Renewable Resource

Renewable resources are natural resources that can be regenerated or replaced by

ecological processes on a relevant timescale.

From: Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008

Related terms:

Biomass

View all Topics

Swiss 2000-Watt Society

Roland Stulz, ... René Sigg, in Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, 2011

3.3.3 Energy Supply

Renewable resources, including solar, geothermal, hydro, wind, and biomass, offer
opportunities toward meeting the 2000-Watt target and are intended to substitute
for fossil fuels.

Electricity consumption is likely to grow in the short- to medium-term due to

increased electrification, a trend foreseen in the 2000-Watt pathway. Reasons for this
are that in the building sector, fossil fuel heating systems are increasingly replaced by
more efficient electricity-powered heat pumps. There will also be increasing sales
of electricity-powered, climate-friendlier cars. Electrification, especially if generated
from renewable resources, offers excellent opportunities to reduce GHG emissions.

A number of industrial countries with limited domestic energy resources are looking
at renewable energy technologies to reduce their dependence on energy imports
while reducing their GHG emissions. The European Union (EU), for example, has set
a goal to increase the proportion of renewable energy to 20% by 2020. Governments
in the EU, as well as in Switzerland, pay subsidies to develop the nascent solar and
wind industries. Such strategies have multiple benefits including the development
of low-carbon domestic energy supplies, reducing fossil fuel imports, reducing GHG
emissions, and creating a more decentralized energy supply system.
The R&D need for improved effectiveness of these energy conversion and storage
technologies cannot be underestimated at present. The spectrum of technologies yet
to be developed includes fuel cells, thin film PV cells, development of smart grids,
and direct current transmission, among others.

> Read full chapter

Environmental Space
L. Hens, L.X. Quynh, in Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008

Renewable resources
Renewable resources are natural resources that can be regenerated or replaced
by ecological processes on a relevant timescale. They include biological resources
such as biomass, plants, and animals. They also include freshwater, fresh air, soil
fertility, and elements like carbon and nitrogen. Renewable resources also include
inexhaustible solar energy.

Water
Annually, each person on Earth consumes about 650 m3 of freshwater for industrial,
agricultural, and domestic purposes. Globally, around 3800 km3 of freshwater is
used each year. This accounts for 9% of the total environmental space for natural
renewable water resources.

With this consumption rate, by 2050, the world will need approximately 1500 km3 of
additional freshwater to supply the expanding population. By that time, about 15%
of the total natural renewable water resources will be consumed each year.

Although the global water resources are sufficient for the increasing population,
the distribution of these resources and their quality is of concern. Canada has the
largest resources of freshwater. On the other hand, the water poverty index in 2002
shows that 37 countries out of the 147 assessed ones has a value below 50 (on the
scale ranging from 0 to 100 in which lower scores indicate water scarcity and poor
water provision). Most of these countries at risk are in the sub-Saharan region, where
only 58% of the population has access to safe water.

Land and soil

There are around 1.5 billion hectares of arable land on Earth. Most of the agricultural
land is currently being cultivated. On average, each person on Earth had a share of
0.41 ha of cropland in 1961 but only 0.23 ha in 2002, despite the increase in arable
land surface by 10% during that period of 40 years. The surface of irrigated land
accounted for 20% of the total arable area in 2002. By 2050, it is estimated that the
world average environmental space for arable land is around 0.19 ha per person.

The environmental space for arable land decreases not only in quantity but also
in quality. Around 30 million hectares of irrigated land are severely degraded by
salinization and around 80 million hectares more are affected by water logging.

The uneven distribution of environmental space when it comes to land resources is

also reflected by other types of land use. In urban areas, housing and living space
became scarcer as the urban population increased fast during recent decades. It
is estimated that in Asia, 40% of the urban population lives in slums; meanwhile,
in industrialized countries, around 7% of people do not have acceptable quality of
shelters.

