Chapter 17 - Natural resource and energy economics. In this chapter we start looking at the demand for natural resources, including energy, as the world’s population changes. First we will investigate the changes in the global population and what this might mean in terms of the availability of natural resources. In this analysis, resource consumption per capita is included. We will discuss the fact that economists don’t worry that the world will run out of energy and the alternative energies that might be available. | Chapter 17 Natural Resource and Energy Economics Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. In this chapter we start looking at the demand for natural resources, including energy, as the world’s population changes. First we will investigate the changes in the global population and what this might mean in terms of the availability of natural resources. In this analysis, resource consumption per capita is included. We will discuss the fact that economists don’t worry that the world will run out of energy and the alternative energies that might be available. Resource Supplies: Doom or Boom? Population increased from 1 to 7 billion Standard of living is 12 times higher Consumption of resources is much higher LO1 Since the Industrial Revolution there have been historically high increases in population and the standard of living. The worldwide population has risen from 1 to 7 . | Chapter 17 Natural Resource and Energy Economics Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. In this chapter we start looking at the demand for natural resources, including energy, as the world’s population changes. First we will investigate the changes in the global population and what this might mean in terms of the availability of natural resources. In this analysis, resource consumption per capita is included. We will discuss the fact that economists don’t worry that the world will run out of energy and the alternative energies that might be available. Resource Supplies: Doom or Boom? Population increased from 1 to 7 billion Standard of living is 12 times higher Consumption of resources is much higher LO1 Since the Industrial Revolution there have been historically high increases in population and the standard of living. The worldwide population has risen from 1 to 7 billion people, and the standard of living is now 12 times higher. With such a significant increase in the consumption of resources, the obvious question is whether or not our resources will be sufficient to sustain such large increases in the population and the consumption of resources. Population Growth Thomas Malthus (1798) predictions Replacement rate Total fertility rate Modernization Death rates fall Fertility rate falls below replacement rate LO1 In his 1798 An Essay on the Principle of Population Thomas Malthus predicted that increases in human living standards were only temporary because the higher standards of living would cause people to have more children. With a higher population, then living standards would fall. Total fertility rate is the average number of children that a woman is expected to have during her lifetime. Many nations have fertility rates below the replacement rate of . Demographers expect that the world population will reach a maximum of 9 billion .
