Abstract
In today's global economy, sustainable resource management requires a consumption perspective of resource use and insight into actual resource use through the global supply chain. The estimated global amount of used and unused extraction caused by mineral extraction of iron, copper, and nickel more than doubled from 1990 to 2013 (iron, 2.8-6.7 Pg; copper, 2.7-5.5 Pg; nickel, 0.19-0.60 Pg). By incorporating global material flow into a global link input-output model (GLIO, a hybrid multiregional IO model), we estimated the total used and unused extraction caused by iron, copper, and nickel mining induced by Japanese final demand to be 0.44, 0.52, and 0.043 Pg in 2011, respectively, equivalent to 7.1% of the total global extraction amount caused by iron mining, 11% of the amount caused by copper mining, and 10% of the amount caused by nickel mining. Whereas the world extraction total caused by iron, copper, and nickel mining rapidly increased from 2005 to 2011, the extraction amount induced by Japanese final demand for the same period either stayed about the same (iron) or decreased slightly (copper, 99% of the 2005 amount; nickel, 92%).
Highlights
Economic growth is associated with a rapid rise in the use of natural resources within the economy,[1,2] and sometimes greater implementation of green technologies has triggered a rapid rise in the use of some metals and minerals
Global Distribution of Used and Unused Extraction Induced by the Global Economy
The total used and unused extraction caused by iron, copper, and nickel mining were estimated to be 6.7, 5.5, and 0.6 Pg in 2013, which increased by factors of 2.4, 2.0, and 3.1 since 1990, respectively (Table 1)
Summary
Economic growth is associated with a rapid rise in the use of natural resources within the economy,[1,2] and sometimes greater implementation of green technologies has triggered a rapid rise in the use of some metals and minerals. Halada et al.[4] clarified huge amounts of “hidden” extractions underlying mineral production, and the World Resource Institute (WRI)[5] and Durań et al.[6] mapped global indicators of ecosystems and communities that are vulnerable to the negative impacts of mining. These reports indicated a significant overlap between the world’s active mines and strictly protected areas. Each of these studies indicates the Received: August 14, 2018 Revised: November 11, 2018 Accepted: December 31, 2018 Published: December 31, 2018
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