Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
For converting this vision into reality, many things must however change. A
sound management of mineral and biological world resources is needed. Any prof-
ligate use of natural resources must cease. Simply ignoring the issue of material
depletion in the name of future technological advancement is no longer an option,
at best it is a badly thought out practice and policy, at worse the consequences are
effectively beyond the mind's imagination. Any bet for the future must be taken
right now if one is to seriously combat the speed at which materials are experiencing
entropic increase. This hand break turn must begin at a product conception and
last throughout its entire useful life and onto its end-of-life.
In this way, recycling technologies devoted to chemical recovery rather than
mere physical separation become imperative. Eco-design for cutting resource use
whilst also facilitating recycling, the provision of increasingly e
cient components
and systems integration through industrial symbiosis should also be developed in
conjunction with renewable energy solutions (see Chap. 16). Industry must increas-
ingly begin to understand and take responsibility for its role in society, its impact
on the environment and its relations with other sectors. It must learn to close its
material cycles whilst minimising its negative externalities and in doing so become
an active source of innovation and employment.
Finally, laws must adapt to social changes; barriers for development must be
overcome and, above all, a new sense of equity and co-development among nations
should run parallel to this progress.
15.6 Summary of the chapter
Society creates wellbeing through the mass use and depletion of planetary's re-
sources. Avoiding its collapse requires recognition of the finite nature of the Earth.
It also equates to proper resource management. To that effect, a paradigm shift
needs to occur. This can be accomplished upon considering the following:
First, Nature should not be ruled by the economics of Man, ultimately meaning
that 1) The unit of measure employed for resource use should be physically based
and in this respect, Thermodynamics must play a prime role. Money, as opposed
to exergy, does not reflect society's true indebtedness towards Nature. Moreover,
money is not an absolute and universal magnitude, as it is subject to both infla-
tion and monetary revaluation. 2) Man needs to realise that the substitution of
materials, unlike that of money or energy is limited and case specific. Therefore mi-
neral resources management, policy and practice is essential. 3) Long term thinking
should be embedded into the economic realm, as the effects of Man on Nature lie
far outside the dimension of time, meaning that the current economic answers to
the problem of scarcity are simply not good enough.
Second, society should be aware that everything is connected with everything
else and that these linkages are becoming progressively stronger with time. There-
fore, any future scenarios and decisions adopted should be multidimensional because
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