^ Molybdenum Products. Photo credit: https://images-of-elements.com/molybdenum.php
Article by Joanne McIntyre
Products assessed were roasted molybdenite concentrates in powder and briquette forms, and ferromolybdenum. This two-year update project was carried out as part of a rolling program of 5-yearly updates.
An LCI is an inventory of flows from and to nature – including inputs of water, energy, and raw materials and releases to air, land and water – for a product system. LCIs are part of a larger scale Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) whereby companies operating in many different sectors seek to assess the sustainability credentials of their own and competing products. A pre-requisite for generating an accurate environmental assessment is the availability of reliable life cycle inventory (LCI) datasets.
To ensure that these three updated datasets are easily accessed and widely used they will be available via multiple routes including:
- Via the IMOA website LCI enquiry form
- Databases readily accessible to researchers, including The International Reference Life Cycle Data System
- Embedding the datasets in widelyused commercial LCA software used by LCA practitioners around the world.
Sandra Carey of IMOA’s HSE Committee, commented: “IMOA was an early adopter of life cycle assessments and has been engaged in LCI dataset generation since 2000. We have provided metallurgical LCI data to LCA practitioners, researchers and companies for assessments including calculation of carbon footprints, upstream input into LCAs for buildings that use stainless steel and upstream input into LCAs for special applications, such as high-strength steel in car safety parts. These latest robustly updated datasets can be used with confidence by different industries to assess molybdenum products as part of wider life cycle assessments.”
About molybdenum
Molybdenum is added to steels and cast irons to improve strength, toughness, hardenability and weldability for numerous applications in the automotive, shipbuilding, construction, mining, chemical, oil and gas and energy generation industries. In stainless steel and superalloys, it improves corrosion resistance and high-temperature performance and finds uses in many industrial applications. It is also used in a variety of products from catalysts and lubricants to pigments and paint. IMOA is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of most of the world’s molybdenum producers and converters, as well as users and traders.
Information
The updated LCI datasets are available on request from https://www.imoa.info/index.php
For more information contact Claire Caton, email: ccaton@IMOA.info
