Technological progress alone won't stem resource use

Subtitle: Researchers find no evidence of an overall reduction in the world's consumption of materials Summary: While some scientists believe that the world can achieve significant dematerialization through improvements in technology, a new study finds that technological advances alone will not bring about dematerialization and, ultimately, a sustainable world. The researchers found that no matter how much more efficient and compact a product is made, consumers will only demand more of that product and in the long run increase the total amount of materials used in making that product.