Research On Regional Material Metabolism Based On Material Flow Analysis

Since industrial revolution, human ability of extracting, processing and utilizing natural resources improves because of technological advancement. The exchange of material and energy between socio-economic system and eco-environment system expands rapidly, which brings serious burden on natural environment. So people begin to rethink complex relation between socio-economic behavior and natural ecological system, and gradually realize that the essential source of incisive conflict is current material production and consumption model, namely structure and organization form of material social metabolism. As a result, it becomes one of mainstream of regional sustainable development to optimize and reorganize process of material metabolism. Base on method of Material Flow Analysis, the paper takes Chengyang District in Qingdao as a case to study regional material metabolism. The emphasis of research is put on the basic theory, analysis indicators, assessment system, driving factors and countermeasures of regulation.Firstly, the paper discusses the basic connotation of regional material metabolism. The regional material metabolism is thought as the important carrier of economic activities and representation of economic develoment mode. The level of regional material metabolism decides local natural environmental quality. The characteristics of regional material metabolism includes high intensity, complexity, regulatability, dynamic continuity, regional difference. The important theory of regioanl material metabolism is composed of sustainable development, industrial ecology, circular economics and ecological economics.Secondly, the paper constructs the conceptual model of regional material metabolism and designs framework of analysis indicators including three kinds of indicators such as metabolic size and structure, metabolic intensity, metabolic efficiency. On the base of these indicators, material metabolic state of Chengyang District from 1995 to 2004 is analyzed in detail. The results indicate that material metabolic size of Chengyang District represents obvious increasing trend. The consumption of fossil fuel and mineral increases quickly in input side, while the emission of carbon dioxide and solid waste increases obviously in output side.