Biological resources
The biosphere is a closed system that consists of biotic and abiotic elements, such
as air, water, soil, and organisms. The bioregions differ by their climate, plants, and
animals. These are biomes on land and aquatic life zones for aquatic systems.

Forests are the major components of biomes. They provide a variety of resources and
services. About 82.3 million km2 worldwide is covered by trees of which about 50%
are areas with a canopy cover of more than 25% (Table 2).

Table 2. Forest types and area

Forest types Area (1000 km2)

Evergreen 18 338.46
Deciduous 4 189.20
Mixed forest 9 930.10
Shrublands 23 343.16
Savannas 16 013.31
Grasslands 10 541.72

Forest resources are basically divided into two main categories: timber products and
nontimber products. Main timber forest products are round wood and fuel wood.
About 3400 million m3 of round wood was produced in 2004. The amount of fuel
wood totalized 1770 million m3. Most of the environmental space for both round
wood and fuel wood originates from developing countries (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Round wood and fuel wood production (million m3).

Aquatic ‘life zones’ may be freshwater or saltwater. Freshwater ecosystems provide

not only food and water but also services for agricultural development. The total
annual world fish production amounts to 132.5 trillion tons; 98% of it comes
from catching. Seas and oceans provide around 50% of the total world fish catch.
Developing countries contribute 80% of all fish production.

Annually, a worldwide average of food supply for human consumption is about

610 kg per head of the population. Average global daily calories intake is around
12 kJ, an increase of 30% as compared to the average dietary intake in the 1960s.
Around 85% of the food energy originates from vegetal products (cereals, vegetable,
legumes, etc.) and 15% from animal products (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Food production index based on 1999–2001 average (FAOSTAT, 2004).

Biological resources are severely impacted by human activities. ‘Over-exploitation’ is

a major factor that reduces the biodiversity. During the last two decades, the world
witnessed the collapse of a number of marine fisheries. ‘Pollution’ has obviously
local impacts on biodiversity in acutely affected areas. Long-term pollution, even
at low levels, can affect whole ecosystems, with resultant impacts on biodiversity.
‘Climate change’ undoubtedly caused biodiversity changes in the past, both locally
and globally. Today, the human-induced changes in the climate add new concerns,
particularly at fast rates of change.
The environmental space for biological resources is difficult to quantify as the
rates of reproduction depend on various elements of the ecosystems. With the
disappearance of species and habitats, many ecosystems start to malfunction and
therefore our environmental space is shrinking.

> Read full chapter

Environmental Space☆
L. Hens, L.X. Quynh, in Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental
Sciences, 2016

Renewable resources
Renewable resources are natural resources that can be regenerated or replaced
by ecological processes on a relevant timescale. They include biological resources
such as biomass, plants, and animals. They also include freshwater, fresh air, soil
fertility, and elements like carbon and nitrogen. Renewable resources also include
inexhaustible solar energy.

Water
Annually, each person on Earth consumes about 650 m3 of freshwater for industrial,
agricultural, and domestic purposes. Globally, around 3800 km3 of freshwater is
used each year. This accounts for 9% of the total environmental space for natural
renewable water resources.

With this consumption rate, by 2050, the world will need approximately 1500 km3 of
additional freshwater to supply the expanding population. By that time, about 15%
of the total natural renewable water resources will be consumed each year.

Although the global water resources are sufficient for the increasing population,
the distribution of these resources and their quality is of concern. According to the
WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, 748 million people lacked access to
an improved source of drinking water in 2014. By 2025, World Bank estimates that
about 1.8 billion people will be living in regions or countries with absolute water
scarcity.

The demand for water is growing due to demographic and socio-economic changes,
especially in the developing world. The use of water for agriculture that accounts
for about 70% of water allocations worldwide has resulted in a situation where an
estimated 1.4 billion people live in river basins that are closed or are closing. If
environmental flow requirements are respected, there is insufficient water in these
basins for additional irrigation or other uses. A temporal and gradual desiccation of
rivers and lowering of groundwater tables are already a reality in parts of the world
and the situation is likely to deteriorate further due to climate change.

