Total Material Requirement Research Articles

Ecological footprint and total material requirement as environmental indicators of mining activities: Case studies of copper mines

The production of mineral resources negatively affects the natural environment, which is a topic of urgent discussion in sustainable natural resource use/management. In this study, we explored appropriate environmental indicators of mining activities that might be easy to account for and deemed suitable as a first-order estimation of overall environmental impacts. We distinguish the differential impact between operations rather than providing a strictly estimated integrated single indicator value. Considering the increasing interests in land use change and associated impacts, ecological footprint (EF) was chosen as first indicator, and Total Material Requirement (TMR) was also chosen to complement EF. Both the operational and remote-sensing based satellite data were used in this study by using three copper mines as case studies. The results propose that EF for built-up land works well by showing above the ground impacts for mining activities and TMR complements EF with its ability to reflect the underground activities. • Ecological Footprint (EF) for built-up land is applied to mining activities. • Total Material Requirement (TMR) is also applied to mining activities. • EF_Net Primary Productivity (EF_NPP) is employed and compared with often used EF_Global Agro-Ecological Zone (EF_GAEZ). • EF_NPP and TMR are quite useful when used together.

Determinants of the quality of life in municipalities of Kielce district

Purpose: Identifying the factors that significantly affect the quality of life of the residents of 11 municipalities of the Kielce poviat based on a synthetic indicator. 12 Design/methodology/approach: The method used in the paper is create a synthetic indicator 13 designed using a taxonomic method and the estimation of the logistic regression model. 14 Data of the Central Statistical Office concerning the years 2014-2018 were used in the 15 calculations. 16 Findings: The obtained values of the TMR (Total Material Requirement) indicator suggest that 17 in the Kielce poviat the quality of life of the residents of individual municipalities is very 18 diverse. At the same time, a common positive tendency is observed, manifested in the trend 19 indicating an improvement in the quality of life in each of the municipalities in the examined 20 period. The constructed indicator was used to estimate the regression model for cross-sectional 21 data from 2018. 22 Originality/value: The estimated models allowed to formulate conclusions concerning the 23 impact of particular exp

Total material requirement for the global energy transition to 2050: A focus on transport and electricity

Global energy transitions could fundamentally change flows of both minerals and energy resources over time. It is, therefore, increasingly important to holistically and dynamically capture the impacts of large-scale energy transitions on resource flows including hidden flows such as mine waste, as well as direct flows. Here we demonstrate a systematic model that can quantify resource flows of both minerals and energy resources under the energy transition by using stock-flow dynamics and the concept of Total Material Requirement (TMR). The proposed model was applied to the International Energy Agency’s scenarios up to 2050, targeting 15 electricity generation and 5 transport technologies. Results indicate that the global energy transition could increase TMR flows associated with mineral production by around 200–900% in the electricity sector and 350–700% in the transport sector respectively from 2015 to 2050, depending on the scenarios. Such a drastic increase in TMR flows is largely associated with an increased demand for copper, silver, nickel, lithium and cobalt, as well as steel. Our results highlight that the decarbonization of the electricity sector can reduce energy resource flows and support the hypothesis that the expansion of low-carbon technologies could reduce total resource flows expressed as TMR. In the transport sector, on the other hand, the dissemination of Electric Vehicles could cause a sharp increase in TMR flows associated with mineral production, which could offset a decrease in energy resource flows. Findings in this study emphasize that a sustainable transition would be unachievable without designing resource cycles with a nexus approach.

Measuring Product Material Footprint as New Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method: Indicators and Abiotic Characterization Factors

The global economy is using growing amounts of natural resources such as raw materials, water, and land by making and using goods, services, and infrastructure. Aspirations on international, regional, and national levels e.g., the Sustainable Development Goals, the EU flagship initiative Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe or the German Program for Resource Efficiency are showing an urgent need to bring the global raw material use down to sustainable levels. An essential prerequisite to identify resource efficient options and to implement resource efficiency measures and solutions is the ability to compare different products or services regarding their raw material use. Until today, there is no internationally standardized approach defined and no software supported calculation method including the necessary data basis available to measure the raw material intensity of products. A new life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method Product Material Footprint PMF is described. Two indicators are used to quantify the PMF: the Raw Material Input RMI and the Total Material Requirement TMR. The calculation of global median values for the characterization factors CFRMI and CFTMR of abiotic materials was done based on different databases. This article presents the methodological approach of the PMF, the calculation results for CFRMI of 42 abiotic materials and CFTMR of 36 abiotic materials, and the implementation of the LCIA method into the software openLCA for use with the ecoinvent database.

