Kiyoshi Ijima

Forecasting the Consumption of Metals up to 2050

Forecasting are made regarding the consumption up to 2050 of following metals: Fe, Al, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cr, Pb, Ni, Si, Sn, rare earths, Mo, Li, Sb, W, Ag, Co, In, Au, Ga, Pt and Pd. The forecasts are based on the liniar decoupling model of the relation between per capita metal consumption and per capita GDP. The models of each metal are applied to the economic development model of BRICs and G6 countries. According these forecasts, the overall consumption of metals in 2050 will be five times greater than the current levels, and demand for metals, such as Au, Ag, Cu, Ni, Sn, Zn, Pb, and Sb, is expected to be several times greater than the amount of their respective reserves. Demand for iron and platinum, which is considered to be optimistic about the resource exhaustion, will also exceed the current reserves. Urgent measures are needed to find alternatives from common resources and to shift into materials circulation society.

Recent Ecomaterial Developments and Environmental Achievements of Major Industries in Japan

The research was made on how ecomaterials have been developed and are used currently in Japan. All the information was obtained from the web-sites 2001-2005 year version environmental reports of over two hundred and sixty companies mainly with more than 5000 employees and listed on Japanese stock markets. The researched ecomaterials were classified into the six categories proposed by Japanese “Ecomaterials Forum”. The number of ecomaterials nearly doubled between 2001 and 2003, and has been on the yearly increase ever since. Each industry is considered to have its individual problems to tackle and has developed its peculiar ecomaterials in response to such problems and requirements year by year. Moreover, many remarkable achievements in eco-products, eco-systems and ecological techniques utilizing ecomaterials are proudly shown in the environmental reports. The spread of these ecomaterials and eco-products will be quite effective for the saving of energy and also contribute greatly to the improvement of environment. Meanwhile, given the use of a large quantity of resources in these days, it is necessary for us to pay attention to and conduct researches into environmental problems including preventive measures against exhaustion of rare resources from a broader perspective and a birds-eye view approaches.

Database for MLCA (Materials Environmental Life Cycle Analysis)

MLCA (materials environmental life cycle analysis), an established assessment measure of ECOMATERIALS, is a promising method to quantitatively assess materials with regard to environmental burden and to provide parameters for materials design with consideration of environmental affects. The data of environmental burdens, i.e., energy consumption, resource consumption, CO{sub 2} emission, SO{sub x} emission, etc., are collected in all stages of material life. From these data, the environmental burden of metals and alloys are calculated and arranged with a detailed description of the alloys, such as 12Cr steel, 18Cr8Ni steel, etc., in a database named Materials Eco-Sheet. Eco-Sheet provides the parameters of environmental load and gives the quantitative relationship between the properties of a material and its environmental load by use with a database of mechanical or other properties of materials.