Heavy industry is anindustry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such asheavy equipment, largemachine tools, hugebuildings and large-scaleinfrastructure); or complex or numerousprocesses. Because of those factors, heavy industry involves highercapital intensity thanlight industry does, and is also often more heavilycyclical ininvestment andemployment.
Though important toeconomic development andindustrialization of economies, heavy industry can also have significant negative side effects: both local communities andworkers frequently encounter health risks, heavy industries tend to produce byproducts that both pollute theair andwater, and the industrial supply chain is often involved in otherenvironmental justice issues frommining andtransportation. Because of their intensity, heavy industries are also significant contributors togreenhouse gas emissions that causeclimate change, and certain parts of the industries, especially high-heat processes used in metal working and cement production, are hard todecarbonize.[1] Industrial activities such as mining also results in pollution consisting of heavy metals. Heavy metals are very damaging to the environment because they cannot be chemically degraded.[2]
Transportation and construction along with their upstream manufacturing supply businesses have been the bulk of heavy industry throughout the industrial age, along with some capital-intensive manufacturing. Traditional examples from the mid-19th century through the early 20th includedsteelmaking,artillery production,locomotive manufacturing,machine tool building, and the heavier types ofmining. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th, as thechemical industry andelectrical industry developed, they involved components of both heavy industry and light industry, which was soon also true for theautomotive industry and theaircraft industry. Modernshipbuilding (since steel replaced wood) and large components such asship turbochargers are also characteristic of heavy industry.[3]
A typical heavy industry activity is the production of large systems, such as theconstruction ofskyscrapers and largedams during the post–World War II era, and the manufacture/deployment of largerockets and giantwind turbines through the 21st century.[4]
Many East Asian countries relied on heavy industry as key parts of their development strategies,[5] and many still do for economic growth.[6] This reliance on heavy industry is typically a matter of government economic policy. Among Japanese and Korean firms with "heavy industry" in their names, many are alsomanufacturers of aerospace products anddefense contractors to their respective countries' governments such as Japan'sMitsubishi Heavy Industries andFuji Heavy Industries, and Korea'sHyundai Rotem, a joint project ofHyundai Heavy Industries andDaewoo Heavy Industries.[7]
In 20th-centurycommunist states, theplanning of the economy often focused on heavy industry as an area for large investments (at the expense of investing in the greater production of in-demandconsumer goods), even to the extent of painfulopportunity costs on theproduction–possibility frontier (classically, "lots of guns and not enough butter").[8] This was motivated by fears of failing to maintain military parity withforeign capitalist powers. For example,the Soviet Union's industrialization in the 1930s, with heavy industry as the favored emphasis, sought to bring its ability to produce trucks, tanks, artillery, aircraft, and warships up to a level that would make the country agreat power.China underMao Zedong pursued a similar strategy, eventually culminating in theGreat Leap Forward of 1958–1960; an unsuccessful attempt to rapidly industrialize andcollectivize, that led to thelargest famine in human history, killing up to 50 million people, whilst simultaneously severely depleting the production of agricultural products and not increasing the output of usable-quality industrial goods.[9][10]
Heavy industry is also sometimes a special designation in localzoning laws, allowing placement of industries with heavy impacts (on environment, infrastructure, and employment) with planning. For example, the zoning restrictions forlandfills usually take into account the heavy truck traffic that will exert expensivewear on the roads leading to the landfill.[11]
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As of 2019[update], heavy industry emits about 22% of globalgreenhouse gas emissions: high temperature heat for heavy industry being about 10% of global emissions.[12] The steel industry alone was responsible for 7 to 9% of the global carbon dioxide emissions which is inherently related to the main production process via reduction of iron with coal.[13] In order to reduce these carbon dioxide emissions, carbon capture and utilization andcarbon capture and storage technology is looked at. Heavy industry has the advantage of being apoint source which is less energy-intensive to apply the latter technologies and results in a cheaper carbon capture compared todirect air capture.
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Industrial activities such as the improper disposal ofradioactive material, burning coal andfossil fuels, and releasing liquid waste into the environment contribute to thepollution of water, soil, air, and wildlife.[14]
In regards to water pollution, when waste is disposed of in the environment, it affects the quality of the available water supply which has a negative impact on theecosystem along with water supply used by farms forirrigation which in turn affects crops.[14] Heavy metals have also been shown to pollutesoil, deteriorating arable land quality and adversely impactingfood safety (such asvegetables orgrain).[15] This occurs as a result of heavy industry when those heavy metals sink into the ground contaminating the crops that reside among it.[16]
Heavy metal concentrations resulting from water and/orsoil pollution can become deadly once they pass certain thresholds, which lead to plant poisoning.[17] Heavy metals can further affect many levels of the ecosystem throughbioaccumulation, because humans and many other animals rely on these plant species as sources of food. Plants can pick up these metals from the soil and begin the metal transfer to higher levels of the food chain, and eventually reaching humans.[18]
Regarding air pollution: long-term or short-term exposure of children to industry-basedair pollution can cause several adverse effects, such ascardiovascular diseases,respiratory diseases and evendeath. Children are also more susceptible to air pollution detriments than adults.[19]Heavy metals such aslead,chromium,cadmium, andarsenic form dust fall particles and are harmful to the human body, with the latter two beingcarcinogens.[20] As a result of pollution, the toxic chemicals released into the atmosphere also contributes to global warming due to the increase ofradiation absorbed.[21]
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