Digital edition
Written on request
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Power & society · A BOOK PROPOSAL
The Future Is Made of Rocks
The minerals, refineries, and bargaining power behind our digital ambitions
This proposed book would bring the material foundations of modern technology into view. It would trace selected minerals through extraction, refining, manufacturing, and reuse, asking where economic and political power gathers along the way. Readers would discover why possessing a resource differs from controlling its supply chain, how substitution and recycling change bargaining positions, and why a falling market price does not necessarily mean a secure supply. The story would connect consumer devices with industrial strategy.
Inside the proposed edition
- The material inventory of a modern life
- A mine is only the beginning
- Refining: the less visible concentration of power
- Cheap minerals, fragile supply
- Recycling and substitution change the argument
- Who captures the value beneath the ground?
The idea behind the book +
The IEA's 2025 outlook examines mineral supply concentration, price volatility, diversification, and geopolitical concerns. Its distinction between mining, refining, and technological alternatives offers a useful basis for understanding the physical dependencies behind future-facing industries.
One digital copy · USD · Copyright stays with the author.