Browsing by Author "Keßelring, Michaela"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Open Access
Metal sourcing for a sustainable future
(2022) Renn, Ortwin; Gloaguen, Richard; Benighaus, Christina; Ajjabou, Leila; Benighaus, Ludger; Del Rio, Virginia; Gómez, Javier; Kauppi, Sari; Keßelring, Michaela; Kirsch, Moritz; Komac, Marko; Kotilainen, Juha; Kozlovskaya, Elena; Lyytimaki, Jari; McCallum, Cathryn; Mononen, Tuija; Nevalainen, Jouni; Peltonen, Lasse; Ranta, Jukka-Pekka; Ruiz, Stephane; Russill, Jon; Wagner, Frank
Drastic measures are required to meet the standards of the Paris Agreement and limit the increase of global average temperatures well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Mining activities are typically considered as unsustainable but, at the same time, metals such as cobalt and lithium are essential to sustain the energy transition. Several sustainability goals defined by the United Nations (UN) require large quantities of raw materials. Exploration and extractives activities are required in order to contribute to meeting sustainability standards. Future sourcing of metals will need to implement procedures that go well beyond current ecological, economic, and social requirements and practices. In this paper we assess the usual sustainability criteria and how they apply to the extractives sector. Sustainability can only be achieved if one accepts that the natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital (so called weak concept of sustainability). Sourcing the raw materials increasingly demanded by our societies will need transparent and inclusive stakeholder participation as well as a holistic understanding of the impact of extractives activities to reach this weak sustainability status. Our analysis shows that the sustainability of mining cannot be reached without harmonized political instruments and investment policies that take the three pillars of environmental, economic, and social sustainability as a major priority.
Open Access
Sustainability in mineral exploration : exploring less invasive technologies via patent analysis
(2020) Ruiz-Coupeau, Stephane; Jürgens, Björn; Keßelring, Michaela; Herrero-Solana, Victor
This paper presents a bibliometric study on patents and scientific publications related to airborne electromagnetic methods used as less invasive technologies in mineral exploration. A statistical analysis of the documents reveals the main players, technology trends, and collaboration patterns via bibliometric techniques. The article aims to analyse the gap between the model of sustainable less invasive innovations and the concrete implementation of the technology pull. Special attention is paid to the enablers of sustainable development and their presence in the technology landscape for less invasive exploration technologies.
Open Access
Sustainable test site decision-making : decision-making under technological-social-ecological considerations
(Stuttgart : Fraunhofer Verlag, 2022) Keßelring, Michaela; Riedel, Oliver (Prof. Dr.-Ing.)
Sustainable technology advancements ushered in various industries and sustainable development methods have spurred. Recent technological innovations in environmental sensing, computing, and automation offer the potential to revolutionize existing industries. However, in highly innovative and therefore often high-risk fields, a principal barrier to sustainable technology adoption is the provision of a body of evidence to provide to regulatory, scientific, or investment communities. Physical test sites can serve to verify and validate technologies in their end-setting. Barriers to the development of physical test sites stem from the requirement to balance technological, social, and ecological stakeholders. The practical need for an interdisciplinary approach and the absence of theoretical work to support sustainable test site development in real environments often exceeds the capabilities of single companies or entire industries. Thus the present thesis reflects on the theorical and practical work on sustainable technology development in real environments and develops a framework for the development of test sites under technological, social, and ecological considerations.