The Resource Entropy Newsletter

What is Resource Entropy?

Resource entropy is a concept that describes the lifecycle of materials as humans extract, refine, utilize, and dispose of them. It draws from the idea of entropy - the natural tendency of systems to move toward disorder or dispersion - but is applied to the way we manage natural resources.

When we mine raw materials from the Earth, we engage in a "reverse entropic" process: concentrating valuable substances (like metals or fuels) from dispersed geological sources into highly ordered, usable forms. This concentration requires immense energy and effort. For example, we refine ores into pure metals or transform crude oil into plastics, creating products with high value and utility.

However, once these products are manufactured, they are distributed across vast geographic areas - think of smartphones, cars, or packaging spread across nations and continents. This dissemination reduces the concentration of value and bulk, effectively increasing the entropy of the system. At the end of their lifecycle, many of these products end up in landfills nearest their location of last use, where their contained materials are scattered and diluted, often to concentrations lower than their original geological state. This cycle - from concentration to dispersion - forms the conceptual core of resource entropy.

Why This Blog?

This blog aims to explore the implications of resource entropy for economics, the environment and society. We'll dive into questions like:

• How does resource entropy impact the environment and resource availability?

• How can we design systems to minimize entropic losses, such as through recycling or circular economies?

• What are the social and economic costs of our current resource lifecycle?

Whether you're an environmental enthusiast, a policymaker, or just curious about how humans interact with Earth's resources, this blog is for you. Expect deep dives into case studies, discussions on innovative solutions, and reflections on how resource entropy shapes our world.

What’s Next?

In upcoming posts, we’ll explore:

• The energy costs of concentrating resources vs. their entropic dispersion.

• Case studies, like the lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries or single-use plastics.

• Solutions like urban mining and closed-loop recycling systems.

Subscribe to join the conversation and help us rethink how we manage Earth’s finite resources.