Elsa Olivetti
Biographic Data
| ID | 6928843 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elsa Olivetti |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elsa |
| FAMILY NAME | Olivetti |
| SIGNATURE | OLIVETTI E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8043-2385 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Visualizing energy, material and emission flows to understand scale and connections in the physical global economy
Rewas 2025
Evaluating strategies to increase PET bottle recycling in the United States
In the United States, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle collection rates have not increased in a decade. Recycling rates remain abysmal while industry commitments and policy targets escalate the demand for recycled plastics. We investigate the PET bottle recycling system, where collection is a critical bottleneck and recycled PET supply is not meeting the expected demand. We characterize demand for recycled PET (R‐PET), analyze scenarios of…
Understanding key mineral supply chain dynamics using economics‐informed material flow analysis and Bayesian optimization
The low‐carbon energy transition requires significant increases in production for many mineral commodities. Understanding demand, technological requirements, and prices associated with this production increase requires understanding the supply chain dynamics of many minerals simultaneously, and via a consistent framework. A generalized economics‐informed material flow method, global materials modeling using Bayesian optimization, captures the mar…
A hierarchical Bayesian regression model that reduces uncertainty in material demand predictions
Predictions of metal consumption are vital for criticality assessments and sustainability analyses. Although demand for a material varies strongly by region and end‐use sector, statistical models of demand typically predict demand using regression analyses at an aggregated global level (“fully pooled models”). “Un‐pooled” regression models that predict demand at a disaggregated country or regional level face challenges due to limited data availab…
Quantifying the drivers of long‐term prices in materials supply chains
Raw materials costs form an increasingly significant proportion of the total costs of renewable energy technologies that must be adopted at unprecedented rates to combat climate change. As the affordable deployment of these technologies grows vulnerable to materials price changes, effective strategies must be identified to mitigate the risk of higher input costs faced by manufacturers. To better understand potential threats to deployment, a marke…
Assessing recycling, displacement, and environmental impacts using an economics‐informed material system model
Life cycle assessment of CO 2 conversion and storage in metal–CO 2 electrochemical cells
Researchers have proposed a family of electrochemical technologies that incorporate CO 2 as a gas cathode and alkali or alkaline earth metal anodes to exploit the high reactivity of CO 2 with these metals. Such proposed cells operate by converting gaseous CO 2 into solid carbonate, extracting value from CO 2 in the form of electricity, and fixing the CO 2 in solid form. Given the increasing number of these proof‐of‐concept studies, it is timely t…
Charging sustainable batteries
High‐Resolution Insight into Materials Criticality
Many advanced energy and environmentally relevant technologies rely on metals that have been identified as critical, or whose availability may be limited. Several of these elements are produced mostly as by‐products of mining other base metals (carriers). This by‐product dependence has been proposed as a significant supply‐risk indicator by the materials criticality community. This article provides new quantitative evidence that, in several cases…
Streamlining the Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings by Structured Under‐Specification and Probabilistic Triage
Life cycle thinking plays an important role in sustainable development in the building sector. However, the complexity of data collection and scope definition limits life cycle assessment (LCA) applications. Even if the inventory data have already been collected, tabulated, and indexed, the method is still time‐consuming, which may be discouraging for designers. This study demonstrates how the LCA of buildings can be robustly streamlined using st…
Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review
As one quarter of global energy use serves the production of materials, the more efficient use of these materials presents a significant opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the renewed interest of policy makers in the circular economy, material efficiency (ME) strategies such as light-weighting and downsizing of and lifetime extension for products, reuse and recycling of materials, and appropriate material choic…
Taking the Circularity to the Next Level
Design for Recycling
As design for recycling becomes more broadly applied in material and product design, analytical tools to quantify the environmental implications of design choices will become a necessity. Currently, few systematic methods exist to measure and direct the metallurgical alloy design process to create alloys that are most able to be produced from scrap. This is due, in part, to the difficulty in evaluating such a context‐dependent property as recycla…
Design for Recycling
