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"He says it’s the answer to concerns over deforestation and water shortages, with world demand for paper set to double by 2030." I'm very curious as to what is

by dguo 9y ago

"He says it’s the answer to concerns over deforestation and water shortages, with world demand for paper set to double by 2030." I'm very curious as to what is expected to be driving this increase in demand. If anything, I would expect electronics to make paper more and more obsolete. But what am I missing?

froo 9y ago
Looking at some of the pictures supplied in the article, it looks like they're probably expecting packaging and food service consumption to go up, which you can't digitise.
Jaruzel 9y ago
If we build enough desalination plants, there'd be no such thing as [fresh] water shortage; 2/3rds of the planet is covered in it. That said... Why aren't Paper pulping factories located near the sea, and have desalination on site if using fresh water is such a problem?
- usrusr 9y ago
  Paper pulping factories are built where fresh water is abundant, they don't have a problem. These areas also tend to coincide with wood sources. It would be incredibly inefficient to make paper on desalination water when you can just ship it from a rainy place. Whenever someone is making a big topic out of water consumption (not to be confused with water pollution!) without specific ties to an arid environment it's just a desperate attempt at greenwashing. Water scarcity is real, but it is not universally real everywhere.
  - lovemenot 9y ago
    Agreed. But exceptions do exist. Singapore is neither arid nor self-sufficient in fresh water.
    - usrusr 9y ago
      If water is really that scarce there ( = expensive), they are most likely using a much more water-efficient process than the typical pulp factory close to arid wood resources. The rough ballpark numbers for "water use in paper production" include a majority of factories located in places where investment in water reuse facilities simply does not work out economically, and quite possibly not even ecologically.
- thinkcontext 9y ago
  Desalination requires a lot of energy and is very costly.
Zaheer 9y ago
Shipping boxes? <sarcasm> - I'm not really sure.

by dguo 9y ago

froo 9y ago

Looking at some of the pictures supplied in the article, it looks like they're probably expecting packaging and food service consumption to go up, which you can't digitise.

Jaruzel 9y ago

If we build enough desalination plants, there'd be no such thing as [fresh] water shortage; 2/3rds of the planet is covered in it. That said... Why aren't Paper pulping factories located near the sea, and have desalination on site if using fresh water is such a problem?

usrusr 9y ago
Paper pulping factories are built where fresh water is abundant, they don't have a problem. These areas also tend to coincide with wood sources. It would be incredibly inefficient to make paper on desalination water when you can just ship it from a rainy place. Whenever someone is making a big topic out of water consumption (not to be confused with water pollution!) without specific ties to an arid environment it's just a desperate attempt at greenwashing. Water scarcity is real, but it is not universally real everywhere.
- lovemenot 9y ago
  Agreed. But exceptions do exist. Singapore is neither arid nor self-sufficient in fresh water.
  - usrusr 9y ago
    If water is really that scarce there ( = expensive), they are most likely using a much more water-efficient process than the typical pulp factory close to arid wood resources. The rough ballpark numbers for "water use in paper production" include a majority of factories located in places where investment in water reuse facilities simply does not work out economically, and quite possibly not even ecologically.
thinkcontext 9y ago
Desalination requires a lot of energy and is very costly.

Zaheer 9y ago

Shipping boxes? <sarcasm> - I'm not really sure.