C. Riba Romeva, C. Lorés, L. Sanchís, J. Carreras, J. Fuertes
The main objective of this communication is to emphasize that without a new relationship between humans and material resources, it will be practically impossible to achieve the energy transition and mitigate the effects of climate change. The Earth is an open system in terms of energy: it receives radiation from the Sun and emits the same amount of energy into space; however, in terms of material resources, the Earth is a closed system. Nature has the capacity to regenerate in a short time the organic matter of living beings, but not geological matter. The management of the enormous amount of materials of current human civilization (100 Gt in 2022) requires about half of the human energy system and emits 70% of greenhouse gases (half if we excluded AFOLU), of which 2/3 in extraction and obtaining operations. With the end of the fossil era, the management of materials becomes one of the central challenges that will force us to reverse two essential points: the end of a development based on the continuous growth of materials and the replacement of a linear economy based on extract-use-throw with a circular economy. The communication closes with some reflections on the new attitudes and actions that will have to be adopted within the framework of post-fossil sustainable development, where special emphasis is placed on the need to educate.
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Published on 02/03/25Submitted on 27/10/24
Volume Sostenibilitat mediambiental, 2025Licence: CC BY-NC-SA license
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