Exergoecology Assessment of Mineral Exports from Latin America: Beyond a Tonnage Perspective

Jose-Luis Palacios,Alicia Valero,Guiomar Calvo,Antonio Valero

doi:10.3390/su10030723

Jose-Luis Palacios, Alicia Valero + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030723

Copy DOI

Abstract

Latin America has traditionally been a raw material supplier since colonial times. In this paper, we analyze mineral exports from an exergoecology perspective from twenty countries in Latin American (LA-20). We apply material flow analysis (MFA) principles along with the concept of the exergy replacement cost (ERC), which considers both quantity and thermodynamic quality of minerals, reflecting their scarcity in the crust. ERC determines the energy that would be required to recover minerals to their original conditions in the mines once they have been totally dispersed into the Earth’s crust, with prevailing technology. Using ERC has helped us identify the importance of certain traded minerals that could be overlooked in a traditional MFA based on a mass basis only. Our method has enabled us to determine mineral balance, both in mass (tonnes) and in ERC terms (Mtoe). Using indicators, both in mass and ERC, we have assessed the self-sufficiency and dependency of the region. We have also analyzed the mineral exports flows from Latin America for 2013. Results show that half of the mineral production from LA-20 was mainly exported. High-quality minerals, such as, gold, silver, and aluminum were largely exported to China and the United States. Extraction of high-quality minerals also implies higher losses of natural stock and environmental overburdens in the region.

Highlights

Latin America has traditionally been an exporter of raw materials [1]
Chile is a world leader in copper production, and in 2013 copper extracted represented one-third of the global copper production [73]. When transforming this information using exergy replacement costs (ERC), it can be seen that copper plays a major role in exports as more emphasis is placed on its physical quality: it represents more than 90% of the total exports
This is related to the high importance of oil and gas in domestic extraction, as, as seen before, both represented approximately 85% of the total fossil fuels extracted in LA-20 in 2013

Summary

Introduction

Latin America has traditionally been an exporter of raw materials [1]. On a multi-country perspective, in 2007 a report published by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on material flows and resource productivity, analyzed ten countries of South America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela [19]. A total of 20 countries in Latin America have been analyzed: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Haiti (hereafter LA-20). For this purpose, the mineral balance for LA-20 was examined, using indicators that can help evaluate the self-sufficiency or dependency of the region and evaluating exports by destination.

Research Framework

Data Compilation

Mineral Balance

Mass and ERC Indicators

Findings

Discussion and Conclusions