Earth Resources & Sustainability GEO 010 – 001 W2015

Call # 15327Lecture  TR  5:10 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.  PHYS 2000 4 units, Lecture, 3 hours; discussion, 1 hour. Prerequisite(s): none.

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Syllabus - Contact InfoInstructor: Steven Bates steve.bates@ucr.edu

Office: 1216 Geology Building Campus Phone# 827-1227 Office Hours: MW 2:00-3:00

or by appointment

TA’s: Robyn Dahlrdahl001@ucr.eduOffice – 1453 Geology Building

Christine Hall csolo001@ucr.eduOffice – 1453 Geology Building

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No Discussion This Week! Discussions start Jan 12th.

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Syllabus - Class Policies

Lecture attendance policy: Attendance is mandatory

iLearn/Blackboard: Lecture slides, discussion assignments and required handouts are posted there

Personal Electronics Policy: Unless you’re using them for the class, put them away.

Academic Dishonesty Policy: Don’t cheat, it’s not worth it.

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Syllabus - Grading Criteria Discussion Activities – 20%2 Lecture Exams – 20% each3 Lecture Quizzes – 5% each Cumulative Final Exam: 25% = 100%

Individual assignments, quizzes, and exams will NOT be curved. The final course grades may be curved at the instructors’ discretion. Any curve will be set only AFTER the final exam.

FYI: The average curve applied to the final grades from Geo-010 over the past three years is +5%.

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There will be weekly discussion activities and occasional take home assignments during the quarter. Discussion activities and any required reference material will be uploaded to iLearn.

EXAMS WILL BE BASED ON LECTURE CONTENT, DISCUSSION ACTIVITES, AND ANY CLASS ASSIGNMENTS!

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Syllabus - Course Purpose and Goals

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Discuss the occurrence, production, availability, marketing, politics, and usage of resources.

Understand the factors that drive historic, recent, and future trends in consumption, availability, and pricing of resources.

We will discuss what “achieving sustainability through conservation, recycling, and substitution” means.

Study the potential conflicts between modern society's need for increasingly scarce resources and the mounting environmental problems associated with obtaining them from what are increasingly difficult to recover deposits.

Consider how to make sense of the vast amount of information available today and whether or not we can untangle the confusion surrounding these topics without an “angle” or “spin.”

Syllabus - Lecture Schedule1/06 Introduction, Resource Demand and Population Growth1/08 Minerals & rocks, Earth's structure, and Plate Tectonics 1/13 Mineral Deposit Formation; Exploration, Mining, Mineral Processing1/15 Resource Economics1/20 The Abundant Metals: Iron1/22 The Abundant Metals: Aluminum! !1/27 The Scarce Metals: Ferro-alloys!! ! !1/29 The Scarce Metals: Base Metals 2/03 Precious & Specialty Metals: Gold, Platinum, and Rare Earth Elements2/05 Lecture Exam #1 2/10 Diamonds and Precious Gemstones 2/12 Industrial Minerals: Fertilizers & Raw Chemicals2/17 Industrial Minerals: Building & Construction Materials2/19 Global Climate Change and Fossil Fuels - Coal 2/24 Fossil Fuels – Oil and Natural Gas2/26 Fossil Fuels – Natural Gas 3/03 Nuclear Energy3/05 Lecture Exam #2 3/10 Geothermal, Wind, and Solar 3/12 Water Resources and Mining the Seafloor3/14 FINAL EXAM 8:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.

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Minerals in our daily lives - Titanium Dioxide - TiO2

Gem Quality Rutile Crystal

Ground Rutile = TiO2 powder 7

Minerals in our daily lives - Titanium Dioxide - TiO2

Soaps

Shampoo

Catfood

Paper

Make Up

Sunscreen

Toothpaste

Chewing Gum

Medications

Deodorants

Liquid Paper

Lotions

Also: Oreo cookie cream filling8

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Per Capita Consumption

Average total resource consumption for an

United States resident with a 75 year life span

U.S. POPClock ProjectionYou are here: Census.gov › U.S. and World Population Clocks › U.S. PopClock

Skip top of page navigation

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the resident population of the United

States, projected to 01/05/15 at 05:51 UTC (PST+10:51) is

320,118,316COMPONENT SETTINGS FOR JANUARY 2014One birth every 8 secondsOne death every 12 secondsOne international migrant (net) every 40 secondsNet gain of one person every 17 seconds

9http://www.census.gov/popclock/

Per Capita Consumption - Aluminum - Al - U.S. Al consumption is > 7.8 million metric tons per year

7,800,000 metric tons = 7.8 million metric tons = 7.8 x 106

7,800,000,000 kgs = 7.8 billion kilograms = 7.8 x 109

17,600,000,000 lbs = 17.6 billions pounds = 17.6 x 10910

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Per Capita Consumption - Aluminum (Al)

25 kg (55 lbs) Al per year

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Hidden Consumption

Hidden Consumption

Mining

Transport

Refining

Bauxite

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Hidden ConsumptionWhat’s under the hood?

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Americans buy an average of 10 million cars/year.

Average car weighs 1,700 kgs (3,750 lbs).

17,000,000,000 kgs (37,400,000,000 lbs) of new vehicles sold each year.

Resource use always has hidden energy and resource costs.

Mineral and most energy resources are non-renewable.

High aluminum prices and transport costs for glass caused the shift to plastic beverage containers.

Increasing global population and the universal drive (right?) for a higher standard of living means there will be ever-increasing demand and conflict for the same amount of resources.

Hidden Consumption

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Global Population

http://www.un.org/popin/

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Approx 7,200,000,000

Global Population and Resource Consumption

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Energy Diversification & Recent Energy Consumption

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Evolution of Mineral Production and Consumption

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United States Energy Consumption

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B.T.U.British Thermal Unit

American energy consumption in BTU’s

Natural ResourcesNonrenewable Resources

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Renewable Resources

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Renewable Becoming Non-RenewableAny renewable resource can become non-renewable if it is consumed faster then it regenerates.

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Renewable and Non-renewable Resource Interdependence

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http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/agriculture/pics/2264_steam_plow_520.jpg

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/agriculture/pics/14234_plow_leaning_1020.jpg

Renewable and Non-renewable Resource Interdependence

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U.S. in a Global Resource Market

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U.S. in a Global Resource Market

Strategic Minerals

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Import Reliance

More Hidden Costs

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Ship breaking yards in

Bangladesh

Polluted Yangtze River (left) and the Jialin River in Chongqing, China. Sept 2012

Businesses can and do circumvent pollution controls at home by moving polluting industries to developing nations

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Sustainability Ability of an ecosystem to support a given population and remain healthy and viable through time.

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Double Standards? Does our dependence on

mineral and energy imports risk the sustainability of our national economy?

The purpose of this course is to give you the foundation of science that you will need to deal with these questions and related issues.

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What will happen to our standard of living as we run out of non-renewable resources and developing countries’ consumption increases? Are we willing to use fewer resources? Will we have a choice?

What right do we have to be so hypocritical of other coutries just because others aspire to achieve our standard of living?  Can we help them learn from our mistakes? Do they want our help?

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