PME Distinguished Speaker Colloquium - Jennifer Dunn

Sustainability analysis of critical minerals supply chains: attributional and consequential life cycle assessment

By some estimates, more than three billion tons of minerals will be needed to manufacture the decarbonization technologies necessary to limit global warming to 2°C. This demand can be met through increasing production at existing mines, developing new mines, and recovering minerals through recycling of spent devices can also contribute. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a key analysis tool to evaluate and compare the environmental effects of producing minerals from different sources. This presentation will present recommendations for attributional LCA of minerals mining based on a literature review and apply them in the development of a perspective of a proposed mine in Minnesota. While attributional LCA aims to assign a unique environmental impact to a mineral product, consequential LCA aims to quantify the overall environmental effects from a change in mining activity. We present consequential LCA results that account for global carbon stock changes arising from the construction of new mines to meet mineral demand. Finally, we explore whether water demands for expanding lithium mining in the U.S. can be met, considering changes in water scarcity that climate change will cause, and what restrictions in water supply mean for the possibility of achieving a fully domestic lithium supply. Altogether, these different forms of sustainability analysis can address the advantages and disadvantages of expanding minerals production and help prioritize technologies and strategies that minimize adverse local environmental effects of mining while pursuing materials that are an important part of the solution to the global challenge of climate change. Dr. Jennifer Dunn is a Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University. She holds a courtesy appointment in Mechanical Engineering. Jennifer is the Director of Northwestern’s Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience. Jennifer studies emerging technologies, their energy and environmental impacts, and their potential to influence greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions, water consumption, and energy consumption.  Her areas of interest include sustainable mineral supply chains, hydrogen, plastics, nutrient recovery from water, and biofuels and bioproducts. Techno-economic, life cycle, and material flow analyses are primary tools in her research.   Jennifer holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan where she was introduced to life cycle analysis through earning her Master’s degree in Sustainable Chemical Engineering Systems. Her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering is from Purdue University. Prior to joining Northwestern, she led the Biofuels Analysis group at Argonne National Laboratory.