8.2 Resource Use in Society

Natural Capital = stock in nature

• A resource (a good or service) that has value to humans (can be living/non-living)

  • Goods: exploitable for monetary stake

  • Services: processes done by ecosystems that help with survival

• Can provide natural income (money made off of capital) 

• Renewable natural capital (usually living)

  • can be generated and/or replaced as fast as it is being used

  • Examples: trees, water, crops, renewable E sources, fish

• Non-renewable natural capital

  • Irreplaceable due to time of generation: geological time to replace 

  • Examples: water, soil, fossil fuels 

Renewable natural capital: use with care

(regenerates as fast as its used if its managed well)

• Living

  • biota that uses sunlight directly or indirectly

  • need to be managed sustainably (max. sustainable yield “MSY”). heavy harvest leads to a positive feedback loop

• Non-living 

  • how much remains unchanged through usage

    • wind, solar, geothermal, tidal power, hydropower

    • stratospheric ozone (formation is dependent on solar E, but human action can degrade it)

Sustainable use of natural capital

• in order to conserve resources, a standing stock must be left (MSY)

• if no standing stock is left after harvest/extraction, the resource will run out

The Tragedy of the Commons

• An essay by William Forster Lloyd, 1833

• Humans will act in their own self interest, even if its not in the interest of the whole 

• Garrett Hardin in 1968 adapted Lloyd’s idea to natural resources 

  • commons = what ppl need

Recyclable Resources

• Some resources can be reused after extraction 

• Iron ore 

  • Extracted from earth

  • Used to make steel

  • Can be recycled to help build cars and other products 

What are other highly recyclable materials?

• aluminum + tin cans

• glass

Natural capital is dynamic

• Value can change over time and space 

• Change over time

  • Some things lose or gain value over time depending on use/ needs

  • Examples: flint, lithium

• Change over space

  • Not every society places the same value on good as others

  • Examples: tribal land in Papua New Guinea

    • no need for money → won’t sell land

  • oil reserves: value changes over space + time: env. and tech advances can change value (fracking → made gas cheaper)

Valuing Natural Capital

Use valuation

• Can attach a price tag to the NC

• Marketable/ has an economic price

• Ecological function: carbon storage, fisheries, storm/surge protection 

• Recreational function: hiking, skiing

Non-use valuation

• Cannot attach a price tag to the NC

• Has intrinsic value

• May have a future value that is unknown to us now

• Has an “existence value” (value for future generations

Non-use natural capital

• Aesthetic (appreciation of beauty) & intrinsic value (no monetary value)

  • valued bc it’s there

  • value is subjective and debatable

• Cultural & spiritual value

  • values put on religious sites: different values for different groups