Abstract:
The present study used emergy analysis to develop a evaluation model and index system for the eco-economic systems of small local ports.We selected Haiyang Port in Shandong Province of China as the research object and used data from 2015 to analyze and examine the features and Sustainability of the small local port's eco-economic systems.The results show that:(1) the total emergy input to the eco-economic systems of Haiyang Port is 2.91×10
21 sej, and the non-renewable industrial auxiliary energy accounted for the principal portion of emergy; (2) the values of emergy self-sufficiency ratio (
ESR), stability of port (
S), net emergy yield ratio (
NEYR), emergy of port-throughput (
EPT), emergy of ecological carrying capacity (
EEC) and emergy Sustainability index (
ESI) are lower than the average levels of same industry or area, while the values of environmental waste ratio (
EWR), environmental loading ratio (
ELR), environmental exchange ratio (
EER) and emergy density (
ED) are at a higher level; (3) There are some problems in the eco-economic systems of Haiyang Port, such as poor exploitation and utilization of the renewable resources from the natural system, over-reliance on purchased emergy from the system's exterior, non-renewable industrial auxiliary energy, a lack of comprehensive utilization of sewage and solid wastes. (4) five development strategies should be adopted as follows:energy Saving, Equipment Saving, renewable energyutilization, reclaimed Water reusing and structures cost controlling in order to enhance the Sustainability of the port.