20
with a population that is 4.5 times the size of the U.S., China has an infrastructure
that is close to six times as big. Considering news reports that there are clusters of
buildings that lack tenants, we cannot deny the possibility that it is already
overabundant.
2.1.4 Saturated Demand for Substances and Materials: Iron
After cement, iron is the resource used in the greatest amounts. Its physical properties of strength and toughness can be controlled as desired by controlling composition and adding substances. Moreover, it is superb in that it can be recycled however
many times one wants. Iron is already at saturation in Japan. The total input volume
of iron associated with the input of new products is 30 million tons. The amount of
iron including that from wasted man-made objects – in other words, scrap – is also
30 million tons. The fact that these two amounts are largely in equilibrium is as I
discussed in the previous chapter. This corresponds also to almost completely saturated demand for man-made objects as shown in Fig. 2.2. Of course, new products
such as smartphones will appear on the scene, but they are not so big that they will
affect the balance in the total amount of iron. When it comes to saturated demand
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1 980
1990
2000
2010 2015
Per capita production volume for cement (ton/person)
Year
Japan
China
US
France
Fig. 2.5 Per capita cement production volume. (Created by the Author. Source: the global market.
(Source: Yearbook, US Geological Survey), population (UN 2015 Revision of World Population
Prospects))
2 Progress on Vision 2050 Since 1995
with a population that is 4.5 times the size of the U.S., China has an infrastructure
that is close to six times as big. Considering news reports that there are clusters of
buildings that lack tenants, we cannot deny the possibility that it is already
overabundant.
2.1.4 Saturated Demand for Substances and Materials: Iron
After cement, iron is the resource used in the greatest amounts. Its physical properties of strength and toughness can be controlled as desired by controlling composition and adding substances. Moreover, it is superb in that it can be recycled however
many times one wants. Iron is already at saturation in Japan. The total input volume
of iron associated with the input of new products is 30 million tons. The amount of
iron including that from wasted man-made objects – in other words, scrap – is also
30 million tons. The fact that these two amounts are largely in equilibrium is as I
discussed in the previous chapter. This corresponds also to almost completely saturated demand for man-made objects as shown in Fig. 2.2. Of course, new products
such as smartphones will appear on the scene, but they are not so big that they will
affect the balance in the total amount of iron. When it comes to saturated demand
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1 980
1990
2000
2010 2015
Per capita production volume for cement (ton/person)
Year
Japan
China
US
France
Fig. 2.5 Per capita cement production volume. (Created by the Author. Source: the global market.
(Source: Yearbook, US Geological Survey), population (UN 2015 Revision of World Population
Prospects))
2 Progress on Vision 2050 Since 1995