View source for Will Industry 4.0 Create New Raw Materials Demands


'''* Report: The Dark Side of Digitalization: [[Will Industry 4.0 Create New Raw Materials Demands]]?. By Hannah Pilgrim. PowerShift, 2017.'''

URL = https://ak-rohstoffe.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/PS_FS_Digitalization.pdf

based on „Ressourcenfluch 4.0 – Die sozialen und ökologischen
Auswirkungen von Industrie 4.0 auf den Rohstof fsektor“ (PowerShift 2017)


=Excerpts=

==Overview of the Technologies Involved: [[Raw Materials Needed for the Fourth Industrial Revolution]]==

Hannah Pilgrim:

What technologies are needed to
connect the “things”, and what metals
are processed?


Industry 4.0 or the Industry of Things do not
describe one type of technology but refer to a 
combination of dif ferent knowledge-based information systems and technologies. Central to
Industry 4.0 are Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), as
they combine the physical production process
with the virtual world. Materials, devices and
other components in the production chain are
connected to the internet via small computers
which are equipped with sensors and actors.

A 2016 study by the German Mineral Resources
Agency (DERA) examines the probable demand
for raw materials caused by different future technologies.
 
According to the DERA study, in 2035,
the examined 42 future technologies will require
the quadruple of the present lithium production,
a threefold increase in heavy rare earths and one
and a half times increase in light rare earths and
tantalum. It is furthermore estimated that, due
to the increased use of electronics, the global demand for copper will grow between 231 and 341
percent until 2050.

In the following, we will introduce a few of the
technologies examined by the DERA study that
are essential for digitalized production processes:


* Sensors are a key technology. In the production
process, sensors can measure the position or
temperature of machines, product components,
etc. In the past years, the use of sensors sharply
increased. Although it is difficult to make scientifically valid statements about the future
demand of sensors, it is clear that metals are
used for the production of sensors, such as tin,
tungsten, tantalum and platinum.


* Radio Frequency IDentification-Tags (RFID-Tags)
are another type of sensors. RFID-Tags enable the
localization of objects through radio waves. They
are used in the supply chain management. Calculations indicate that, in 2035, up to 85 trillion
RFID-Tags could be sold per year. Compared with
6.3 billion in 2014, this is a huge increase. Metals
needed for the production of RFID-Tags are silver,
copper and aluminum.

* The digitalization of production also depends on
flat screens and touch screens. They consist of
indium tin oxide, which in turn mainly consists
of indium oxide. According to the DERA study, in
2035, up to 34 percent of the worldwide indium
production may be used solely for the production of displays.
Industrial robots are machines capable of working autonomously in the production process.

They consist of a manipulator (robotic arm),
control instrument and the effector (gripper
or tool). Robots are increasingly equipped with
different sensors. Research of the International
Federation of Robotics shows that global sales
in industrial robots has increased in the past
years. According to the International Federation
of Robotics, in 2020, more than three million robots will probably work in industrial production.

The metal-, plastic- and electronic industry in
particular rely on automated production. Robots  – which are also equipped with a number
of sensors – primarily consist of steel, copper, tin
and silicon.

* High-performance microchips are mainly used
for mobile phones and WLAN chips. However,
they are now being integrated in more and more
devices. Within the context of Industry 4.0, the
extended use of wireless communications in spacious production facilities will certainly increase
the quantity of chips needed. Compared with
‘traditional’ chips, high-performance microchips
are smaller, more ef ficient and can also be used
at high temperatures. They consist primarily of
gallium."

(https://ak-rohstoffe.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/PS_FS_Digitalization.pdf)


==[[Raw Materials Usage for Electric Mobility and Renewable Energies]]==

Hannah Pilgrim:

"Besides the technologies used for the digitalization of the production process, it is necessary to
look at new technologies for electricity generation and mobility.
The widespread individual use of automobiles
has devastating consequences for the environment. With its lithium-ion batteries, recharged
with renewable energy, Electric Mobility seems
to offer a solution: CO2-emissions and the consumption of fossil fuels may be reduced whilst
the current mobility model can be maintained.
However, compared to “old” engine technologies,
electric motor technology needs the fourfold of
copper and also larger quantities of other metals like cobalt, lithium and heavy and light rare
earths. Additionally, a large part of lithium-ion
batteries consists of graphite. Thus, with the production of electric cars, the material consumption by the automobile industry will certainly
not decrease. In fact, the opposite is the case.
The replacement of diesel and gasoline engines
with electric cars leads to a deadlock. Instead, research and implementation of mobility concepts
based on public transport, biking and shared vehicles must be supported.

