The amount of copper-rich ores is estimated to last only a few more years. New houses need several kilometres of copper wire. Explain why the need to use so much copper will cause a problem in the future. Suggest two ways in which society could overcome the problem
It is a problem because over consumption of Copper is resulting in less availability of it. We could find a substitute material to do its job We could recycle Copper and control its distribution and consumption (put a limit on how much you can buy) this can be done by increasing its price with high taxes and subsidising for certain buyers who it will benefit for the government if they buy and use it.
you mean aside from depleting a natural resource? without copper, we would have to use different metals for the plumbing. this would not be good because Cu is very unreactive while the other metals are more reactive. any ions or acidic solutions going into plumbing that is not made of Cu will result in the eventual dissolving of these pipes. also, as the pipes dissolve, they produce the metal ion that is then leached into our water supply and we consume these ions. depending upon the metal used for the new pipes, heavy metal poisoning could occur. think of lead pipes which we used to use in abundance for plumbing
