How the Quest for Mineral Wealth Is Plundering the Planet
– published 12 June 2014
In this Report to the Club of Rome,to be released on 12 June, Ugo Bardi delivers a sweeping history of the mining industry, and illustrates how the gigantic mining machine is now starting to show signs of difficulties. Having thoroughly plundered planet Earth we are entering a new world, says Bardi, and he draws on the world’s leading mineral experts to offer a compelling glimpse in the new world ahead.
EXTRACTED says that we are reaching the limits of economically feasible extraction of a number of mineral commodities, including metals and fossil fuels, as while the world will never run out of its minerals, extracting them will prove far more expensive, making their everyday use unfeasible. Instead, we must meticulously manage what is left and use renewables to generate energy. We need to close the industrial cycle, recover the minerals used and transform our approach to resources.
Book details: Extracted: How the Quest for Mineral Wealth is Plundering the Planet by Ugo Bardi (Chelsea Green, ISBN 9781603585415, paperback, RRP €15.99), is available via the Book Depository and all good high street and online retailers.
About the author:
Ugo Bardi is a member of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Florence, where he teaches physical chemistry. His research interests include mineral resources, renewable energy, and system dynamics applied to economics. He is a member of the Club of Rome, of the scientific committee of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO), and Climalteranti, a group active in climate science.
He is also founder and former president of the Italian chapter of ASPO and was chief editor of Frontiers in Energy Systems and Policy until April 2014. His articles have appeared on The Oil Drum, Resilience (formerly The Energy Bulletin), Financial Sense, and Resource Crisis.
Praise for EXTRACTED from Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):
“Ugo Bardi’s book is an effective piece of work for stimulating thought and debate on this planet’s mineral wealth, and how we should view this issue within the framework of sustainability….. There is a wealth of information in this volume that deals with important minerals like uranium, lithium, rare earths, copper, nickel, zinc, phosphorous, and others. Readers would find the material presented very informative and a valuable basis for discussions on minerals policy.”
Click here for more “Praise” (external link)
Review of EXTRACTED in Publishers Weekly (external link)
Advice to Editors 08-04-14 (download)