Supporting debottlenecking of global human processes by applying appropriate balances

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Global Systems Analysis
• Sustainability Studies

Background:

• Human activities function as global processes for essential resources like water, food, and energy.
• Current global processes are unsustainable and require optimization due to environmental limitations.
• Understanding global balances is critical for evaluating and improving these processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a framework for evaluating global processes through balance assessments.
• To identify key areas for debottlenecking human activities for sustainability.
• To derive fundamental guidelines for future scientific, technological, and societal development.

Main Methods:

• Setting up and evaluating basic global balances for key resources.
• Analyzing the consequences and boundary conditions for process improvement.
• Identifying ethical considerations and necessary societal shifts.

Main Results:

• Basic balance evaluations yield significant conclusions for future development.
• Both strengthening research and implementing existing technologies are vital.
• Ethical questions arise regarding the sufficiency of technology alone to solve global challenges.

Conclusions:

• Fundamental societal changes, including individual behavior and economic restructuring, are essential for a sustainable transition.
• Closing material cycles within the economy is a necessary step towards sustainability.
• A combination of technological advancement and societal transformation is required to address global challenges.