Resource-Efficiency Economics

Resource efficient syntheses and production processes of fine chemicals contribute significantly to sustainable development. This has also been pointed out in Agenda 21 Promote efficient use of materials and resources, taking into account the life cycles of products, in order to realize the economic and environmental benefits of using resources more efficiently and producing fewer wastes (Agenda 21, Chapter 9.18). 

In the United Kingdom, the Department of Health asks NICE to evaluate health technologies that have a major impact on the National Health Service. Although not formally based on efficiency considerations, this approach is more consistent with obtaining the best value for money from the use of resources on economic evaluation. More recently, methods involving the estimation of the expected value of perfect information have been used in a pilot study to inform research priorities in the United Kingdom (Claxton et al. 2004). 

A critical element of Cleaner Production is that it results in a "win-win" scenario for industry and the environment as it implies striving for continuous resource efficiency to create economic savings for the company. In this way... 

In the last years the Austrian Ministry of Environment made every effort to promote innovative ways of chemicals management based on resource efficiency as well as on precaution. Applying Chemical Leasing", profits do not result from the quantity of chemicals sold, but rather from the services rendered by means of the chemicals. If business interests are no longer related to the sale of chemical substances it is in the interest of all the parties involved, to use the substances with maximum efficiency. This clearly is the environmental policy motivation for this new focus, which ensures that economic success and ecological benefits are no longer contradictory. 

Carrying out substance flow analysis of important economic sectors to provide users and consumers with information necessary to develop less polluting and more resource efficient product and processes. 

The question whether to use HSM/HSC conditions or HPC is a combination of performance and an economic point of view, considering cost, production rate, energy, and resources efficiency as well as profitability. The main criteria for selecting cutting speed, feed, and depth of cut as well as flushing strategies and cutting tool are the... 

In conclusion, it can be stated that separations performed by membrane or sorption processes can play an important role in alleviating problems in oil and gas production processes including CCS. Most of the options discussed above hold the promise of being industrially viable in terms of energy and resource efficiency as well as from an economic and technological point of view. 

Bl The B1 scenarios describe a convergent world with the same global population as in the Al scenarios which peaks in mid-century and declines thereafter, but with rapid change in economic structure toward a service and information economy, with reductions in material intensity and the introduction of clean and resource efficient technologies. The emphasis is on global solutions to economic, social and environmental sustainability, including improved equity but without additional climate incentives. 

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on A Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, COM(2011) 571 Final, Official Journal of the European Union, Cl 81, 21 June 2012, p.l63. 

Efficient activities have been widely adopted throughout the supply chain as they are generally easier to justify economically. However, there is stUl enormous scope for building on efficiency to doing better with less. Most companies are discovering that it is relatively easy to obtain resource efficiency at the process level. 

Gillingham K., R. G. Newell, and K. Palmer. 2009. Energy Efficiency Economics and Policy. Resources for the Future Report No. RFF-DP-09-13. 

Development of more resource-efficient, lighter-weight, and more transport-efficient packaging is not just environmentally, but also often economically desirable. (See Fig. E-42.) Life-cycle assessments (LCAs) as a basis for the development work are an important tool here. The potential for commercial exploitation of the environmental benefits is greater if these benefits can be promoted as part of a new product or packaging solution. 

---