Land and soil

There are around 1.5 billion hectares of arable land (land under temporary agricul-
tural crops) on Earth. Most of the agricultural land is currently being cultivated. On
average, each person on Earth had a share of 0.41 ha of cropland in 1961 but only
0.25 ha in 2015, despite the increase in arable land surface. The figure is expected
decreasing further to 0.20 ha per person by 2050. The surface of irrigated land
accounted for 20% of the total arable land and increases.

The environmental space for arable land decreases not only in quantity but also
in quality. Around 30 million hectares of irrigated land are severely degraded by
salinization and around 80 million hectares more are affected by water logging.

The arable land is unevenly distributed. In 2015 an average person in an industri-

alized country occupies 0.48 ha, while in the developing countries the comparable
figure is 0.19 ha per person. The uneven distribution of environmental space when
it comes to land resources is also reflected by other types of land use. In urban
areas, housing and living space became scarcer as the urban population increased
fast during recent decades. It is estimated that in Asia, 40% of the urban population
lives in slums; meanwhile, in industrialized countries, around 7% of people do not
have access to shelters of an acceptable quality.

Biological resources
The biosphere is a closed system that consists of biotic and abiotic elements, such
as air, water, soil, and organisms. The bioregions differ by their climate, plants, and
animals. These are biomes on land and aquatic life zones for aquatic systems.

Forests are the major components of biomes. They provide a variety of resources and
services. About 82.3 million km2 worldwide is covered by trees of which about 50%
are areas with a canopy cover of more than 25% (Table 2).

Table 2. Forest types and area

Forest types Area (1000 km2)

Evergreen 18,338.46
Deciduous 4189.20
Mixed forest 9930.10
Shrublands 23,343.16
Savannas 16,013.31
Grasslands 10,541.72
Forest resources basically belong to two main categories: timber products and
non-timber products. Main timber forest products are round wood and fuel wood.
The consumption of fuel wood increases mainly in the industrialized world. In
particular since the WSSD in Johannesburg (2002) there is a revived interest in
non-timber forest resources.

Aquatic “life zones” may be freshwater or saltwater. Freshwater ecosystems provide

not only food and water but also services for agricultural development. The total
annual world fish production amounts to 132.5 trillion tons; 98% of it comes
from catching. Seas and oceans provide around 50% of the total world fish catch.
Developing countries contribute 80% of all fish production.

Annually, a worldwide average of food supply for human consumption is about

610 kg per head of the population. The global agricultural production continues to
grow in most parts of the world (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Gross agricultural production indexes 1961–2012 (as compared to the base
period 2004–2006).From FAOSTAT. (2014). Online statistical service. http://Fao-
stat.Fao.org.

Biological resources are severely impacted by human activities. “Over-exploitation”

is a major factor that reduces the biodiversity. During the last two decades, the world
witnessed the collapse of a number of marine fisheries. “Pollution” has obviously
local impacts on biodiversity in acutely affected areas. Long-term pollution, even
at low levels, can affect whole ecosystems, with resultant impacts on biodiversity.
“Climate change” undoubtedly caused biodiversity changes in the past, both locally
and globally. Today, the human-induced changes in the climate add new concerns,
particularly at fast rates of change.

The environmental space for biological resources is difficult to quantify as the

rates of reproduction depend on various elements of the ecosystems. With the
disappearance of species and habitats, many ecosystems start to malfunction and
therefore our environmental space is shrinking.

