability of Listed Oil and Gas Firms in Nigeria

The objective of this study was to ascertain the effect of environmental cost disclosure on profitability of oil and gas firms listed on Nigeria Stock Exchange between 2010 and 2019. Eleven (11) listed oil and gas firms were purposively sampled. The proxies for environmental cost disclosure include waste management cost disclosure, employee health and safety cost disclosure and environmental remediation cost, while net profit margin was employed as profitability measure. Content analysis was employed while Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Panel Least Square (PLS) Regression analysis via STATA 13 statistical software were used to test the hypotheses of the study. The result of this study showed that waste management cost disclosure, employee health and safety cost disclosure and environmental remediation cost disclosure have a significant positive effect on net profit margin at 5% level of significance respectively. This study therefore recommends inter alia that since environmental cost is value relevant in making strategic business decision. Thus, oil and gas firms should constantly reposition their accounting system in order to provide information on environmental cost so that the true costs in an organization can be ascertained and properly allocated.

Abandoned Industrial Areas with Critical Environmental Pollution: Evaluation Model and Stigma Effect

The paper illustrates the phases and results of an evaluation model applied to abandoned industrial areas affected by critical environmental pollution. The main aim is to provide the economic evaluation of the impacts of critical environmental pollution on the market value of the areas, in anticipation of their future requalification and refunctionalization. Firstly, two mass appraisal models are applied: a regressive model in order to isolate the effects of real estate valorization generated by the requalification interventions of the abandoned steel mill areas of Bagnoli in Naples (Italy); an autoregressive model in relation to the chronology of the interventions and the real estate market dynamics, in order to predict values and costs of the building products to be realized on the areas. Subsequently, using the Ellwood model, the irreversible damage suffered by the areas in question due to the effect of critical environmental pollution is estimated. This irreversible damage corresponds to a “stigma” effect, or a loss to property value due to the presence of a risk perception-driven market resistance: for the abandoned steel mill areas of Bagnoli the reduction in the market value is equal to 28.63% approximately. The state of contamination of the areas is also described, estimating the related environmental remediation costs as a “deduction” to be applied to the “capital value” of the areas.

Extended exergy analysis (EAA) of two canola farming systems in Khorramabad, Iran

Extended exergy analysis (EEA) is a novel method in evaluation of agricultural ecosystems. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of the sustainability of an agricultural system was carried out using this method. Specifically, we looked for sustainable patterns of canola production by performing EEAs of two canola production systems, commercial and traditional, located in Khorramabd, Iran using data from the 2017–2018 crop year. The EEA of these two systems showed that the exergy of the environmental remediation cost (EEE) for the traditional system was less than that of the commercial system by 2.69 × 104 MJ ha−1. Accordingly, the ecological sustainability of the traditional system was found to be two times higher than the commercial system. In contrast, the values of thermodynamic indicators such as the capital conversion factor of the annual monetary value of product sales (KcapEEA), the extended exergy efficiency (ŊEEA), and the cumulative degree of perfection (CDP), respectively, indicate the higher economic value, the higher thermodynamic efficiency, and the greater optimality of the commercial system compared to the traditional system. The high consumption of inputs led to increased cumulative exergy consumption (CExC) in the traditional system. The high amount of CExC in the traditional system caused its thermodynamic indices to decrease. On the other hand, the high consumption of resources such as chemical fertilizers caused the EEE of the commercial system to increase. Therefore, based on the results of the EEAs performed in this study, we recommend designing new patterns for managing agricultural production systems, whereby through choosing the appropriate type and amount of inputs for each production system and by employing the required knowledge and technology for optimum production, the costs of environmental remediation will be reduced, and the thermodynamic-economic indexes will be improved.

Statistical analysis of environmental consequences of hazardous liquid pipeline accidents

Although pipelines are the safest method to transport fuels, they are associated with risks due to failures, leading to significant negative consequences. This paper investigates pipeline accident data provided by PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration) between 2010 and 2017, with a focus on environmental consequences of hazardous liquid pipeline accidents. The average amount of released product, the average time elapsed between the accident, the emergency response from the oil company, and the average costs of environmental remediation are estimated. The impact on soil, water, and wildlife is investigated for frequency and magnitude, where possible. It was found that, on average, 85% of product released after an accident remained unrecovered, 53% of accidents led to soil contamination, 41% of accidents impacted environmentally sensitive areas, and 92% of water crossing pipelines involved in accidents were uncased. From an annual average total cost of USD 326 million, annual average environmental damage and remediation costs were USD 140 million. This analysis assists in the diagnosis of challenges that might be addressed with improved maintenance and inspection programs, especially for pipelines at higher risk of negative environmental consequences. Finally, the performance of safety management systems should be improved to efficiently respond to emergencies.

