System Dynamics Modeling of Indium Material Flows under Wide Deployment of Clean Energy Technologies

Choi, Chul Hun; Cao, Jinjian; Zhao, Fu

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.04.012

Cited by 58 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The system dynamics methodology has been used in many applications, both in social sciences and engineering. In the case of critical materials, system dynamics models have been used in different sectors for such materials as indium [29], platinum group metals [30], rare earth elements [31], uranium [32], lithium [33], phosphorus [34] and niobium [35].…”

Section: Dynamic Model Of Niobium Supply Chainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability of Niobium Recycling: The Case of the Automotive Industry

et al. 2019

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The recycling of scrap is one of the common approaches aiming at reduction of mining-based production of critical metals and mitigation of their supply risk as well as processing-related environmental impact. The number of currently available end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) indicates—significant potential for critical metals recycling, especially niobium (Nb). Therefore, the quantification of environmental impact of niobium recovery starts to be an important issue in assessment of sustainability of large-scale recycling processes. In this paper, we assess energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in individual stages of niobium supply chain in the automotive industry over the period 2010–2050. The different stages including mining, production and recycling are analyzed using dynamic simulation. The results show the majority of the consumed energy (45% of energy demand in niobium supply chain) is used in the primary production stage. This stage also contributes to 72% of total gas emissions of supply chain over the period 2010–2050. Mining of niobium consumes up to 36% of energy and generates ca. 21% of GHG emissions. While, in recycling stage, the secondary production of niobium requires 19% of supply chain energy and generates 7% of gas emissions. The detailed calculations show that recycling of niobium could save around 133–161 m GJ energy between 2010 and 2050. The recycling would also contribute to the reduction of 44–53 mt CO2-eq in the same period. It shows around 18% reduction of annual emissions between 2010 and 2050 thanks to reuse of niobium in secondary production rather than primary production.

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Section: Dynamic Model Of Niobium Supply Chainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability of Niobium Recycling: The Case of the Automotive Industry

et al. 2019

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“…The indium content of zinc deposits from which it is recovered ranges from less than 1 part per million to 100 parts per million. Production of indium tin oxide (ITO) accounts for 80% of global indium consumption (Choi et al, 2016). Data on the quantity of secondary indium recovered from scrap are not available and the last research (Wellmer and Hagelüken, 2015) estimated at 1% the recycling rate of indium.…”

Section: Indium Study Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges for Sustainability in Critical Raw Material Assessments

Diemer

Nedelciu

Schellens

et al. 2018

International Journal of Management and Sustainability

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Contribution/Originality: This study contributes in the existing literature on critical raw materials. It uses logical methodology-system dynamics (CLD)-to understand social and economic drivers for phosphore and Indium. This methodology could be helpful for the economists who work on Economy of natural resources or Economy of Environment. 1. INTRODUCTION Raw materials are crucial to the world economy and essential to maintaining our welfare. They underpin industry and support the modern technology we use daily, such as smartphones, computers, and the harvest of the green economy. Securing reliable and unhindered access to certain raw materials is a growing concern for both developed and developing countries. To address this challenge, many countries and international institutions have created a list of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) or commissioned a predictive analysis of future metal demand to support the transition to a low carbon future (IEA, 2015; World Bank, 2016). Historically, the concept of critical raw materials has mainly been developed by government agencies and has been triggered by concerns over supply shortages or market price spikes in crisis years. For example, at the end of

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“…Considerable price volatility and various supply concerns associated with indium are potential barriers to large-scale deployment of technologies that rely on indium [5,9,[27][28][29]. Therefore, there is intensive ongoing research to develop alternatives for indium and ITO.…”

Section: Unique Technical Properties Of Indiummentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers and Constraints of Critical Materials Recycling: The Case of Indium

Ylä-Mella

Pongrácz

2016

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Abstract:Raw material criticality studies are receiving increasing attention because an increasing number of elements of great economic importance, performing essential functions face high supply risks. Scarcity of key materials is a potential barrier to large-scale deployment of sustainable energy and clean-tech technologies as resorting to several critical materials. As physical scarcity and geopolitical issues may present a barrier to the supply of critical metals, recycling is regarded as a possible solution to substitute primary resources for securing the long-term supply of critical metals. In this paper, the main drivers and constraints for critical materials recycling are analyzed from literature, considering indium as a case study of critical materials. This literature review shows that waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) could be a future source of critical metals; however, the reduction of dissipation of critical materials should have much higher priority. It is put forward that more attention should be paid to sustainable management of critical materials, especially improved practices at the waste management stage. This calls for not only more efficient WEEE recycling technologies, but also revising priorities in recycling strategies.

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System Dynamics Modeling of Indium Material Flows under Wide Deployment of Clean Energy Technologies

Cited by 58 publications

References 28 publications

Environmental Sustainability of Niobium Recycling: The Case of the Automotive Industry

Environmental Sustainability of Niobium Recycling: The Case of the Automotive Industry

Challenges for Sustainability in Critical Raw Material Assessments

Drivers and Constraints of Critical Materials Recycling: The Case of Indium

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