23rd International Colloquium Tribology - January 2022 485 Sustainability by Design using Tribological and Lifecycle Assessment Tools Amaya Igartua Fundación TEKNIKER, Eibar, Spain Corresponding author: amaya.igartua@tekniker.es Raquel Bayon Fundación TEKNIKER, Eibar, Spain Gemma Mendoza Fundación TEKNIKER, Eibar, Spain B. Zabala Fundación TEKNIKER, Eibar, Spain Mathias Woydt MATRILUB, Berlin-Dahlem, Germany 1. Introduction Tribological research and developments are substantial and hidden contributors to climate protection and sus-tainability through friction reduction and wear protec-tion. Techniques, like condition monitoring, repair and reuse as well as recycling extend longevity and limit the material hunger with its embedded CO 2 . The consequent reduction of friction and improvement of longevity contributes on the long run to reduce 6-10 gigatons of CO 2eq emissions [1-2] out of 33.6 gigatons of direct or energy related CO 2 emissions (fossil or anthropogenic) in 2019. It was recently illuminated, that 20-33% [U.S. Congress [2] & Holmberg [3]] of the total primary energy consumption is consumed by friction! By assuming savings between 30-40% in a mid-/ long-term perspective, friction reduction will contribute to saving 8-13% of pri-mary energy consumption, irrespective it is CO 2 -neutral or fossil based, whereas wear protection and condition monitoring offer an extended service life of machines and their components generating less material consumption and reducing there embedded CO 2eq . emissions from mining, extraction and conversion of raw materials. Further investigation is needed to allocate the material streams to in different applications. Tribology is a property of the system and occurs everywhere in the total value chain and material streams over all industrial sectors (transportation, energy, construction, medical, etc) and private uses (consumer goods, appliances) [3-9]. Figure 1: Testing tribological configuration to reproduce at laboratory the failure mechanism of the tribological system, ©TEKNIKER. Tribology is the tool to design sustainable usage of materials and processes in systems submitted to relative movement. [7]. Materials solutions (including coatings and lubricants) can help to reduce friction and increase lifetime of materials and Coatings. On the other hand, the energy consumption during operation by friction losses dominates the CO 2 emissions during a lifecycle and countermeasures are needed to minimize the carbon footprint impact. Corrosion and tribology both are surface properties and two key degradation mechanisms. The simultaneous occurrence of both phenomena is called tribocorrosion. Corrosion and wear cause irreversible material and functional losses and thus increase fuel and primary materials consumption. The material volume saved by extended service life cycles lowers CO 2 emissions, material streams and wastes. Combination of modelling and characterization needs to be optimized to achieve this goal [1, 3, 10]. 486 23rd International Colloquium Tribology - January 2022 Sustainability by Design using Tribological and Lifecycle Assessment Tools 2. Proposed solutions The white paper “The Role of the Materials for Post Covid Society” edited by EUMAT-A4M and published by EU Commission is a reflection on how Materials will enable solutions for society and citizen’s demands. [4] contains positioning, potential solutions, and recommendations from the European Materials community (A4M) towards Horizon Europe. Compiles Strategic Research Agendas (SRAs) from Materials stakeholders, addressing lessons learned in current COVID19 pandemic, and aligned with Green Deal Priorities and Recovery Plan. 3. Impact Quantification The global population is still growing, including its wealth. The resource consumption will increase from 92,1 gigatons (2017) plus 8,6 gigatons of cycled prod-ucts to 165-190 gigatons in 2050, if no action is taken [1,2, 13]. With one ton of primary material/ metal are associated 1,36-1,83 tons of CO 2eq . The consumption of primary energy, either fossil or CO2-neutral ones, will increase accordingly. The Tribology is a key interdisciplinary technology to reduce CO 2 emissions through friction reduction and to achieve resources conservation: - doubling the service life results in average savings of 1.06-3.70 gigatons in mass of resources per year or of embedded 1.68-6.77 gigatons CO 2eq . per year [1, 10]. - A reduction of 30% in friction losses reduce global CO 2 emissions by 2.27-4.55 gigatons of CO 2 per year [2, 13]. Document Chapters Proposed solutions Circular economy, sustainable raw materials, materials cycles Use secondary materials, Coatings to enhance durability, biobased materials, Green and Clean Energy Energy efficiency, materials durability for renewable energy, low carbon footprint, Lifecycle environmental assessment, lifecycle cost CO 2 emissions reduction and Climate impacts Recycle, reuse, repair, condition monitoring Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence Sensor, drones, smart maintenance, virtual vision Resilience against future emergencies, less critical dependencies “by design” Design for recycling, for durability, for energy efficiency, substitute critical raw materials by coatings Enabling efficient, prudent, frugal quick response and innovation in emergency solutions Flexible and tailored manufacturing (eg. Additive manufacturing, 3D printing) Social, societal, education and political impacts in post COVID times e-training, e-LUBMAT, S-LCA 4. Recommendations • Use for low carbon footprint processes and products sustainable design approaches by tribology. • Use secondary materials or (re)cycled materials to assure raw materials availability and limit material hunger as well as enhance functionalities by surface treatments. • Circular economy (recycle, reuse, repair…) to extend lifetime • Use advanced sensors and drones for predictive mainte-nance taking the advantages of artificial intelligence 5. Conclusions The use of Tribology at the design phase of the products and processes allows to predict at the laboratory, materials durability and friction (linked with energy efficiency), simulating working conditions and main failure mechanism during their use. Materials solutions (including coatings and lubricants) can help to reduce friction and increase lifetime of materials and Coatings. Environmental, Economic and Social Lifecycle impact evaluations (LCA, LCC, LCS) can help to optimize the processes and products and minimize their impact. The wear and corrosion protection has an economic saving potential of 3-5% of the Gross National Product. 6. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the EU Commission, German, Basque and Spanish research financing organizations to support the research highlighted in this document. 23rd International Colloquium Tribology - January 2022 487 Sustainability by Design using Tribological and Lifecycle Assessment Tools References [1] “CO2 & Friction” (2019) https: / / www.gft-ev.de/ en/ tribology-study/ , available in DE/ FR/ EN [2] “Sustainability & Wear Protection” (2021) h tt p s : / / www. gfte v. d e / w p c o n t e n t/ u plo a d s / GfT-Studie-Verschlei%C3%9Fschutz-und-Nachhaltigkeit.pdf . [3] K. Holmberg et al., The Impact of Tribology on Energy Use and CO2 Emission globally and in Combustion Engine and Electric Cars, Tribology International, Volume 135, July 2019, p. 389-396, [4] ‘The role of Materials in the post-covid society’, |European Commission (europa.eu), 22.09.2020 [5] 2019_02_a4m_position_paper_v44.pdf (eumat.eu) [6] K. Holmberg, A. Erdemir, “Influence of tribology on global energy consumption, costs and Emissions”, Friction 5 (3): 263-284 (2017); https: / / doi. org/ 10.1007/ s40544-017-0183-5. [7] A. Igartua et al., “Tribology, the tool to design materials for energy efficient and durable products & process”, IntechOpen, April 2019, ISBN 978-1-78984-288-3, http: / / dx.doi.org/ 10.5772/ intechopen.85616; [8] https: / / doi.org/ 10.1016/ j.triboint.2019.03.024 [9] LUBMAT 2020 Video Conference, https: / / www. lubmat.org [10] M. Woydt, “Material efficiency through wear pro-tecttion- The contribution of Tribology for reducing CO2 emissions”, WEAR, Vol. 488-489, 25 January 2022, 204134, https: / / doi.org/ 10.1016/ j. wear.2021.204134 [11] https: / / inspectione ering.com/ news/ 2016-03- 08/ 5202/ nace-study-estimates-global-cost-of-corrosion-at-25-trillion-ann; http: / / corrosion.org/ [12] Role of Green Tribology in Sustainability of Mecha-nical Systems: A State of the Art Survey, Materials Today, Vol. 4(2), Part A, 2017, p. 3659-3665 [13] M. Woydt, “The importance of Tribology for redu-cing CO2 emissions and for sustainability”, WEAR, Vol. 474-475, 15 June 2021, 203768, https: / / doi.org/ 10.1016/ j.wear.2021.203768.