Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and downstream industries before reaching the consumer. Agricultural activities in aid
of food production, for example, constitute upstream industrial activities, whereas food
preparation and food processing using materials from agricultural activities can legiti-
mately be considered as downstream industries. Downstream industries run the gamut
from industries devoted to preparation of source materials as items and parts for manu-
facturers to transformation into inal consumer products. For example, the production of
automobiles requires countless numbers of parts such as tires, engines, electronic parts,
chassis, side panels, etc. Many of these parts are produced as downstream products by
industries devoted to production of vital elements and parts for more intricate products.
The following deinitions apply:
• Upstream industries are those industries that produce the raw goods and source
materials for downstream industries. Examples of these have been given in
Chapters 5 and 6. Production of food, i.e., agricultural production of food (wheat,
corn, barley, livestock, etc.), and mining and processing of metal ores are good
examples of upstream activities and industries. The raw products can be used by
the individual consumer and can also be used as resource material for midstream
or even downstream industries.
• Downstream industries include (a) those industries that use the raw goods pro-
duced by the upstream industries and prepares them as resource material for
other downstream industries. Technically speaking, these can be called mid-
stream industries. However, this term is not a popular term. A good example of
this is the metal fabrication and processing industry discussed in the next section;
and (b) production and assembly plants and industries that produce consumer
goods and products that are directly utilized by the individual and collective con-
sumers. These are the industries that transform source materials into consumer
goods. Good examples of these are buildings, bridges, automobiles, leather goods,
newsprint, electronic products, etc.
The subject of interest in the following sections relates directly to the net effect of the
activities associated with these varied types of industries on the geoenvironment. The
material covered in these sections will focus on some industries to highlight or demon-
strate the particular geoenvironmental land use in question. At that time, we will want to
examine some of the major consequences and impacts of these interactions on the geoen-
vironment, with the aim of seeking solutions that would permit us to satisfy many of the
geoenvironmental sustainability requirements.
Figures 1.5 and 1.12 in Chapter 1 show that many of the activities and industries required
to provide for human sustenance and needs will have direct interaction with the geoenvi-
ronment and will incur major impacts on the geoenvironment. For the purpose of exami-
nation of geoenvironmental interaction by downstream industries, we will group them
into groups of industries and/or activities associated with the following:
• Mineral mining and processing industries : The upstream industries are those that deal
directly with extraction of the raw materials required for the metallurgical indus-
tries. The downstream mining-processing industries are the metallurgical in-
ishing and manufacturing-production types of industries. Also included are the
nonmetal mineral processing industries such as cement production, phosphoric
acid production, etc. The GLCA for the upstream industries can be found in the
next chapter.
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