Material efficiency: providing material services with less
material production  Julian M. Allwood, Michael F. Ashby,
Timothy G. Gutowski, Ernst Worrell   Material efficiency, as
discussed in this Meeting Issue, entails the pursuit of the
technical strategies, business models, consumer preferences and
policy instruments that would lead to a substantial reduction in
the production of high-volume energy-intensive materials
required to deliver human well-being. This paper, which
introduces a Discussion Meeting Issue on the topic of material
efficiency, aims to give an overview of current thinking on the
topic, spanning environmental, engineering, economics, sociology
and policy issues. The motivations for material efficiency
include reducing energy demand, reducing the emissions and other
environmental impacts of industry, and increasing national
resource security. There are many technical strategies that
might bring it about, and these could mainly be implemented
today if preferred by customers or producers. How