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The discipline of tribology is being leveraged to reduce the level of unnecessary energy used by mechanisms, and, therefore, is fundamental to decreasing the levels of emissions of various industries. For many decades, scientists have used knowledge of tribology to understand the functions of friction and wear between two surfaces that come into contact.
They have implemented this knowledge to reduce the amount of energy wasted via unnecessary friction and wear, making mechanisms more energy efficient, only using what is required to power the mechanism.
As the need to prevent and reverse climate change becomes more and more urgent, an ‘all hands on deck’ approach is required, where all strategies that can reduce emissions need to be implemented in parallel so that their collective efforts may be enough to address the significant global threat posed by climate change. Here, we discuss the role of tribology in this collective effort.
The Pressing Issue of Climate Change
The concept of tribology has been around since humans first began creating machinery. The discipline considers the science of interacting surfaces in relative motion. Under the umbrella of tribology sit the studies of friction, lubrication, and wear.
It involves contributions from the fields of biomedical science, chemical engineering, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, mechanics, physics, and more. The multidisciplinary discipline draws in scientists and researchers with a range of backgrounds and experience, which is helping to move the field forwards in order to solve new, and relevant problems.
Importantly, tribology is being leveraged to address the problem of CO2 emissions by limiting the amount of unnecessary energy utilized by mechanisms. Tribology can be used to calculate how friction and wear impact energy consumption and economic expenditure, and, therefore, emissions. As a result, sectors such as transportation, energy, manufacturing, and residential are being able to decrease their overall energy consumption and emissions.
Over recent years our awareness of the increasing detrimental impact human activity is having on the environment has risen. Data has mounted, and scientists have increasingly expressed their concerns and predictions over the irreversible effects of rising greenhouse gas emissions. Sea levels are rising, climate patterns are shifting, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, food security is threatening, biodiversity is being jeopardized, and the future of the planet overall is at risk.
Climate change is considered to be the most pressing issue facing humanity today. The action taken today will have a significant impact on the future of humanity. Scientists in the field of tribology have been working for decades to contributing to limiting the volume of emissions associated with a wide range of sectors by reducing energy wastage and making the mechanism more energy efficient.
Using Tribology to Reduce Energy Wastage
Before climate change was such a hot topic, scientists were already working hard to address the issue of energy wastage in order to result in economic savings. They were focused on resolving wear and wear-related failures of various kinds of machinery. As a result, innovations from the field of tribology were able to reduce operations costs by roughly 95%.
Today, it is estimated that tribology solutions contribute to cost savings by the same order, with methods of friction reduction contributing to 74% of this cost reduction and solutions of what protection contributing to the other 26%.
Recent research has highlighted the importance of tribology in the fight to cut emissions. Data shows that 23% of the total global energy consumption is attributed to tribological contacts. Additionally, of that 23%, one-fifth of this originates from energy used to overcome friction.
By leveraging new tribology technologies, such as those that have produced enhanced surfaces, materials, and lubrication, the friction and wear associated with running vehicles, machinery, and other equipment can be drastically reduced, therefore, reducing the energy consumption of these machines and their carbon footprint.
Scientists have calculated that energy wasted due to friction and wear could be reduced by a total of 40% in the next 15 years, and 18% in the short term (eight years). Globally, this would accumulate to a saving of 8.7% of total energy consumption in the long term.
The industry to benefit most in the short term from such savings would be the transportation sector, which could reduce energy consumption by 25%. As for long-term savings, the greatest beneficiaries would be, again, transportation (55% saving), followed by power generation (40%), manufacturing (25%), and residential (20%).
These figures demonstrate the power of tribology to reduce global CO2 emissions, both in the short term and, more importantly, in the long term. The implementation of energy-saving tribology solutions is vital to tackling climate change, although it is one of a multitude of strategies that need to occur in unison to give the world the best chance of protecting its future.
References and Further Reading
Holmberg, K. and Erdemir, A., 2017. Influence of tribology on global energy consumption, costs and emissions. Friction, 5(3), pp.263-284. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40544-017-0183-5
Holmberg, K. and Erdemir, A., 2019. The impact of tribology on energy use and CO2 emission globally and in combustion engine and electric cars. Tribology International, 135, pp.389-396. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1559285The
Nosonovsky, M. and Bhushan, B., 2010. Green tribology: principles, research areas and challenges. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 368(1929), pp.4677-4694. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsta.2010.0200
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