2017 MPIF PM Design Excellence Competition: US auto parts shine again

As energy, environmental remediation and raw material costs for hardmetal production escalate with increasing demand, the need for developing and implementing technologies for reducing environmental impact becomes more urgent, while, at the same time, reducing material cost. A range of technologies can be employed for recycling hard and soft hardmetal scrap which consume less energy and require lower capital investment than for virgin powder. Performance and processing targets with recycled materials must be equivalent to those from virgin material. Conventional solvent based processing can be replaced by water based processing of hardmetal compositions to reduce environmentally damaging emissions and associated costs. This will be particularly useful as government regulations move to reduce or eliminate emission of organic solvents. Raw material consumption can be reduced by employing near-net-shape or net-shape technologies, since many hardmetal parts are finished by hard grinding, which generates grinding sludge. Partial or complete replacement of WC/Co with other hardmetals is another strategy worthy of consideration in reducing the impact of hardmetal production on the environment.

Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions assessment and extended exergy accounting of a horizontal-flow constructed wetland for municipal wastewater treatment: A case study in Chile

The life-cycle greenhouse gaseous emissions and primary exergy resources consumption associated with a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF) were investigated. The subject of study was a wetland for municipal wastewater treatment with a 700-person-equivalent capacity. The effects of two types of emergent aquatic macrophytes (Phragmites australis and Schoenoplectus californicus) and seasonality on greenhouse gas (GHG) gas emissions, the environmental remediation cost (ERC) and the specific environmental remediation cost (SERC) were assessed. The results indicate that GHG emissions per capita (12–22kgCO2eq/p.e/yr) and primary exergy resources consumed (24–27MJ/m3) for the HSSF are lower than those of a conventional wastewater treatment plant (67.9kgCO2eq/p.e/yr and 96MJ/m3). The SERC varied between 176 and 216MJ/kg biological oxygen demand (BOD5) removal, which should be further reduced by 20% for an improved BOD5 removal efficiency above 90%. The low organic matter removal efficiency is associated with a high organic load and low bacterial development. Seasonality has a marked effect on the organic removal efficiency and the SERC, but the macrophyte species does not.

Reduction of environmental impact in hardmetal technologies

As energy, environmental remediation and raw material costs for hardmetal production escalate with increasing demand, the need for developing and implementing technologies for reducing environmental impact becomes more urgent, while, at the same time, reducing material cost. A range of technologies can be employed for recycling hard and soft hardmetal scrap which consume less energy and require lower capital investment than for virgin powder. Performance and processing targets with recycled materials must be equivalent to those from virgin material. Conventional solvent based processing can be replaced by water based processing of hardmetal compositions to reduce environmentally damaging emissions and associated costs. This will be particularly useful as government regulations move to reduce or eliminate emission of organic solvents. Raw material consumption can be reduced by employing near-net-shape or net-shape technologies, since many hardmetal parts are finished by hard grinding, which generates grinding sludge. Partial or complete replacement of WC/Co with other hardmetals is another strategy worthy of consideration in reducing the impact of hardmetal production on the environment.

Extended Exergy Accounting analysis of IGCC process – Determination of environmental remediation cost of refinery and coke processing waste

This study focuses on determination of environmental remediation cost of energy production from refinery and coke processing solid waste by means of Extended Exergy Accounting methodology. Environmental remediation cost is a novel concept which is proposed by the method of Extended Exergy Accounting and it represents the cumulative resource equivalent of the pollutants to convert them into ideal, zero-impact disposal. In this study, refinery and coke processing waste is subjected to integrated gasification combined cycle which is a gasification and combustion technology. Considered waste composition is based on Turkish industrial waste generation data. This is the first study in the literature that environmental remediation cost of refinery and coke processing residues is obtained in line with the original calculation route by Extended Exergy Accounting methodology, i.e., artificial ways such as determination of environmental remediation cost by converting monetary cost of treatment system into its exergetic equivalent are avoided. Integrated gasification combined cycle is a commercially mature, technically well-known and state-of-the-art industrial treatment system, thus, the obtained environmental remediation cost result has the corresponding importance. Environmental remediation cost of refinery and coke waste combination is determined as 0.138 TJ/Ton and it is seen that resource consumption in required treatment processes for emitted CO2 and waste transportation are the largest constituents of environmental remediation cost.

Emergy evaluation for a low-carbon industrial park

As the basic units of eco-city development, low-carbon industrial parks significantly contribute to national environmental protection and carbon emission mitigation. This paper established an embodied carbon accounting framework based on emergy to identify the input–output structure and embodied carbon emission flows of the industrial park. An emergy-based embodied carbon indicator system was also set up to evaluate the low-carbon system performance. The case study of a typical industrial park in Beijing shows that the embodied carbon emissions of the whole process are mainly concentrated on the outside inputs, waste management and water recycling, of which the outside inputs have lower embodied carbon emission intensities than those of the waste management and water recycling sectors. The embodied carbon emission intensity associated with the exploitation of local renewable resources is lower than that of non-renewable resources. The embodied carbon-related sustainability indicator (ESICO2) is large, implying that the case park can sustain a balance between embodied carbon emission level and environment supporting ability. Particularly, the embodied carbon emission intensity of waste management per unit emergy yield is low, indicating that the environmental remediation cost of the total production of case park is relatively small.