ABSTRACT
Materials supply and demand is increasingly subjected to major international constraints that may very well become the dominant constraints of the future. Materials supply and demand are also influenced by materials conservation and resource recovery and recycling. Energy is the capacity to do work, and much of the work that society requires is the conversion of raw materials to a more useful state. Because each step from raw ore to refined material consumes energy and/or energy-intensive chemicals, energy represents a serious constraint on materials supply. As the cost of producing materials increases, including the costs associated with conforming to government rules and regulations and carrying out necessary research and development, it becomes increasingly difficult for any one company to meet these costs by itself. "The federal government, as a fundamental aspect of national minerals policy, must seek balance between the environmental, health and safety statutes and regulations and the need to ensure the reliable availability of strategic and critical materials."
