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1. Introduction |
Recent
discourses on environmental problems have usually started from discussions regarding
"end of the pipe" technologies. Considerable research studies and
substantial dialogue have been conducted on this topic. It has been
suggested that if mankind continues to add environmental stress to
the earth, our society will face the very dangerous prospect in the
future.
In 1972, Meadows et. al., argued in
The Limits to Growth(1) that human society would be disrupted if economic
growth proceeds at its current pace.
In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development focused
on "Sustainable Development. (2)"
In 1992, the first international Earth
Summit convened in Rio de Janeiro, and the United Nations General
Assembly passed a resolution to establish a UN Commission on Sustainable
Development.
In 1992, D. Meadows et. al., explained
in Beyond the Limits(3) that the rate of exhaustion of natural resources
and the production of wastes by mankind was exceeding the sustainable
limit, and if the use of materials and energy continues unabated,
the global economy would be disrupted in several decades. They urged
steps to achieve a rapid increase in material and energy efficiency.
As illustrated above, it is increasingly
recognized throughout the world that humankind must reduce the rate
of resource exhaustion in order to establish the sustainable economy.
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