human communities; waste disposal; transportation and the built environment
in general and the various systems on which they depend, and the balance of all
of these with sustainability. In this context, sustainability is a characteristic of a
process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely even as
global population increases toward 9 billion by 2050. The population growth,
and the hope for increase in wealth, implies something like a 50% increase in
food demand by as early as 2030. At the same time, the proportion of the
109 population that lives in an urban environment will go up from about 47%
to 60%. Global economic activity is expected to grow 500%, and global
energy and materials use is expected to increase by 300% over this period.
That means there are going to be some real problems for energy, agriculture,
and water, and it is increasingly clear that conflicting demands among biofuels,
food crops, and environmental protection will be difficult to reconcile. The
“green revolution” was heavily dependent on fertilizers which are
manufactured using increasingly expensive and diminishing reserves of fossil
fuels. In addition, about 70% of available freshwater is used for agriculture.
Clearly, many natural resources will either become depleted or scarce relative
to population.
Larkspur, CA, USA
Robert A. Meyers, Ph.D.
July 2020
Editor-in-Chief
vi
Series Preface
in general and the various systems on which they depend, and the balance of all
of these with sustainability. In this context, sustainability is a characteristic of a
process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely even as
global population increases toward 9 billion by 2050. The population growth,
and the hope for increase in wealth, implies something like a 50% increase in
food demand by as early as 2030. At the same time, the proportion of the
109 population that lives in an urban environment will go up from about 47%
to 60%. Global economic activity is expected to grow 500%, and global
energy and materials use is expected to increase by 300% over this period.
That means there are going to be some real problems for energy, agriculture,
and water, and it is increasingly clear that conflicting demands among biofuels,
food crops, and environmental protection will be difficult to reconcile. The
“green revolution” was heavily dependent on fertilizers which are
manufactured using increasingly expensive and diminishing reserves of fossil
fuels. In addition, about 70% of available freshwater is used for agriculture.
Clearly, many natural resources will either become depleted or scarce relative
to population.
Larkspur, CA, USA
Robert A. Meyers, Ph.D.
July 2020
Editor-in-Chief
vi
Series Preface