To reach the 2.0 degrees, possibly even the 1.5
degrees goal as stated in the Paris Agreement,
we have to phase out the exploitation and use
of new fossil resources, which are mainly responsible for CO2 emissions. Generating power
via renewable energy certainly is a welcome
development. But specific devices such as permanent magnets for wind turbine generators or
lithium-ion batteries for the storage of electricity in photovoltaic plants will in turn create specific raw material demands (aluminum, copper,
indium, gallium, tellurium, heavy rare earths,
lithium, graphite or nickel). Hence, the following
still holds true: The most environmental friendly
kilowatt hour is always the one which is not consumed at all." 


(https://ak-rohstoffe.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/PS_FS_Digitalization.pdf)


==The False promises of the Fourth Industrial Revolution==

Hannah Pilgrim:

===Dematerialization===

According to research of the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), a network of more than
40 leading companies from the information and
communication sector, digitalized manufacturing can kill two birds with one stone: Firstly, it
“creates significant economic benefits”, secondly, they
assume a minimization of “environmental impact,
natural resource use, and energy consumption”.

The strong belief in progress and improvement
through technology must be examined critically.
Despite promises of dematerialization, the global
raw materials demand has increased constantly,
and the needed raw materials and energy for the
“future technologies” (e. g. RFID-Tags, chips, displays
etc.) have not yet been taken into account.


===Resource efficiency===

In addition to promises of “dematerialization”, the
increased efficiency in the use of raw materials
and energy, but also the workforce is of ten emphasized in debates on the digitalization of production processes. For the businesses, ef ficiency
primarily means cost savings. The mining supplier company MIRS (Mining and Heavy Industry
Robotics) illustrates this in the following quote:
“While mobile internet, internet of things, automation of knowledge and cloud technology are expected
to dramatically increase mining assets productivity,
advanced robotics are expected to replace human labor for low level tasks.”19
In this case, efficiency is at the expense of the
few existing jobs in the extractive industry sector. With the loss of local job opportunities and
the negative environmental and social impacts of
mining, countries in the Global South continue to
be the raw material supplier, rather than having
any chance for value-adding activities.

The companies interviewed by PWC for a study
on “Digital Factories” expect efficiency gains of
12 percentage in the next five years due to digitalized production. However, the scientifically
proven rebound effect also applies for production. Savings in resource and energy intensity
make products cheaper, and hence are eaten up
by increased production and consumption.

Furthermore, it is not clear to what extent the
needed energy and materials to produce sensors, displays and other smart devices as well
as the power consumption for the rapidly rising
data amount are factored in efficiency calculations. Digitalization will contribute to rising data
amounts. This in turn requires more energy and
undermines the political goal to reduce our energy consumption towards a global sustainable
level.


===Data security===

The all-encompassing digitalization also raises
questions about data security. Data protectionists are apprehensive of increasing connectivity between things, persons, and processes. The
metaphor of ´glass human beings´ is becoming
increasingly real. With the help of chips, sensors,
and RFID-Tags, even more personal data can be
transmitted.

With regard to extractive industries, questions
of data security and hacker attacks are of ten
connected to matters of safety in the workplace,
environmental risks and human rights violations. The consequences of potentially hacked
mines and smelters are tremendous: Hazardous
substances could pollute the environment, work
safety would no longer be guaranteed. So far, no
reliable studies exist on this matter."

[[Category:Thermodynamic Efficiencies]]
[[Category:Policy]]
[[Category:Sustainable Manufacturing]]
[[Category:Articles]]