Research and development for energy and raw materials conservation

Abstract

The paper traces the progressive conversion of energy and non-energy raw materials into final products. The ultimate purpose of all industrial production, and hence of the winning of raw materials, is to provide goods and services for individuals and for their environment; the demand for raw materials therefore derives from applications technology — from the design and method of use of final products. Only about 40% of all energy, and a much smaller proportion of oil, is used in industrial production; the remainder is for space heating and for transport; half the petroleum used in the U.K. and the U.S.A. is for transport. Research and development aimed at oil conservation must therefore concentrate on transport equipment and transport systems; overall energy conservation also on space heating. Energy consumption in industry is concentrated in the primary conversion industries (the iron and steel, energy and chemical industries etc.) and research and development efforts must be correspondingly directed. The engineering industries are only minor direct consumers of energy and therefore have little incentive to conserve. There is a fundamental difference between energy and non-energy materials conservation; in the former case it is the bulk supplies which are at risk, and there is therefore a close interaction with the whole social and industrial fabric. In metals only a very limited range of small volume minerals seems at risk; the supply of these is critical but they are used in specialized applications and therefore require specialized consideration. It is no use inventing means of conservation without also inventing incentives to conserve; the search for technical solution must be coupled to a search for effective instruments for managing the complex techno-economic problems raised by physical and political constraints in raw materials supplies.