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Under these conditions, if a material-circulating system for making all ironware
from scrap is established, then humanity will be able to announce that it has finally
gotten away from extracting iron ore.
To transition from extracting natural resources to making use of urban mines –
this would be an effective step not only for iron but for all inanimate materials
including cement, ceramics, aluminum, and precious metals.
This argument also holds largely true for biological materials like lumber and
paper, but the fact that they are grown after they are harvested and after they have
been recycled for use however many times they finally are burned and tidily used as
energy constitutes a proper cycle. Plastics are also the same, but eventually by 2050,
significant amounts of plastics will be made from biological resources such as wood.
Thus, while there are differences in the particulars of recycling methods based on
the materials, the goal that humanity should be aiming for is a complete materialcirculating system.
2.1.5 Hope for a Circulating Society
While people to date had seen saturation of man-made objects as a troubling issue
from an economic perspective, it is a hope for humanity from the perspective of
sustainability of resources and energy. First, amid all the concerns about the resource
depletion, those about the limits for inanimate resources would go away. Those that
remain would be over biological and energy resources, and as we will discuss later,
these, too, would be fine rovided we proceed in accordance with Vision 2050 and
the Platinum Society proposal.
Thus, when it comes to saturation of man- objects, we are moving forward as I
projected two decades ago in Chikyū jizoku no gijutsu. In short, at present saturation
is roughly being reached in developed countries. Because of he breakneck economic growth that China – a developing country at that time – has managed, it is
closing in on saturation and may have even overshot it. Globally, 2050 will be the
turning point on saturation of man-made objects, and it is conceivable that by that
point, we should have put into place the technology, systems, and economy of a
circulating society.
2.2 Energy Saving and Renewable Energy
2.2.1 Further Development Achieved in Energy Saving
Global energy consumption has increased by about 50% since 1995. However,
Fig. 2.8 shows that energy consumption relative to GDP has declined 30%. Energy
consumption relative to GDP is largely dependent on changes in industrial structure
and technological improvements. Specifically, when manufacturing industries
2.1 Saturation of Man-Made Objects and the Material-Circulating System
Under these conditions, if a material-circulating system for making all ironware
from scrap is established, then humanity will be able to announce that it has finally
gotten away from extracting iron ore.
To transition from extracting natural resources to making use of urban mines –
this would be an effective step not only for iron but for all inanimate materials
including cement, ceramics, aluminum, and precious metals.
This argument also holds largely true for biological materials like lumber and
paper, but the fact that they are grown after they are harvested and after they have
been recycled for use however many times they finally are burned and tidily used as
energy constitutes a proper cycle. Plastics are also the same, but eventually by 2050,
significant amounts of plastics will be made from biological resources such as wood.
Thus, while there are differences in the particulars of recycling methods based on
the materials, the goal that humanity should be aiming for is a complete materialcirculating system.
2.1.5 Hope for a Circulating Society
While people to date had seen saturation of man-made objects as a troubling issue
from an economic perspective, it is a hope for humanity from the perspective of
sustainability of resources and energy. First, amid all the concerns about the resource
depletion, those about the limits for inanimate resources would go away. Those that
remain would be over biological and energy resources, and as we will discuss later,
these, too, would be fine rovided we proceed in accordance with Vision 2050 and
the Platinum Society proposal.
Thus, when it comes to saturation of man- objects, we are moving forward as I
projected two decades ago in Chikyū jizoku no gijutsu. In short, at present saturation
is roughly being reached in developed countries. Because of he breakneck economic growth that China – a developing country at that time – has managed, it is
closing in on saturation and may have even overshot it. Globally, 2050 will be the
turning point on saturation of man-made objects, and it is conceivable that by that
point, we should have put into place the technology, systems, and economy of a
circulating society.
2.2 Energy Saving and Renewable Energy
2.2.1 Further Development Achieved in Energy Saving
Global energy consumption has increased by about 50% since 1995. However,
Fig. 2.8 shows that energy consumption relative to GDP has declined 30%. Energy
consumption relative to GDP is largely dependent on changes in industrial structure
and technological improvements. Specifically, when manufacturing industries
2.1 Saturation of Man-Made Objects and the Material-Circulating System