Future PM 2.5 emissions from metal production to meet renewable energy demand
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15550779 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sagar Rathod (0000-0001-7170-4302, Colorado State University), Tami C Bond (0000-0001-5968-8928, Colorado State University), Zbigniew Klimont (0000-0003-2630-198X, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis), Jeffrey R Pierce (0000-0002-4241-838X, Colorado State University), N M Mahowald (0000-0002-2873-997X, Cornell University), Chaitri Roy (0000-0002-8544-414X, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology), John F Thompson (0000-0002-2816-2496, Cornell University), John Thompson (0000-0002-3102-4035), Russell Parry Scott (0000-0001-7100-2968, Colorado State University), Ryan P Scott (0000-0002-6680-324X), Karin Olson Hoal, Peter Rafaj (0000-0003-1000-5617, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 044043-044043 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ac5d9c |
| OpenAlex | W4220730300 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 34 |
A shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy is crucial in limiting global temperature increase to 2 °C above preindustrial levels. However, renewable energy technologies, solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, and electric vehicles are metal-intensive, and the mining and smelting processes to obtain the needed metals are emission-intensive. We estimate the future PM 2.5 emissions from mining and smelting to meet the metal demand of renewable energy technologies in two climate pathways to be 0.3–0.6 Tg yr −1 in the 2020–2050 period, which are projected to contribute 10%–30% of total anthropogenic primary PM 2.5 combustion emissions in many countries. The concentration of mineral reserves in a few regions means the impacts are also regionally concentrated. Rapid decarbonization could lead to a faster reduction of overall anthropogenic PM 2.5 emissions but also could create more unevenness in the distributions of emissions relative to where demand occurs. Options to reduce metal-related PM 2.5 emissions by over 90% exist and are well understood; introducing policy requiring their installation could avoid emission hotspots
Combustion · Environmental protection · Fossil fuel · Greenhouse gas · Natural resource economics · Photovoltaic system · Photovoltaics · Renewable energy · Smelting · Waste management · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Energy and Environment Impacts · Engineering · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Materials Science · Ecology · Environmental Engineering
Transboundary health impacts of transported global air pollution and international trade
The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals
China’s international trade and air pollution in the United States
Material efficiency and climate change mitigation of passenger vehicles
The Estimation of the Lorenz Curve and Gini Index
Lessons from the Lithium Triangle
The marker quantification of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2
The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and their energy, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions implications
Energy, land-use and greenhouse gas emissions trajectories under a green growth paradigm
Outlook for clean air in the context of sustainable development goals
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |