Useful links
Unit of study_
PHYS4801: Industrial Ecology
2025 unit information
Industrial Ecology is a cross-disciplinary research field. This unit will provide an introduction to the principles and applications of Industrial Ecology, with a focus on understanding the complexity and interconnectedness between economic and environmental systems. The unit will explore goals and methods of Industrial Ecology, with an emphasis on concrete applications, such as renewable energy systems, waste generation, recycling and industrial symbiosis, urban sustainability, and many more. Through these examples students will gain a thorough understanding of the usefulness of Industrial Ecology principles and approaches, for example in quantitative assessments of environmental impact and social risk, design of environmental economic policy and energy systems, and urban sustainability planning. Students will be introduced to the Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory technology newly developed at the School of Physics. Students will walk away from this unit equipped with all skills needed to undertake their own environmental, social and economic Industrial Ecology projects in the virtual laboratory.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Science
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Physics Academic Operations |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
?
|
None |
|---|---|
|
Corequisites:
?
|
None |
| Prohibitions:
?
|
None |
| Assumed knowledge:
?
|
None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. be familiar with the field of IE and its scope of application generally
- LO2. be aware of the profound importance of thriving natural ecosystems for sustainable economies
- LO3. understand fundamental data processing concepts and to analyse environmental-economic interdependencies
- LO4. undertake basic calculations to identify such interdependencies
- LO5. Understanding of the basic physics of climate change
- LO6. demonstrate critical thinking in the seminars and in essays on topics relating different scientific aspects of industrial ecology
- LO7. argue coherently for a particular point of view, both verbally and in a written form
- LO8. do simple but comprehensive and complete analyses for problems arising within the industrial ecology context.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Semester 1 2025
|
Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
Find your current year census dates
Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
