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    Phosphorus Processing Page 21

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    Nouri Ben Yahia

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Phosphorus Processing Page 21

    Uploaded by

    Nouri Ben Yahia
    4 views1 page

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    4 views1 page

    Phosphorus Processing Page 21

    Uploaded by

    Nouri Ben Yahia

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    Sustainability 2018, 10, 1482 2 of 19

    Consequently, humanity, for the first time in history, has a binding global framework with
    clear targets underlying societal and economic policies and activities. This normative framework is
    supposed to protect our planet from nothing less than the risk of catastrophic consequences induced
    by the ongoing overuse of natural resources and excessive emission of greenhouse gases. However,
    it is apparently in conflict with—at least the perceived—short-term economic interest of businesses
    and governments as demonstrated by the Trump administration in the United States. Nonetheless,
    some industry stakeholders have started to become receptive to the opportunities and potentials
    unveiled by the present paper and inclined to align its processing activities accordingly.

    2. Societal, Environmental and Economic Framework

    2.1. Resource Use and Decoupling


    Steffen et al. [1] saw the timespan from 1901 to 2000 as the century of great acceleration: the global
    population grew 3.7-fold, total material extraction 8-fold, use of fossil fuels 12-fold, greenhouse gas
    (GHG) emissions 13-fold, extraction of ores and minerals 27-fold and the global economy at constant
    prices 23-fold. Hence, per capita GHG emissions increased by a factor 3.5 and ore and mineral
    extraction by a factor 7.3, outpacing the concurrent economic growth by 17%. The figures reveal that
    material extraction outpaces population growth by a factor two, indicating that per capita resource use
    has doubled, from 4.6 to 9.2 tons.
    Since the global economy during the 20th century expanded by a factor 23 (at constant prices),
    the per capita income increased six-fold. Hence, the global economy grew by a much larger pace
    than resource use and population, showing already a spontaneous decoupling of resource use from
    population growth and per capita income without targeted policy measures [2].
    Resource decoupling means reducing the rate of use of (primary) resources per unit of economic
    activity, commonly expressed as GDP. What we can call increasing resource use efficiency or
    “dematerialization” is based on using less material, energy, water and land resources for the same
    economic output. From 1970, per capita resource extraction was stagnating while per capita income
    continued to rise until 2000, as nicely shown in Figure 1 by a comparison of global material extraction
    and global metabolic rates over time [2]. However, from the beginning of the 21st century, resource
    use efficiency has declined, i.e., resource use per capita has been on the rise again. While resource use
    in Western industrialized countries continued stagnating or declining, resource use in Asia has risen
    and outpaced global GDP growth. The accelerated pace of extraction and consumption of resources
    goes hand in hand with the increase in global trade. Figures suggest that free trade and globalization
    has induced production to shift from countries with high resource efficiency to countries with lower
    resource efficiency.
    Population is still growing and estimated to reach 9 billion people in 2050, living in urban
    agglomerations on a planet with limited resources [3]. In the light of the universal agreements on
    sustainable development (SDGs) and climate change (COP21), it is evident that we cannot continue
    with business as usual. Deep and permanent decoupling of resource use from human well-being
    is a universal requirement to which we are all committed. Engineers need to develop, scientists to
    assess and investors and operators to implement processes that truly increase resource efficiency and
    reduce the environmental footprint of our industrial operations. We need to produce more with less!
    Figure 1 shows historic (1990–2005) unsustainable global ratios between material extraction and GDP,
    as well as between metabolic rates and income.

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