Material flow accounting of Spain by Cañellas, Sílvia and González, Ana Citlalic and Puig, Ignasi and Russi, Daniela and Sendra, Cristina and Sojo, Amalia (2004)

Material flow accounting of Spain

Title

Material flow accounting of Spain

Author(s)

Sílvia Cañellas

Ana Citlalic González

Year

2004

Type

Journal Article

Source

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 229--241

Abstract

Material throughput is a means of measuring the so-called social metabolism, or physical dimensions of a society's consumption, and can be taken as an indirect and approximate indicator of sustainability. Material flow accounting can be used to test the dematerialisation hypothesis, the idea that technological progress causes a decrease in total material used (strong dematerialisation) or material used per monetary unit of output (weak dematerialisation). This paper sets out the results of a material flow analysis for Spain for the period from 1980 to 2000. The analysis reveals that neither strong nor weak dematerialisation took place during the period analysed. Although the population did not increase considerably, materials mobilised by the Spanish economy (DMI) increased by 85% in absolute terms, surpassing GDP growth. In addition, Spain became more dependent on external trade in physical terms. In fact, its imports are more than twice the amount of its exports in terms of weight.

More Information

http://inderscience.metapress.com/content/wm22mdje3urlaer7/

Material flow accounting of Spain

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