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Critical Raw Materials
Governments designate critical raw materials (CRM) (also referred to as critical materials or critical minerals) as critical for their economies so there is no single list of such raw materials as the list varies from country to country as does the definition of critical. They include technology-critical elements, rare-earth elements and strategic materials. History and background Analyzing the historical development of country approaches to critical materials, David Peck discusses the interplay between those that emphasize economic growth ("tech will fix it") and those that argue that finite resources will be exhausted ("limits to growth"). These two approaches are a feature of debate around critical materials and both are important, while countries also act in self-interest as well as responding to geopolitical tensions. Terminology and country definitions For advanced industrial economies the commonly used terms "critical minerals" or "critical raw materials" refer to materia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raw Material
A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials/Intermediate goods that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedstock, the term connotes these materials are bottleneck assets and are required to produce other products. The term raw material denotes materials in unprocessed or minimally processed states such as raw latex, crude oil, cotton, coal, raw biomass, iron ore, plastic, air, lumber, logs, and water. The term secondary raw material denotes waste material which has been recycled and injected back into use as productive material. Raw material in supply chain Supply chains typically begin with the acquisition or extraction of raw materials. For example, the European Commission notes that food supply chains commence in the agricultural phase of food production. A 2022 report on changes affecting international trade noted that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of List of islands of the United Kingdom, the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering . Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. It maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across various oceans and seas globally. The UK had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London. The cities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circular Economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) is a model of resource Production (economics), production and Resource consumption, consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, Reuse, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. The concept aims to tackle global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The main three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. CE is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy. The idea and concepts of a circular economy have been studied extensively in academia, business, and government over the past ten years. It has been gaining popularity because it can help to minimize Greenhouse gas emis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energy Transition
An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainable energy is renewable energy. Therefore, another term for ''energy transition'' is renewable energy transition. The current transition aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy quickly and sustainably, mostly by phasing-down fossil fuels and changing as many processes as possible to operate on low carbon electricity. A previous energy transition perhaps took place during the Industrial Revolution from 1760 onwards, from wood and other biomass to coal, followed by oil and later natural gas. Over three-quarters of the world's energy needs are met by burning fossil fuels, but this usage emits greenhouse gases. Energy production and consumption are responsible for most human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. To meet the goals of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer Klaus Schwab. The foundation's stated mission is "improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas". The foundation is mostly funded by its 1,000 member Multinational corporation, multi-national companies. The WEF is mostly known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland. The meeting brings together some 3,000 paying members and selected participants – among whom are investors, business leaders, political leaders, economists, celebrities and journalists – for up to five days to discuss list of global issues, global issu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E-waste
Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e-waste. Informal processing of e-waste in developing countries can lead to adverse human health effects and environmental pollution. The growing consumption of electronic goods due to the Digital Revolution and innovations in science and technology, such as bitcoin, has led to a global e-waste problem and hazard. The rapid exponential increase of e-waste is due to frequent new model releases and unnecessary purchases of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), short innovation cycles and low recycling rates, and a drop in the average life span of computers. Electronic scrap components, such as CPUs, contain potentially harmful materials ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaping
An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), or vape, is a device that simulates smoking. It consists of an Construction of electronic cigarettes#Atomizer and tank, atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of tobacco smoke, smoke, the user inhales Vaporizer (inhalation device), vapor. As such, using an e-cigarette is often called "vaping". The atomizer is a heating element that vaporizes a Solution (chemistry)#Liquid solutions, liquid solution called construction of electronic cigarettes#E-cigarette liquid, e-liquid that cools into an aerosol of tiny droplets, vapor and air. The vapor mainly comprises propylene glycol and/or glycerin, usually with nicotine and flavoring. Its composition of electronic cigarette aerosol, exact composition varies, and depends on matters such as user behavior. E-cigarettes are activated by taking a puff or pressing a button. Some look like cigarette, traditional cigarettes, and most kinds are reus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Net Zero
Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net zero is necessary to stop further global warming. It requires deep cuts in emissions, for example by shifting from fossil fuels to sustainable energy, improving energy efficiency and halting deforestation. A small remaining fraction of emissions can then be offset using carbon dioxide removal. People often use the terms ''net-zero emissions'', ''carbon neutrality,'' and ''climate neutrality'' with the same meaning. However, in some cases, these terms have different meanings. For example, some standards for ''carbon neutral certification'' allow a lot of carbon offsetting. But ''net zero standards'' require reducing emissions to more than 90% and then only offsetting the remaining 10% or less to fall in line with 1.5 °C targets. Organ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wind Turbine
A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. Wind turbines are an increasingly important source of intermittent renewable energy, and are used in many countries to lower energy costs and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. One study claimed that, wind had the "lowest relative greenhouse gas emissions, the least water consumption demands and the most favorable social impacts" compared to photovoltaic, hydroelectricity, hydro, geothermal power, geothermal, coal power, coal and gas-fired power plant, gas energy sources. Smaller wind turbines are used for applications such as battery charging and remote devices such as traffic warning signs. Larger turbines can contribute to a domestic power supply while selling unused power back to the u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submersibles, electric aircraft and electrically powered spacecraft propulsion, electric spacecraft. Early electric vehicles first came into existence in the late 19th century, when the Second Industrial Revolution brought forth electrification and mass utilization of DC motor, DC and AC motor, AC electric motors. Using electricity was among the preferred methods for motor vehicle propulsion as it provided a level of quietness, comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline engine cars of the time, but range anxiety due to the limited energy storage offered by history of the battery, contemporary battery technologies hindered any mass adoption of private electric vehicles throughout the 20th century. Internal combustion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Academy Of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior fellow and remained so until his death. The Fellowship was incorporated and granted a royal charter on 17 May 1983 and became the Royal Academy of Engineering on 16 March 1992. It is governed according to the charter and associated statutes and regulations (as amended from time to time). In June 2024 His Majesty the King became Patron of the Academy. Conceived in the late 1960s, during the Apollo space program and Harold Wilson's espousal of " white heat of technology", the Fellowship of Engineering was born in the year of Concorde's first commercial flight. The Fellowship's first meeting, at Buckingham Palace on 11 June 1976, enrolled 126 of the UK's leading engineers. The first fellows included Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safer End Of Engineering Life
Safer End of Engineering Life, sometimes abbreviated to SEEL, is a concept that focuses on the importance of considering the entire lifecycle of a product or system. Currently there is a lot of focus on the decommissioning or retirement in particular industries. This includes but is not limited to plastic waste, electronic waste (sometimes shorted to e-waste), and construction and industrial waste. Recently, SEEL is becoming more of a focus in fields such as software engineering, industrial design, and infrastructure development. Background The idea behind SEEL is to mitigate risks and ensure safety not only during the active use phase of a product but also during its end-of-life processes, such as disposal, recycling, or decommissioning. This approach recognises that even after a product has served its intended purpose, it can still pose risks to the environment, public health, or safety if not managed properly. In software engineering, SEEL may involve designing systems with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
