Global Demand For Natural Resources Research Articles

Vegetation as an ecological indicator in assessing environmental restoration in mining areas

As global demand for natural resources escalates, the environmental impact stemming from resource extraction has risen to the forefront of contemporary discussions. This paper probed the potential of using vegetation cover as an ecological barometer to gauge the level of environmental damage and restoration in mining areas: a decline in vegetation cover may signify detrimental impacts from intense mining activities, while an increase may indicate effective local environmental stewardship. Therefore, this paper undertook an assessment and discussion of mining damage and environmental management at China's Ta'ershan Mining Area since 2007, calculating and visualizing FVC (Fractional Vegetation Cover) of the Ta'ershan Mining Area to track changes in vegetation cover between 2007 and 2021. Changes in vegetation cover in the Ta'ershan Mining Area could act as a reflection of both mining-induced damage and subsequent successful environmental management by local authorities, providing a practical way to evaluate ecological effects in resource development.

Potential Output in a Commodity‐Exporting Economy*

The surge in global demand for natural resources has driven the terms of trade in commodity‐exporting economies to historically high levels. A critical question is how the upswing in commodity prices influences these economies' potential output. I estimate the potential output and output gap that are consistent with a small open economy model featuring a commodities sector and study the implications of permanent commodity price changes on potential output and output gap. Following a 70 per cent permanent commodity price increase, the output gap improves on impact but deteriorates afterwards, falling to −0.75 per cent in the transition.

China material stocks and flows account for 1978\u20132018

As the world’s top material consumer, China has created intense pressure on national or global demand for natural resources. Building an accurate material stocks and flows account of China is a prerequisite for promoting sustainable resource management. However, there is no annually, officially published material stocks and flows data in China. Existing material stocks and flows estimates conducted by scholars exhibit great discrepancies. In this study, we create the Provincial Material Stocks and Flows Database (PMSFD) for China and its 31 provinces. This dataset describes 13 materials’ stocks, demand, and scrap supply in five end-use sectors in each province during 1978–2018. PMSFD is the first version of material stocks and flows inventories in China, and its uniform estimation structure and formatted inventories offer a comprehensive foundation for future accumulation, modification, and enhancement. PMSFD contributes insight into the material metabolism, which is an important database for sustainable development as well as circular economy policy-making in China. This dataset will be updated annually.

Towards ‘Free, Prior, Informed Consent’ in Natural Resource Development Projects

Global demand for natural resources has pushed development projects into increasingly remote areas that are usually occupied by indigenous people. These communities are highly dependent on the natural environment for their survival, culture, and identity with a historically poor relationship with governments. Thus, the concept of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) has arisen as a right of indigenous people to self-determination under international law. Articulated in a variety of soft and hard-law instruments, FPIC has been outlined by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) 2007 which essentially requires that indigenous people have the right to accept or reject natural resources developments that affect them, their land or territories. This has not been fully accepted by governments. Hence, this article investigates the application of this emergent concept to natural resources developments; and comes to the view that FPIC is still in a state of flux but is nevertheless critical to resource development stakeholders. The article concludes that FPIC is here to stay and governments need to update national laws to accommodate this important concept.

