Material Flow Analysis (MFA) Of The Environmental-Economic System Of Dalian

Material Flow Analysis(MFA) is a method to measure and interpret material flux and distribution of an environmental-economic system. It is helpful to research society's metabolism and its control strategies. And it is theoretically and practically meaningful for finding a sustainable way of material flow management. So far the research and application of MFA at regional level is comparatively rare.Its methodology has not been unified or standardized. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the methodology of MFA at regional level and research the unstudied regions.In this paper, the methodology of regional MFA is developed based on the framework of national MFA. According to the characteristics of material metabolism and the date base of a regional environmental-economic system, the economic system is divided into five sectors including Agriculture, Indusry, Life, Construction and Transportation. And for the first time the empirical research of Dalian is carried out.The panoramic views of material flows, the quantities and components of material input/output, as well as the indicators of intensity, efficiency and dependence from 2001 to 2007 are analyzed year by year. The results show that: (1)From the quantity point of view, each index of material input and output is large and has a significant growth trend. The growths in the economy and in material throughput have positive correlation. "High investigate, high consumption" of Dalian's social economic development is still evident. And the development is at the cost of resource consumption and environmental degration.(2)As to the material components, non-metallic minerals and fossil fuels are the largest components of the material input. Imported products and metal ores are the fastest growing. On the other hand, carbon dioxide emission is enormous. The increase in air pollutants is significant. And the proportion of solid wastes in the pollution is large. It reflects the dominant roles of Industry and Construction in Dalian's material flows and the rapid development of Transportation. It also reveals the "high carbon emissions" and the large potential for solid waste comprehensive utilization. (3) The average annual growth rate in material consumption intensity is higher than in population but lower than in GDP. The material productivity is increased but still low.It indicates resource use efficiency of Dalian draws the attention but still has to be improved. (4) Year by year the dependence on import increases, revealing that Dalian's development has lager and larger impact on the external systems.Based on MFA of Dalian, environmental Kuznets curve and environmental impact factors are analyzed. And the status, trends, key points for material flow management are discussed to provide suggestions for decision making.The proposed method is suitable for regional MFA. Its inheritance of the framework of national MFA makes the comparability of the analysis results. The analysis of each sector realizes an in-depth and precise research of the society's metabolism, so that the results are with stronger association of macro-control of the economic system. In practice, the method is practical and versatile. In theory it provides a new way of regional MFA. The empirical research of this paper fills the blank of MFA of Dalian, in which its problems in resource use and environmental management are revealed. And the quantitative references for the sustainable material regulation are provided.