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The Resource‐Energy Nexus as a Key Factor for Circular Economy
Author(s) -
Schmidt Mario
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemie ingenieur technik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1522-2640
pISSN - 0009-286X
DOI - 10.1002/cite.202100111
Subject(s) - nexus (standard) , circular economy , scarcity , raw material , resource (disambiguation) , closing (real estate) , natural resource economics , key (lock) , meaning (existential) , economics , engineering , market economy , computer science , chemistry , ecology , computer network , organic chemistry , finance , biology , embedded system , psychology , computer security , psychotherapist
The extraction of raw materials is associated with energy input and CO 2 emissions. What is obvious for extraction from mining, however, also applies to recycling. Mostly, recycling is preferred for reasons of climate protection or because of the geological scarcity of raw materials, which is controversially discussed. While in mining, the declining ore grade is a driver for the energy demand, in case of recycling it is the dissipation of materials into products or waste. As concentration decreases, the effort required also increases disproportionately. The “closing the loop” metaphor of Circular Economy is therefore inappropriate in its stricter meaning. It is rather about optimizing the overall system and finding the optimal recycling rate. However, first, it must be clarified what the political goals for Circular Economy are.