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Key themes

Motivation

Industry is incentivised by cost reduction to investigate methods of improving yield and energy efficiency in their own processes, and  pressure from government and society to be more environmentally friendly has seen efforts at decarbonisation, for example by a shift towards low-carbon electricity sources and the developing carbon capture and sequestration technologies. However, it has been shown that this effort alone is not enough to achieve a 50% reduction in carbon emissions with demand doubling by 2050.

By reconsidering the product lifecycle, WellMet2050 has identified four key themes to achieve an additional reduction in carbon emissions:

Theme 1: Reuse without melting Can we avoid energy-intensive melting at product end-of-life? (Theme 1 Report) Theme 2: Less metal, same service Can we use less metal in products? Theme 3: Longer, more intense metal use Can we make more use of existing products? Theme 4: Supply chain compression Can we streamline metal fabrication?

Approach

WellMet2050 aims to deliver information that is of immediate value to industry and policy-makers, encompassing:

• Evaluation of existing legislation and economic drivers and recommendations for change
• Modelling of metal flows and emissions scenarios
• Identifying existing technologies  for adoption and areas  that require further development

Each theme will be investigated in turn and a summary report produced with supporting working papers containing more detailed analysis and specific case studies. An interim report bringing together findings from all four themes will be published in Sept 2011.

Photo credits:  Arlington County, Елен Андреа, Alan Vernon