November 15, 2008
1a. Definitions
resource - something that can be depleted or used up, not a condition
renewable resources are special case
mantra: reduce, reuse, recycle (in this order)
1b. Simple depletion curve
Hubbert bubble - depletion curves for renewable (see links - hubbert)
general systems behavior to pulse (pulsing)
1c. Depletion connected to economic demand and population growth
systems model of depletion bubble (courses/stella/hubbert.stm)
tie resource use to population growth and demand
1d. Recycling
based on biological/ecological model
four box (courses/stella/four-box.stm)
shows oscillation as a natural feature
if some aspects of the cycle are slow, there will be a build up of that stock
systems model with recycling (courses/stella/hubbert-plus-recycling.stm)
1e. Renewable resource
different systems "structure" than recycling
recycling - consider an industrial ecology or economic activity
renewable - source with a specific production
sustainability
Compare the structure of these two diagrams:
recycling
renewable resource (natural capital)
non-renewable mineral resources
undiscovered, identified, reserves (Table 16-10)
methods and impacts of mining coal (Figure 16-13)
depletion curves for non-renewable resources (Fig 16-16)
Hubbert bubble - Figures 1-8, Figure 17-6.
examples of alternatives - including nanotechnology (one good fact)
Major Concepts from Chapter 16
compare energy resources to mineral resources
approximate energy requirements for world and USA
projections for energy consumption
sources of oil and what it is turned into (fig 17-8)
natural gas, why it's better than oil or coal
ANWR - pros and cons
CO2 emissions per unit of energy by different fuels
tar sands and shales
coal - different forms, use to create synthetic fuels
nuclear energy - simple pros and cons
