The role of in-use stocks in the social metabolism and in climate change mitigation

Pauliuk, Stefan; Müller, Daniel B.

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.11.006

Cited by 234 publications

(222 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…For example, our results show that the saturation level of both ranges and microwave ovens is about one unit PHH, whereas the saturation level of the total of passenger cars and light trucks is about one vehicle per adult (18 y and older). (ii) There is potential for using data compiled by this study and the three-parameter logistic model to approximate product stocks in geographical regions for which historical development patterns or current GDP levels are similar to those of the United States or to develop future scenarios of the evolution of product stocks in the developing world by using the level of product stocks in the developed world as a benchmark (17,23). Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(iii) It is the demand for functions or services that drives the demand for the existence and operation of in-use stocks of products; this second demand drives the subsequent demand for building up, renewing, renovating, and maintaining in-use stocks of products (17); and this final demand drives the anthropogenic cycles of both products and materials contained in products (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

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In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

Chen

Graedel

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

127

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In-use stock of a product is the amount of the product in active use. In-use product stocks provide various functions or services on which we rely in our daily work and lives, and the concept of inuse product stock for industrial ecologists is similar to the concept of net manufactured capital stock for economists. This study estimates historical physical in-use stocks of 91 products and 9 product groups and uses monetary data on net capital stocks of 56 products to either approximate or compare with in-use stocks of the corresponding products in the United States. Findings include the following: (i) The development of new products and the buildup of their in-use stocks result in the increase in variety of in-use product stocks and of manufactured capital; (ii) substitution among products providing similar or identical functions reflects the improvement in quality of in-use product stocks and of manufactured capital; and (iii) the historical evolution of stocks of the 156 products or product groups in absolute, per capita, or per-household terms shows that stocks of most products have reached or are approaching an upper limit. Because the buildup, renewal, renovation, maintenance, and operation of in-use product stocks drive the anthropogenic cycles of materials that are used to produce products and that originate from natural capital, the determination of in-use product stocks together with modeling of anthropogenic material cycles provides an analytic perspective on the material linkage between manufactured capital and natural capital.in-use stocks | manufactured capital | industrial ecology | sustainability

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

Chen

Graedel

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

127

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“…An economy currently building up or growing its infrastructure may have much higher material inputs, especially of construction minerals (which would be included in the material extension in an EEIOA-based approach and partly wind up in the RME of exports) than an economy with established infrastructure. The size of in-use stocks and of accumulated physical capital influences the size of material flows [74] and therefore impacts the RME associated with traded products.…”

Section: The Role Of Assumptions In the Eeioa Approach Under Data Conmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raw Material Equivalents: The Challenges of Accounting for Sustainability in a Globalized World

2015

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Abstract:The indicator domestic material consumption (domestic extraction + importsexports) is widely used to track the scale, composition, and dynamics of material use. As production increasingly occurs at a spatial distance from the demand it ultimately satisfies, new accounting challenges arise that this indicator may not be able to meet. In response, indicators in raw material equivalents (RME) have been developed to account for material use, no matter where it occurs, associated with final demand. RME indicators are most commonly calculated based on monetary input-output tables with material extensions. The resulting indicators, which are rapidly gaining scientific and political importance, must be interpreted as stemming from a mixed monetary and physical accounting approach. How such an approach differs from a physical accounting approach is shown in this article using an input-output model with a material extension. Neither the physical nor the mixed monetary and physical approach is found to generate results which are incorrect. Instead, the results must be interpreted in light of the assumptions entailed in the approach on which they are based. In making possibilities and limits of interpretation in both cases transparent, RME indicators can more readily be discussed and used by sustainability scientists and practitioners.

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“…In recent years, the crucial role of in-use stocks of infrastructures and buildings for resource use patterns and as the biophysical spatial structures of society have increasingly come into focus [26][27][28]. Early pioneering work already highlighted the importance of the specific services demanded by society, for example m 2 of living space, as the driver of building stock accumulation and subsequent material flows [29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resource flows do not suffice to provide services (e.g., shelter, mobility, communication), i.e., creating benefits for societal wellbeing-they can only do so in combination with material stocks such as machinery, buildings or infrastructures [28]. The location as well as functional types of material stocks and their specific qualities determine both the resource requirements related to the provision of key services, e.g., transport, and spatio-temporal characteristics of their provision, as well as disposal in terms of end-of-life wastes, or their availability for recycling; the latter being crucial knowledge for closing material loops [27,36].…”

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confidence: 99%

The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

et al. 2017

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Fundamental changes in the societal use of biophysical resources are required for a sustainability transformation. Current socioeconomic metabolism research traces flows of energy, materials or substances to capture resource use: input of raw materials or energy, their fate in production and consumption, and the discharge of wastes and emissions. This approach has yielded important insights into eco-efficiency and long-term drivers of resource use. But socio-metabolic research has not yet fully incorporated material stocks or their services, hence not completely exploiting the analytic power of the metabolism concept. This commentary argues for a material stock-flow-service nexus approach focused on the analysis of interrelations between material and energy flows, socioeconomic material stocks ("in-use stocks of materials") and the services provided by specific stock/flow combinations. Analyzing the interrelations between stocks, flows and services will allow researchers to develop highly innovative indicators of eco-efficiency and open new research directions that will help to better understand biophysical foundations of transformations towards sustainability.

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The role of in-use stocks in the social metabolism and in climate change mitigation

Cited by 234 publications

References 45 publications

In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

In-use product stocks link manufactured capital to natural capital

Raw Material Equivalents: The Challenges of Accounting for Sustainability in a Globalized World

The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

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