For most materials used to provide buildings, infrastructure, equipment and products, global stocks are still sufficient to meet anticipated demand, but the environmental impacts of materials production and processing, particularly those related to energy, are rapidly becoming critical. These impacts can be ameliorated to some extent by the ongoing pursuit of efficiencies within existing processes, but demand is anticipated to double in the next 40 years, and this will lead to an unacceptable increase in overall impacts unless the total requirement for material production and processing is reduced. This is the goal of material efficiency, and this paper aims to stimulate interest in the area. Four major strategies for reducing material demand through material efficiency are discussed: longer-lasting products; modularisation and remanufacturing; component re-use; designing products with less material. In industrialised nations, these strategies have had little attention, because of economic, regulatory and social barriers, which are each examined. However, evidence from waste management and the pursuit of energy efficiency suggests that these barriers might be overcome, and an outline of potential mechanisms for change is given. In bringing together insights into material efficiency from a wide range of disciplines, the paper presents a set of 20 open questions for future work.

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Material efficiency: A white paper

Integrating energy efficiency performance in production management – gap analysis between industrial needs and scientific literature

Tracking Industrial Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions responds to a G8 request. This major new analysis shows how industrial energy efficiency has improved dramatically over the last 25 years. Yet important opportunities for additional gains remain, which is evident when the efficiencies of different countries are compared. This analysis identifies the leaders and the laggards. It explains clearly a complex issue for non-experts.  With new statistics, groundbreaking methodologies, thorough analysis and advice, and substantial industry consultation, this publication equips decision makers in the public and private sectors with the essential information that is needed to reshape energy use in manufacturing in a more sustainable manner.

Tracking Industrial Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions

Assessing Transformation Pathways

Mitigation of global greenhouse gas emissions from waste: conclusions and strategies from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report. Working Group III (Mitigation).

A Triptych sectoral approach to burden differentiation; GHG emissions in the European bubble

International comparisons of energy efficiency-Methodologies for the manufacturing industry

The aim of this methodology handbook is to establish a conceptual framework to develop indicators for measuring energy efficiency in the manufacturing industry, and to use that framework to propose indicators for the most important sectors (from the energy perspective) of the manufacturing industry. Non-manufacturing industry is not included because of a relatively low share in total energy consumption and a lack of data. Energy efficiency indicators are proposed for the iron and steel industry, the aluminium industry, the cement industry, pulp and paper production, ammonia production, chlorine/alkali production, the petrochemical industry, refineries and the public electricity sector. For each sector relevant processes are described and the energy efficiency indicator pyramid is presented. Furthermore, structural aspects are identified. For each of the sectors required data, potential sources and methodological or data pitfalls are described. For each of the sectors some examples of the suggested indicators are presented. Each sectoral chapter contains a checklist of data required to make an international comparison of the energy efficiency. refs.

Handbook on international comparisons of energy efficiency in the manufacturing industry

Material efficiency improvement saves energy and reduces the consumption of primary resources and reduces the volume of waste. In this article an approach for analysing the potential for material efficiency improvement is proposed and discussed. In this approach the product functions performed by the materials and various improvement measures are taken into account. The potential for material saving and associated energy saving is assessed and evaluated economically. In this paper the approach is tested in an analysis of the potential for material efficiency improvement with respect to plastic packaging in the Netherlands. The technical reduction potential is found to be 34 ± 7% (157 ± 30 ktonne virgin plastics). Realization of this potential would improve the energy efficiency of the lifecycle of plastic packaging by 31% (10 PJ in 1988). From our study we conclude that our approach can indeed be used to investigate the potential for material efficiency improvement. However, a reliable technical and particularly an economical assessment of reduction measures cannot be made until more detailed data become available.

An approach for analysing the potential for material efficiency improvement

Iron and steel production consumes enormous quantities of energy, especially in developing countries where outdated, inefficient technologies are still used to produce iron and steel. Carbon dioxide emissions from steel production, which range between 5 and 15 percent of total country emissions in key developing countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa), will continue to grow as these countries develop and as demand for steel products such as materials, automobiles, and appliances increases. In this report, we describe the key steel processes, discuss typical energy-intensity values for these processes, review historical trends in iron and steel production by process in five key developing countries, describe the steel industry in each of the five key developing countries, present international comparisons of energy use and carbon dioxide emissions among these countries, and provide our assessment of the technical potential to reduce these emissions based on best-practice benchmarking. Using a best practice benchmark, we find that significant savings, in the range of 33 percent to 49 percent of total primary energy used to produce steel, are technically possible in these countries. Similarly, we find that the technical potential for reducing intensities of carbon dioxide emissions ranges between 26 percent and 49 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions from steel production in these countries.

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G.J.M. Phylipsen

Papers

A Triptych sectoral approach to burden differentiation; GHG emissions in the European bubble

International comparisons of energy efficiency-Methodologies for the manufacturing industry

Handbook on international comparisons of energy efficiency in the manufacturing industry

An approach for analysing the potential for material efficiency improvement

Energy use and carbon dioxide emissions in the steel sector in key developing countries