LAYERS of material flows for E-tech elements

随着我们越来越多地放弃使用化石燃料，为了实现碳减排目标，发电和交通基础设施将随着风力发电和电动汽车变得更加重要而发生变化。这两者都需要非常具体的材料，即所谓的电子技术元素，而采矿业提供这些材料的能力是一个具有战略意义的问题。提供所需规模的新技术会带来重大风险，即无法获得实现政治上商定的目标所需的材料。我们的提案旨在开发一种通用方法，通过物质流分析来理解供应链并对其进行建模，独特地添加了一个具有相关空间可视化和不确定性的地质组件。我们将使用标准方法(ISO 14041)，这是ISO 14001系列的一部分；这些管理系统对利益相关者来说是熟悉的。我们在这些层上增加了对选定电子技术元素来源的地质(和地理)分布的描述，一直到考虑供应链所有阶段的空间(地理位置)和时间(包括从勘探到开采到产品的交货期)的影响。使用这种方法，我们将生产一种工具，使用户能够了解供应链中出现瓶颈的地方，向与资源使用有关的决策提供信息，包括这些元素的生命周期结束回收，并提供约束条件，为决策者提供信息。我们的建议涉及与电子科技元素的非学术用户的主要代表保持密切联系。

To achieve carbon reduction targets as we move increasingly away from the use of fossil fuels, the infrastructure of electricity generation and transport will change as wind generation and electric vehicles become more important. Both of these require very specific materials, the so-called E-tech elements, and the ability of the mining industry to supply these is a matter of strategic significance. The provision of new technology on the required scale carries a significant risk of failure to secure materials needed to deliver the politically-agreed targets.Our proposal sets out to develop a generic approach to understanding and modelling the supply chain through Material Flow Analysis, uniquely adding a geological component with associated spatial visualisation and uncertainty. We will use standard methodology (ISO 14041), which is part of the ISO 14001 family; and these management systems are familiar to stakeholders.We add to these layers descriptions of geological (and so geographical) distribution of sources of selected E-tech elements, following through to consider the implications of space (geographical location) and time (including lead times from exploration through mining to product) at all stages of the supply chain. Using this approach, we will produce a tool that enables users to understand where bottlenecks arise in the supply chain, informing decisions that relate to resource use that include end-of-life recovery of these elements and providing constraints that inform policy makers. Our proposal involves close liaison with key representatives of non-academic users of E-tech elements.