Allwood Julian M, Raabe Dierk
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK.
Max-Planck-Institute for Sustainable Materials, Düsseldorf 40237, Germany.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2024 Dec 2;382(2284):20230247. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2023.0247. Epub 2024 Nov 4.
This article introduces a special issue of the transactions arising from a Royal Society Discussion Meeting on 'sustainable metals'. Recognizing that progress to date toward the goals of 'sustainability' has been limited, the meeting aimed to open up a new level of interdisciplinary dialogue, collaboration and discussion of disruptive approaches. In this paper, the major concerns of sustainability are enumerated, and climate change is identified as the most urgent. The constraints on deploying technical innovations at scale and speed are discussed, suggesting that much of the required change will require using existing technologies differently, and many opportunities of this type have been overlooked. These constraints also give useful direction for future research and suggest an expanded future role for scientists. Previously, scientists and technologists have aimed largely to 'solve' problems in sustainability through invention. This introductory paper argues that they have an equally important role as participants in the complex societal discussions required to identify pathways to change. Scientific expertise is as important for explaining what cannot be achieved in time or at scale, as it is for promoting the excitement of invention.This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'Sustainable metals: science and systems'.
本文介绍了英国皇家学会关于“可持续金属”的讨论会上产生的一系列论文。鉴于迄今为止在实现“可持续发展”目标方面取得的进展有限，此次会议旨在开启跨学科对话、合作以及对颠覆性方法进行讨论的新层面。在本文中，列举了可持续发展的主要关注点，并将气候变化确定为最紧迫的问题。讨论了在规模和速度上部署技术创新的限制因素，表明所需的许多变革将需要以不同方式使用现有技术，而这类机会大多被忽视了。这些限制因素也为未来研究提供了有益的方向，并暗示了科学家未来更广泛的作用。以前，科学家和技术专家主要致力于通过发明来“解决”可持续发展中的问题。这篇引言文章认为，他们作为识别变革途径所需的复杂社会讨论的参与者，有着同样重要的作用。科学专业知识对于解释无法及时或大规模实现的事情至关重要，就如同它对于激发发明的热情一样重要。本文是讨论会特刊“可持续金属：科学与体系”的一部分。
