Abstract
Sustainable development with regard to non-renewable resources can best be defined in terms of the inter-generational challenge of the Brundtland commission and the intra-generational challenge worked out in Agenda 21 of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro conference of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). In meeting these challenges, the trilemma of security of supply under conditions of economic viability and environmental sustainability also needs to be addressed in order to achieve sustainable development. To fulfil the natural resources needs of future generations we have three resources at our disposal: (1) the geosphere or primary resources; (2) the technosphere or secondary resources and (3) human ingenuity and creativity driving innovation. Man does not need natural resources as such, only the intrinsic property of a material that enables the fulfilment of a function is required. Any material that can perform the same function more efficiently or cheaply can replace any other material. In our constant drive to secure the supply of efficient raw materials, the feedback control cycle plays an indispensable role by virtue of it reacting to price signals on both the supply and demand sides. The feedback cycle of course goes hand in hand with a continuous learning process. On the supply side, the learning effects are in technology development around primary resources and the increased use of secondary resources; on the demand side with thriftier use of raw materials.
Highlights
The principle of inter-generational equity is generally accepted as a starting point for achieving sustainable development with the aim of allowing every future generation the privilege of being as well off as its predecessors [1,2]
When there is a shortage of a commodity in a market economy, prices will rise triggering this mechanism (Figure 7)
That have no, or limited, own production infrastructure. This means that specific processes and production infrastructure has to be developed for such elements with low recycling rates (Table 3), a problem addressed in the new German research programme “Economic-strategic raw materials for the high-tech position of Germany” [58]
Summary
The principle of inter-generational equity is generally accepted as a starting point for achieving sustainable development with the aim of allowing every future generation the privilege of being as well off as its predecessors [1,2]. To achieve the above defined goal of intra-generational equity, access to and security of supply of mineral and energy resources has to be ensured. Security of raw material supply, along with innovation fueled by human ingenuity in finding solutions [9], is central to attaining both intra-generational equity in the short term and inter-generational equity in the long (Figure 1.). Concerning energy, the World Energy Council (WEC) considers these three goals of raw material supply as shown in Figure 1B above a “world energy trilemma”, “entailing complex interwoven links between public and private actors, governments and regulators, economic and social factors, national resources, environmental concerns, and individual behavior” [10].
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