Comparing Electrical Energy Storage Technologies Regarding Their Material and Carbon Footprint

The need for electrical energy storage technologies (EEST) in a future energy system, based on volatile renewable energy sources is widely accepted. The still open question is which technology should be used, in particular in such applications where the implementation of different storage technologies would be possible. In this study, eight different EEST were analysed. The comparative life cycle assessment focused on the storage of electrical excess energy from a renewable energy power plant. The considered EEST were lead-acid, lithium-ion, sodium-sulphur, vanadium redox flow and stationary second-life batteries. In addition, two power-to-gas plants storing synthetic natural gas and hydrogen in the gas grid and a new underwater compressed air energy storage were analysed. The material footprint was determined by calculating the raw material input RMI and the total material requirement TMR and the carbon footprint by calculating the global warming impact GWI. All indicators were normalised per energy fed-out based on a unified energy fed-in. The results show that the second-life battery has the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and material use, followed by the lithium-ion battery and the underwater compressed air energy storage. Therefore, these three technologies are preferred options compared to the remaining five technologies with respect to the underlying assumptions of the study. The production phase accounts for the highest share of GHG emissions and material use for nearly all EEST. The results of a sensitivity analysis show that lifetime and storage capacity have a comparable high influence on the footprints. The GHG emissions and the material use of the power-to-gas technologies, the vanadium redox flow battery as well as the underwater compressed air energy storage decline strongly with increased storage capacity.

Comparing Electrical Energy Storage Technologies Regarding Their Material and Carbon Footprint

The need for electrical energy storage technologies (EEST) in a future energy system, based on volatile renewable energy sources is widely accepted. The still open question is which technology should be used, in particular in such applications where the implementation of different storage technologies would be possible. In this study, eight different EEST were analysed. The comparative life cycle assessment focused on the storage of electrical excess energy from a renewable energy power plant. The considered EEST were lead-acid, lithium-ion, sodium-sulphur, vanadium redox flow and stationary second-life batteries. In addition, two power-to-gas plants storing synthetic natural gas and hydrogen in the gas grid and a new underwater compressed air energy storage were analysed. The material footprint was determined by calculating the raw material input RMI and the total material requirement TMR and the carbon footprint by calculating the global warming impact GWI . All indicators were normalised per energy fed-out based on a unified energy fed-in. The results show that the second-life battery has the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and material use, followed by the lithium-ion battery and the underwater compressed air energy storage. Therefore, these three technologies are preferred options compared to the remaining five technologies with respect to the underlying assumptions of the study. The production phase accounts for the highest share of GHG emissions and material use for nearly all EEST. The results of a sensitivity analysis show that lifetime and storage capacity have a comparable high influence on the footprints. The GHG emissions and the material use of the power-to-gas technologies, the vanadium redox flow battery as well as the underwater compressed air energy storage decline strongly with increased storage capacity.

Life cycle input indicators of material resource use for enhancing sustainability assessment schemes of buildings

Suitable methods and indicators to address the sustainability of resource use in the buildings sector are still in their infancy. Indicators and sustainability assessment schemes so far focus on the availability of natural resources, while the efficiency of their use is widely neglected. This article focuses on the assessment of the material resource use in buildings (abiotic raw material including energetic material), and the applicability of material input indicators, Raw Material Input (RMI) and Total Material Requirement (TMR), within life cycle assessment (LCA) using a contemporary database. The indicators cover the life-cycle-wide cumulative input of raw materials (RMI) and the total primary materials requirements (TMR) which in relation to the functionality of buildings ought to be minimized when resource efficiency shall be increased. The applicability of the resource use indicators in addition to the corresponding Global Warming Impact (GWI) is tested for a virtual design of a multi-family building. Use of resources and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are determined per square meter of usable floor area. The calculations comprised the production phase of the construction materials and the use phase of the building with five alternatives of exterior walls using GaBi XIV construction materials database. Results show that accounting for material input indicators i.e. RMI and TMR could significantly contribute to the reduction of a building's material resource use and explicitly define the actual input weight of each material resource taken from nature and the accompanied ecological rucksack within LCA framework.