As design for recycling becomes more broadly applied in material and product design, analytical tools to quantify the environmental implications of design choices will become a necessity. Currently, few systematic methods exist to measure and direct the metallurgical alloy design process to create alloys that are most able to be produced from scrap. This is due, in part, to the difficulty in evaluating such a context‐dependent property as recycla…
Taking the Circularity to the Next Level
High‐Resolution Insight into Materials Criticality
Many advanced energy and environmentally relevant technologies rely on metals that have been identified as critical, or whose availability may be limited. Several of these elements are produced mostly as by‐products of mining other base metals (carriers). This by‐product dependence has been proposed as a significant supply‐risk indicator by the materials criticality community. This article provides new quantitative evidence that, in several cases…
Streamlining the Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings by Structured Under‐Specification and Probabilistic Triage
Life cycle thinking plays an important role in sustainable development in the building sector. However, the complexity of data collection and scope definition limits life cycle assessment (LCA) applications. Even if the inventory data have already been collected, tabulated, and indexed, the method is still time‐consuming, which may be discouraging for designers. This study demonstrates how the LCA of buildings can be robustly streamlined using st…
Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics—a review
As one quarter of global energy use serves the production of materials, the more efficient use of these materials presents a significant opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With the renewed interest of policy makers in the circular economy, material efficiency (ME) strategies such as light-weighting and downsizing of and lifetime extension for products, reuse and recycling of materials, and appropriate material choic…
Assessing recycling, displacement, and environmental impacts using an economics‐informed material system model
Life cycle assessment of CO 2 conversion and storage in metal–CO 2 electrochemical cells
Researchers have proposed a family of electrochemical technologies that incorporate CO 2 as a gas cathode and alkali or alkaline earth metal anodes to exploit the high reactivity of CO 2 with these metals. Such proposed cells operate by converting gaseous CO 2 into solid carbonate, extracting value from CO 2 in the form of electricity, and fixing the CO 2 in solid form. Given the increasing number of these proof‐of‐concept studies, it is timely t…
Charging sustainable batteries
A hierarchical Bayesian regression model that reduces uncertainty in material demand predictions
Predictions of metal consumption are vital for criticality assessments and sustainability analyses. Although demand for a material varies strongly by region and end‐use sector, statistical models of demand typically predict demand using regression analyses at an aggregated global level (“fully pooled models”). “Un‐pooled” regression models that predict demand at a disaggregated country or regional level face challenges due to limited data availab…
Quantifying the drivers of long‐term prices in materials supply chains
Raw materials costs form an increasingly significant proportion of the total costs of renewable energy technologies that must be adopted at unprecedented rates to combat climate change. As the affordable deployment of these technologies grows vulnerable to materials price changes, effective strategies must be identified to mitigate the risk of higher input costs faced by manufacturers. To better understand potential threats to deployment, a marke…
Evaluating strategies to increase PET bottle recycling in the United States
In the United States, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle collection rates have not increased in a decade. Recycling rates remain abysmal while industry commitments and policy targets escalate the demand for recycled plastics. We investigate the PET bottle recycling system, where collection is a critical bottleneck and recycled PET supply is not meeting the expected demand. We characterize demand for recycled PET (R‐PET), analyze scenarios of…
Understanding key mineral supply chain dynamics using economics‐informed material flow analysis and Bayesian optimization
The low‐carbon energy transition requires significant increases in production for many mineral commodities. Understanding demand, technological requirements, and prices associated with this production increase requires understanding the supply chain dynamics of many minerals simultaneously, and via a consistent framework. A generalized economics‐informed material flow method, global materials modeling using Bayesian optimization, captures the mar…
Rewas 2025
Visualizing energy, material and emission flows to understand scale and connections in the physical global economy
Engineering (10 works) · Economics (8 works) · Environmental Impact and Sustainability (8 works) · Business (7 works) · Environmental Science (7 works) · Extraction and Separation Processes (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Environmental economics (6 works) · Recycling and Waste Management Techniques (6 works) · Industrial ecology (5 works)