{"title":"Mapping complexity: Analyzing rare earth production life cycle inventories with network analysis","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107894","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Understanding the significance of process clusters in life cycle inventory networks is crucial for optimizing supply chains, especially for critical elements like rare earth elements (REEs) production. This study employs network analysis (NA) to examine life cycle networks using facility-level energy/material data, extracting information from LCA networks. Based on Chinese facility reports, the investigation evaluates the environmental footprint of various rare earth production pathways, vital to the clean energy sector. It also considers rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing and magnet recycling. Using network metrics, including indegree/outdegree strength, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality, the study assesses the resilience and sustainability of REEs production networks. Results highlight vulnerable nodes like \"Neodymium Oxide\" and \"Nd Metal,\" aiding in identifying environmentally impactful materials and energy flows to develop more sustainable processes for meeting growing demand while enhancing environmental performance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":21153,"journal":{"name":"Resources Conservation and Recycling","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":11.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Resources Conservation and Recycling","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344924004877","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Understanding the significance of process clusters in life cycle inventory networks is crucial for optimizing supply chains, especially for critical elements like rare earth elements (REEs) production. This study employs network analysis (NA) to examine life cycle networks using facility-level energy/material data, extracting information from LCA networks. Based on Chinese facility reports, the investigation evaluates the environmental footprint of various rare earth production pathways, vital to the clean energy sector. It also considers rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing and magnet recycling. Using network metrics, including indegree/outdegree strength, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality, the study assesses the resilience and sustainability of REEs production networks. Results highlight vulnerable nodes like "Neodymium Oxide" and "Nd Metal," aiding in identifying environmentally impactful materials and energy flows to develop more sustainable processes for meeting growing demand while enhancing environmental performance.
期刊介绍:
The journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling welcomes contributions from research, which consider sustainable management and conservation of resources. The journal prioritizes understanding the transformation processes crucial for transitioning toward more sustainable production and consumption systems. It highlights technological, economic, institutional, and policy aspects related to specific resource management practices such as conservation, recycling, and resource substitution, as well as broader strategies like improving resource productivity and restructuring production and consumption patterns.
Contributions may address regional, national, or international scales and can range from individual resources or technologies to entire sectors or systems. Authors are encouraged to explore scientific and methodological issues alongside practical, environmental, and economic implications. However, manuscripts focusing solely on laboratory experiments without discussing their broader implications will not be considered for publication in the journal.