Global warming potential and total material requirement in metal production: Identification of changes in environmental impact through metal substitution

In view of the increasing demand for metal use, it is of significant importance to evaluate the environmental impact of metal production. The global warming potential (GWP) in the process of metal production has often been focused upon as a major indicator for evaluating the burden on the environment. Moreover, the environmental impact and mineral exploitation arising from metal ore mining activities, which generate unavoidable mine wastes and have an impact on the ecological biodiversity, cannot be ignored. The major factors for determining the intensity of resource exploitation being the ore grades and strip ratio, the existing indicators for land use employed in the life cycle assessment (LCA) may not fully cover the criteria of the impact of metal mining on the environmental system. Therefore, this study employs the method of total material requirement (TMR) assessment, involving not only the direct and indirect material inputs but also the hidden flows, which are particularly associated with mine wastes. Firstly, the methodology of computing the TMR in the process of metal production is developed. Next, the relation between the GWP and TMR for 58 metals is assessed and finally, the environmental impact through metal substitutes is evaluated from the perspectives of the GWP and TMR. This analysis could identify some of the aspects overlooked in the previous environmental criteria that were concentrating on greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. The developed algorithm may be useful in identifying appropriate metal substitutes, considering the environmental impact.

Comprehensive Analysis of External Dependency in Terms of Material Criticality by Employing Total Material Requirement: Sulfuric Acid Production in Japan as a Case Study

Securing stable material supply is of paramount importance since materials are fundamental to the economy and human well-being. The domestic production to consumption ratio has conventionally been utilized as a main index for external dependency in terms of material supply security and its criticality. However, the conventional approach confines its application to raw materials, which potentially risks reaching short-sighted conclusions in the policy-making process. Beyond the conventional analysis of external dependency, the development of a more applicable approach for every material is of paramount importance to consider the diversification of external dependency more comprehensively and to aid the analysis of overall material criticality. As such, this paper establishes a new methodology for analyzing external dependency related to every material and product by using the concept of total material requirement (TMR). Applying the methodology, the external dependency of sulfuric acid production in Japan is evaluated as a case study. Previously unexamined elements associated with external dependency in the conventional approach are revealed by this new comprehensive approach. The new approach may be of use to policymakers in designing more sophisticated and well-grounded material securement policy.

Framework and Evaluation of Total Material Requirement for Food Material: Specific TMR for Food Material in Japan

It is of great importance to consider strategic food production to cope with ongoing rapid increases in population. For effective mass food production, addition of fuel for heating, artificial fertilizers, and agricultural chemicals, etc. are indispensable. In order to supply these inputs, a large amount of mining activities accompanied with energy and mineral resources are required, and these are largely hidden flows from the perspective of the consumer. In this study, we have proposed a framework to quantify mining activities relevant to food production in terms of total material requirement (TMR), which has been applied to food material in Japan as a case study. Targeted food material were 41 types of domestic vegetables, 8 types of fruit, 16 types of seafood, and 5 types of livestock. Domestic and foreign livestock feed was also considered. The functional unit was set as “1 kg of food material to be shipped”. The results indicated that the specific TMR (kg-TMR/kg) for food material with similar production methods showed similar values. Generally, contributions by energy were dominant for vegetables cultivated in a greenhouse and fertilizer inputs were dominant for non-greenhouse cultivation. On the other hand, the specific TMR of livestock feed was relatively small compared to vegetables, with no major difference observable among the different feed types. The specific TMR for seafood production by set net fishing was relatively low compared to other fishing and the effects of fishing tools and energy were negligibly small, the effect of energy ascribed to fuel was dominant for other fishing types using boats. For livestock, the specific TMR for a beef cow was 5 〜 6 times as high as that for pigs or broiler hens.

