Applying agent-based modeling to the evolution of eco-industrial systems

Kai Cao, Xiao Feng and Hui Wan

Ecological Economics, 2009, vol. 68, issue 11, pages 2868-2876

Abstract: Agent-based modeling is simply a modeling technique for describing complex adaptive systems in a form that can be solved by computers. In this paper, agent-based modeling is applied to eco-industrial systems to gain new insights into their behavior. The factory in the eco-industrial systems is taken as an agent, and the objects, attributes and behaviors are determined. Some important interaction mechanisms between agents are also designed. Besides, the sustainability evolution is also studied through emergy theory. More importantly, a new concept, the Internal-flow emergy, is used to indicate the evolution direction of an eco-industrial system. Finally, a hypothetical eco-industrial park utilizing natural gas and halite as the main raw material inputs is adopted as a case study to illustrate the effectiveness of the agent-based modeling.

Keywords: Eco-industrial; systems; Agent-based; modeling; Complex; adaptive; system; Emergy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VDY ... a81c83a6d3537d5254fa
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:68:y:2009:i:11:p:2868-2876

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Economics is edited by C. J. Cleveland

More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier
Series data maintained by Heidi Boesdal ().