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'''Resource intensity''' is a measure of the [[resource]]s (e.g. [[water]], [[energy]], [[Raw material|material]]s) needed for the production, processing and disposal of a unit of [[good (economics)|good]] or [[service (economics)|service]], or for the completion of a process or activity; it is therefore a measure of the [[resource efficiency|efficiency of resource use]]. It is often expressed as the [[quantity]] of resource embodied in unit cost e.g. litres of water per $1 spent on product. In national economic and [[sustainability accounting]] it can be calculated as units of resource expended per unit of [[GDP]]. When applied to a single person it is expressed as the resource use of that person per unit of consumption. Relatively high resource intensities indicate a high price or environmental cost of converting resource into GDP; low resource intensity indicates a lower price or environmental cost of converting resource into GDP.<ref>Lorentzen, J.  (ed) 2008. ''Resource intensity, knowledge and development: insights from Africa and South America.'' HSRC Press, South Africa. {{ISBN|978-07969-2213-7}}</ref>

[[Resource productivity]] and resource intensity are  key concepts used in [[sustainability measurement]] as they measure attempts to decouple the connection between resource use and [[environmental degradation]]. Their strength is that they can be used as a metric for both economic and environmental cost. Although these concepts are two sides of the same coin, in practice they involve very different approaches and can be viewed as reflecting, on the one hand, the efficiency of resource production as outcome per unit of resource use (resource productivity) and, on the other hand, the efficiency of [[resource consumption]] as resource use per unit outcome (resource intensity). The sustainability objective is to maximize resource productivity while minimizing resource intensity.

==See also==
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*[[Bioeconomics (fisheries)|Bioeconomics]]
*[[Econophysics]]
*[[Energy and Environment]]
*[[Energy intensity]]
*[[Environmental economics]]
*[[Energy Accounting]]
*[[Ecodynamics]]
*[[Ecological Economics]]
*[[Industrial ecology]]
*[[Population dynamics]]
*[[Resource productivity]]
*[[Sustainability accounting]]
*[[Sustainable development]]
*[[Systems ecology]]
*[[Thermoeconomics]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
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{{Sustainability}}

[[Category:Sustainability metrics and indices]]
[[Category:Natural resource management]]
[[Category:Resource economics]]
[[Category:Thermodynamics]]
[[Category:Energy economics]]


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