Material flow analysis (MFA) (also referred to as substance flow analysis; SFA) is an analytical method of quantifying flows and stocks of materials or substances in a well-defined system. MFA is an important tool to assess the physical consequences of human activities and needs in the field of Industrial Ecology, where it is used on different spatial and temporal scales. Examples are accounting of material flows within certain industries and connected ecosystems, determination of indicators of material use by different societies, and development of strategies for improving the material flow systems in form of material flow management. Since 1990, research publications in the field of material flow analysis (MFA) have grown fast in the Journal of Industrial Ecology and in Ecological Economics ecological economics.
Read more about Material Flow Analysis: Applications On Different Spatial and Temporal Scales, Historic Development of The Discipline, Recent Development, Relation To Other Industrial Ecology Methods
Famous quotes containing the words material, flow and/or analysis:
“‘Pure experience’ is the name I gave to the immediate flux of life which furnishes the material to our later reflection with its conceptual categories.”
—William James (1842–1910)
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Sleepy with the flow of streams,”
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—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)