C10- Using Resources

Finite and Renewable Resources

Natural resources come from the Earth, Sea and Air

Some natural resources wil run out...

- Renewable resources reform at a similar rate to, or faster than, we use them. For example timber is a renewable resource as tress can be planted following a harvest and only take a few years to regrow.

Extracting Finite resources has risks...

- Many modern materials are made from raw, finite resources, for example most plastics, metals and building materials. People have to balance the social, economic and environmental effects of extracting finite resources.

For example mining metal ore is good because useful products can be made. It also provides lcoal people with jobs and bring money inot the area. However, mining ores is bad for the environement as it uses loads of energy, scars the landscape, produces lots of waste and destroys habitat

Reuse and Recyling

Chemistry is improving sustainability...

- One way of reducing the use of finite resources is for people to use less. This reduces the amount as well as anything needed to produce it. - We can stop using finite resources altogether but chemists can develop and adapt processes that use lower amounts of finite resources and reduce damage to the environment. For example, chemists have developed catalysts that reduce the amount of energy required for certain industrial processes.

Copper-Rich ores are in short supply...- Copper is a finite resource. One way to improve its sustainability is to extract it from low-grade ores. Scientists are looking into how they can do this...

Bioleaching- bacteria used to convert copper compounds in the ore into soluble copper compounds, seperating out copper from the ore in the process

Phytomining- involves growing plants in soil that contains copper. The plants can't use or get rid of the copper so it gradually builds up in the leaves. The plants can be harvested, dried and burned.

Recycling metals is important...-Mining and extracting metals takes lots of energy which comes from burning fossil fuels-Recycling metals often uses much less energy than is needed to mine and extract new metal.-Metals are recycled by melting them and then casting them into shape of the new product.

Glass can also be recycled....-Glass recycling is important as it reduces the amount of energy neeed to make new glass products, helping sustainability-Some glass can be reused but some has to be crushed and melted to be able to make it into another product.

Life Cycle Assessments

Life cycle assessments show total environmental costs...

1. Getting the Raw materials; extracting new materials can damage the local environment because it leads to pollution due to the amounts of energy needed. Raw materials often need to be processed to extract the desired materials and this also needs lots of energy

2. Manufacture and Packaging; manufacturing products and their packaging can use lots of energy resources and can also cause a lot of pollution. There can be waste products which are difficult to dispose of…