The effects of energy efficiency and resource consumption on environmental sustainability

Abstract

Primary energy has become a vital part of society—from mobility, heating, and cooling to refrigeration to preserve food as well as for simple communication methods, such as texting. As such, pollution and environmental concerns regarding the impact of human activities have become mainstream and efforts have been made to reduce solid wastes as well as CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy is almost synonymous with environmentally friendly. While energy conversion from fossil fuels and natural gases is responsible for most of the pollution (CO2, NOx, SO2, particulate matter (PM), etc.) in modern society, these processes also generated 86% of global primary energy in 2019. Furthermore, as humans become more dependent on energy, power demands will only increase with time. Material hunger represents another little perceived dependency of human prosperity. The longevity of products and goods is crucial to limit CO2eq emissions associated with material streams. This paper will focus on two relationships: that of CO2 and friction, and that of sustainability and wear protection.