Technology, Economics and Environment- Make a resource useful or useless

In broad terms, a resource, or natural resource, is anything needed by an organism or group of

organisms. In other words, a resource is something useful but for humanity what is useful or
useless can change because of technology, economics, and the environmental effects of getting
and using a resource.

Technology cannot bring back an extinct animal resource or a paved over wilderness area, but it
can extend the supply of some resources by improving them, using them more efficiently, or
recycling them. For example, a unit of today’s steel provides 43% more structural support that it
did a decade ago. Today we get 7 times more electrical power from 1 ton of coal than we did in
1900. Similarly the energy needed to produce 1 ton of pig iron has fallen eight. fold since 1800.
In the United States in 1900 only 10% of the copper was recycled. Today about 40% is recycled.
However, while many matter resources such as copper lead and silver, can be recycled, we can
never recycle energy resources. Once a fossil fuel resource, such as coal, oil or natural gas, is
burned, it is gone forever as a useful energy source. The concentrated energy in the fossil fuel is
released as heat, which is eventually dispersed into the earth’s atmosphere. From there it flows
back into space.

Sometimes technology can solve the problem of a scarce resource by finding a substitute or
replacement. For instance as a structural material bronze replaced stone, iron replaced bronze,
steel replaced iron and now aluminum and reinforced plastics are replacing steel for some
structural uses. As an energy source, animals replaced human muscle power coal (to produce
steam) replaced animals and oil replaced coal for many uses. There is a vigorous debate over
whether a combination of coal derived energy and nuclear power (obtained from Uranium) or a
combination of solar wind and plant (bio mass) energy may soon replace petroleum and natural
gas.

In addition to technology resource use is tied to economics. Something is useful as a resource

only if it can be made available at a reasonable cost. For example once we deplete the easily
available supplies of a resource, we have to look harder and dig deeper to find remaining
supplies. In the costs of findings and making a scarce resource available rise, the resource will
eventually become too expensive for most people. Higher costs may stimulate a new search for
new supplies or make mining and processing lower grade deposits economically feasible. But
regardless of what we are willing and able to pay, we can’t get a resource out of earth if it is not
there.

There can also be an economic limit to recycling. Typically recycling is cheaper than mining
virgin materials but only if the material to be recycled is not too widely dispersed. For example,
if products made from iron and steel, such as cars and toys are thrown away, buried and widely
scattered through use labor and energy costs for finding and collecting the objects may be too
expensive to make recycling feasible.

The continuity of a resource may also depend on the impact its mining, processing, and use has
on the environment. Even if affordable supplies of a resource are available, its use (at least for
certain purposes) may have to be abandoned if this use seriously threatens human and other
forms of life. Sometimes the environmental effects of a resource use can be minimized and
cleaned up. But this cost money and in some cases the cost may be so high that we can no longer
afford to. use the resource.