pper rose from 3 tons to 200 tons. This rising curve of waste is ~1(1sely Pdf-
. .itleled by dnStng curve of energy required to produce each ton ot final mate- .
. l" (Meadovs et al., 1992: 84-85). Thepoint IS that thecurrent measures ot
~ling) mineral prices do not includ~.d full ecological ~ccounting: .
. Other probleiu« are more geopolttlcal than economic or technical. having
to do with the global production and distribution patterns. As products
beCome more complex, the search for economic high-grade ores has pushed
exploration and extraction literally to the remote corners of the earth.
consider my (or your) personal computer.