Materials and social sustainable development

This paper mainly discusses the relationship between materials and development of human society. The existing problems in the development of material are analyzed and the correlative solution is provided. Material production consumes a great deal of resources and energy, and meanwhile it is the main source of pollution to the environment. On the other hand, developing new materials is the important guarantee to exploit new energy and keep the pollution under control. For sustainable development, five basic issues in the current material science and technology should be paid more attention, they are: the valid use of natural resources, the upgrade of traditional materials, the development of new resourceful material system, the improvement of exiting material properties and the role of materials played in the recycling economy. Finally some conceive on the resources and energy needed for the development of material in the future is put forward.