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Future environmental impacts of metals: a review of impact trends, modelling approaches and challenges

Harpprecht, Carina and Miranda Xicotencatl, Brenda and van Nielen, Sander and van der Meide, Marc and Li, Chen and Li, Zhijie and Steubing, Bernhard (2023) Future environmental impacts of metals: a review of impact trends, modelling approaches and challenges. In: SETAC Europe 33rd Annual Meeting. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe (SETAC Europe). SETAC Europe 33rd Annual Meeting, 2023-04-30 - 2023-05-04, Dublin, Ireland. ISSN 2310-3043.

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Official URL: https://europe2023.setac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Abstract-Book-Final2.pdf

Abstract

Metals have an important role in the global economy. With the energy transition, the demand for many metals is expected to sharply increase in the future. Although many studies apply prospective LCA to assess future environmental impacts of metal supply, the methods have not yet converged to a common approach. This study aims to provide an overview of these studies and their approaches, following 2 research questions: 1. Which metals have been addressed by previous prospective LCA studies and what are their expected future supply impacts according to the identified studies? 2. What are the studied parameters of the metal supply chains, the applied scenario modelling approaches, and data sources used? We performed a systematic literature review to identify studies which assess future environmental impacts due to the supply of metals. This includes publications about absolute impacts of global metal demand, but also relative impacts assessed by comparative LCAs of emerging technologies. For these studies, we analysed both the results and the methods to integrate prospective elements in the LCA models focussing on the choice of parameters, background scenarios, data sources and modelling approaches. The literature review yielded 40 papers. We found that the majority of publications investigate bulk metals like Cu, Fe and Al. Most studies investigate relative impacts (i.e. per kg metal produced). Fewer studies also address absolute impacts of the total future demand; however, these mostly agree that absolute environmental impacts associated with global metal demand are likely to increase. Moreover, the results show that the majority of studies assess CO2 emissions, while other impacts are less often investigated. Furthermore, we found that the parameters considered most frequently are future ore grades, recycling shares, and energy efficiency. Background scenarios were primarily energy scenarios, which were most often electricity scenarios from the integrated assessment model IMAGE. Background scenarios modelling other developments are less common. Overall, the review reveals a wide variety of parameter choices, scenario modelling approaches and data sources. This study stresses the necessity to reduce environmental impacts of metal supply. Moreover, it highlights the need for guidelines for prospective LCA as well as for the documentation of modelling choices, LCI and scenario data to facilitate transparency and sharing of LCA scenarios in the community.

Item URL in elib:https://elib.dlr.de/198948/
Document Type:Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)
Additional Information:Funding: Carina Harpprecht received funding from the Energy Program of the German Aerospace Center in 2022. Zhijie Li received funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) under the project Valomag (Project No. 14049).
Title:Future environmental impacts of metals: a review of impact trends, modelling approaches and challenges
Authors:
AuthorsInstitution or Email of AuthorsAuthor's ORCID iDORCID Put Code
Harpprecht, CarinaUNSPECIFIEDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2878-0139UNSPECIFIED
Miranda Xicotencatl, BrendaUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
van Nielen, SanderUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
van der Meide, MarcUNSPECIFIEDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6888-316XUNSPECIFIED
Li, ChenUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Li, ZhijieUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Steubing, BernhardUNSPECIFIEDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1307-6376UNSPECIFIED
Date:2023
Journal or Publication Title:SETAC Europe 33rd Annual Meeting. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe (SETAC Europe)
Refereed publication:No
Open Access:No
Gold Open Access:No
In SCOPUS:No
In ISI Web of Science:No
ISSN:2310-3043
Status:Published
Keywords:scenarios; metal production; prospective life cycle assessment; future; climate change; renewable energy
Event Title:SETAC Europe 33rd Annual Meeting
Event Location:Dublin, Ireland
Event Type:international Conference
Event Start Date:30 April 2023
Event End Date:4 May 2023
Organizer:Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Europe (SETAC Europe)
HGF - Research field:Energy
HGF - Program:Energy System Design
HGF - Program Themes:Digitalization and System Technology
DLR - Research area:Energy
DLR - Program:E SY - Energy System Technology and Analysis
DLR - Research theme (Project):E - Energy System Technology
Location: Stuttgart
Institutes and Institutions:Institute of Networked Energy Systems > Energy Systems Analysis, ST
Deposited By: Harpprecht, Carina
Deposited On:21 Nov 2023 15:30
Last Modified:24 Apr 2024 20:59

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