Competition and Conflicts on Resource Use (eBook)

Susanne Hartard is professor of Industrial Ecology at the Trier University of Applied Sciences, Environmental Campus Birkenfeld in Germany since 2008. She studied Agrobusiness and Ecological Environmental Safety Management at the University of Kassel. Her 20-year professional career includes environmental advisory activities in sustainable waste management and recycling projects and work on material flow management concepts. She worked as a researcher at the Universities of Kassel, Weimar and Darmstadt, Post–doc in the field of Industrial Material Cycles. Her actual research focuses on strategies of safe resources supply by regional concepts, circular economy and resilience strategies especially for producing companies.Wolfgang Liebert is professor at the Institute of Safety/Security and Risk Sciences (ISR), University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (Universität für Bodenkultur, BOKU) in Vienna Austria since end of 2012. Before, he was scientific director of IANUS, the Interdisciplinary Research Group in Science, Technology and Security, at Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. Wolfgang Liebert has studied physics and philosophy in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. His main fields of research and work currently are: nuclear non-proliferation and arms control, assessment of current and future nuclear technology, assessment of energy technology, prospective (science and) technology assessment, philosophy of science and technology.

Contents 6
Chapter 1: Preamble 8
References 17
Part I: Role of Resources for International Conflict Constellations 19
Chapter 2: Risks by Volatility and Peaks of Resources Market Prices 20
References 25
Chapter 3: Climate Change and Conflict 26
3.1 A More Peaceful World or Climate-Induced Carnage? 27
3.2 Climate Change 27
3.3 Environmental Security 28
3.4 Climate Change and Security 29
3.5 The Premise Providers 30
3.6 The Evidence 32
3.7 The Causal Chains 33
3.8 The Way Ahead 36
Concluding Remarks 38
References 39
Chapter 4: Forging War or Peace? The Role of the State in Extractive Economies of Sub-Saharan Africa 44
4.1 Natural Resource Wealth of Sub-Saharan Africa in Comparative Perspective 46
4.2 Mechanisms Linking Natural Resources and Violent Conflict 47
4.3 ``Conflict Resources´´: Greed 49
4.4 ``Resource Conflict´´ in the Niger Delta: The Role of the State 52
Conclusion 58
References 60
Part II: Conflicts on Fossil and Nuclear Energy Supply 63
Chapter 5: The Lifecycle of Oil: Problems and Conflicts 64
5.1 The Oil Basics 64
5.2 Oil as a Hydrocarbon 66
5.3 Geography of Oil 67
5.4 Oil as a Non-renewable Resource 68
5.5 Oil and Conflicts 69
5.6 Political Versus Market Instability 70
5.7 Limits of Conventional Oil Supply 74
Two Conclusions 76
References 76
Chapter 6: Nuclear Fuel Chain: Uranium Resources and Associated Risks 78
6.1 Current Status: Nuclear Energy and Uranium Usage and Resources 79
6.1.1 Secondary Uranium Resources 80
6.1.2 World Uranium Resources 81
6.2 Eight Risks Associated with Uranium Mining and Use 82
6.2.1 Security of Supply 82
6.2.2 Uranium Price and Nuclear Electricity Costs 83
6.2.3 Uranium Ore-grade Dependencies 84
6.2.4 Future Production and Exploration 85
6.2.5 Short- and Mid-term Supply 87
6.2.6 Nuclear Expansion Scenarios 88
6.2.7 Environmental and Human Health Impact 90
6.2.8 Proliferation Risks 91
Summary and Conclusions 92
References 94
Chapter 7: Conflicts on Nuclear Energy Use 96
7.1 Technical Background 96
7.2 Dependencies 98
7.3 New Nuclear Countries 100
7.4 Changing Times 101
Conclusions 102
Part III: Perspectives of Strategic Material Resources Management 104
Chapter 8: Closing the Loop for Rare Metals Used in Consumer Products: Opportunities and Challenges 105
8.1 Booming Metal Demand: Building the Mine Above Ground 105
8.2 The Debate on Potential Metal Scarcities 107
8.3 Dimensions of Resource Scarcity 108
8.4 Conflict Metals and Critical Raw Materials 112
8.5 Enhanced Recycling to Secure Metals Supply 114
8.6 The Challenge of Open Cycles 116
Conclusion 118
References 120
Chapter 9: Possible Resource Restrictions for the Future Large-Scale Production of Electric Cars 122
9.1 Introduction 122
9.2 Change of Materials Associated with the Shift from ICE to Electric Cars 124
9.3 Materials Needed for Electric Car Batteries 125
9.4 The Electric Motor: Rare Earth Elements 128
9.5 Further Electrical Components: Copper 129
Conclusion 130
References 131
Part IV: Sustainable Solutions for Resource Consumption 133
Chapter 10: Technological Innovation and Anthropogenic Material Flows 134
10.1 Introduction 134
10.2 Technological Innovation and Its Material Basis 135
10.3 Systems Analytical Approaches for the Assessment of Material Cycles 138
