Kế toán của các dòng vật chất, được chuyển hướng từ đường tự nhiên của họ để hỗ trợ quá trình trao đổi chất của xã hội hiện đại, có tầm quan trọng then chốt cho việc đánh giá các tác động liên quan đến môi trường, cả hai trên một địa phương và quy mô toàn cầu. Trong thực tế, có một mối quan hệ chặt chẽ giữa sử dụng tài nguyên và tác động môi trường và do đó đánh giá sử dụng tài nguyên (và các dòng ẩn liên quan) có thể được coi là một biện. | CHAPTER 15 Mass Accounting and Mass-Based Indicators S. Bargigli M. Raugei and S. Ulgiati The accounting of material flows which are diverted from their natural pathways to support modern societal metabolism is of key importance for the evaluation of the related impacts on the environment both on a local and a global scale. In fact there is a close relationship between resource use and environmental impacts and therefore the evaluation of resource use and the related hidden flows can be considered an aggregated indirect measure of ecosystem disturbance. Among the several different mass-based methods and indicators MAIA material intensity analysis for local scale evaluations and nationwide material flow analysis on the national and international levels represent in the opinion of the authors the most relevant examples because of their widespread use in Europe. By means of indirect mass-flow accounting reference is made to the extent to which the technological choices of industrialized countries affect the environmental integrity of primary producing countries. Possible synergies from increased integration with other methods for natural-resource accounting are highlighted. Copyright 2005 by Taylor Francis INTRODUCTION An economic system is environmentally sustainable only as long as it is physically in a dynamic steady state that is the amount of resources utilized to generate welfare is permanently restricted to a size and a quality that does not overexploit the storage of resources or overburden the sinks provided by the ecosphere. As current experience with several environmental issues indicates we are already at or even beyond the limits of the Earth s carrying capacity mainly due to the exploitation of large fractions of biophysical storages. For instance the 2003 State of The World Survey published by the Worldwatch Institute points out the huge environmental consequences of the ongoing overexploitation of mineral resources. In addition the report .
