Material Consumption¶
Purpose and Perspective¶
The purpose of the Material Consumption sector is to calculate materials extraction, domestic material consumption (DMC), and material footprint (MF). Materials extraction is calculated based on the levels of production in the different sectors (crops, pasture, forest products, industry production), and extraction of fossil fuels and ores. DMC is calculated applying an exogenous trade factor to the biomass components of material extraction; adding final energy consumption for fossil fuels; and adding industry materials consumption (a function of industry production). MF is calculated based on final energy consumption for fossil fuels, and footprint from metal ores, construction materials, and biomass calculated as a function of income (per capita GDP).
Model Structure and Major Assumptions¶
Metal ores, Construction, and Biomass MF are income-driven [1]
Material extraction and consumption factors are based on data from Lutter et al. (2016) and Giljum et al. (2014) [3]
Exogenous Input Variables¶
Annnual coal production fraction - Units: Dmnl/Year
Annual gas production fraction - Units: Dmnl/Year
Annual oil production fraction - Units: Dmnl/Year
Total ores extraction – Units: Ton/year
NET material trade fraction – Units: Dmnl
Initialization Variables¶
Initial coal proved reserves - Units: St
Initial gas proved reserves - Units: Bcf
Initial oil proved reserves - Units: Mbl
Initial Coal Unproved Resource - Units: St
Initial Gas Remaining Resource - Units: Bcf
Initial Oil Unproved Resource - Units: Mbl
Initial per capital cement production – Units: Ton/Person/Year
Initial industry material consumption per unit of output: Units: kg/Usd
Initial per capita material footprint metal ores – Units: Ton/Person/year
Initial per capita material footprint biomass – Units: Ton/Person/year
Initial per capita material footprint construction materials – Units: Ton/Person/year
Modeling Details¶
The structure of this sector is kept to a low degree of detail in order to represent the major components of material extraction and consumption, and their main drivers. Data on material consumption and trade by type of material is not available to a high level of detail in many countries. Should such data be available, the structure of this sector can be modified to allow for more detail and a larger number of explanatory variables for material consumption.
For fossil fuel extraction, resources classification is based on the McKelvey Box [4]. For applications that focus on fossil fuel production strategies, the sector can be expanded to explicitly include production capacity and demand factors affecting production, as in Davidsen et al (1990) [5].
Footnotes and References¶
[1] Wiedmann, T.O., Schandl, H., Lenzen, M., Moran, D., Suh, S., West, J., & Kanemoto, K. (2008). The material footprint of nations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112,(20): 6271-6276
[2] De Vries, H.J.M., Blok, K., Patel, M.K., Weiss, M., Joosen, S., de Visser, E., Sijm, J., de Wilde, H. (2006). Assessment of the interaction between economic and physical growth. EPIST project report UCE-34. Prepared by the Netherlands Research Programme on Scientific Assessment and Policy Analysis for Climate Change, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands.
[3] Giljum, S., Dittrich, M., Lieber, M. & Lutter, S. (2014). Global Patterns of Material Flows and their Socio-Economic and Environmental Implications: A MFA Study on All Countries World-Wide from 1980 to 2009. Resources, 3: 319-339.
Lutter, S., Lieber, M., & Giljum, S. (2016). Global Material Flow database, Material extraction data. Technical Report, Version 2015.1. Institute for Ecological Economics / Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU).
[4] McKelvey, V.E. (1972). Mineral resource estimates and public policy. Am. Sci. 60: 32–40
[5] Davidsen, P.I., Sterman, S.D., & Richardson, G.P. (1990). A Petroleum Life Cycle Model for the United States with Endogenous Technology, Exploration, Recovery, and Demand. System Dynamics Review, 6(1).