Ixil Maya Resistance against Megaprojects in Cotzal, Guatemala

Ixil Maya Resistance against Megaprojects in Cotzal, Guatemala Giovanni Batz (bio) Due to an increasing global demand for natural resources coupled with neoliberalization, there has been a significant growth in infrastructure and extractive industries which have negatively affected indigenous communities.1 These demands for electricity and metals are often to the benefit of foreigners living in developed nations and people living outside of the affected communities. However, the cost of covering such demands has also meant displacement and conflict for those living near these projects. Since the end of the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996), the Ixil region (consisting of the municipalities of Chajul, Cotzal and Nebaj), has witnessed the arrival of international corporations that have constructed (or are in the process of obtaining licenses to build) megaprojects such as mines or hydroelectric dams. By May 2018, the Ixil region had two operational hydroelectric projects (the Hidro Xacbal Dam in Chajul and the Palo Viejo hydroelectric plant in Cotzal), another under construction (the Xacbal Delta Dam in Chajul), and three amparos (legal protection for constitutional individual or community rights) involving hydroelectric dams (all in Nebaj). An amparo in these cases has prevented companies from building their projects until the legal matter of consultation has been resolved by the judicial system. Furthermore, a mining project to extract barite (a mineral used in fracking) in Salquil Grande, Nebaj has also generated tensions and potential conflicts.2 Despite the discourses of development associated with these megaprojects, they have produced little or no benefits to surrounding communities where they operate. Instead, these projects have generated community conflicts, social divisions, evictions, arrest warrants for community leaders, and environmental degradation, as well as remilitarization through the establishment of army garrisons and states of siege. In Cotzal, the arrival of these foreign companies and megaprojects was referred to as the "new invasion" or "fourth invasion" after the first, second and third invasions of Spanish colonization, the creation of the plantation economy between the 1870s and 1930s, and the Guatemalan Civil War, respectively.3 This article examines a movement in Cotzal against the construction of the Palo Viejo hydroelectric plant built by the Italian company Enel on the finca (plantation) San Francisco from 2008–2012.4 Palo Viejo includes four [End Page 1016] separate concrete diversion dams (Presa Cotzal, Presa Chipal, Presa El Desengaño, and Presa El Regadío), and a reservoir.5 The struggle was characterized by peaceful resistance, a four-month blockade, and the arrival of the military, as well as the creation and breakdown of a roundtable dialogue between the company and local communities. The Ixil region has a history of foreign intervention and extraction, externally-imposed forms of development, state-sponsored violence and resistance. During a dialogue meeting between Enel and the communities of Cotzal, an Ixil leader recognized these cyclical forms of invasion, drawing parallels between Enel's arrival and the Spanish invasion: There is no recognition here of Indigenous Peoples, because you [Enel] come like the god, you act like the god among our communities, because you are the ones who will give gifts… 500 years ago you came with a mirror… Now you want to give away other things… You always want to be above the Indigenous; if you have your say, the Indigenous have to accept what comes from above, that's racism… That's how I feel it, because I'm Indigenous and I feel it that way… You continue to view us like you are used to seeing us, as indios.6 The Alcalde Indígena of Cotzal, Concepcion Santay Gomez, equates the arrival of the Brol family—who displaced the Ixil over a century ago to create the finca San Francisco—with the arrival of Enel: "the arrival of the Brols is equal to the arrival of Enel now, they arrived offering things to our people. Our grandfathers and grandmothers had to leave their lands back then, [now Enel is] constructing the dam on the land where they used to be."7 I argue that the arrival of megaprojects, such as Palo Viejo, continues the history of a colonial logic of extraction, and is an extension of the historical tensions between the communities of Cotzal, the...

Durability of Structural Recycled Aggregate Concrete Subjected to Freeze-Thaw Cycles

The increasing global demand for natural resources and the extensive production of construction and demolition waste (CDW) raise concerns for both the economic and environmental consequences that they can induce. Several efforts are being made with the aim to promote sustainable practices in the construction industry. In this context, one of the most relevant options refers to reusing CDW in new construction: specifically, the use of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is attracting a growing interest. Unfortunately, although the behavior of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) has been widely investigated in the last few years, there are still knowledge gaps to fill on various aspects of the RAC performance, such as its durability in extreme conditions. The present study deals with the freeze-thaw performance of normal- (C35) and high-strength (C60) RAC produced with RCAs derived from different sources. Specifically, ten concrete mixtures were subjected to a different number of freeze-thaw cycles (namely, 0, 150 and 300), with the aim of analyzing the degradation of key physical and mechanical properties, such density, compressive strength, elastic modulus and tensile strength. Based on the obtained experimental results, a novel degradation law for freeze-thaw cycles is proposed: it unveils a relationship between open porosity of concrete, which is directly correlated to the peculiar properties of RCAs, and the corresponding damage level determined on RAC specimens.

