Abstract
Phase-out strategies for incandescent bulbs in favor of advanced energy-efficiency lighting systems such as fluorescent lamps and solid-state technology have considerably reduced the energy use for lighting, but have also resulted in dependence on many critical materials like rare earth elements and shifted the attention to sustainable use and recovery of resources. In this work, a dynamic material flow model was developed to analyze the socio-economic metabolism of europium in the EU–28. The analysis shows that europium marked product turnover and progress in lighting efficiency, with this element being employed both in traditional and novel lighting technology to provide luminescence. The results also demonstrate that the current anthropogenic reserve could constitute an attractive source of secondary europium with substantial potentials for environmental benefits. However, nonexistent recycling and market forces hinder strategies for material circularity. In particular, the transition from fluorescent lamps to solid-state technology is quickly decreasing the demand for europium. This trend adds further constraints to the creation of a sustainable recycling industry for europium, with primary sources that might remain the preferable route to supply phosphors to future lighting systems.
Highlights
Lighting accounts for 19% of electricity consumption globally and 12% in the EU [1,2,3], in which the total domestic lighting consumption is expected to rise up to 100 TWh by 2020 due to growing wealth [4]
As rare earth elements (REEs) mine extraction is nonexistent in the region, total europium supply in the EU–28 comes from import
This work provided a first detailed analysis of the anthropogenic cycle of europium in the EU–28, Thisits work provided first detailed analysisover of the anthropogenic cycleincreased of europium in the EU
Summary
Lighting accounts for 19% of electricity consumption globally and 12% in the EU [1,2,3], in which the total domestic lighting consumption is expected to rise up to 100 TWh by 2020 due to growing wealth [4]. Traditional incandescent light bulbs, which have long been produced but with very low efficiency, were subject to phase-out strategies in many countries (e.g., Japan, EU–28, Russia, Korea, China, USA, Australia) [6]. The greatest energy efficiency investments in lighting were devoted to fluorescent lamps—from 2003 to 2007, the apparent consumption of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) increased by more than 400% as a consequence of incandescent bulb phase out [7]—and, more recently, to solid-state lighting (SSL) systems like light emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) [8]. In which visible light is given by a wire filament heated at a high temperature, the most energy-efficient lighting technologies are based on phosphors to exhibit luminescence.
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