1 Measuring the resource intensity of production and

1

Measuring the resource intensity of production and consumption

Edgar G. Hertwich

Edgar,hertwich@ntnu,no, www,ntnu,no/indecol

Edgar G. Hertwich

Industrial Ecology ProgrammeNorwegian University of Science and Technology

OECD/UNEP conference on resource efficiencyParis 23-25 April 2008

2

Outline

• Tools for resource efficiency• The value chain• Resource use and value added• E2 vector – resource efficiency graphs


• E2 vector – resource efficiency graphs• Relating production and consumption• The impacts of consumption• Conclusions

3

Resource efficiency

Substances Materials Products

Businesses Business-level SFA

Business level MFA

Life-cycle assessment


Economic Activities

Industry-level SFA

Physical IO analysis

Eco-efficiency benchmarks

Nations, globe

Economy-wide SFA

Economy-wide MFA

Environmental input-output analysis

4

Resources

• Biotic resources• Fossil resources• Mineral resources• Land


• Land• Water• Air• Health, functioning ecosystems, genetic

diversity, life-support systems

5

Production & Consumption

Resources

TransportConsumption

add

ed

Waste treatment


HealthProduction

Val

ue a

Value chain

Waste treatment

6

Resource intensity definedur

ce u

se

This definition is standard for energy intensity and has become well established as emissions intensity.


Res

ourc

Value added

intensity Resourceadded Value

use Resource ≡

efficiency Resourceuse Resource

added Value ≡

7

The Eco-Efficiency Vector Chemical

base products

Agri-culture

Electricity

Transport and storage

E2 vector for the Netherlands

Direct environmental impacts divided byvalue added per industrysector

ce u

se


53 other sectors, invisible

and storage

Oil and gas extraction

Business services

Trade

Value creation

Mark Goedkoop, PRe

Res

ourc

e

8

The Importance of Industriesso

urce

use

Business services

Oil & Gas

Transport

Electricity

Trade


Res

o

E2 vector for the Netherlands

Mark Goedkoop, PReChemicals

Agriculture

Value added

The Netherlands

9

The Importance of Goodsso

urce

use

Buildings&furniture

Oil & Gas

Transport

Food

Trade and services


Res

o

Hypothetical E2 vectorsfor all goods consumedin the Netherlands

Chemicals

Electricity

Consumption Expenditure

The Netherlands

10

Resource intensity of a productrc

eus

e

Car life cycle

RecyclingInsurance & fees

Driving


Value added

Res

ourc Car life cycle

Gasoline

Car manufacturing

11

Why is this relevant?

• Resource/pollution intensity can be consistently defined across various scales.– For a company, it is resource use per value added

of the company.– For a product, it is life-cycle resource use per unit


– For a product, it is life-cycle resource use per unit cost of the product

– For an industry, it is total resource use divided by total value added in the industry

– For a nation, it is total resource use divided by GDP.

12

Vector addition

• The total resource use of a country can be defined as the sum of individual resource use

VA(B)VA(A)

RU(B)RU(A))(

++=+ BARI


the sum of individual resource use• The total value added of a country can be defined as

the sum of value added in all economic activity going on in a country

• It is meaningful to compare the RI of a product or company to the RI of products, companies, industries, and countries.

13

Input-output analysis

… allows us to convert the resource intensity of industries in an economy to the resource intensity of goods produced by the economy.

Life cycle assessment… allows us to convert the resource intensity of


… allows us to convert the resource intensity of processes to the resource intensity of product systems.

Hybrid IO-LCA… can bridge any scale in between and consistently

analyse activities across scales.

14

Production & Consumption

The resources used in the production of goods=

The resource footprint caused by the consumption of the goods


The value added in the production of goods=

The price of the goods to the consumer

15

Prioritization

Scientific prioritization of products and resources from an environmental sustainability point of view


• Input-output based studies have been used to identify the product and final demand categories that cause the largest impacts.

• EIPRO study

16

Emissions from Norwegian household consumption

60 %

80 %

100 %

Other

Recreation

Other mobility

5.2 t/p 14 kg/p 23 kg/p


0 %

20 %

40 %

60 %

CO2 SO2 Nox

Other mobility

Vehicle fuel

Care

Clothing

Food

Other shelter

Household energy

17

40 %

60 %

80 %

100 %

O2

Em

issi

on

s (t

/cap

ita-

y) Other

Recreation

Other mobility

Vehicle fuel

Care

Clothing

Food

Other shelter

7.1 21 8.5 8.0 5.2 5.4 4.8 3.9 7.8 5.6 24


CO2 emissions in tons per capita and year

0 %

20 %

A 2

000

AU

S 9

3/94

D 1

990

DK

199

2

F 1

990

JP 1

995

T

JP 1

995

N

N 2

000

NL

1990

SK

200

0

US

A 1

997

CO Other shelter

Household energy

1

Hertwich (2005) Environmental Science & Technology

18

Prioritization – what do we know?

• Limited number of environmental pressures is considered

• Studies consistently find that the most important areas are– Buildings, including energy use in buildings, constr– Food


– Food– Transportation

• Poor countries: food is important• Rich countries: transportation important• Geographical factors, like density and climate,

influence results.

19

Conclusions

• Input output analysis and hybrid analysis let us consistently define resource intensity.

• Resource intensity can be calculated for, and compared among, individual processes, facilities, consumption activities, households,


facilities, consumption activities, households, regions, industry sectors, and nations.

• Useful information also for local decision makers, e.g. in municipalities or corporate purchasing departments

20


21

The Norwegian Economy

10

12

14

16

ion

s [M

t]

Oil&gas

Water transport


0

2

4

6

8

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Value added [billion Kr]

CO

2 em

issi

o

ConstructionTrade

Land transportChemicals

Real estate and services

22

Economic activity caused by consumption

( )-1

x = Ax + y

x = I - A yx … Economic output of each industry sectory … Final consumption of each sectors outputA … Coefficient matrix, indicating the inputs

required to produce one unit of outputin each industry sector.


Input-output economics and life-cycle assessment have a similar mathematical structure. We assume a linear relationship of the flows among different nodes in a

production network.

in each industry sector.

23

Value added

• We can do the same for value added (e.g. labour)

ii

vF

x=


ix

• Notice we normalize with respect to output (x) and not demand (y), so…

( ) 1v Fx F I A y

−= = −

24

Life cycle assessment of consumption

1


( ) 1

LCI y−= CS I - A

25

Modelling the entire life-cycle

Contrary to IO analysis, the A matrix also includes processes in households, such as the heating of a frozen

... Pizza

Electrici

ty

Waste

mgm

t

...

Dinner

...Pizza apdA A


the heating of a frozen pizza or the combustion of fuel in a moped.

Pizza apd

Electricity

aed

Waste mgmt

...Dinner adw

Aii Aih

AhhAhi

26

Technology

1 2 FD Output

1 0.15 0.625 175 500

2 0.08 0.05 340 400


VA 0.13 0.35 0 205

CO2 1.0 0.1 10

Manufacturing uses electricity intensively

Electricity is CO2intensive

27

Driving Car manu Petrol Final demand

Driving 0 1

Car manu 1


Petrol 10

VA 0

RU 10

Documents

1 Measuring the resource intensity of production and