Resource Security Strategies and Their Environmental and Economic Implications: A Case Study of Copper Production in Japan

Ran Motoori, Benjamin McLellan, Andrew Chapman and Tetsuo Tezuka
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Ran Motoori: Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 6068501, Japan
Benjamin McLellan: Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 6068501, Japan
Andrew Chapman: International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 8190395, Japan
Tetsuo Tezuka: Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 6068501, Japan

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-18

Abstract: Japan is a nation which is highly dependent on the import of raw materials to supply its manufacturing industry, notable among them copper. When extracting copper from ore, a large amount of energy is required, typically leading to high levels of CO 2 emissions due to the fossil fuel-dominated energy mix. Moreover, maintaining security of raw material supply is difficult if imports are the only source utilized. This study examines the environmental and economic impacts of domestic mineral production from the recycling of end-of-life products and deep ocean mining as strategies to reduce CO 2 emissions and enhance security of raw material supplies. The results indicate that under the given assumptions, recycling, which is typically considered to be less CO 2 intensive, produces higher domestic emissions than current copper processing, although across the whole supply chain shows promise. As the total quantity of domestic resources from deep ocean ores are much smaller than the potential from recycling, it is possible that recycling could become a mainstream supply alternative, while deep ocean mining is more likely to be a niche supply source. Implications of a progressively aging society and flow-on impacts for the recycling sector are discussed.

Keywords: resource security; domestic mineral production; input-output analysis; environmental assessment; transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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