> Read full chapter

RESOURCES
H.J. Albers, in Encyclopedia of Energy, Natural Resource, and Environmental Eco-
nomics, 2013

Abstract
Many renewable resource management problems contain spatial components. Spa-
tial heterogeneity across space leads to spatially differentiated management even in
the absence of spatial processes in the resource's behavior, value, or use. Similarly,
spatial processes, such as movement of fish and wildlife, induce heterogenous
management across seemingly homogenous space. This article introduces classic
approaches to spatial economic issues with nonstrategic and strategic interactions
before discussing how these and other spatial models apply in the case of natural
resources. Because many renewable resource management problems also pose
dynamic issues, the article then discusses the difficulties of combining spatial and
temporal optimization. It then describes the spatial characteristics of several nat-
ural resources and their impact on management. The resources discussed include
fisheries, temperate and tropical forests, species conservation, invasive species, and
water resources. The article concludes with a brief discussion of future directions for
research and spatial management of natural resources.

> Read full chapter

Polymer Reactions
Jett C. ArthurJr., in Comprehensive Polymer Science and Supplements, 1989

2.1 Introduction
Annually renewable resources have always been major sources of chemicals, poly-
mers and fuels to meet mankind’s basic needs for health, food, clothing and shelter
and for industrial applications. The types and quantities of renewable resources
stagger the imagination. The mass of the earth’s biosphere has been estimated to be
about 12 × 1012 tons, a very small fraction of the lithosphere, and the mass of living
matter at any given time to be about 360 × 109 tons, i.e. living matter comprises
about 3% of the biosphere. The mass of the atmosphere exceeds 5 × 1015 tons with
a mole fraction of 0.03% carbon dioxide in dry atmosphere at sea level. The energy
falling on an area of 1 m2 at normal incidence, outside the earth’s atmosphere, at
the mean distance of the earth from the sun averages about 1400 J s −1 of solar
energy. With these chemical and energy conditions, millions of tons of carbon
are assimilated each year by terrestrial plants for eventual conversion to celluloses,
starches, sugars, proteins, fats and tens of thousands of other compounds. Plants
are products of stored solar energy. The light-catalyzed reduction of carbon dioxide
and water to more complex chemical products through interactions initiated by
solar energy and to yield oxygen has been the subject of numerous reports on
photosynthesis. The initiation of additional chemical reactions yields a wide range
of products that contain both organic and inorganic compounds. Consumption
of these plants, and derived products, in the food chain by animals and fishes
adds large sources of annually renewable animal and aquatic products. In special
cases of hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor, compounds that contain sulfur may
also serve as electron-transfer agents to generate storage of energy in the form
of organic products. The world total of different types of plants discovered and
classified by botanists probably exceeds 250 000. For example, about 15 000 species
of these plants are native to the USA; however, products of only 150–200 species are
harvested for commerce and perhaps less than 12 species of these plants account
for most of the agricultural production. This type of renewable resource utilization
is probably representative for most areas of the world. Millions of tons of annually
renewable natural products are utilized each year by mankind.1–4

> Read full chapter

Polymers from plants: Biomass fixed

carbon dioxide as a resource
Janet L. Scott, Antoine Buchard, in Managing Global Warming, 2019

17.2.5 Monomers from sugars

Among renewable resources, carbohydrates are particularly promising raw mate-
rials as they are widely available (more than 150 × 109 t of polysaccharides are
produced naturally per year), environmentally benign, and they are likely to im-
part biocompatibility and degradability properties to polymers due to their high
oxygen content [43,44]. Glucose, the most abundant monosaccharide, is currently
obtained by saccharification of starch or natural sucrose hydrolysis, but could also
be commercially obtained in the future from lignocellulosic sources of lesser value,
without competing with food crops. In general, polysaccharides can be converted
using chemical or enzymatic processes into monosaccharides (pentoses or hexoses),
and into unsaturated carboxylic acids, polyols, and furan derivatives, which can be
manipulated further to afford versatile commodity monomers [45], Fig. 17.5.

Fig. 17.5. Selected strategies for the valorization of carbohydrates from plants into
monomers and polymers.

