On the Sustainability and Progress of Energy Neutral Mineral Processing

Reitsma, Frederik; Woods, Peter; Fairclough, Martin; Tulsidas, Harikrishnan; López, Luis; Zheng, Yongjun; Hussein, Ahmed; Brinkmann, Gerd; Haneklaus, Nils; Kacham, Anand Rao; Sreenivas, T.; Sumaryanto, Agus; Trinopiawan, Kurnia; Khaledi, Nahhar Al; Zahari, Ahmad Khairulikram; Yahyaoui, Adil El; Ahmad, Jamil; Reyes, Rolando; Kiegiel, Katarzyna; Abbes, Noureddine; Mwalongo, Dennis; Greaves, E.D.

doi:10.3390/su10010235

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 137 publications

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“…Exceptionally, it is discovered that the enormous electricity demand equivalent to 19.49 kWh is the culprit for IRP up to 2.62 kBq Co-60 eq, which is far beyond the values of biochemical and thermochemical processes. In fact, one quarter (25%) of the conventional medium voltage electricity mix in Europe is satisfied by nuclear power plants equipped with boiling or pressure water reactors, whose impacts are constituted by uranium milling tailing, as well as treatment of low-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, one quarter (25%) of the conventional medium voltage electricity mix in Europe is satisfied by nuclear power plants equipped with boiling or pressure water reactors, whose impacts are constituted by uranium milling tailing, as well as treatment of low-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. 71 In terms of endpoint analysis (Figure 6b) of 1 kg ethanol synthesis via the electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction route, it follows the same pattern as those of biochemical and thermochemical processes, with damage to human health earning the highest point. CO 2 emission, spoil from lignite and hard coal mining, and natural gas extraction associated with electricity utilities account for 98.6, 95.2, and 99.5% of damages to human health, ecosystems, and resources, respectively.…”

Section: Comparisons Between Conventional and Innovativementioning

confidence: 96%

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Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis

Tan

Ong

2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Faced by the concerning climate change worldwide and agriculture-dependent biochemical and energy-intensive thermochemical technologies, research and development efforts in exploring sustainable ethanol synthesis toward carbon neutrality are urgent. Recently, an electrochemical process via the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to synthesize ethanol has emerged as a promising alternative approach by directly consuming CO2 from the atmosphere. Despite the fact that numerous remarkable electrocatalysts with fascinating activity, selectivity, and stability have been extensively uncovered in this field, environmental impacts of this technology have rarely been acknowledged. Herein, a life cycle assessment (LCA) study is conducted to evaluate the potential environmental impacts and benefits of an innovative electrochemical process versus conventional biochemical and thermochemical processes toward the sustainable synthesis of 1 kg of ethanol. Impact assessment results revealed that with the contemporary electricity mix, the electrochemical process is still surpassed by the biochemical process, and its environmental benignity is not pronounced, attributed to tremendous electricity utilities accounting for 67.7–100% of impacts. However, it prevails over the two conventional routes when powered by renewable energies, particularly solar energy, with impact reduction ranging from 108.6 to 750.5%, while providing the greatest benefits with respect to terrestrial ecotoxicity (TETP). Carbon footprint further indicates that the electrochemical process becomes competitive and reaches carbon neutrality once driven by electricity with carbon intensity (CI) below 0.25 and 0.12 kg CO2 eq/kWh. Overall, in spite of its massive electricity utilities, the electrochemical ethanol synthesis route is highly promising in environmental impact remediation when coupled with renewable energies, which calls for more efforts from researchers and governments to achieve carbon neutrality and sustainability in years to come.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparisons Between Conventional and Innovativementioning

confidence: 96%

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis

Tan

Ong

2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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“…U is present as an impurity in PR, which is the raw material used for P fertilizer production. U contained in P fertilizers is an environmental contaminant, yet it is not recovered during P fertilizer production at the moment [63]. U in P fertilizers is disseminated on agricultural soil with fertilizers leading to potential accumulation of U in the soil.…”

Section: The Focus Of the Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uranium Dissemination with Phosphate Fertilizers Globally: A Systematic Review with Focus on East Africa

