Platinum group elements (PGEs) are an important resource for many applications, such as automotive catalytic converters for vehicles, jewelry, electrical devices and as catalysts in the chemical and petroleum industries. At present, the greatest share of global PGE supply is extracted from the South African Bushveld Complex and from the Zimbabwean Great Dyke. In this context, this article provides a comprehensive summary of detailed mining data between 2010 and 2015 and discusses these in regard to the global PGE market. On the supply side, the data reveal that the production volumes as well as the ore grades fluctuated in recent years, while the mining and processing of economically less favorable Upper Group 2 (UG2) ore increased. The average head grade from 2010 to 2015 was 3.58 g 6E/t. In the long term, the ore grades decreased. On the market side, PGE prices and increasing (primary) production costs can be observed. On the market side, the demand for vehicles is expected to grow globally resulting in an increase in PGE demand. At the same time, secondary production is expected to increase and will eventually compete with primary production. These findings indicate challenging conditions for the Southern African PGE industry.

The Circular Economy Action Plan, as part of the European Green Deal announced by the European Commission, is highly relevant to the chemical industry in relation to the production of sustainable products. Accordingly, the chemical industry faces the question of how far it can promote its own manufacture of sustainable products. Within this context, this article presents an approach on how to measure innovations in bioeconomy. The methodological framework developed provides the chemical industry with an approach to assess the effectiveness of innovative conversion technologies producing biogenic intermediate products (e.g., bulk chemicals). The innovations within the bioeconomy (TRL > 4; TRL—technology readiness level) are compared in terms of technical, economic, and environmental indicators for the current status, for the medium- and long-term as well as for different production sites. The methodological approach developed here is exemplarily applied, assessing the production of intermediate biogenic products via thermo-chemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass. The results show the successful applicability of the developed assessment approach as well as significant differences in efficiency, costs, and environmental impact, both from the perspective of time and in spatial terms within the European Union. Thus, the methodological approach developed and presented enables the chemical industry to reduce challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy.

Platinum group elements (PGEs, 6E PGE = Pt + Pd + Rh + Ru + Ir + Au) are used in numerous applications that seek to reduce environmental impacts of mobility and energy generation. Consequently, the future demand for PGEs is predicted to increase. Previous studies indicate that environmental impacts of PGE production change over time emphasizing the need of up-to-date data and assessments. In this context, an analysis of environmental aspects of PGE production is needed to support the environmental assessment of technologies using PGEs, to reveal environmental hotspots within the production chain and to identify optimization potential. Therefore, this paper assesses greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cumulative fossil energy demand (CED fossil ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions and water use of primary PGE production in Southern Africa, where most of today's supply originates from. The analysis shows that in 2015, emissions amounted to 45 t CO 2 -eq. and 502 kg SO 2 per kg 6E PGE in the case GHG and SO 2 emissions, respectively. GHG emissions are dominated by emissions from electricity provision contributing more than 90% to the overall GHG emissions. The CED fossil amounted to 0.60 TJ per kg 6E PGE. A detailed analysis of the CED fossil reveals that electricity provision based on coal power consumes the most fossil energy carriers among all energy forms. Results show that the emissions are directly related to the electricity demand. Thus, the reduction in the electricity demand presents the major lever to reduce the consumption of fossil energy resources and the emission of GHGs and SO 2 . In 2015, the water withdrawal amounted to 0.272 million L per kg 6E PGE. Additionally, 0.402 million L of recycled water were used per kg 6E PGE. All assessed indicators except ore grades and production volumes reveal increasing trends in the period from 2010 to 2015. It can be concluded that difficult market conditions (see part I of this paper series) and increasing environmental impacts present a challenging situation for the Southern African PGE mining industry.

No abstract

No abstract