Difference between revisions of "Material/Intro"

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[[Image:Air sea and land.jpg|right|120px|Atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere (a.k.a. air, sea and land)]] Air, water and the twenty most abundant elements in the Earth's crust provide almost all the material needed to create the multitude of machines and goods that mankind requires: buildings, vehicles, robots, industrial machinery, computers, consumer goods and so on.
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[[Image:Air sea and land.jpg|right|180px|Atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere (a.k.a. air, sea and land)]] Air, water and the twenty most abundant elements in the Earth's crust provide almost all the material needed to create the multitude of machines and goods that mankind requires: food, drugs, houses, vehicles, robots, industrial machinery, computers, consumer goods and so on.
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Extracting these plentiful elements (and their compounds) to create useful material essentially involves [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy]] (which is also plentiful) and the right processing methods. From a technical point of view there is practically no limit to the volume of material we could extract and make use of, if we so wished, even while minimally disrupting complex and fragile ecosystems. The reserves of raw materials needed to sustain civilisation are simply not going to run out, because the entire {{wp|Lithosphere|Earth's crust}} is made up of them. However this is no excuse to be unnecessarily wasteful in our consumption. Advanced [[recycling]] will reduce the need to extract material from the ground and more efficient design will allow us to {{wp|Ephemeralization|do more with less}}.</p>
  
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Extracting these plentiful elements (and their compounds) to create useful materials in essence involves [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy]], which is also plentiful, and the right processing methods. From a technical point of view there is practically no limit to the volume of material we could extract and make use of if we so wished. The point is that the reserves of raw materials needed to sustain civilisation are not going to run out (the entire {{wp|Lithosphere|Earth's crust}} is made up of them) {{en}} any existing material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal.
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The point is that any existing material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal.
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There is little dispute that fossil fuel is a limited resource but with regard to energy there are vastly more plentiful and greener [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy sources]] available; and as a feedstock for plastics and many other useful petrochemical derived materials, renewable biomass can replace crude oil if necessary or even {{wp|Organic_synthesis|organic synthesis}}. Our current heavy use of fossil fuel is due to convenience and the fact that current economics make the alternatives appear less viable in comparison. However 'economics' distorts the perception of what is possible and simply dictates what is easier when working within the current framework that we have inherited from past centuries.
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Of course no reasonable person would advocate being wasteful just because material and energy are plentiful, and our use of resources must be carried out with minimal harm to the natural environment; however an important trend in technological progress is the tendency of products and manufacturing processes to steadily become more efficient {{en}} [http://www.worldtrans.org/essay/ephemeralization.html doing more with less].
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Latest revision as of 12:47, 18 July 2010

Atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere (a.k.a. air, sea and land)
Air, water and the twenty most abundant elements in the Earth's crust provide almost all the material needed to create the multitude of machines and goods that mankind requires: food, drugs, houses, vehicles, robots, industrial machinery, computers, consumer goods and so on.

Extracting these plentiful elements (and their compounds) to create useful material essentially involves energy (which is also plentiful) and the right processing methods. From a technical point of view there is practically no limit to the volume of material we could extract and make use of, if we so wished, even while minimally disrupting complex and fragile ecosystems. The reserves of raw materials needed to sustain civilisation are simply not going to run out, because the entire Earth's crust 11px-Wikipedia_logo.jpg is made up of them. However this is no excuse to be unnecessarily wasteful in our consumption. Advanced recycling will reduce the need to extract material from the ground and more efficient design will allow us to do more with less 11px-Wikipedia_logo.jpg.

The point is that any existing material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal.

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