A1 Resource depletion

Topic

Resource depletion—also known as "peak resource"—is an anomaly occurring within the Resources/Extraction track (encompassing agriculture, mining, and energy—activities anchored to the physical and geographic availability of natural resources) when the ratio of known reserves to the annual extraction rate falls below a critical threshold. As long as this ratio remains above that critical threshold, known reserves suffice to sustain the annual extraction rate without triggering resource depletion.

Resource depletion is triggered when the decline in the ratio of known reserves to the annual extraction rate is not merely momentary but results in the ratio remaining below the critical threshold: the greater the annual extraction relative to remaining known reserves, the faster the ratio falls; it is this sustained drop below the critical threshold—rather than a single instance of high extraction—that establishes resource depletion as an anomaly.

Monitoring the ratio of known reserves to the annual extraction rate against the critical threshold is, therefore, the direct way to anticipate resource depletion within the Resources/Extraction track: once that ratio falls and stays below the critical threshold, the physical and geographic availability of natural resources anchoring this track is no longer sufficient to sustain extraction at the previous pace.

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