Search
Calendar
Help
You can not have our present[/i] modern hitech civilization without copper wiring like you cant have the current model of hitech civilization without oil.... These markets are managed on a daily basis and there is only so high the commodities prices can be pushed before they collapse their own markets - which they won't do. Any fundamental shift goes at a snails pace.
Hunternurturer wrote :-
"If you read the original post you'd see I didn't say we'd run of copper, but we don't need to for it to cause a big problem ie. nobody can afford to buy copper wiring anymore, manufacturers can't afford to put it in their electrical products anymore and are forced to use less efficient metals."
The only reason your scenario of the cost of copper to become unaffordable would be because the supply was "drying up". That is the same as "running out" over time - a dwindling resource.. The copper is not running out as yet and there is lots to be reclaimed in the future as we shift around other technologies. It may get dearer in the future as it is already doing so but it will not be pushed out of the buying power of the main manufacturers & consumers. Just like oil. If the producers can get away with charging a high price, they will. If they can't, they won't. They may even have to accept less profit, horror of horrors. I believe the oil industry is facing this dilemma at the moment and is why they are intent on the fracking debacle. The copper producers who do feel the squeeze if prices go ever higher , will just be bought out by the few industry mega corporations left. Sound familiar?
The reason we don't use silver in the 99.99% of wiring is not at the core heart of it because it is expensive... The real reason is because it is much rarer than silver. That is why it is valued higher than copper. So yes this makes it expensive but you have to look at the fundamental reasons why something is so. The price of something is only a given artificial representation of value measured against its real physical worth.
Most power systems in our modern world are designed & spec'd to run on copper. We can not just substitute a cheaper material for the conductors and expect the systems to work the same. It would be a truely extraordinarily mammoth task to make the change and would cost far more to achieve than saved by the change itself. No one wants to pay for that and especially a company with annual profits to protect. So it is unlikely to happen until our economic culture has already passed the point of no return from the abyss.
Aluminium may be a suitable substitute in a domestic setting but the cost of change at present outweighs the benefit. This could change in the future. The equipment/circuit ratings would have to be reworked. Aluminium will also be a finite resource, especially at the daily rate we are producing it.
Paragraph 4, sentance 2 should read "The real reason is because it is much rarer than copper. That is why it is valued higher than copper."
Thankyou.
Paragraph 4 is alluding to perceived values of material worth in relation to the commodities markets. The money value is only a trading medium. The real reasons behind the figures are fundamental & wideranging issues around the globe.
Hunternurturer wrote :-
"If you read the original post you'd see I didn't say we'd run of copper, but we don't need to for it to cause a big problem ie. nobody can afford to buy copper wiring anymore, manufacturers can't afford to put it in their electrical products anymore and are forced to use less efficient metals."
The only reason your scenario of the cost of copper to become unaffordable would be because the supply was "drying up". That is the same as "running out" over time - a dwindling resource.. The copper is not running out as yet and there is lots to be reclaimed in the future as we shift around other technologies. It may get dearer in the future as it is already doing so but it will not be pushed out of the buying power of the main manufacturers & consumers. Just like oil. If the producers can get away with charging a high price, they will. If they can't, they won't. They may even have to accept less profit, horror of horrors. I believe the oil industry is facing this dilemma at the moment and is why they are intent on the fracking debacle. The copper producers who do feel the squeeze if prices go ever higher , will just be bought out by the few industry mega corporations left. Sound familiar?
The reason we don't use silver in the 99.99% of wiring is not at the core heart of it because it is expensive... The real reason is because it is much rarer than silver. That is why it is valued higher than copper. So yes this makes it expensive but you have to look at the fundamental reasons why something is so. The price of something is only a given artificial representation of value measured against its real physical worth.
Most power systems in our modern world are designed & spec'd to run on copper. We can not just substitute a cheaper material for the conductors and expect the systems to work the same. It would be a truely extraordinarily mammoth task to make the change and would cost far more to achieve than saved by the change itself. No one wants to pay for that and especially a company with annual profits to protect. So it is unlikely to happen until our economic culture has already passed the point of no return from the abyss.
Aluminium may be a suitable substitute in a domestic setting but the cost of change at present outweighs the benefit. This could change in the future. The equipment/circuit ratings would have to be reworked. Aluminium will also be a finite resource, especially at the daily rate we are producing it.
Paragraph 4, sentance 2 should read "The real reason is because it is much rarer than copper. That is why it is valued higher than copper."
Thankyou.
Paragraph 4 is alluding to perceived values of material worth in relation to the commodities markets. The money value is only a trading medium. The real reasons behind the figures are fundamental & wideranging issues around the globe.