As previously mentioned, one popular industrial approach has been the synthesis of
traditional monomers and platform chemicals from renewable resources. One main
advantage is that these bioreplacement strategies are compatible with current in-
frastructure and markets, provided similar purity and costs can be achieved. Among
these processes, the now well-established fermentation of sugars into bioethanol,
and subsequent dehydration into ethylene, is a promising route to polymers derived
from plants [46]. Ethylene can be polymerized directly to produce polyethylene or
can be used as a precursor for the synthesis of other monomers including ethylene
oxide, tetrafluorethylene, ethylene glycol, and vinyl acetate. In particular, bioethylene
glycol produced in this fashion is already used industrially in the synthesis of partially
biobased PET, popularized as Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle® [39].

Glucose can also be readily transformed into other building blocks such as lactic acid
or succinic acid, which are polymerized directly or reacted further to produce useful
monomers.

The production of succinic acid by microorganisms (up to 1 mole per mole of

glucose) is already operated on an industrial scale in Europe by Succinity, a joint
venture between Corbion-Purac and BASF established in 2013. Succinic acid can
then react by polycondensation with bioderived 1,4-butanediol (itself obtained by
reduction of succinic acid) to produce polybutylene succinate (PBS). PBS is a semi-
crystalline biodegradable polymer, which is produced commercially on a scale of
around 40 kt per year, and used as a barrier in packaging and in blends [47]. Another
success story is that of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), which is produced by the ring-opening
polymerization of lactide, the dimeric lactone obtained from lactic acid. PLA, despite
a modest Tg of 55°C that can limit its application at higher temperatures, can re-
place petrochemical-derived plastics in some types of packaging and fibers [48,49].
Furthermore, PLA can be mechanically recycled, and is even compostable at high
temperatures, degrading back to lactic acid, which can be metabolized naturally.
Lactic acid is already produced on a scale of around 400 kt annually, including by
companies such as Galactic, Natureworks, and Total-Corbion, from the microbial
fermentation of starch-rich crops such as maize, or sugar cane. Recently, the use
of cheaper substrates such as glycerol [15] and lignocellulosic feedstocks has been
reported and may improve further economic viability, as well as alleviate some of
the current environmental impacts of PLA production, notably the use of water and
fertilizers and competition with food crops. For example, the Xylex technology allows
the transformation of waste streams from the forest products industry into valuable
streams rich in C5 sugars (while removing and isolating lignin) [50], which can then
be converted them into racemic lactic acid via the Versalac chemical process [51].
Both technologies have been developed by Plaxica and are now propriety of Sappi
Limited [52]. 1,4:3,6-Dianhydrohexitols (isosorbide, isomannide, and isoidide) are
bicyclic diols, which have also been investigated as renewable diols for the synthesis
of polymer (polyester and polycarbonate) with high Tg [53]. These diols, which can
be obtained by dehydration of reduced sugars such as sorbitol or mannitol, are
attractive due to their rigidity, chirality, and nontoxicity. Mitsubishi's DurabioTM
polycarbonate is thus a commercial renewable alternative to Bis-Phenol A-based
Polycarbonate, made from isosorbide [54].
Finally, an area of growing industrial interest is the production of furan derivatives
from sugar crops (via a fructose intermediate), which has been the subject of various
recent reviews. It is worth highlighting that such processes are currently moving
toward industrialization. Avantium has thus developed a catalytic technology, named
YXY, to convert fructose into various furanic compounds, in particular 2,5-furandi-
carboxylic acid (FDCA), which has been working on a pilot plant scale since 2011
[55]. The polycondensation of FDCA with ethylene glycol produces poly(ethylene
furanoate), a biobased replacement for commodity PET, which can be recycled in the
same way, and have furthermore superior characteristics, including barrier (oxygen,
CO2, and water) and thermal properties [56]. When combined with biobased ethylene
glycol, PEF is a fully bioderived polymer and a suitable material for the packaging of
drinks, food and nonfood products. In 2016, a joint venture (Synvina) was formed
between BASF and Avantium to bring renewable FDCA and PEF and its applications
to the market.

