Proceedings of the 70th International Academic Conference, Madrid

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND EU ETS COSTS OF PLATINUM: COMPARISON OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PRODUCTION

MARÍA-PILAR MARTÍNEZ-HERNANDO, DAVID BOLONIO, ENRIQUE GARCIA-FRANCO, MARCELO F. ORTEGA, MARÍA-JESÚS GARCÍA-MARTÍNEZ

Abstract:

The transport sector is one of the largest consumers of platinum, accounting for 61% of total demand in 2021. Platinum is used as a catalyst in internal combustion engine vehicles and in fuel cells for fuel cell electric vehicles. One of the main issues associated with platinum is that its production is among the most polluting, due to the high energy demand required by the process. To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union (EU), EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) have been introduced. This system establishes a maximum limit on the amount of GHG emissions that installations included in the scheme are allowed to emit, and these allowances can be bought and sold. The objective of this study is to analyse the GHG emissions associated with platinum production, as well as to assess the cost of the related CO₂ emissions under the EU ETS. To achieve this, a regionalized Carbon Footprint Analysis will be conducted under different scenarios: Baseline Scenario, which reflects current production, and Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) Scenario in which the share of recycled platinum in the EU increases, one of the objectives of CRMA. The methodology applied is the Integrated Environmentally-Extended Multiregional Input-Output Analysis (I-EEMRIO). This method is based on input–output matrices, which allow to identify where these impacts occur. The geographical distribution of GHG obtained will be used to calculate emission costs under the EU ETS. The results show that GHG emissions are higher in the Baseline Scenario than in the CRMA Scenario, where part of the platinum supply comes from recycled sources. Considering all scopes, emissions amount to 138 kt CO₂-eq in the Baseline Scenario and 105 kt CO₂-eq in the CRMA Scenario, representing a reduction of 24.5%. Regarding the costs under the EU ETS, platinum faces a significant increase, from 23,783 EUR in the Baseline Scenario, to more than 170,000 EUR in the CRMA Scenario. Most of these costs are associated with road transport, which is expected to be included in the EU ETS by 2027, related to the production and distribution of lime, a material required to desulfurize and concentrate both primary and secondary platinum. These high costs could lead to the relocation of lime and platinum production outside the EU; therefore, it is recommended to include both platinum and lime in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to avoid excessive penalties.

Keywords: Platinum, EU ETS cost, GHG emission, circular economy, input-output model

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2026.070.010

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