Ecological Rucksacks of Iron Ore Exploitation in China
摘要
Exploitation of iron ore provides raw materials for the nation's industries, and at the same time creates various environmental impacts. is a comprehensive indicator that can be used to quantify such impacts. Ecological rucksack refers to the materials that are not directly traded and used. It vividly depicts the added ecological burden incurred in obtaining useful goods——every product we consume carries a heavy, but directly invisible rucksack. Ecological rucksack brings into full view of the hidden, but real, depletion of natural resources and impacts on the environment associated with consumption goods. Ecological rucksack is one of the important indicators that we should measure and control in order to solve ecological and environmental problems at the source. Most industrial products contain metal and nonmetal minerals. Therefore, investigating ecological rucksacks of minerals is of great significance. In this study, ecological rucksacks of crude iron ore, iron ore concentrate and finished ore of China were calculated in the period of 1991～2000. The results show that, on the average, a ton of crude iron ore, iron ore concentrate and finished ore in 2000 have an abiotic material rucksack of 1.28t, 4.40t and 3.19t and a water rucksack of 0.58t, 5.77t and 4.82t, respectively. While the overall abiotic material rucksacks of iron ore displayed a decreasing trend, that of crude iron ore from the key mines increased slightly over the study period. The results have a practical value for further calculation on the ecological rucksacks of iron and steel and steel-based products produced in China.