> Read full chapter

Dynamic Modeling
Olivier Vidal, in Mineral Resources and Energy, 2018

6.2.2.3 Regeneration of reserves

Unlike renewable resources with a fixed reproductive rate, is allowed to change
over time. In particular, it can be equal to zero, in which case regeneration stops
regardless of the size of known reserves and capital. Regeneration rate depends on
many technical, geological, economic, financial, social, environmental and geopo-
litical factors such as improved geological knowledge and exploration investments
that allow for new discoveries, as well as generally improved efficiency of mining
operations that lower production costs and enable economically viable extraction of
metal from low-grade deposits. This point is illustrated by the log-linear relation-
ship between concentration (Ct %) and cumulative tonnage produced (CTCu)t, as
observed by many authors (see [GER 08, VIE 12]):

[6.3]

where a = 2.064, b = - 0.237 for sulphur porphyry [GER 08].

The change in cumulative production with a decrease in concentration is illustrated

for copper in Figure 6.12, assuming that all copper is produced by porphyries from
1900 to the present day. This assumption does not correspond to reality, but we see
that a drop in ore grade from 2% in 1900 to 0.6% in 2005 allows us to reproduce the
cumulative amount of copper produced worldwide over the same period. In other
words, a simple drop in concentration of exploited rocks makes it possible to obtain
a cumulative production that evolves exponentially, as has been seen since 1900. It is
important to understand that the evolution shown in Figure 6.10 assumes that the
same deposits with a unimodal Gaussian distribution of copper concentrations are
mined, starting with the most concentrated parts and going towards increasingly
less concentrated parts when the most concentrated parts have been exhausted. An
important conclusion from the product-concentration cumulative tonnage curves
is that reserves increase exponentially with declining grade of deposits, even in the
absence of new discoveries. This presupposes, of course, that improved technologies
will allow less and less concentrated rocks to be exploited while maintaining a
relatively stable cost of production. It remains difficult to provide a non-empirical
equation for “regeneration” of reserves that captures all the above-mentioned para-
meters, some of which are economic, social and geopolitical. However, a high value
of in equation [6.1] (high level of regeneration) is expected at the beginning of
fossil fuel resource development, when the discovery of concentrated and accessible
deposits is relatively easy. Equation [6.1] indicates that reserves are constant over
time (dR/dt = 0) for = W* = production/reserve. Since 1900, has been higher than
the production/reserve ratio, but the difference between and production/reserve
has been decreasing over time as the ratio of production/reserve has been increasing
since 1950. When the cumulative amount of produced copper approaches the
unknown URR, regeneration will inevitably become zero. This suggests that should
decrease on average over time. As long as remains above the production/reserve
ratio, reserves will continue to grow, they will peak at = production/reserve and
collapse when is below the production/reserve ratio.

Figure 6.12. Estimated copper concentration of exploited deposits (Ct%, black curve)
to replicate observed global cumulative production (CTCut, blue curve) with equation
15 (red curve). For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/vidal/energy.zip

> Read full chapter

Energy and Carbon Intensities of
Stored Solar Photovoltaic Energy
Charles J. Barnhart, in A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems, 2018

17.3 Net Energy Analysis of Storing and Curtailing Solar PV

Resources
Curtailing renewable resources results is an immediate and obvious forfeiture of
energy. However, flexible grid technologies can also consume significant amounts
of energy in their manufacture and operation. These embodied energy costs are not
as immediately apparent, but they are an energy sink from a societal perspective.

In this section, I compare the energetic costs of electrical energy storage (EES) to the
energetic costs of curtailment. In lieu of storage or other means of grid flexibility,
variable resources are curtailed during periods of oversupply or of strong market
disincentives [19, 20]. Consequently, electricity is squandered, capacity factors are
reduced and revenue for generation asset owners in certain markets is lost. World-
wide, curtailment rates are projected to increase as wind and solar comprise a larger
fraction of the generation mix [5, 19]. We ask whether storage provides societal net
energy gains over curtailment. EES has significant value not quantified or analyzed
in this study, including electricity market economics [21], insuring reliable power
supplies to critical infrastructure [22], ancillary benefits to power grid operation [8],
and application in disaster relief and war zone scenarios.

