Abstract
The first book chapter analyzes the raw materials consumption in Europe and introduces the parameters that characterize these materials. A model is presented to fully connect the raw materials aspects (their characteristics, their availability, and their manufacturing) and the three pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social dimensions) and to show the relationships between them. The world materials production data analysis allows highlighting the problem connected to resources depletion and the need of some strategies to reduce it. For this aim, the use of different indicators other than some aggregated economy indicators, to account the raw material consumption in term of sustainability, is proposed. The use of embodied energy and carbon footprint parameters, accounting for energy and emissions involved in materials production, is envisaged. These data are presented and discussed in connection to elements natural abundance on the crust hearth and in respect to the materials world production. Evident correlations are found among the data. In particular the relationship among embodied energy and materials production can be represented by an equation very similar to demand-price curves, developed in the economy context.
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Bontempi, E. (2017). Raw Materials and Sustainability Indicators. In: Raw Materials Substitution Sustainability. SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60831-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60831-0_1
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