Managing Sustainability of Critical Materials

Question 1

Types

Answer 1

Lithium: Electric batteries

Titanium: Aerospace engines,
Automotive structure in weight reduction and increase rigidity
Hovercrafts, condensers, heat exchangers

Platinum- Medical applications: prosthetics

Uranium: Energy for nuclear power stations

Precious Materials: Diamonds

Question 2

Digital Technologies could enable sustainability

Answer 2

Longevity of use & re-use

Leaner production processes

Business model innovation

Question 3

Blockchain

Answer 3

distributed database or ledger shared among a computer network’s nodes. It differs from a typical database in the way it stores information. It maintains a secure and decentralised record of transactions with immutable data.
Decentralised database
Distributed ledger
Timestamped transaction history
Everyone keeps a ledger of the entire history of transactions
Longest chain counts
Through life tractability
P2P transaction system:
Smart contracts
Cryptocurrency

Question 4

Unique Benefits

Answer 4

Resilience: A distributed database means that even if one or more data centres fail, the system will continue to work

Safety: Forgery is near impossible and uneconomical, one needs to overpower 50% of the entire network of computers.

Traceability: All records are stored in a blockchain from the beginning

Irreversibility: altering existing records is not possible since multiple records exist, an alteration would automatically be rejected

Anonymity: asymmetric cryptography enabled transactions
Blockchain uses a “public key” or ”address”, in the case of Bitcoin an identifier of 26-35 alphanumeric characters, to send and receive money rather than an actual identity.
The key can be generated independent of the person’s identity

Question 5

Examplesq

Answer 5

De Beers Group: End-to-end diamond traceability platform
Implemented Bring small and unorganised businesses together to identify counterfeit, improve trade efficiency and visibility

Everledger: authenticity and provenance of the luxury goods
In use combat counterfeiting and the trade of restricted items

Maersk: Traceability in cross-continent container shipping
Proof of Concept
Sharply reduce cost in tracking and paperwork

Question 6

End-of-Life and Circular Economy Operations and Management: Decommissioning

Answer 6

Circular economy operations for large complex products at end of life: the wind turbine case