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. | [[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. | ||
| − | Extracting these plentiful elements and creating useful materials just involves [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy]], which is also massively abundant, 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 these reserves of raw material are not going to run out and any material scarcity has little to do with reserves at our disposal. | + | Extracting these plentiful elements and creating useful materials just involves [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy]], which is also massively abundant, 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 these reserves of raw material are not going to run out and any material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal. |
Of course no sensible person would advocate being wasteful just because material and energy are plentiful, and our impact on the biosphere must be considered; however one aspect of technological progress is the increasing efficiency of design and manufacturing {{en}} {{wp|Ephemeralization|doing more with less}}. | Of course no sensible person would advocate being wasteful just because material and energy are plentiful, and our impact on the biosphere must be considered; however one aspect of technological progress is the increasing efficiency of design and manufacturing {{en}} {{wp|Ephemeralization|doing more with less}}. | ||
Resources such as fossil fuel are certainly limited but there are vastly more plentiful and greener energy sources available. The 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 view of what is possible, it simply dictates what is easier when working within the current framework. | Resources such as fossil fuel are certainly limited but there are vastly more plentiful and greener energy sources available. The 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 view of what is possible, it simply dictates what is easier when working within the current framework. | ||
Revision as of 20:17, 26 July 2007
Extracting these plentiful elements and creating useful materials just involves energy, which is also massively abundant, 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 these reserves of raw material are not going to run out and any material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal.
Of course no sensible person would advocate being wasteful just because material and energy are plentiful, and our impact on the biosphere must be considered; however one aspect of technological progress is the increasing efficiency of design and manufacturing – doing more with less 
.
Resources such as fossil fuel are certainly limited but there are vastly more plentiful and greener energy sources available. The 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 view of what is possible, it simply dictates what is easier when working within the current framework.
