Material and energy use

I. An inventory of materials and energy used, and environmental releases from all stages in the life of a product or process... 

From a green perspective, decreased yields, by-product formation and inability to reproduce key product properties will invariably increase waste and require greater materials and energy use. Longer cycle times invariably will lead to increased energy use and in some cases, increased materials use. 

Closing the water loop is, in general, a first important step to achieve more sustainable production processes. A further improvement of the environmental sustainability of the production process can be obtained by an environmental assessment of all material and energy flows in the production process. This gives a more complete picture of possible ways to save on materials and energy use, and also how to minimise the amount of final wastes from the production process. 

Table 6.11. Material and energy use for hydrogen storage containers (based on data ...

A major challenge for chemists is to develop new products that achieve economic objectives. At one time this was carried out with little or no thought of the impact that production had on the environment, but two of the greatest challenges to chemists today are the replacement of existing technology with cleaner processes and the development of new products that are kinder to the environment.1 This requires a new approach, which sets out to reduce the materials and energy used in manufacture, minimize or ideally eliminate the dispersion of chemicals in the environment, maximize the use of resources, and extend the durability and recyclability of products. 

In Chapter 1 (Section 1.6.1, Bio-based Economy) it was noted how white biotechnologies contribute to sustainability. We may cite, as an additional example, that DSM s route to the antibiotic cephalexin (a combination of a fermentation and an enzymatic reaction with respect to multistep chemo-synthesis) reduces of 65% the materials and energy used, and about 50% the variable costs [153]. Other examples of biocatalysis and white biotechnologies used industrially by DSM are summarized in Table 2.5. 

LCA includes the following important steps materials extraction, manufacturing and waste production, packaging, transportation, product use and product disposal. In order to calculate the amount of emissions and waste created during the life cycle of a product, much fundamental information is needed on manufacturing processes, materials and energy use. A life cycle inventory (LCI) is therefore compiled to record the emissions and resources consumed that can be attributed to a specific product. Databases have been developed that enable the user to input new information or data specific to their products and processes. Ecoinvent v3 (http //www.ecoinvent. org/database/) is probably the most comprehensive international LCI database. The ecoinvent database is included in most LCA software models. The following are some of the software suitable for LCA of plastics (O Neill, 2003) ... 

Compared to other raw materials used around the world, renewable resources and in particular wood have a very large share of the whole and are comparable in mass terms to other materials such as steel and concrete (Eigure 13.6). If one takes material and energy use together, the use of renewable resources exceeds that of aU other raw materials in volume terms. 

Figure 13.6 Relation of selected raw materials in material and energy use worldwide 2008. ( nova-lnstitut GmbH, 2011.)...

Various data categories are necessary to perform LCA using the Simapro software [74] these comprise, for instance, the yield of the total process, the allocation factors, input processes from the technosphere, which represent materials and energy used in the study system, emissions to soil, water bodies, and air, and information about waste treatment facilities for the several waste streams. The key parameters and selected inventory data of... 

With growing concern of environment and sustainability, Imerys has taken an initiative to evaluate the sustainability aspects of the calcium carbonate mineral. lifecycle inventory (LCI) is a key part of the International Environmental Management System standards 14044 2006. This tool is used by companies in the plastics supply chain to understand the environmental impact of raw materials critical for plastics production. LCI analysis of treated ground calcium carbonate compared to base resins was carried out since treated GCC is used to replace some of the resin volume in plastics production. The production of treated GCC was found to have a lower impact on the environment than the production of various resin systems, including PVC, PE, and PP. Raw material and energy use inputs were included in the study, as were environmental emissions to land, air, and water [11]. 

The life cycle perspective that considers the pattern of material and energy use in procurement, production, and transportation, can identify the supply chain issues that can be tailored to environmental compatibility. This process can be framed in a... 

Process integration to target performance with respect to raw material and energy use... 

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