Copper Demand
Total world production is about 17 million tonnes per year. Copper demand is increasing by more than 575,000 tons annually and accelerating. Based on 2006 figures for per capita consumption, Tom Graedel and colleagues at Yale University calculate that by 2100 global demand for copper will outstrip the amount extractable from the ground. China accounts for more than 22% of world copper demand.
For some purposes, other metals can substitute. During a copper shortage in the 1970s, aluminium wire was substituted in many applications, but improper design caused a fire danger. The safety issues have since been solved by use of larger sizes of aluminium wire (#8AWG and up), and properly designed aluminium wiring is still being installed in place of copper.
Read more about this topic: Peak Copper
Famous quotes containing the words copper and/or demand:
“He had put, within his reach,
A box of counters and a red-veined stone,
A piece of glass abraded by the beach,
And six or seven shells,
A bottle with bluebells,
And two French copper coins, ranged there with careful art,”
—Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (1823–1896)
“That whatever a man says, promises, or resolves in passion he must stick to later on when he is cold and sober—this demand is among the heaviest burdens that weigh on humankind.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)