Publication Detail

"Resources, Reserves, and Consumption of Energy", Chapter 18 in Linkages of Sustainability

UCD-ITS-RP-10-06

Journal Article

Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways (STEPS)

Suggested Citation:
Gautier, Donald, Peter J. McCabe, Joan M. Ogden, Trevor Demayo (2010) "Resources, Reserves, and Consumption of Energy", Chapter 18 in Linkages of Sustainability. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Journal Article UCD-ITS-RP-10-06

Humanity faces immense hurdles as it struggles to define the path toward a sustainable future. The multiple components of sustainability, all of which demand attention, make understanding the very concept of sustainability itself a challenge. Information about whether global agriculture can be made sustainable, for example, or calculations of the global need for water are useless unless we understand how these issues connect to each other and to other components of sustainability. In this book, experts engage in an extended dialogue concerning these linkages, arguing for a comprehensive view of sustainability. They emphasize the constraints imposed by the relationships among the components—for example, how the need for clean, easily accessible water intersects with the need for the energy required to provide it—and distinguish those constraints that may pose severe limitations on humanity's future from those of less concern. The book also highlights areas for future research and debate.

Chapter 18 in Linkages of Sustainability (2009) Edited by Thomas E. Graedel and Ester van der Voet, MIT Press.