Global Resource Depletion

The basic message of Diederen's book is that in the future we'll have to face deep changes in the way we exploit and use minerals. We'll have to be much more careful, use less and recycle more. Diederen classifies metals in three categories. One is the "elements of hope," those which are abundant in the earth's crust: aluminum, iron, silicon and others. Then, there are "frugal elements," which are not very rare (e.g. titanium, copper and others) and, finally, "critical elements" (e.g. noble metals) which are extremely rare. The challenge is to build an industrial society which is based mainly on the elements of hope; only sparingly on the "frugal elements" and - if possible - does not use the critical elements at all. This is a very difficult problem that that can't be solved by recycling alone, and not even by concepts such as "Cradle to Cradle," which are fascinating but which may lure us into believing that there are simple solutions to a very difficult problem. To solve it, we will need to make important changes in the ways we manufacture things; and that can only be along the line that Diederen calls "managed austerity". Recycling and substituting is not enough, we'll have to use less.

Will the free market solve our problems with regard to global resource depletion or will technology alone save us? Are total absolute quantities of resources more important than the accessible part of them that can be converted into production at meaningful rates and at affordable cost?
On a global scale we are facing energy scarcity due to the fact that the growth in net energy production, which is largely based on fossil fuels, can no longer keep up with the growth in global population. Energy scarcity means metals scarcity, or more in general materials scarcity. Materials scarcity in turn aggravates energy scarcity. This book gives a comprehensive overview of our predicament, why and how we got here and how we might adapt with the least damage. Adaptation involves ’Managed Austerity‘ (amongst others using less), the ’Elements of Hope’ (amongst others using nature’s most abundant building blocks) and acknowledgement of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.