ATS1309 Lecture 7: LECTURE 7 - RESOURCE CONSUMPTION
Document Summary
Primary sector" = economic activity making direct use of natural resources (agricultural, forestry, fishing) complex relationship with economic development: huge disparity in resource consumption globally (especially between global north and. South consumption in n relies on production in s) Primary sector and economic development: natural resources are primary to national and global economies. Energy and human history: for most of human history, we used renewable sources of energy (wood, water, wind, animals, since about the 1880s completely dependent on three non-renewable fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) Important because it relates to human development (resources matter because we give significance to them: strong correlation between urbanisation (social progress) and energy consumption. Biomass: burning of plant and animal residue to produce heat, takes a large amount of landmass (loss of biodiversity - perverse incentive), required fertilisers and pesticides (still carbon based) Solar: capture of the sun"s rays to produce thermal energy or electricity, small-scale solution (household level)
