M-2D - Using Products More Intensively
Using products more intensively refers to maximising the use of existing products and infrastructure by increasing their frequency of use or sharing them among multiple users. This strategy includes practices such as product-sharing models (e.g., car-sharing, tool libraries) where a single product serves many users, thereby reducing the overall need for new products. It also involves designing products to be used continuously at high capacity, rather than underutilised, extending their functional life through better maintenance and reducing idle time. By intensifying product use, industries can decrease the demand for new production, lower material and energy consumption, and reduce waste, ultimately leading to reduced emissions.
Mitigation Potential¶
TBD.
Mitigation Options¶
Chapter 11 (IPCC AR5 WG3 2014)1 discusses mitigation options for product intensity in the industry sector which are indexed in the table below.
AR5 Section 10.1 outlines a simplified decomposition of emissions, defining product-service intensity as the quantity of service delivered per unit of product. Products are divided into consumables and durables - each with a single fundamental mitigation option. Mitigation options for consumables - whose service delivered is short-lived - focus on more precise doses of the product in order to minimise waste. For durables - whose service is provided over potentially many years - mitigation options focus on the effective length of life of the product and how intensively the product is used during the product life-time (i.e. maximising the number of service units provided by the product).
| Index | Title | Section(s) | Sub-sector(s) | TE(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M-2D.1 | Behavioural changes for reduced waste (e.g. food) | AR5 10.1, 10.4 | ||
| M-2D.2 | Optimised dosing of consumable products | AR5 10.1 | ||
| M-2D.3 | Enhanced product service levels per product (e.g. product sharing) | AR5 10.1, 10.4 | T-2D4 - Mobile Machinery | T-2D4-3 |
| M-2D.4 | Design for extended product life-time | AR6 11.3.2 | ||
| M-2D.5 | Improved product stock maintenance to extend life-time | AR5 10.4.2 | ||
Emissions¶
See TBD.
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IPCC AR5 WG3. 2014. Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change: Working Group III Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Ottmar Edenhofer. Cambridge University Press. ↩