Monroe L. Weber-Shirk

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Global ResourcesGlobal Resources

Population, Our Footprint, Energy, Transportation, Water

Population Pyramids(by country)

Prediction of future population based on current population

http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html

Urban Population

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

year

mill

ions

West Asia

North America

Latin America and theCaribbean

Europe and Central Asia

Asia and the Pacific

Africa

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

year

mil

lion

s

Rural

Urban

Urban population is overtaking rural population

Urban and Developed World footprints

Urban population

The Footprint of the Developed World

North America, Europe and parts of East Asia consume immense (unsustainable) quantities of energy and raw materials, and produce high volumes of wastes and polluting emissions…

that cause environmental damage on a global scale (notably climate change) and widespread pollution and disruption of ecosystems, often in countries far removed from the site of consumption.

Wealthy industrialized countries control pollution locally but the wider-scale impacts (apart from ozone depletion) have yet to be tackled effectively.

Energy Consumption

0 50 100 150 200

Africa

Asia and the Pacific

Europe and Central Asia

Latin America and theCaribbean

North America

West Asia

Total Energy Consumption (Pj)

0 100 200 300 400

Per Capita Energy Consumption (Gj)

1015 P "Peta"

1012 T "Tera"

109 G "Giga"

106 M"Mega"

103 k "kilo"

How much does a Gj of electricity cost?

Energy conversions

What are the energy costs per person?

Motor Vehicles

Transport now accounts for _____ of world energy use _____ of the world's oil production

motor vehicles account for nearly ___ % of all transport-related energy

Transport is a major contributor to greenhouse gas

emissions pollutes urban air uses substantial land degrades and fragments habitat

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1980

1990

1996

year

mill

ions

West Asia

North America

Latin America andthe Caribbean

Europe andCentral Asia

Asia and thePacific

Africa

1/41/2

80

US Fuel EconomyUS Fuel Economy

Light duty trucks (SUVs)

CAFE standards do not apply to vehicles above 8,500 lbs GVW. Many pickup trucks and some of the largest SUVs which belong to this category are excluded from CAFE data.

20 year decline!

CAFE standards: Corporate Average Fuel Economy

Freshwater

The declining state of the world's freshwater resources, in terms of quantity and quality, may prove to be the dominant issue on the environment and development agenda of the coming century

About 20 % of the world's population lacks access to improved drinking water and about 50 % lacks adequate sanitation

Worldwide, polluted water is estimated to affect the health of about 1.2 billion people and to contribute to the death of about 1.5 million children under five every year

Measures of Poverty

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

malnourishedchildren

won't survive toage 40

people lackinghealth services

illiterate adults

people lackingimproved waterpeople who areincome-poor

millions

Water Supply – Global Coverage in 2000

0 – 25%26 – 50%51 – 75%76 – 90%91 – 100%Missing data

What do the countries with the poorest coverage share?

Water Supply in the Largest Cities

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Unserved

Others

Borehole or handpump

Public tap

House connection oryard tap

Mean percentage of population with each type of service

What are the implications of being “unserved?”

Treated Urban Wastewater

0%

35%

14%

66%

90%

no data0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Africa Asia LA & C N. Amer. Oceania Europe

Mexico City Wastewater IrrigationMexico City Wastewater Irrigation

"Canal Central": one of the three trunk canals carrying untreated waste and storm water from Mexico City to the Mezquital Valley (Tula) where it is used for irrigation.

Global Burden of Unsafe Water Global Burden of Unsafe Water

Over 1 billion persons have no access to improved water sources

Daniele Lantagne, CDC

Hundreds of millions more drink unsafe water from “improved” sources

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

billions of dollars

Annual

1.7 million people die every year from water borne diseases

180 million children are hungry

Our Global Priorities

Based

on tr

oop w

ithdr

awal

in 20

06

Goals for Sustainable Development Related to Water

Ensure the adequate supply and efficient use of water for agricultural, industrial, urban and rural development

Ensure adequate access of the poor majority to clean water for domestic use and small scale agriculture

Ensure adequate protection of watersheds, aquifers and freshwater ecosystems and resources

economic

social

environmental

The Challenge

All population growth is expected to occur in developing nations

Rural population is expected to stabilize at around 3.2 billion (from 2.97 billion today)

The growing population will settle in urban areas The challenge is to provided the basic

infrastructure required by nearly 2 billion new urban residents in the developing world by 2025

Summary

Global Human Population Resource Utilization

Currently unsustainableWealthy industrialized countries cause environmental

damage on a global scaleUnjust and likely basis of future conflicts

WaterChallenge of providing clean drinking water and treating

wastewater as population grows, resources are stretched, and global climate changes

Energy…Our information technology revolution will fail if it continues to run on coal and oil

Reflections

Is it ethical to drive an SUV? Slash and burn world view

Pump to the slump – oil, water, fish, trees NASA - 2004 saw NASA continue to go "beyond" the frontiers of

Earth orbit. Combining that technology with the experience gained on long-term expeditions to the moon will allow humans to one day travel to Mars and beyond.

Human propensity to focus on the wrongs of the other Rain forest destruction

Vision of Sustainable Human Development

Energy Costs

8$0.10 $2.8 10 $283600 1000

hr kWkW hr s W J GJ

-´× × = =

×

If all of our energy use was electricity our annual energy cost would be

350 $28$9,700 /

GJperson

Capita GJ× =

•Electricity is the most expensive form of energy.

•We pay for our energy at many different places.

Taxes, gasoline, firewood, anything we purchase!