Methodology for the Construction of Global Multi‐Regional Hybrid Supply and Use Tables for the EXIOBASE v3 Database

SummaryThis article describes the algorithm that has been developed within the European Union (EU) FP7 project DESIRE for the construction of the EXIOBASE multiregional hybrid supply and use tables (MR‐HSUTs) version 3. The tables include 43 countries plus five rest‐of‐the‐world regions and are built for the period 2000–2011. MR‐HSUTs are compiled in mixed units, that is, tangible goods in mass units, intangible energy flows in terajoules, and, finally, services in euros. The article summarizes the various steps of the developed procedure, from data collection until the final supply and use tables. It will be shown how several disconnected data sets with varying quality are harmonized so as to build an effective analytical database that can be used for several types of analyses, such as life cycle assessment, total material requirement, material intensity per product service, carbon footprint, and so on.

The Characteristics and Trends of Socioeconomic Metabolism in China

SummaryChina has become the country with the largest resource use and has high levels of waste emissions that pose a great management challenge. To provide more details about environmental problems and to find effective solutions, this article analyzed the scale, structure, and trend of the socioeconomic metabolism in China during the period 1992–2014 based on economy‐wide material flow accounts (EW‐MFA), and predicted resource use during the period of the 13th Five‐Year Plan. The results of this study show that the scale of China's socioeconomic metabolism in China increased more than twofold, during 1992–2014. However, after 2011, with the economic slowdown, the growth rates of total material requirement (TMR), direct material input (DMI), and domestic processed output (DPO) began to decrease. China may reach an inflection point, but this point will probably not be approached before the year 2020. Material recycling (MR) has played an important role in improving resource productivity, improving it by 92.52 renminbi per tonne in 2014. Metallic minerals and fossil fuels are the main sources of hidden flow. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, construction waste, and agricultural emissions have become the major sources of DPO. Because of the 13th Five‐Year Plan, China may slow the growth rate of DMI and may save 10.26 gigatonnes of resources during 2015–2020. Resource productivity is predicted to increase by 15.91%. Imports and MR may play more important roles. These suggestions are made: (1) strengthening the recycling system; (2) stronger policies, especially in metallic mineral and fossil fuels; (3) developing management systems for CO2 emissions, construction waste, and agricultural emissions; and (4) adjusting China's economic structure.

Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon Dioxide–Based Production of Methane and Methanol and Derived Polymers

SummaryPrevious studies showed that using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a raw material for chemical syntheses may provide an opportunity for achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) savings and a low‐carbon economy. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether carbon capture and utilization benefits the environment in terms of resource efficiency. We analyzed the production of methane, methanol, and synthesis gas as basic chemicals and derived polyoxymethylene, polyethylene, and polypropylene as polymers by calculating the output‐oriented indicator global warming impact (GWI) and the resource‐based indicators raw material input (RMI) and total material requirement (TMR) on a cradle‐to‐gate basis. As carbon source, we analyzed the capturing of CO2 from air, raw biogas, cement plants, lignite‐fired power, and municipal waste incineration plants. Wind power serves as an energy source for hydrogen production. Our data were derived from both industrial processes and process simulations. The results demonstrate that the analyzed CO2‐based process chains reduce the amount of GHG emissions in comparison to the conventional ones. At the same time, the CO2‐based process chains require an increased amount of (abiotic) resources. This trade‐off between decreased GHG emissions and increased resource use is assessed. The decision about whether or not to recycle CO2 into hydrocarbons depends largely on the source and amount of energy used to produce hydrogen.

Data Envelopment Analysis for steel production with the use of Total Material Requirement

High properties of stainless steels can be achieved by adding alloying elements and/or by structure control through complex heat treatments. Evaluations of such processes have so far been made in terms of the carbon dioxide emissions emitted or the energy consumption, but less attention has been given to resource intensity and “hidden flows”. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), this study evaluates the efficiency of the environmental impact, characterised through Total Material Requirement (TMR), a measurement of hidden flows, and three properties (two mechanical and one chemical) of the materials obtained after manufacturing. Out of sample of 72 stainless steels it was found that seven (SUS312L, SUS836L, SUS447J1, SUSXM27, SUS410, SUS420F2, and SUS329J4L) showed the highest comparative efficiency, and that, when classifying the sample into four groups, the production of martensitic steels showed the highest efficiency (88%), followed by ferritic and duplex (82.6% each) and lastly austenitic (43.3%).

