The steel industry, abiotic resource depletion and life cycle assessment: a real or perceived issue?

Yellishetty, Mohan; Mudd, Gavin Mark; Ranjith, P.G.

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.08.020

Cited by 81 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…It is not just the energy mix as such which is important, however, but also the energy efficiency. Another important factor are the environmental impacts of metals supply which will change due to combined effects of technological advances in mining and manufacturing, changes in the portion of secondary to primary materials used, and reduction in ore grade [85][86][87]. Future research may address the effects of such changes through scenario analyses.…”

Section: Aspects Of Scale Temporal Evolutions and Network Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power: A review of present knowledge and research needs

Arvesen

Hertwich

2012

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

178

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We critically review present knowledge of the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power.We find that the current body of life cycle assessments (LCA) of wind power provides a fairly good overall understanding of fossil energy use and associated pollution; our survey of results that appear in existing literature give mean values (± standard deviation) of, e.g., 0.060 (±0.058) kWh energy used and 19 (±13) g CO 2 e emitted per kWh electricity, suggesting good environmental performance vis-à-vis fossil-based power. Total emissions of onshore and offshore wind farms are comparable. The bulk of emissions generally occur in the production of components; onshore, the wind turbine dominates, while offshore, the substructure becomes relatively more important. Strong positive effects of scale are present in the lower end of the turbine size spectrum, but there is no clear evidence for such effects for MW-sized units. We identify weaknesses and gaps in knowledge that future research may address. This includes poorly understood impacts in categories of toxicity and resource depletion, lack of empirical basis for assumptions about replacement of parts, and apparent lack of detailed considerations of offshore operations for wind farms in ocean waters. We argue that applications of the avoided burden method to model recycling benefits generally lack transparency and may be inconsistent.Assumed capacity factor values are generally higher than current mean realized values. Finally, we discuss the need for LCA research to move beyond unit-based assessments in order to address temporal aspects and the scale of impacts.

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Section: Aspects Of Scale Temporal Evolutions and Network Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power: A review of present knowledge and research needs

Arvesen

Hertwich

2012

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

178

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“…Em função dessa característica, a ACV foi escolhida como a ferramenta utilizada neste trabalho para comparar as atuais tecnologias (rotas) siderúrgicas de produção do aço, esse que é um dos objetivos principais do trabalho. Nesse panorama, Yellishetty et al [13] acreditam que a ACV é a melhor ferramenta de avaliação sustentável para os setores industriais, incluindo mineração e siderurgia. O ponto chave de estudos de ACV são os Inventários de Ciclo de Vida (ICV).…”

Section: Ferramenta Para Avaliação E Comparação De Processos Industriunclassified

O Processo De Reciclagem Veicular E Os Benefícios Globais Da Utilização De Sucatas Metálicas Para a Produção De Aço

Marques¹,

Castro²

2017

Anais Do Seminário De Aciaria, Fundição E Metalurgia De Não-Ferrosos

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ResumoO atual contexto energético e ambiental exige cada vez mais que os processos industriais gerem produtos com menos impactos ambientais, consumam menos recursos naturais e energia. Dentre esses processos estão os relacionados com a produção de aço. Basicamente, existem duas possibilidades para obtenção desse metal. A primeira, rota integrada, obtém o aço utilizando o minério de ferro como matéria prima. A segunda, rota semi-integrada, obtém o mesmo metal por meio da fusão de sucatas metálicas recicladas. Nesse contexto, os objetivos deste trabalho são definir uma possível fonte de sucata metálica para o setor siderúrgico e determinar qual dessas alternativas de produção do aço é mais eficiente do ponto de vista energético e ambiental. A fonte de sucata metálica proposta para a produção de aço são veículos reciclados. A metodologia utilizada na avaliação dos processos de produção do aço é a Análise de Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Os resultados mostram uma redução global no consumo de materiais e energia bem como na geração de impactos ambientais em função da utilização de sucatas metálicas provenientes de veículos reciclados para a produção de aço. Palavras-chave: Aço; Reciclagem veicular; Análise de ciclo de vida; Eficiência. VEHICLE RECYCLING AND THE GLOBAL BENEFITS DUE TO USING METAL SCRAP FOR STEEL PRODUCTION AbstractThe current energy and environmental contexts require that industrial processes make products with less environmental impacts, consume less natural resources and energy. Among these processes are those related to steel production. Basically, there are two possibilities to obtain it. The first, integrated route, obtains this metal from iron ore as raw material. The second, semi-integrated route produces it by merging recycled metal scrap. In that context, the objectives of this work are define a possible source of metal scrap for steel industry and determine which of those routes produce steel with less environmental impacts generation, less natural resources and energy consumption. The source of metal scrap proposal for steel production is vehicle recycling. The methodology used to evaluate steel production processes is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).The results show an overall significant reduction in energy and natural resource consumption and less environmental impacts generation due to using metal scrap from vehicle recycling to produce steel.

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“…The production of crude steel was 1.41 × 10 9 t 1) in 2010, inducing the mining of 2.59 × 10 9 t (1.28 × 10 9 t-Fe) 2) of iron ore. Steel production is closely related to demand for coke 3) as a reducing agent as well as nickel, chrome and other alloying elements. 4) Rising demand for steel raises concerns about the introduction of environmental problems, such as increased greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of resource mining on biodiversity. 3,4) At the same time, better and more efficient use of resources, including recycling, is expected to contribute to reductions in natural resource consumption 5) and greenhouse gas emissions 6) throughout the supply chain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4) Rising demand for steel raises concerns about the introduction of environmental problems, such as increased greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of resource mining on biodiversity. 3,4) At the same time, better and more efficient use of resources, including recycling, is expected to contribute to reductions in natural resource consumption 5) and greenhouse gas emissions 6) throughout the supply chain. In this context, the supply and demand structure of iron and related substances has been analyzed vigorously by material flow analysis (MFA) techniques, 5,[7][8][9][10][11][12] and the results are shedding light on the overall picture of the use of resources through the supply chain, including the flows and stocks of iron.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Flow of Iron in Global Supply Chain

et al. 2014

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Recently, sustainable management of resources has become an increasingly recognized issue. Accordingly, interest in understanding the relationship between natural resources consumption and the global product supply chain has also been increasing. Material flow analysis (MFA) is a useful tool for understanding resource consumption and material cycles in national economies. However, detailed MFA studies of the materials embedded in foreign trade flows are rare.This study identified global trade flow of iron embedded in bilateral trade between 231 countries by multiplying the trade volume of the commodities in the BACI (Base pour l'Analyse du Commerce International) database and the iron content of each commodity. We focused on the cases of Japan, China, and United States, and estimated the mass of iron embedded in imports and export. The identified total flows of iron embedded in international trade were 1.15 × 10 9 t-Fe with 35.2% of the flows concentrated in three countries, Japan, China and United States, which are major crude steel production countries.KEY WORDS: material flow analysis; international trade; input-output analysis; supply chain; iron and steel.

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The steel industry, abiotic resource depletion and life cycle assessment: a real or perceived issue?

Cited by 81 publications

References 37 publications

Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power: A review of present knowledge and research needs

Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of wind power: A review of present knowledge and research needs

O Processo De Reciclagem Veicular E Os Benefícios Globais Da Utilização De Sucatas Metálicas Para a Produção De Aço

Material Flow of Iron in Global Supply Chain

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