Resource efficiency is the maximising of the supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively, with minimum
waste
Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste pr ...
d (
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
)
resource expenses. It means using the Earth's
limited resources in a
sustainable
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
manner while minimising
environmental impact
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
.
Motivation
A 2014 report by
The Carbon Trust suggested that resource challenges are intensifying rapidly – for example, there could be a 40% gap between available water supplies and water needs by 2030, and some critical materials could be in short supply as soon as 2016. These challenges could lead to disruptions to supply, growing regulatory requirements, volatile fluctuation of prices, and may ultimately threaten the viability of existing
business model
A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, soci ...
s.
Related concepts
Resource efficiency measures, methods, and aims are quite similar to those of
resource productivity/
resource intensity and of the slightly more environment-inclined concept of
ecological efficiency/
eco-efficiency.
Energy efficiency
Possible approaches
To achieve and optimize natural resource and energy efficiency, several
sustainable economical or production schemes have been proposed over the course of the last 50 years:
circular economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aim ...
,
cradle-to-cradle
Cradle-to-cradle design (also referred to as 2CC2, C2C, cradle 2 cradle, or regenerative design) is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems that models human industry on nature's processes, where materials are viewed as nutr ...
- or
regenerative design
Regenerative design is a process-oriented whole systems approach to design. The term "regenerative" describes processes that restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials. Regenerative design uses whole systems thinking ...
, as well as
biomimetics
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...
principles, just to name a few. Common to all of them is built-in sustainability, in which (
non-renewable
A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuels. The original organic ma ...
) resource-wasting is ruled out by design. They are generally built to be
holistic
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED On ...
, robustly
self-sustaining and respecting the
carrying capacity
The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as ...
of the economic or
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
system.
Resource use measurement and identification of hotspots
A key tool in resource efficiency is measuring different aspects of resource use (e.g.
carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...
,
water footprint
A water footprint shows the extent of water use in relation to consumption by people. The water footprint of an individual, community, or business is defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services consumed by t ...
,
land footprint or
material use), then identifying 'hot spots' where the most resources are used or where there are the best opportunities to reduce this resource use. For example,
WRAP
Wrap, WRAP or Wrapped may refer to:
Storage and preservation
* Gift wrap or wrap paper, used to enclose a present
* Overwrap, a wrapping of items in a package or a wrapping over packages
* Plastic wrap, a thin, clear, flexible plastic used to ...
has published information on hotspots for 50 grocery products likely to contribute most to the
environmental impact
Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
s associated with UK
household consumption
Consumption is the act of using resources to satisfy current needs and wants. It is seen in contrast to investing, which is spending for acquisition of ''future'' income. Consumption is a major concept in economics and is also studied in many o ...
.
WRAP have created a range of tools and guides to help improve business resource efficiency.
Initiatives and programmes
UNEP
UNEP
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...
works to promote resource efficiency and ''
sustainable consumption
Sustainable consumption (sometimes abbreviated to "SC") is the use of products and services in ways that minimize impacts on the environment in order for human needs to be met in the present but also for future generations. Sustainable consumption ...
and
production'' (SCP) in both developed and
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
. The focus is on achieving increased understanding and implementation by public and private decision makers, as well as civil society, of policies and actions for resource efficiency and SCP. This includes the promotion of sustainable
resource management
In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or ...
in a
life cycle perspective for goods and services.
Europe 2020
The resource-efficient Europe flagship initiative is part of the
Europe 2020
Europe 2020 is a 10-year strategy proposed by the European Commission on 3 March 2010 for advancement of the economy of the European Union. It aims at a " smart, sustainable, inclusive growth" with greater coordination of national and European po ...
Strategy, the EU's growth strategy for a smart, inclusive and
sustainable economy
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
. It supports the shift towards
sustainable growth
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desi ...
via a resource-efficient,
low-carbon economy
A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the ...
.
Tomsk Polytechnic University
In October 2012
Tomsk Polytechnic University
National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) is a technical university in Russia. TPU was a member of 12 international associations, including the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research (CESAER) un ...
(TPU) launched the Development Program of Resource Efficient Technologies for the period 2013–2018. That program was presented by TPU in 2009 at the Russian federal competition "National Research University". A key point of the program of TPU was announced the formation of high school as a world-class university-based staffing and development of technologies for resource-efficient economy.
TPU developed educational module "Resource Efficiency", prepared and published a textbook "Principals of resource efficiency", optional subject matter of the same name introduced in the curriculum (for all disciplines and areas of undergraduate).
TPU envisages university development in the field of resource-efficient technologies that unites six research and educational clusters:
#Safe Environment
##Non-destructive testing and diagnostics
##Materials for extreme conditions
##Domestic and industrial
waste recycling
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
#
Sustainable Energy
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as green ...
##
High-temperature superconductivity
High-temperature superconductors (abbreviated high-c or HTS) are defined as materials that behave as superconductors at temperatures above , the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. The adjective "high temperature" is only in respect to previou ...
technologies for
energy production
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of Renewable energy, renewable, nuclear power, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, ...
##Nuclear and hydrogen fuel of the new generation
##
Hybrid simulation in energy production
##Resource-efficient generation
#
Medical Engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
##
Bioengineering
Biological engineering or
bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...
materials and technologies
##Radiation technologies in bioengineering
##Electrophysical biomedical complexes
#Planet Resources
##Resource-efficient use of mineral resources
##Clear water
##
Green chemistry
Green chemistry, also called sustainable chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. While environmental che ...
#Cognitive Systems and Telecommunications
##
Cognitive software and hardware systems
##
Wireless telecommunication systems and technologies
#Social Science and Humanities in Engineering
##Social science and humanities component of engineering
##Mechanisms of technical innovations initiation and engineering forethought
Resource Efficient Scotland
''Resource Efficient Scotland'' is a Scottish government-funded programme that helps businesses and the public and third sectors save money by using resources more efficiently.
See also
*
Scarcity
In economics, scarcity "refers to the basic fact of life that there exists only a finite amount of human and nonhuman resources which the best technical knowledge is capable of using to produce only limited maximum amounts of each economic good. ...
*
Natural resource management
Natural resource management (NRM) is the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations (stewardship) ...
*
Water efficiency
Water efficiency is the practice of reducing water consumption by measuring the amount of water required for a particular purpose and is proportionate to the amount of essential water used.Vickers, Amy. “Water use and conservation." Amherst, M ...
References
{{reflist
Resources
Waste minimisation