Resources
Where the mass is, where the value is
Six categories once by mass, once by at-source value. What dominates by mass is small by value, why 85 Gt is only $6.5T.
The raw material pulled from the planet in a year, split into six categories: energy, construction materials, agriculture, livestock, forestry, minerals. Each category is weighed once by its mass (Gton) and once by its value at the point of extraction (T $). The two do not match: a category that dominates by mass can be small by value.
Mass or value
The same six categories, once by annual mass and once by dollar value at the point of extraction. The two splits do not match: a category that dominates by mass can be small by value.
| Category | Mass ▾ | Mass share | At-source value | Value share | Market value | Price per tonne |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction materials | 51,4 Gton | %60,4 | 0,39 T $ | %6 | 1,12 T $ | 7,61 $/kg |
| Energy | 17,4 Gton | %20,5 | 1,14 T $ | %17,5 | 4,71 T $ | 65,26 $/kg |
| Agriculture | 8,9 Gton | %10,5 | 2,51 T $ | %38,7 | 3,32 T $ | 282,37 $/kg |
| Minerals | 3,16 Gton | %3,7 | 0,37 T $ | %5,7 | 1,17 T $ | 117,12 $/kg |
| Forestry | 2,62 Gton | %3,1 | 0,21 T $ | %3,2 | 0,22 T $ | 78,81 $/kg |
| Livestock | 1,6 Gton | %1,9 | 1,87 T $ | %28,8 | 2,64 T $ | 1.165,29 $/kg |
Ratios
Where the mass is, where the value is
Every raw material by its mass (x) and its value per tonne at source (y). Bubble size is annual market value. Both axes are logarithmic; dashed lines mark equal total value.
Both axes span about seven orders of magnitude. A tonne of gold is worth $45M; a tonne of sand and gravel about $5 - a 9 million-fold gap. Most of the mass piles up in the cheap bottom-right corner: that is why Layer 0 is 85 Gton but only 6,5 trillion dollars.