Dematerialization: Variety, caution, and persistence.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
J H Ausubel, P E Waggoner

Abstract

Dematerialization, represented by declining consumption per GDP of energy or of goods, offers some hope for rising environmental quality with development. The declining proportion of income spent on staples as affluence grows, which income elasticity <1.0 measures, makes dematerialization widespread. Further, as learning improves efficiency of resource use, the intensity of environmental impact per production of staples often declines. We observe that combinations of low income elasticity for staples and of learning by producers cause a variety of dematerializations and declining intensities of impact, from energy use and carbon emission to food consumption and fertilizer use, globally and in countries ranging from the United States and France to China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia. Because dematerialization and intensity of impact are ratios of parameters that may be variously defined and are sometimes difficult to estimate, their fluctuations must be interpreted cautiously. Nevertheless, substantial declining intensity of impact, and especially, dematerialization persisted between 1980 and 2006.

References

Feb 17, 1999·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·C R FrinkJ H Ausubel
Jun 13, 2002·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·P E Waggoner, J H Ausubel
May 24, 2007·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Michael R RaupachChristopher B Field
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Jan 11, 2008·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Alan Grainger

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Citations

Dec 4, 2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Thomas K RudelRicardo Grau
Apr 9, 2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Jordan E Macknick
May 17, 2011·PloS One·Aapo RautiainenPekka E Kauppi
Sep 5, 2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Thomas O WiedmannKeiichiro Kanemoto
Nov 2, 2013·Nature·Daniel HoornwegChris Kennedy
Mar 7, 2020·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Qinglong Shao
Dec 3, 2010·Environmental Science & Technology·Daniel B MüllerBenjamin Duval

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