Kick detection and remedial action in managed pressure drilling: a review

Increasing the global demand for natural resources directs the oil industries to explore in geologically challenging structures and offshore reserves. Oil industries are always searching for innovative drilling technologies to optimize field development process in a complex structure. Managed pressure drilling (MPD) is now becoming an attractive alternative to the traditional overbalance drilling in complex formation. MPD offered substantial benefits in terms of project economics and reduced non-productive time (NPT). These benefits are substantial in the offshore structure, where any downtime significantly impacts the project cost. MPD is designed to avoid continuous formation influx into the wellbore, and any incidental fluid is contained with a specific predetermined process. MPD used some specialized tools and techniques to enhance traditional kick detection capabilities and circulate formation influx while keeping NPT at the minimum level. Early kick detection is a primary concern for the drilling industry to ensure the safety of the drilling rig, crews, and environmental protection. This research focused on a systematic review of kick detection and mitigation in MPD operation. A review of recent advancements in MPD, various early kick detection methods, comparative study of different kick indicators with their significance, different gas kick models, and risk analysis are analyzed systemically. Several control methods in the MPD operation are summarized. A systematic comparison of different gas kick circulation methods in conventional drilling and MPD is presented in this study. Also, different alternative responses to conventional kick circulation methods are summarized. This work critically analyzed different kick responses of circulating and non-circulating methods, e.g. shut-in, modified pump shut down, increasing in casing pressure and stepwise increase in pump rate. However, all circulation methods are elementary, and no kick circulation method is universally applicable to all drilling operations. Finally, this review emphasized some recent progress and challenges in kick detection on managed pressure drilling.

The roles of all tiers of government and development partners in environmental conservation of natural resource: a case study in Nigeria

Environmental damage usually comes back to development in one way or another and causes a development challenge. As the global demand for natural resources increases, human welfare and its implications relating to environmental degradation and exposure to environmental risks have caused many to lose their means of livelihood, triggering high level of poverty which remains a serious concern. However, globalization has played a central role in determining the future of the world. The role of globalization has proven to be essential to a nation’s ability to yield the maximum potential from its available resources. The maximization of those resources generally leads to the improved economic development of the nation; wellbeing of man and the sustenance of his livelihood are closely associated with the natural resources base. Consequently, there is a global concern for natural resources protection and conservation so that man can continue to sustain his livelihood. Part of the overall development activities of man is industrial growth. As desirable as industries are, their growth is associated with deleterious consequences. This paper examined the threatened natural resources by mans various activities and call on all tiers of Government and Development partners on the need for natural resources conservation in Nigeria. This revealed that industrialisation and its concomitant urbanisation has brought to mans environment such negative factors like loss of biodiversity, enhanced greenhouse warming, desertification, drought, water and air pollution and accumulation of toxic wastes. It is believed that well conserved natural resources will bring economic, social, visual, and aesthetic benefits that guarantee sound and qualitative health of inhabitants. It concludes that conservation of African biodiversity has come to the fore due to its numerous cultural, scientific and economic values. Also, environmental protection regulations should be intensified to protect the environment from excesses exploitations and for sustainable development. This can be achieved principally through recognition, understanding, appreciating and/or integration of endogenous technologies with exogenous technologies whose synergies are capable of enhancing conservation of natural resource base.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Support of the Resourcing Future Generations Program

The Resourcing Future Generations (RFG) program is a global strategy proposed by the International Union of Geological Sciences to meet global demand for natural resources. The Belt and Road (B&R) initiative of China provides a great opportunity for promoting the RFG across much of the Eurasian continent. The countries covered by the B&R initiative are mostly low-income economies. With rapid developments of economy and infrastructure construction, these countries are set to have huge demands for mineral resources in the future. However, the proven mineral reserves in this region are too limited, and the region’s overall level of metal recycling is far from optimistic. These countries are expected to have obstacles in meeting future demands. However, the regional Tethyan metallogenic domain and Central Asia metallogenic district are key areas for new discoveries of mineral resources, possessing a variety of mineral resources with a positive prospecting potential. The B&R initiative of China provides favorable opportunity for mutual beneficial cooperation to improve regional exploration and prospecting through geological mapping, inter-comparison study on Tethyan metallogenic domain, joint assessment of mineral resource potentials, joint training of geological engineers and workers and building information systems.

