Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review
As one quarter of global energy use serves the production of materials, the more efficient use of these materials presents a significant opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the renewed interest of policy makers in the circular economy, material efficiency (ME) stra...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3 |
| _version_ | 1797748101749932032 |
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| author | Edgar G Hertwich Saleem Ali Luca Ciacci Tomer Fishman Niko Heeren Eric Masanet Farnaz Nojavan Asghari Elsa Olivetti Stefan Pauliuk Qingshi Tu Paul Wolfram |
| author_facet | Edgar G Hertwich Saleem Ali Luca Ciacci Tomer Fishman Niko Heeren Eric Masanet Farnaz Nojavan Asghari Elsa Olivetti Stefan Pauliuk Qingshi Tu Paul Wolfram |
| author_sort | Edgar G Hertwich |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As one quarter of global energy use serves the production of materials, the more efficient use of these materials presents a significant opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the renewed interest of policy makers in the circular economy, material efficiency (ME) strategies such as light-weighting and downsizing of and lifetime extension for products, reuse and recycling of materials, and appropriate material choice are being promoted. Yet, the emissions savings from ME remain poorly understood, owing in part to the multitude of material uses and diversity of circumstances and in part to a lack of analytical effort. We have reviewed emissions reductions from ME strategies applied to buildings, cars, and electronics. We find that there can be a systematic trade-off between material use in the production of buildings, vehicles, and appliances and energy use in their operation, requiring a careful life cycle assessment of ME strategies. We find that the largest potential emission reductions quantified in the literature result from more intensive use of and lifetime extension for buildings and the light-weighting and reduced size of vehicles. Replacing metals and concrete with timber in construction can result in significant GHG benefits, but trade-offs and limitations to the potential supply of timber need to be recognized. Repair and remanufacturing of products can also result in emission reductions, which have been quantified only on a case-by-case basis and are difficult to generalize. The recovery of steel, aluminum, and copper from building demolition waste and the end-of-life vehicles and appliances already results in the recycling of base metals, which achieves significant emission reductions. Higher collection rates, sorting efficiencies, and the alloy-specific sorting of metals to preserve the function of alloying elements while avoiding the contamination of base metals are important steps to further reduce emissions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:00:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fc0ecd90129b4a36ab8a985cac07470f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:00:09Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-fc0ecd90129b4a36ab8a985cac07470f2023-08-09T14:41:40ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262019-01-0114404300410.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a reviewEdgar G Hertwich0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4934-3421Saleem Ali1Luca Ciacci2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5151-5384Tomer Fishman3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4405-2382Niko Heeren4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4967-6557Eric Masanet5Farnaz Nojavan Asghari6Elsa Olivetti7Stefan Pauliuk8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6869-1405Qingshi Tu9Paul Wolfram10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8470-427XSchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06511, United States of AmericaCollege of Earth, Ocean, and the Environment, University of Delaware , Newark, DE 19716-3501, United States of AmericaDepartment of Industrial Chemistry, University of Bologna , Viale Risorgimento, 4, I-40136 Bologna, ItalySchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06511, United States of America; Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, IsraelSchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06511, United States of AmericaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208-3109, United States of AmericaSchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06511, United States of AmericaDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of AmericaUniversity of Freiburg , Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, D-79106 Freiburg, GermanySchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06511, United States of AmericaSchool of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06511, United States of AmericaAs one quarter of global energy use serves the production of materials, the more efficient use of these materials presents a significant opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the renewed interest of policy makers in the circular economy, material efficiency (ME) strategies such as light-weighting and downsizing of and lifetime extension for products, reuse and recycling of materials, and appropriate material choice are being promoted. Yet, the emissions savings from ME remain poorly understood, owing in part to the multitude of material uses and diversity of circumstances and in part to a lack of analytical effort. We have reviewed emissions reductions from ME strategies applied to buildings, cars, and electronics. We find that there can be a systematic trade-off between material use in the production of buildings, vehicles, and appliances and energy use in their operation, requiring a careful life cycle assessment of ME strategies. We find that the largest potential emission reductions quantified in the literature result from more intensive use of and lifetime extension for buildings and the light-weighting and reduced size of vehicles. Replacing metals and concrete with timber in construction can result in significant GHG benefits, but trade-offs and limitations to the potential supply of timber need to be recognized. Repair and remanufacturing of products can also result in emission reductions, which have been quantified only on a case-by-case basis and are difficult to generalize. The recovery of steel, aluminum, and copper from building demolition waste and the end-of-life vehicles and appliances already results in the recycling of base metals, which achieves significant emission reductions. Higher collection rates, sorting efficiencies, and the alloy-specific sorting of metals to preserve the function of alloying elements while avoiding the contamination of base metals are important steps to further reduce emissions.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3circular economyclimate change mitigationlife cycle assessmentindustrial policyresource efficiencycement |
| spellingShingle | Edgar G Hertwich Saleem Ali Luca Ciacci Tomer Fishman Niko Heeren Eric Masanet Farnaz Nojavan Asghari Elsa Olivetti Stefan Pauliuk Qingshi Tu Paul Wolfram Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review Environmental Research Letters circular economy climate change mitigation life cycle assessment industrial policy resource efficiency cement |
| title | Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review |
| title_full | Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review |
| title_fullStr | Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review |
| title_short | Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review |
| title_sort | material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings vehicles and electronics a review |
| topic | circular economy climate change mitigation life cycle assessment industrial policy resource efficiency cement |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab0fe3 |
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