3D printing is sustainable and solves warming
AT Kearney 17. Global management consulting firm with offices in more than 40 countries worldwide, consistently ranked among the top consulting firms. AT Kearney. “3D Printing: ensuring manufacturing leadership in the 21st century.” https://saratech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/HP-3D-Printing_-ensuring-manufacturing-leadership-in-the-21st-century_SARATECH.pdf
3D printing allows a path to a more sustainable future by localizing and simplifying the supply chain. A model on the sustainability of 3D printing demonstrates that CO2 emissions could be reduced by 130.5 to 525.5 Mt by 2025, including a 5% reduction in manufacturing emission intensities due to 3D printing. The analysis goes on to state that if 3D printing could be more applicable at higher production volumes, it could theoretically decouple energy and CO2 emissions from economic activity.36
Sustainability benefits of 3D printing occur throughout the value chain from pre-production, to production, inventory, product use, and service.
In pre-production, 3D printing will reduce dramatically the need for tooling, which requires high quantities of energy to be manufactured.
In production, the number of sub-assemblies can be dramatically reduced, reducing overall energy required to mass-produce products.
From an inventory perspective, there will be less material waste as well as reduced logistics. With a local manufacturing process and fast production for customized products, lead times can be drastically reduced, which allows manufacturers to move closer to a 1:1 supply/demand ratio, and reduce scrap created through overproduction. Reduced waste will have a cascade effect, reducing overall supply chain impact on the environment. This effect is a massive opportunity in locations where resources and raw materials are limited or at risk of depletion. Logistics can be reduced due to reduced material flow; logistics will occur for raw materials and finished parts, and logistics of intermediaries will be reduced. As manufacturing moves closer to the end part user, there will also be reduced transportation requirements.
From a product perspective, 3D printing allows new and optimized designs that weigh less, and in cases, can reduce fuel consumption. For example, Renault Trucks use 3D printed engine parts that are 25% lighter, which improves fuel efficiency.
Finally, in service and maintenance, 3D printing enables manufacturing-on-demand, which reduces the need to store parts over a multitude of years, removing the energy required to maintain parts over time.
Overall, 3D printing creates an opportunity to reduce waste and simplify the supply chain, creating an opportunity for a more sustainable future.