Industry 1.61803: the transition to an industry with reduced material demand fit for a low carbon future

Julian M Allwood; Timothy G Gutowski; André C Serrenho; Alexandra C H Skelton; Ernst Worrell

doi:10.1098/rsta.2016.0361

Industry 1.61803: the transition to an industry with reduced material demand fit for a low carbon future

Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2017 Jun 13;375(2095):20160361. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2016.0361.

Authors

Julian M Allwood¹, Timothy G Gutowski², André C Serrenho³, Alexandra C H Skelton³, Ernst Worrell⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK jma42@cam.ac.uk.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
³ Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK.
⁴ Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Heidelberglaan 2, 3548 Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Arising from a discussion meeting in September 2016, this editorial introduces a special issue on the transition to a future industrial system with greatly reduced demand for material production and attempts to synthesize the main findings. The motivation for such a transition is to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions, but unlike previous industrial transformations, there are no major stakeholders who will pursue the change for their own immediate benefit. The special issue, therefore, explores the means by which such a transition could be brought about. The editorial presents an overview of the opportunities identified in the papers of the volume, presents examples of actions that can be taken today to begin the process of change and concludes with an agenda for research that might support a rapid acceleration in the rate of change.This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'.

Keywords: climate change mitigation; material demand reduction; policy; transition.