Finite resources

Humanity is facing many challenges the coming century. To be the most definitive is not the threat of climate change our international terrorism. Something we cannot get around is how we use natural resources. If we keep consuming resources at a faster pace than they can be regenerated we are far out on very thin ice. Some obvious examples are oil and coal, but those could possibly be replaced by greener energy sources in the not too distant future. Furthermore, many metals we are using in large quantities are scarce. A sure sign of this is that the fast growing chinese economy is buying lots of rare metals and also is driving a lot of the global concrete and steel market. Firstly, we need to start reusing and recycling a lot more. What is
even scary is the large population in developing countries seeking a Western standard of life. Who are we to deny them that after raping the planet for a long time...

I guess that when one resources becoems to scarce or to expensive we will eventually move on to an alternative resource. But at some point there are no alternatives. We need to recycle and reuse. Further we need to use resources efficiently and minimise waste. Perhaps the a sustainable energy system is the key here, since we are really running out of oil and coal, not to mention the pollutions caused by those two.

Bottom line is, we cannot have a linear system for using finite natural resources. At some point we run out...

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