Storage affects net energy ratios as shown by mathematical models developed in

previous work [17, 23]. This framework accommodates any type of generation or
storage technology. Using LCA data for generation and storage technologies, we
calculate which storage and generation technologies result in a net energy gain
over curtailment. We present our data and results in terms of energy return on
investment (EROI); the amount of electrical energy returned per unit of electrical
energy invested. Fig. 17.4 shows calculated grid EROI values, EROIgrid, for solar PV
used with storage technologies (colored lines) as a function of . The solid black line
bisecting the plots indicates the EROI value due to curtailment, spanning a range
from original resource EROI (8 for solar PV) to zero. The (green in the web version)
light gray region to the right of this line indicates combinations of EROI, ESOIe, and
in which storage yields better energy returns than curtailment, EROIgrid > EROIcurt.
To the left, in (blue in the web version) dark gray, EROIgrid < EROIcurt, storage
implementation is more energetically costly than simply curtailing the resource.
Figure 17.4. Grid EROIgrid values as a function of storage or curtailment fraction, ,
and EES technology paired with solar PV.All technologies except for PbA perform
better than curtailment on a societal energy cost basis.

Several interesting results emerged that are shown in Fig. 17.4. First, storage tech-
nologies with low ESOIe values, such as PbA and ZnBr, reduce the grid EROI down
much more severely than technologies with high ESOIe values, such as PHS, CAES,
and Li-ion. Second, all battery technologies except for PbA paired with solar PV yield
grid EROI values that are greater than curtailment alone for reasonable values of .
However these grid EROI values are below the average US power grid values 20.

Ideally, storage technologies that support generation resources should not diminish
energy return ratios below curtailment energy return ratios for reasonable values
of . This means that storage technologies with high round-trip efficiencies and
long cycle life values such as PHS and Li-ion are much more favorable for storing
electricity generated from solar PV than short-lived batteries for example traditional
lead-acid batteries.

Curtailment of solar PV resources during times of excess generation is a viable

form of grid flexibility. Curtailment of solar PV yield carbon and energy intensities
that are lower than respective pairings with low cost PbA electrochemical storage
technologies. Although curtailment appears to be an immediate waste of a resource,
the life cycle energy costs of storage should be considered. Avoiding curtailment
may not lead to the most environmentally sound decisions. Curtailment is not the
only option, nor is it ideal. Useful applications for excess electricity occur beyond the
power grid. Excess electricity could be used for thermal storage, producing heat or
ice for later use. Additionally, electricity could be used to pump or desalinate water,
smelt metal ores, or manufacture goods. The energy is “stored”, that is embodied
elsewhere in the economy.
> Read full chapter

RESOURCES
C. Fischer, in Encyclopedia of Energy, Natural Resource, and Environmental Eco-
nomics, 2013

Role of Ecology
For renewable resources, stock depletion is a function of not only economic and
institutional variables but also ecological variables. The biological growth rate, in
particular, is an important factor, with low-growth species more likely to suffer
unsustainable pressures from trade. The growth rate, in turn, is affected by the
availability of habitat and ecological services, which, as we have seen, can also be
affected by trade pressures. However, other characteristics of a species may create
additional challenges for resource management under trade.

