The resource needs posed by the population increase and standards of living in the 20th century were met by enormous advances in technology. However, the cumulative impacts of the intensive use of the Earth's resources, and the attendant generation of wastes on climate and ecology, have emerged as a major concern and a threat to further development. It is now clear that the use of energy, water and materials is inextricably linked with the environment at local and global scales and that technological developments in the 21st century must address the needs of both "market" and "environment". This is the domain of Columbia's Earth Engineering Center (EEC).

EEC seeks to provide the engineering component to multidisciplinary analysis of the interactions between natural and engineered material cycles and the design of alternative solutions to specific local, regional or global resource management problems. This capability includes the development of technology for observing and modifying material cycles, physical-statistical modeling of multi-scale complex systems, process design, modeling, and participatory management and visualization strategies. EEC's applied projects seek to address problems of relevance to communities. They are conducted in collaboration with local (metropolitan NY), state (NY, NJ), federal (EPA, DOE, USGS), international (USAID, World Bank), private sector entities (IWSA, Energy Answers Corp., Hydroqual), other units of the Earth Institute (Lamont-Doherty, SIPA, IRI, Hazards Research Institute), and other universities.

Resources for Industrial Ecology