Transcribed

Domestic Extraction in the Asia-Pacific region by major category of material for the years 1970 – 2008.

40,000 35,000 Metal ores and industrial minerals Fossil fuels 30,000 Construction minerals Biomass 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Figure 3 Domestic Extraction in the Asia-Pacific region by major category of material for the years 1970 - 2008. Million tonnes

Domestic Extraction in the Asia-Pacific region by major category of material for the years 1970 – 2008.

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Figure 3 shows how domestic extraction (DE) of four major categories of primary materials has changed over time in the Asia-Pacific region. Extraction of all categories increased strongly over the per... iod 1970-2008, with extraction of biomass compounding at 2.7% p.a., fossil fuels 5.1% p.a., metal ores and industrial minerals 6.1% p.a., and construction minerals by 7.1% p.a. The different rates of growth of different categories of materials lead to a major shift in the material basis of societies within the region. In the 1970’s the region’s most populous countries were still largely biomass based agrarian societies, reflected in the fact that biomass accounted for 57% of the region’s DE. By 2008, biomass accounted for only 25% of DE, while construction minerals had grown to account for 53%, up from 25% in 1970. Growth in metal ores and fossil fuels over the period was relatively modest, from 5% to 8% and from 13% to 14% respectively. These relative changes reflect the fact that the region’s most populous countries are transitioning to industrialized societies which rely on non-renewable mineral sources of energy and materials , rather than the biomass dependence typical of agrarian societies (Krausmann et al. 2008, Schandl et al. 2009). These relative changes translated to massive total increases: construction minerals consumption increased 12-fold, metal ores and industrial minerals consumption 8-fold, fossil fuels 6-fold, and biomass almost doubled. Even after such increases in DE shown in Figure 3, the region’s demand for primary materials is such that net imports of all materials except construction minerals have also grown, as shown in Figure 4. The magnitude of Physical Trade Balances (PTBs) in each category are generally small compared to DE, however the increase in metal ores and industrial minerals in particular is important, due to the highly concentrated nature of internationally traded products in this category compared to those domestically extracted, with one traded tonne of copper concentrate, for example, often embodying one hundred tonnes or more of primary ore (UNEP 2011). As a result, the actual economic impact of a tonne of net imports in this category is correspondingly greater than a tonne of domestic extraction, and does not reflect well the extractive demand placed on the environment at the point of origin. Traded biomass is subject to similar but less powerful concentration effects, fossil fuels far less so, and construction minerals least of all (Schandl and West 2012)