Why have China and Russia become Uzbekistan’s biggest energy partners? Exploring the role of exogenous and endogenous factors

In the 1990s, there was an expectation that Uzbekistan, along with other countries in Central Asia, would gradually move towards the West by distancing itself from the sphere of Russian influence. However, in spite of the West’s significant investment in the region’s economies and attempts to enter the local markets through both bilateral and multilateral channels, this shift never materialised. In fact, since the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Uzbekistan’s trade cooperation with Russia has remained robust, and only in 2014 did China overtook Russia as Uzbekistan’s biggest trading partner. This article aims to understand why Russia and China have become Uzbekistan’s biggest economic partners, especially in the energy sector. To understand this, I believe that it is important to analyse the nature of both domestic and international factors and their interaction. First of all, there are international factors: globalisation, the rise of China and an increase in global demand for natural resources; the role of the China-initiated the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Silk Road Economic Belt; and Russia’s attempt to reclaim its “great power” status since 2000 and Putin’s attempt to build and expand the Eurasian Economic Union. Second, there are domestic factors: understanding Russia’s and China’s foreign trade policy linked not only with economic growth but also with the structure of foreign economic policy decision-making, or “power vertical,” among other domestic elements. This article will draw on Critical International Political Economy (CIPE) to argue that this tradition is well equipped and offers an important framework to understand foreign economic policy of powers such as Russia and China. The CIPE does not simply combine the domestic and international factors but also insists on their indivisibility and engages with cultural, ideological and social elements in their historical contingency.

Prospects for Freight and Logistics Companies in Operationalization of the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Goods and Persons

Free movement of goods and people has been at the heart of ECOWAS regional integration process and past and current efforts at regional integration have often focused on removing barriers to free trade in the region to increase the free movement of goods, people among others across the ECOWAS sub-region. The object of the inquiry of this study was then to a large extent to examine the prospects for freight and logistics companies in operationalisation of the ECOWAS protocol on free movement of goods and persons. The methodology used is qualitative and the interview adopted was non-standardised. From the interviews the findings presented suggest that the introduction of the ECOWAS protocol on free movement has promoted trade within the West African sub-region and it has the potential to stimulate growth and profitability in the freight and logistics industry. The study also among others identified certain indicators showcasing prospects for freight and logistics companies included; higher trade volumes as local economies diversify and expand, growing population within the subregion, domestic consumer demand increasingly wants finished products from abroad, fastgrowing global demand for natural resources from West Africa escalates, infrastructure improves, boosts intra-West African Sub-regional trade. The study recommends that an incorporated transportation network, which is essential for the ECOWAS region must be built and maintained, to smooth the progress of the protocol and the distribution of goods and services. The infrastructure shortfall in many member states must be addressed and road, rail, air and sea networks improved and maintained. And member state should be encouraged to shun continually erecting further tariffs and non-tariffs barriers, custom check posts and rigid procedures etc., which are working against achieving the vision of ECOWAS protocol on free movement.

Sustainability in manufacturing and factories of the future

An increasing global demand for natural resources and the inherent challenges accompanying this demand pose a great task for manufacturing companies. Apart from this, new technologies and a demographic change of the workforce as well as the desire for new individualized products make manufacturing more challenging than ever. To succeed in this new setting manifold perspectives of a factory have been proposed in order to enhance the understanding of the complex interdependencies between the factory elements. Against this background, this paper starts with a short overview regarding the paradigm change in manufacturing including contemporary trends triggering the requirements for factories of the future. Subsequent to that, a selection of factory perspectives is revised indicating the demand for a new holistic perspective of a factory that is more suitable with respect to the new trends. For that reason a new holistic perspective on the factory of the future is presented.

Expectations of future income and real exchange rate movements

We show that changes in expectations of future income driven by exogenous factors (such as the discovery of oil and an increase in global demand for natural resources) can cause movements in the real exchange rate (RER) in excess of, and sometimes even in the opposite direction to, what one would expect given the changes in current income. We provide both a theoretical model and empirical evidence of this. In particular, we show that the signing of numerous production sharing agreements (PSAs) between the government of Azerbaijan and foreign oil companies in 1994–1998 fueled expectations of higher future incomes, resulting in a considerable appreciation of the RER. Some of these PSAs subsequently failed or ran into difficulties, which led to a downward revision of expected future income and a depreciation of the RER in 1999–2003, even though the current income started to rise, due to an increase in the current oil revenue.