Mwalongo,

Haneklaus,

Lisuma

et al. 2024

Sustainability

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Growing concern has been expressed about uranium (U) accumulation in agricultural soils caused by the long-term application of mineral fertilizers. More than 80% of naturally occurring U transfers from phosphate rock (PR), the raw material used in mineral fertilizer production, to phosphorus (P) fertilizers. These fertilizers are then distributed on agricultural soils, where the U could accumulate over time and become a risk to the environment. The objective of this work was to review the reported content of U in P fertilizers, its potential dispersion in soils, and its uptake by plants in different countries in the world as reported in the literature. The articles for this systematic review were selected from the Scopus database published between 2003 and 2022. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol were used. A total of 54 articles were assessed based on the standard inclusion and exclusion criteria. U concentrations in P fertilizers, agricultural soil dissemination, and plant uptake for available data were obtained and assessed. In order to compare a set of related data from the collected articles, box and whisker plots showing the distribution of U in P fertilizers are presented by region. The results from the reviewed articles show that the U concentrations in P fertilizer were in the range of 0.1–653 mg kg−1. Interestingly, Minjingu P fertilizers from Tanzania, which are used in six East African countries, showed the highest U concentrations (159 to 653 mg kg−1, average 390 mg kg−1). The reported U concentrations for these fertilizers are, in fact, comparable to those of conventional low-grade uranium deposits mined in Namibia and elsewhere. Additionally, approximately 96% of the reviewed articles indicate that fertilized soil has higher U concentrations than non-fertilized soils, hinting at a measurable effect of mineral fertilizer use. The review recommends U extraction during mineral fertilizer production so that potential environmental risks can be reduced and U resources that would otherwise be lost can be recovered and used to substitute conventional U mining elsewhere.

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“…Essentially, during phosphate fertilizer production, uranium is presently neither recovered as a mineral resource nor removed as a contaminant because many countries do not have legislation and regulations in place that restrict uranium concentrations in mineral fertilizers (Kratz et al 2016;Haneklaus et al 2017b), and this practice is presently not economically viable (López et al 2019;Haneklaus 2021;Shang et al 2021). It is noteworthy though that since the cost for mining (especially a large part of the up-front capital costs as well as infrastructure development) are already taken care of by the phosphate industry (Reitsma et al 2018), additional (byproduct) uranium recovery is currently at the edge of being monetarily profitable (Haneklaus et al 2017b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uranium in phosphate rocks and mineral fertilizers applied to agricultural soils in East Africa

Mwalongo

Haneklaus

Lisuma

et al. 2022

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Phosphate rock, pre-concentrated phosphate ore, is the primary raw material for the production of mineral phosphate fertilizer. Phosphate rock is among the fifth most mined materials on earth, and it is also mined and processed to fertilizers in East Africa. Phosphate ore can contain relevant heavy metal impurities such as toxic cadmium and radiotoxic uranium. Prolonged use of phosphate rock powder as a fertilizer and application of mineral fertilizers derived from phosphate rock on agricultural soils can lead to an accumulation of heavy metals that can then pose an environmental risk. This work assesses the uranium concentrations in four major phosphate rocks originating from East Africa and four mineral phosphate fertilizers commonly used in the region. The concentration measurements were performed using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The results showed that the uranium concentration in phosphate rock ranged from as low as 10.7 mg kg−1 (Mrima Hill deposit, Kenya) to as high as 631.6 mg kg−1 (Matongo deposit, Burundi), while the concentrations in phosphate fertilizers ranged from 107.9 for an imported fertilizer to 281.0 mg kg−1 for a local fertilizer produced from Minjingu phosphate rock in Tanzania. In this context, it is noteworthy that the naturally occurring concentration of uranium in the earth crust is between 1.4 and 2.7 mg kg−1 and uranium mines in Namibia commercially process ores with uranium concentrations as low as 100–400 mg kg−1. This study thus confirms that East African phosphate rock, and as a result the phosphate fertilizer produced from it can contain relatively high uranium concentrations. Options to recover this uranium are discussed, and it is recommended that public–private partnerships are established that could develop economically competitive technologies to recover uranium during phosphate rock processing at the deposits with the highest uranium concentrations.

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On the Sustainability and Progress of Energy Neutral Mineral Processing

Cited by 20 publications

References 137 publications

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis

Uranium Dissemination with Phosphate Fertilizers Globally: A Systematic Review with Focus on East Africa

Uranium in phosphate rocks and mineral fertilizers applied to agricultural soils in East Africa

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On the Sustainability and Progress of Energy Neutral Mineral Processing

Cited by 20 publications

References 137 publications

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO2 Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO2 Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis

Uranium Dissemination with Phosphate Fertilizers Globally: A Systematic Review with Focus on East Africa

Uranium in phosphate rocks and mineral fertilizers applied to agricultural soils in East Africa

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Product

Resources

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Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment Bridging Biochemical, Thermochemical, and Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction toward Sustainable Ethanol Synthesis