Factor four : doubling wealth, halving resource use : the new report to the Club of Rome / Ernst von Weizsäcker, Amory B Lovins, and L Hunter Lovins.

By:

Weizsäcker, Ernst U. von (Ernst Ulrich), 1939-

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Material type:

TextPublication details: London ; New York : Earthscan, 1998.Description: xxix, 322 p. : ill. b&w ; 22 cmISBN:

9781853834066

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DDC classification:

Contents:

Pt. 1. Fifty examples of quadrupling resource productivity -- Ch. 1. Twenty examples of revolutionising energy productivity -- Ch. 2. Twenty example of revolutionizing material productivity -- Ch. 3. Ten examples of revolutionizing transport productivity -- Pt. 2. Making it happen – improving profitability -- Ch. 4. If markets create the problem, can they also provide much of the answer? -- Ch. 5. Buying and selling, efficiency -- Ch. 6. Reward what we want, not the opposite -- Ch. 7. Ecological tax reform -- Pt. 3. A sense of urgency -- Ch. 8. The challenge from Rio -- Ch. 9. Avalanches of matter: the forgotten agenda -- Ch. 10. Unsatisfactory part-solutions -- Ch. 11. We may have fifty years left to close the gaps -- Pt. 4. A brighter civilisation -- Ch. 12. Green economics -- Ch. 13. Trade and the environment -- Ch. 14. Non-material wealth.

Summary: Since the industrial revolution, progress has meant an increase in labour productivity. Factor Four describes a new form of progress, resource productivity, a form which meets the overriding imperative for the future (sustainability). It shows how at least four times as much wealth can be extracted from the resources we use. As the authors put it, the book is about doing more with less, but this is not the same as doing less, doing worse or doing without. In 1972, the Club of Rome published Limits to Growth, which sent shock waves around the world by arguing that we were rapidly running out of essential resources. This Report to the Club of Rome offers a solution. It lies in using resources more efficiently, in ways which can already be achieved, not at a cost, but at a profit. The book contains a wealth of examples of revolutionizing productivity, in the use of energy; from hypercars to low-energy beef; materials, from sub-surface drip irrigation to electronic books, transport, video conferencing to CyberTran, and demonstrating how much more could be generated from much less today. It explains how markets can be organized and taxes re-based to eliminate perverse incentives and reward efficiency, so wealth can grow while consumption does not. The benefits are enormous: profits will increase, pollution and waste will decrease and the quality of life will improve. Moreover, the benefits will be shared: progress will no longer depend on making ever fewer people more productive. Instead, more people and fewer resources can be employed. While for many developing countries the efficiency revolution may offer the only realistic chance of prosperity within a reasonable time span. The practical promise held out in this book is huge, but the authors show how it is up to each of us, as well as to businesses and governments, to make it happen.

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Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Barcode
Books	Marbella International University Centre Library	338 WEI fac (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available	11245

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Previous	338 DOU eco Economic approaches to organizations /	338 HAN han Handbook on the economic complexity of technological change /	338 ORD pri Principles of business forecasting /	338 WEI fac Factor four :	338.47647940092 GRU nue Nuestra historia :	338.5 HAY bus v. 1 Business cycles /	338.5 HAY bus v. 2 Business cycles /	Next

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pt. 1. Fifty examples of quadrupling resource productivity --
Ch. 1. Twenty examples of revolutionising energy productivity --
Ch. 2. Twenty example of revolutionizing material productivity --
Ch. 3. Ten examples of revolutionizing transport productivity --
Pt. 2. Making it happen – improving profitability --
Ch. 4. If markets create the problem, can they also provide much of the answer? --
Ch. 5. Buying and selling, efficiency --
Ch. 6. Reward what we want, not the opposite --
Ch. 7. Ecological tax reform --
Pt. 3. A sense of urgency --
Ch. 8. The challenge from Rio --
Ch. 9. Avalanches of matter: the forgotten agenda --
Ch. 10. Unsatisfactory part-solutions --
Ch. 11. We may have fifty years left to close the gaps --
Pt. 4. A brighter civilisation --
Ch. 12. Green economics --
Ch. 13. Trade and the environment --
Ch. 14. Non-material wealth.

Since the industrial revolution, progress has meant an increase in labour productivity. Factor Four describes a new form of progress, resource productivity, a form which meets the overriding imperative for the future (sustainability). It shows how at least four times as much wealth can be extracted from the resources we use. As the authors put it, the book is about doing more with less, but this is not the same as doing less, doing worse or doing without. In 1972, the Club of Rome published Limits to Growth, which sent shock waves around the world by arguing that we were rapidly running out of essential resources. This Report to the Club of Rome offers a solution. It lies in using resources more efficiently, in ways which can already be achieved, not at a cost, but at a profit. The book contains a wealth of examples of revolutionizing productivity, in the use of energy; from hypercars to low-energy beef; materials, from sub-surface drip irrigation to electronic books, transport, video conferencing to CyberTran, and demonstrating how much more could be generated from much less today. It explains how markets can be organized and taxes re-based to eliminate perverse incentives and reward efficiency, so wealth can grow while consumption does not. The benefits are enormous: profits will increase, pollution and waste will decrease and the quality of life will improve. Moreover, the benefits will be shared: progress will no longer depend on making ever fewer people more productive. Instead, more people and fewer resources can be employed. While for many developing countries the efficiency revolution may offer the only realistic chance of prosperity within a reasonable time span. The practical promise held out in this book is huge, but the authors show how it is up to each of us, as well as to businesses and governments, to make it happen.

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