Resources In Our Day-To-Day Life (Current Issues of Global Resource Management vol. 3)

Each human being in Germany needs more than 1000 t of mineral resources in theirÿhuman being in Germany needs more than 1000 t of mineral resources inÿtheir lifetime (1.6 kg per hour) to cover their basic daily needs for housing, food, energy, communication or transport. Our industrial world lives with and off natural resources. High-tech products, such as computers, are no exception. People assume that the market will supply all the products they requireÿin in sufficient quantities and the quality they need, at low prices, when andÿand when and where they need them. Consumption will grow in line with the population and standards of living. The solution lies in produce with less material and energy but better final properties, or in renewable and recyclable resources. We must focus more on resources, water and soil, which form the basis of our daily lives.

The Editors: Casten Drebenstedt was born in Magdeburg in 1959. After high school he studied Mining Engineering at Moscow university. Between 1982 and 1999 he occupied various positions in the brown coal industry in Germany, whilst at the same time being involved in consulting projects worldwide. In 1990 he was awarded a Ph.D. in Mining Engineering from Moscow. In 1999 he was awarded a professorship in Open-pit Mining at Freiburg university, where he has been vice-rector for research since 2000.
Peter Kausch is Professor for International Management of Resources at the Universität Freiberg and business adviser in the life science industry. By education Mining Engineer with a doctorate in legal aspects of ocean mining. Former senior director in the Natural Resources Industry.ÿ