Metal Minerals Scarcity and the Elements of Hope

This presentation is worth a read. In a nutshell, the problem of peak oil applies just the same to a bunch of metal minerals. Think of copper today, it's already getting more expensive, not drastically, but enough the folks steal wiring out of houses...

Anyway, check it out:

If policy does not change, the ongoing growth in global consumption of metals will cause shortages, aggravate energy scarcity and obstruct the transition towards a sustainable economy.

Technology alone is not going to save us. A holistic approach to the vast underlying problem of exponential growth and overconsumption requires involvement of various disciplines. “Using less” requires nothing less than some form of managed austerity and involves disciplines like psychology, philosophy, law, finance, economics, system dynamics and politics. Nate Hagens has explained during the discussion after this presentation that we need to understand and implement all that we know about human behaviour for any solution to stand a chance of becoming viable (see the recent excellent work by Nate Hagens).

It does make me think, perhaps we should be taking all those vacations and doing all the things we take for granted now, because life may change pretty drastically in the next 10-20 years.