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Materials and Energy Intensity of the Global Carbon Neutrality

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Studies on Russian Economic Development Aims and scope

Abstract

Development of the low-emission energy technologies including renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, and energy storage facilities make up the core of global carbon neutrality scenarios. These technologies stand out by their increased materials intensity, in particular that of energy-intensive materials: steel, aluminum, polymers, silicon, copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt. The article introduces a method for calculating and assessment of the global energy consumption to sustain carbon neutrality scenarios. Currently, the infrastructure of the low-emission economy consumes 0.4% of the world’s energy. By 2050, this should increase by almost 20 times and exceed the current energy consumption of metallurgy and the construction materials industry.

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Notes

  1. NGFS, Network for Greening the Financial System.

  2. A.Yu. Kolpakov and A.A Galinger, “Economic efficiency of the spread of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources in Russia,” Herald Russ. Acad. Sci. 90, 25–35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331620010165.

  3. A.Yu. Kolpakov, A.A. Yantovskii, and A.A. Galinger, “The cost of achieving zero CO2 emissions by the middle of the century: A method and assessment for the world’s largest economies,” Zh. Novoi Ekon. Assots., No. 3, 139–154 (2022). doi 10.31737/2221-2264-2022-55-3-7.

  4. Values of 2019 or 2021 were used as indicators of modern production, depending on the available data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economic Forecasting, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117418, Moscow, Russia

    M. N. Uzyakov, A. Yu. Kolpakov, B. N. Porfiriev, A. A. Galinger & A. A. Yantovskii

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  1. M. N. Uzyakov
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  2. A. Yu. Kolpakov
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  3. B. N. Porfiriev
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  4. A. A. Galinger
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  5. A. A. Yantovskii
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Correspondence to A. Yu. Kolpakov.

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Translated by S. Avodkova

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Uzyakov, M.N., Kolpakov, A.Y., Porfiriev, B.N. et al. Materials and Energy Intensity of the Global Carbon Neutrality. Stud. Russ. Econ. Dev. 34, 335–341 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075700723030164

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