Materials, affluence, and industrial energy use

The shift away from the processing of basic materials was an important factor in the dramatic 3.5% per year average annual decline in the ratio of industrial energy use to GNP in the period 1973-1985. This decline was due almost equally to a shift of production from energy-intensive manufacture of materials to lighter industry (1.6% per year) and a reduction in sectoral energy intensity (1.9% per year). Reviews recent analyses of ongoing trends away from the materials-intensive industries, and presents an analysis of the trends and the future outlook for basic materials, and an assessment of the implications for future industrial energy use in the US. -from Authors