Recycling Potential, Climate, and Metals of Modern Technology

现代技术的回收潜力、气候和金属

• 批准号: 1336121
• 负责人: Thomas Graedel
• 金额: $ 36.78万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1336121&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Recycling; Potential; Climate; Metals; Modern

1336121 (Graedel). Many metals are scarce in nature, and concern exists regarding their long term availability. The prospective availability of metals over time is currently not aided by their rates of recycling after use, many of which are very low. Metals are also discussed from the perspective of carbon emissions: it is estimated that about 8% of all global carbon emissions relate to the mining and processing of metals. This research addresses these issues by deriving current loss and recycling rates for ten select metals, and evaluating the prospects for improving those rates now and over time. The work will also include computing the carbon emission savings that are now being derived from metal recycling, and the potential for increased carbon emission savings that could be achieved through increased after-use recycling. This research draws on previous NSF-sponsored research on the criticality" of all metals and metalloids in the periodic table. That research provides information on quantitative cycles of contemporary stocks, flows, and losses for these elements. The metal life cycles enable two new quantitative assessments to be made: the degree to which metal mined and processed in previous years is lost without further reuse, and the degree to which metal now lost could be recycled were appropriate effort expended in directed collection and reprocessing. In related work, scenarios are being developed for future supply and demand of metals. In this new research, the prior work will be used as a foundation for deriving a comprehensive picture of metal loss, recycling, recycling potential, and carbon emission reduction potential for ten metals: copper, nickel, cobalt, indium, neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, yttrium, europium, and terbium. The results will demonstrate the degree to which recycling can provide climate change-related benefits now and in the future, thus indicating the degree to which a more extensive deployment of technology and of product design for recycling has the potential to mitigate carbon emissions and thus climate change. The project includes an undergraduate research component involving two Yale students who will work part-time during the academic year and full time during the summers as members of the project research team. Their tasks will include a combination of independent and collaborative work involving current and best practice recycling of one or more target metals, together with collaborative work on resulting carbon emissions saving. A second category of broader impacts relates to providing information on materials recycling prospects and their potential for carbon emissions reduction to several governmental agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere that have asked to be kept appraised of this group?s research on topics related to metal futures. A third category of broader impacts relates to collaboration involving the results of the research in the integrated scenario activities of the UNEP International Resource Panel. Finally, it is anticipated that the results of this work will provide enhanced materials perspectives to a number of domestic and international corporations, those in the governmental materials policy arena, and those engaged in climate research or climate policy.

1336121（Graedel）。许多金属在自然界中是稀缺的，人们对它们的长期供应存在担忧。目前，金属在使用后的回收率并不有助于长期获得金属，其中许多回收率非常低。还从碳排放的角度讨论了金属：据估计，全球约8%的碳排放与金属的开采和加工有关。这项研究通过得出10种选定金属的当前损失和回收率，并评估现在和随着时间的推移提高这些比率的前景来解决这些问题。这项工作还将包括计算目前从金属回收中节省的碳排放量，以及通过增加使用后回收来增加碳排放量的潜力。这项研究借鉴了以前NSF赞助的关于周期表中所有金属和准金属临界性的研究。这项研究提供了关于这些要素的当代存量、流量和损失的定量周期的信息。金属的生命周期使人们能够进行两项新的定量评估：前几年开采和加工的金属在多大程度上没有进一步再利用而损失，以及如果在直接收集和再加工方面作出适当努力，现在损失的金属在多大程度上可以再循环。在相关的工作中，正在为金属的未来供求制定设想方案。在这项新的研究中，先前的工作将被用作基础，用于获得十种金属的金属损失，回收，回收潜力和碳减排潜力的全面图片：铜，镍，钴，铟，钕，镨，镝，钇，铕和铽。研究结果将表明，回收利用在现在和将来能够在多大程度上提供与气候变化有关的惠益，从而表明，更广泛地部署回收利用技术和产品设计在多大程度上有可能减少碳排放，从而减少气候变化。该项目包括一个本科研究部分，涉及两名耶鲁大学的学生，他们将在学年期间兼职工作，并在夏季全职工作，作为项目研究小组的成员。他们的任务将包括独立和协作工作的结合，涉及一种或多种目标金属的当前和最佳实践回收，以及由此产生的碳排放量节约的协作工作。第二类更广泛的影响涉及向美国和其他地方的几个政府机构提供有关材料回收前景及其减少碳排放潜力的信息，这些机构要求对这一群体进行评估。研究与金属期货相关的课题。第三类更广泛的影响涉及到在环境署国际资源小组的综合设想方案活动中开展的涉及研究成果的协作。最后，预计这项工作的结果将提供增强材料的观点，一些国内和国际公司，那些在政府材料政策竞技场，和那些从事气候研究或气候政策。