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Material flow analysis of industrial systems in Antarctica

The unique and otherworldly continent of Antarctica has always played a key role in global environmental science and environmental policy. This Dissertation proposes and explores a new role for Antarctica in both environmental science and policy research, namely as a Petri dish for industrial ecologists to study industrial material flows. This Dissertation begins by performing comprehensive industrial material flow analyses of New Zealand's Scott Base and the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera and Halley stations. The highly detailed material flow data from the study of the British Antarctic Survey's stations are then used to generate a first-order approximation of the total and per capita material flows for the entire continent of Antarctica. The continent-scaled material flow data are then translated into continent-scaled flows of copper, zinc, and silver, according to the principles and methods of the Stocks and Flows (STAF) Project at the Center for Industrial Ecology of the Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The Dissertation also compares the fossil fuel flows for co-generation of twelve Antarctic scientific research stations operated by Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Finally, the Dissertation investigates the role industrial material flow analysis could play in both United States and international environmental law and policy.

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