10.3.1 Systems of Material Flows 138
10.3.2 Material Flow Analysis 139
10.3.3 Life Cycle Assessment 140
10.4 Innovation and Material Flows: Case Studies 141
10.4.1 Material Flow Analyses of Strategic Metals: Global Lithium Flows 141
10.4.1.1 Motivation 141
10.4.1.2 Systems Definition and Analysis of Processes 142
Production 142
Manufacture 142
Use 143
Recycling and Waste Management 143
10.4.1.3 Schematic Modeling and Interpretation of Results 144
10.4.2 Life Cycle Assessment of Innovative Products: The Case of Lightweight Boards 145
10.4.2.1 Motivation 145
10.4.2.2 Goal and Scope 146
10.4.2.3 Inventory Analysis 146
10.4.2.4 Impact Assessment 147
10.4.2.5 Interpretation 148
Conclusion 149
References 149
Chapter 11: Illicit trade with Coltan and Implications for Certification 153
11.1 Introduction 153
11.2 Profiling Coltan 154
11.3 Coltan Mining in the DRC 156
11.4 Coltan and International Trade: Dimension and Actors 159
Concluding Lessons for Conflict Analysis, Illicit Trade and Any Certification Scheme 166
Annex: International Initiatives and Coverage of the Value Chain of Coltan 170
References 173
Chapter 12: Certified Trading Chains in Mineral Production 174
12.1 Governance Systems for Assuring Standards 174
12.2 Certification of Mineral Resources 175
12.3 Certified Trading Chains: Background and Objectives 176
12.4 The CTC Principles and Standards 178
12.5 CTC in Practice 180
12.6 Outlook: Regional and International Integration 182
References 183
Chapter 13: Peace and Security by Resources Self-Subsistence Strategies 184
13.1 Characteristics of Resources Competition and Conflicts 184
13.2 Energy Security by Renewable Energy Self-Supply and Autarky 189
13.3 Local Responsibility for Energy Security by Cooperatives and Private Investments 192
References 195
Chapter 14: Responsible Material Flow Management: The Case of Waste Management in Developing Countries 197
14.1 Introduction 197
14.2 Methodology 198
14.3 Results 200
14.4 City of Damascus 202
14.5 Dhaka City 202
14.6 Assessment of the Investigated Scenarios 203
Conclusions 205
References 206
Part V: Water Conflict Prevention by Water Resource Management 207
Chapter 15: Water Gap: The Overuse of Fresh Water 208
15.1 Governance of Ground Water 209
15.2 River Diversion as a Means to Compensate for Inter-regional Conflicts of Use 211
15.3 Further Driving Forces Behind Water Shortages 213
15.4 Competition Between Water and Energy 214
15.5 Competition Between Water and Food 216
15.6 A Look at the Future of Agriculture 216
15.7 Water Reuse and Urban Growth 218
15.8 The Outlook 220
References 222
Chapter 16: The Management of Water Resources Under Conditions of Scarcity in Central Northern Namibia 225
16.1 Introduction 225
16.2 Integrated Water Resources Management 226
16.3 Central Northern Namibia 227
16.4 Proposed Water Supply Techniques 229
16.4.1 Rainwater Harvesting 229
16.4.2 Subsurface Water Storage 232
Conclusions 233
References 235
Part VI: Resource Aspects in Renewable Energy Technologies 237
Chapter 17: Sustainable Land Use: Food Production or Fuels 238
17.1 Introduction 238
17.2 Land: Availability of a Limited Resource 239
17.2.1 Current Land Use for Bioenergy 239
17.2.2 Future Land Availability for Bioenergy 239
17.3 Competing Uses of Land: Food and Biofuels 243
17.3.1 Land for Biofuels 243
17.3.2 Land for Food and Other Purposes 244
17.4 Land for Biofuels: Effects on GHG Emissions and Food Security 244
17.4.1 Mitigation or Increase of Global GHG Emissions Through Biofuels? 244
17.4.2 GHG Emissions from Direct Land-Use Changes (dLUC) 245
17.4.3 GHG Emissions from Indirect Land-Use Changes 246
17.4.4 Policy Approaches to Address Direct and Indirect Land-Use Changes 247
17.4.5 Biofuels and Food Security 248
17.4.6 Impact of Biofuels on Food Prices 248
17.5 Policy Approaches to Address Food Security 249
Conclusions 249
References 250
Chapter 18: Strategic Resources for Emerging Technologies 252
18.1 Introduction and Definition of the Wording Resource and Emerging Technology 252
18.2 The Nexus of Technological Evolution and Resource Use 253
18.3 Emerging Technologies: A Selection 256
18.4 Summary 261
References 263
Chapter 19: Perspectives on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion: Dependency on Material Choices 266
19.1 Introduction 266
19.2 Technology and Cost Issues of Solar Cells: The Generation Concept of Solar Cells 267
19.3 Status and Perspectives of Different Photovoltaic Technologies 270
19.4 First Generation Technology: Crystalline Si Cells 272
19.5 Second Generation Technology: Thin Films 273
19.6 Third Generation Technology and Organic Solar Cells 276
Conclusions on the Perspectives of Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion 278
References 280