2001/06/01 by Robert U. Ayres, John Holmberg, Björn Andersson · 4 citations
Engineering · #Extraction and Separation Processes #Metal Extraction and Bioleaching
paper · doi:10.1557/mrs2001.119
crossref issued 2001/06/01 · crossref published 2001/06/01 · crossref published-print 2001/06/01 · openalex publication_date 2001/06/01 · crossref published-online 2011/01/31 · crossref created 2011/02/02 · crossref deposited 2023/06/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/06/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Sustainability is supposed to be the watchword of the coming century. Kenneth Boulding characterized the economic system of the 19th century as a “cowboy economy,” meaning that resources were essentially not a limiting factor. In contrast, he noted that in the future we must prepare to live in a “spaceship economy,” adopting Barbara Ward's famous metaphor of “Spaceship Earth.” In a spaceship, all materials must be recycled (or discarded into space).