Sustained availability: A management program for nonrenewable resources

Bartlett, Albert A.

doi:doi:10.1119/1.14600

Keyword
Volume/Page
DOI
Advanced

Search Content Type

Volume: Page/Article:

article doi:

You are not logged into this journal. Log In

Previous Article | Next Article

American Journal of Physics -- May 1986 -- Volume 54, Issue 5, pp. 398

Sustained availability: A management program for nonrenewable resources

Albert A. Bartlett

Department of Physics, University of Colorado–Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309‐0390

Alerts
- Alert Me When Cited
- Alert Me When Corrected
Tools
Share
- Email Abstract
- Connotea
- CiteULike
- del.icio.us
- BibSonomy
- Tweet this Article
- Add to Facebook

Abstract

Related Content

Full Text: Download PDF | Buy PDF (US$30) | View Cart

The continued extraction from the earth of nonrenewable mineral and fuel resources is a cause for concern, particularly where the rates of extraction are growing. If the rate of extraction declines a fixed fraction per unit time, the rate of extraction will approach zero, but the integrated total of the extracted resource between t=0 and t=∞ will remain finite. If we choose a rate of decline of the rate of extraction of the resource such that the integrated total of all future extraction equals the present size of the remaining resource then we have a program which will allow the resource to be available in declining amounts for use forever. This program is called Sustained Availability (SA) and it is somewhat analogous to the program of ‘‘sustained yield’’ in the management of renewable resources such as agriculture. The mathematics of this program, the opportunities it presents, and its consequences are examined in detail.