The energy-mineral-society nexus - A social LCA model

Renewable energy technologies such as direct-drive wind turbines based on permanent magnets need non-renewable resources such as rare earth minerals. The analysis of this nexus requires a better understanding of the complex interactions not only between these two sectors, but also between the natural environment and human society, characterized as the energy-mineral-society nexus (EMS nexus). The EMS nexus is analysed using an extended social life cycle assessment (sLCA) model and scenario approach. For this new social LCA the Social Hotspots Database (SHDB) is used to analyse rare earth production in Australia, Malaysia (Mount Weld process), USA (Mountain Pass process II), and China (Sayan Obo process). On the basis of the Social Hotspots Database (SHDB), the sLCA model allows to determine the social footprint of the production of rare earth elements based permanent magnets for 2012. Furthermore the social LCA model approach also enables a new interpretation of the societal life cycle costing (sLCC). The social risks are monetized for the three rare earth production chains. By integrating the Human Development Index (HDI), the new approach allows a novel scenario estimation of the social footprint and the social risk intensity for the three rare earth production sites. In addition to the scientific contribution, the results provide a central input for the public discussion about corporate social compliance, according to which companies try to improve the social standards along their global value chains in line with the social accountability 8000 (SA8000) standard.