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Veröffentlichung Comparative analysis of metals use in the United States economy(2019) Nuss, Philip; Ohno, Hajime; Chen, Wei-QiangBuilding a circular economy requires knowledge of physical material flows and stocks. One approach for obtaining data on the intersectoral exchanges of materials in an economy is with physical input-output tables (PIOTs). Using PIOTs of eleven alloying metals (aluminum, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, niobium, molybdenum, tungsten) for the entire United States economy in 2007, we apply network-based metrics and visualizations to identify key sectors and compare different PIOTs with each other. Some 40-45% of all intersectoral trade contains the major metals aluminum, copper, and iron, while this number ranges between only 11-15% for minor metals (e.g., cobalt, vanadium, niobium, molybdenum, tungsten). The majority of sectors rely on products containing the major metals, reflecting widespread use of those products in our modern economy. Network size provides an indication of supply chain steps required to move from metal production to finished product manufacturing. Supply chains for the minor metals require an average of 5-8 steps, while those of major metals involve 3 steps on average. Cobalt is used extensively to illustrate these results because its status as a "technology-critical material" demonstrates how these analytical approaches can reveal sector usage and dependency for a metal of potential supply concern. We conclude by presenting automobile supply chain networks and discuss the position of the automobile production sector in the US economy. The analytical and visualization approaches presented result in an improved understanding of metal flows and can help to better communicate underlying data, e.g., in a policy context. © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Veröffentlichung Losses and environmental aspects of a byproduct metal: tellurium(2019) Nuss, PhilipGlobal demand for tellurium has greatly increased owing to its use in solar photovoltaics. Elevated levels of tellurium in the environment are now observed. Quantifying the losses from human usage into the environment requires a life-cycle wide examination of the anthropogenic tellurium cycle (in analogy to natural element cycles). Reviewing the current literature shows that tellurium losses to the environment might occur predominantly as mine tailings, in gas and dust and slag during processing, manufacturing losses, and in-use dissipation (situation in around 2010). Large amounts of cadmium telluride will become available by 2040 as photovoltaic modules currently in-use reach their end-of-life. This requires proper end-of-life management approaches to avoid dissipation to the environment. Because tellurium occurs together with other toxic metals, e.g. in the anode slime collected during copper production, examining the life-cycle wide environmental implication of tellurium production requires consideration of the various substances present in the feedstock as well as the energy and material requirements during production. Understanding the flows and stock dynamics of tellurium in the anthroposphere can inform environmental chemistry about current and future tellurium releases to the environment, and help to manage the element more wisely. Quelle: http://www.publish.csiro.auVeröffentlichung Monitoring framework for the use of natural resources in Germany(2021) Nuss, Philip; Frerk, Michel; Günther, Jens; Golde, Michael; Kosmol, Jan; Müller, FelixIndicators are required to monitor the progress of resource and circular economy policies. The German Sustainable Development Strategy and Resource Efficiency Program already include a number of indicators for mapping Germany's resource use and socio-economic metabolism. However, currently used indicators only include a subset of natural resources and often lack an impact evaluation (e.g., considering resource scarcity or environmental relevance). Resource and environmental footprints indirectly caused through the trade of goods have so far only partly been considered by German resource policy and in official statistics. As a result, burden shifting between different resource categories, world regions, or environmental effects can remain undetected. To fill this gap, we discuss the overall scope of natural resource monitoring in Germany and review existing resource indicators evaluating them against a set of predefined criteria. We then propose a possible monitoring framework for Germany consisting of a materials-layer (the focus of resource and circular economy policies to date) for the evaluation of material flows and stocks, and corresponding water, land, and emissions-layers which should be monitored simultaneously to track contributions to the overarching objectives of resource and circular economy policies. Possible indicators and data sources are discussed and an outlook for future research provided. © 2021 The Authors