LCA기반 물질흐름분석 기법을 이용한 고속도로 건설에서의 총 자원요구량 산정

LCA기반 물질흐름분석 기법을 이용한 고속도로 건설에서의 총 자원요구량 산정

Total Material Requirement of Scrap Steel from End-of-Life Vehicles

Total Material Requirement of Scrap Steel from End-of-Life Vehicles

Raw material criticality in the context of classical risk assessment

The rapid economic development of emerging countries in combination with an accelerating spread of new technologies has led to a strongly increasing demand for industrial metals and minerals regarding both the total material requirement and the diversity of elements used for the production of specific high-tech applications. Several minor metal markets which are often characterized by high market concentrations of raw material production at the country and the company level have shown high turbulences since the beginning of the 21st century. This has led to growing concerns about the security of raw material supply, particularly in established western economies. As a result, numerous studies on supply risks and raw material criticality for different countries and regions were carried out recently. In this paper, we discuss the methodology of raw material criticality assessment within a criticality matrix which is a modification of a classical risk matrix. Therefore, we first provide an overview of the approaches and results of major studies quantifying raw material criticality by means of a criticality matrix. By applying a uniform scaling to the matrices of different recent studies, a direct comparison of results and data interpretation was enabled. As shown in this paper, the close relation between the criticality matrix and classical risk analysis within a risk matrix was overlooked in most studies which may lead to misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the results. We posit that the interpretation of the coordinates within the criticality matrix and the thresholds separating critical and non-critical raw materials need to be revised by means of general risk definitions.

A Proposal on a Resource Efficiency Index for EEE

According to the widespread of EEE, run-out of certain materials so-called critical metals have become a big anxiety. Functionalities of EEE required from consumers are becoming high year by year, and such critical metals are necessary to enhance functionalities. Thus, the key of product development is to reduce the metal consumption and achieve high functionalities. In other words, high resource efficiency is the key of sustainable production. This paper proposes an index to evaluate resource efficiency of small-sized EEE. The index has value of the product based on the functionality, product reusability, and component reusability, as the numerator. And it has the total amount of environmental impact due to material consumption measured by TMR (total material requirement) minus recoverable environmental impact as the denominator. Through the case studies on mobile phones, the paper concludes that the proposed index will be useful in evaluating resource efficiency of EEE.

Decomposing bills of materials using the Gozinto-list-method

This paper introduces a method for calculating material requirements by decomposing bills of materials. Starting with the primary (end customer) demand, we use bills of materials to calculate direct material requirements step by step for each production stage until the total material requirements have been calculated. The method proposed in this paper illustrates how the product structure influences material requirements and may thus be used in class to show students how material requirements can be calculated precisely. In addition, the method proposed in this paper may also be applied for calculating material requirements in practice.

Eight Tons of Material Footprint—Suggestion for a Resource Cap for Household Consumption in Finland

The paper suggests a sustainable material footprint of eight tons, per person, in a year as a resource cap target for household consumption in Finland. This means an 80% (factor 5) reduction from the present Finnish average. The material footprint is used as a synonym to the Total Material Requirement (TMR) calculated for products and activities. The paper suggests how to allocate the sustainable material footprint to different consumption components on the basis of earlier household studies, as well as other studies, on the material intensity of products, services, and infrastructures. It analyzes requirements, opportunities, and challenges for future developments in technology and lifestyle, also taking into account that future lifestyles are supposed to show a high degree of diversity. The targets and approaches are discussed for the consumption components of nutrition, housing, household goods, mobility, leisure activities, and other purposes. The paper states that a sustainable level of natural resource use by households is achievable and it can be roughly allocated to different consumption components in order to illustrate the need for a change in lifestyles. While the absolute material footprint of all the consumption components will have to decrease, the relative share of nutrition, the most basic human need, in the total material footprint is expected to rise, whereas much smaller shares than at present are proposed for housing and especially mobility. For reducing material resource use to the sustainable level suggested, both social innovations, and technological developments are required.