Effects On The Ecosystem Of Ceramics Production In Sassuolo (Italy)

The problem of local pollution is often related to the characteristics of the productive system, especially when firms of a certain type are concentrated in a small area. An emblematic example is the Sassuolo district (province of Modena, Italy), in which a large part of the Italian production of ceramics is concentrated. We present a thermodynamic analysis of the sustainable use of resources, focusing the attention on the district of Sassuolo. The methodology that is used is the emergy evaluation. Emergy represents the solar energy that is directly and indirectly used up to produce a flow or a storage. The analysis shows that the Sassuolo district represents the peak of non-sustainability of the whole province, with a huge consumption of non-renewable primary resources, both imported