Migratory species
One such challenge is that while some resources (timber, for example) are largely
stationary, others roam and migrate across jurisdictional borders. Fish is the main
commercial example, but noncommodity wildlife such as birds, butterflies, and sea
turtles also migrate. For migratory wildlife, the main challenge is the preservation
of habitat across jurisdictions. However, for migratory commodities, multijuris-
dictional harvesting becomes an issue because when two countries share a com-
mon resource pool, they have incomplete incentives to manage their own harvest
practices. This is an international version of the open-access problem, although
countries harvesting large shares of a common resource are likely to want to engage
in at least some regulation. Without trade, the policies of two countries sharing
a common resource pool tend to be ‘strategic substitutes.’ That is, if one country
has lax controls and allows overfishing, the other country's harvests will decline
and domestic prices will rise; but higher prices deter fishermen from exiting the
industry, so that country will respond with tighter controls on fishing to shift labor
toward more productive activities. However, if trade liberalization leaves prices to
be determined instead in foreign markets, the two countries' regulatory policies
become ‘strategic complements,’ which means a loosening of regulations in one
country could lead to a ‘race to the bottom,’ as other countries follow suit. However,
a ‘race to the top’ is also possible if one country leads by improving conservation, and
international agencies may have a role in facilitating such an outcome among small,
open economies. An example of coordination is the role of side payments among
countries to ensure participation in the Fur Seal Treaty.
Pest species
Other characteristics of species may pose other types of challenges. Some species
may be pests; for example, elephants are notorious for raiding and trampling crops
and occasionally harming humans. Other resources, such as forests, may provide
complementary benefits, such as biodiversity. Private resource-harvesting decisions
typically ignore these spillover costs and benefits. In these cases, the distortion
from open-access regimes may improve matters, such as when overharvesting
reduces the damages from pest species, or exacerbate the problem of insufficient
biodiversity provision. Thus, spillovers add further ambiguity to the effects of trade
on resource conservation.

Some pests are invasive alien species that actually arrive because of trade, which
raises a controversial trade policy issue: that the optimal policy response to invasive
pests will differ in stringency according to the country of origin, since organisms
from similar climates are more likely to invade and spread. However, such a trade
policy response would go against the ‘national treatment’ mandate of the GATT, and
although differential treatment might qualify under an exception, distinguishing
between legitimate discrimination and protectionism can be rather difficult. A
less controversial issue is the fact that invasive species can substantially reduce the
ecological productivity of native resources, at potentially great cost to the economy.
In addition to undertaking control efforts, domestic resource managers must adjust
harvesting activities to respond to infestations and also maintain habitat resilience
against invaders by avoiding overharvesting. The appropriate portfolio of trade
inspections, control, restoration, and resource management in response to invasive
species is a complex spatial and dynamic problem. Although trade liberalization may
result in increased volumes of trade that bring invaders, if trade induces changes in
production away from the resource-dependent sectors, it may also reduce a country's
susceptibility to damage from invasions.

Local versus global stocks

A final important ecological issue is whether we are concerned with resource stocks
at a local or at a global level. Trade raises the relative prices of resources for
some countries and lowers them for others. As a result, some countries will want
to intensify resource exploitation, while others will want to decrease harvesting.
If the resources and their associated benefits are similar, then the net effect on
global stocks will be smaller than the country-specific effects. Although increases
in income may increase harvesting overall, much of the effect of trade is to simply
shift the location of harvesting activities (and their consequences) across countries.
However, if the benefits associated with natural resources are quite different across
countries, this shift in the location of harvesting activities can have more pronounced
 ecological consequences at the global level. For example, if the land types that serve
as host for commodity production also serve as habitat for biodiversity, and there
is a high degree of endemism (i.e., low overlap of species across countries), then
trade-induced specialization that reduces the diversity of land uses in each country
will cause a decline in global species conserved.

> Read full chapter

Resource Recovery and Recycling from

Metallurgical Wastes
S. Ramachandra Rao, in Waste Management Series, 2006

Metals are a renewable resource. Most metals are used in industry in a fairly massive
elemental form, which greatly facilitates recycling. The properties of metals that
lead to their use such as high strength, durability, high density, electrical and
thermal conductivity and magnetism also facilitate their recovery and separation
from non-metallic and plastic contaminants as well as separation of metals from
each other. Some metals require only melting, which makes them suitable for direct
re-use in foundries, while other metals can be refined by volatilization (Sudbury,
1997).

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