| Title |
Manufacturing energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastics consumption |
| ID_Doc |
7892 |
| Authors |
Nicholson, SR; Rorrer, NA; Carpenter, AC; Beckham, GT |
| Title |
Manufacturing energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastics consumption |
| Year |
2021 |
| Published |
Joule, 5, 3 |
| DOI |
10.1016/j.joule.2020.12.027 |
| Abstract |
Reducing the carbon intensity of plastics production by sourcing sustainable feedstocks while simultaneously enabling effective polymer recycling represents a potential transformation of 21st century manufacturing. To evaluate technologies that could enable such changes, it is imperative to compare the sustainability of bio-based and/or circular plastic flows to those of incumbent manufacturing paradigms. To that end, we estimate the supply chain energy requirements and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with US-based plastics consumption. Major commodity polymers, each of which has a global consumption of at least 1 MMT per year, account for an estimated annual 3.2 quadrillion Btutus (quads) of energy and 104 MMTCO(2)e of GHG emissions in the US alone. This study serves as a foundation for comparing the supply chain energy requirements and GHG emissions of today's plastics manufacturing to tomorrow's disruptive technologies, to inform the development of bio-based plastics and the circular economy for synthetic polymers. |
| Author Keywords |
|
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:000630098300016 |
| WoS Category |
Chemistry, Physical; Energy & Fuels; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary |
| Research Area |
Chemistry; Energy & Fuels; Materials Science |
| PDF |
http://www.cell.com/article/S2542435120306267/pdf
|