The significance of energy consumption in environmental impact of rare earth elements recovery from tailings and mining waste

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are identified as critical raw materials for the European Union economy. REEs are not currently produced in the EU, while there are several sources not properly addressed. Within the ENVIREE project tailings from New Kankberg (Sweden) and Covas (Portugal) were identified a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kossakowska, Karolina, Grzesik, Katarzyna
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic conditions
Electric power generation
Electricity
Energy consumption
Environmental impact
Life cycle analysis
Life cycle assessment
Life cycles
Mine tailings
Mine wastes
Rare earth elements
Raw materials
Recovery
Trace elements
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Summary:Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are identified as critical raw materials for the European Union economy. REEs are not currently produced in the EU, while there are several sources not properly addressed. Within the ENVIREE project tailings from New Kankberg (Sweden) and Covas (Portugal) were identified as rich in REEs and chosen for recovery processing. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was used to evaluate the environmental impact of REEs recovery. The aim of this study is the detailed analysis of several scenarios with different electricity production schemes of REE recovery. The study discusses the share of energy use in the overall impact on the environment, taking into account diversification in the electricity production structure among EU countries. The energy use is a significant contributor to the overall environmental impact of studied cases. Its share in the total environmental burden is reaching up to 47%. The results show that applying the average electricity scheme production for Europe may lead to biased LCA results. For the accurate LCA results the local production schemes of energy for certain countries should be chosen.
ISSN:2267-1242
2555-0403
2267-1242
DOI:10.1051/e3sconf/201910802011