BACKSTOP RESOURCE: A sustainable, renewable natural resource that is used in place of, and as a substitute for, finite, exhaustible natural resources that have been exhausted. A sustainable resource is one in which the amount used today cannot reduce the amount available tomorrow.The best example is solar energy. No matter how much solar energy we use today, the same amount reaches the planet every day in the future. A backstop resource is then a sustainable resource, like solar energy, that society uses after finite resources, like fossil fuels, have been exhausted. In fact, solar energy is often considered THE backstop energy resource. It represents THE "safety net" that's available when fossil fuels are depleted.

     See also | natural resources | switching point | Hotelling's Rule | materials balance | recycling | exhaustible resource |

BACKSTOP RESOURCE, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2019. [Accessed: November 20, 2019].

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A principle stating that as the quantity of a good consumed increases, eventually each additional unit of the good provides less additional utility--that is, marginal utility decreases. Each subsequent unit of a good is valued less than the previous one. The law of diminishing marginal utility helps to explain the negative slope of the demand curve and the law of demand.

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time lost in your local discount super center looking to buy either storage boxes for your family photos or a large, stuffed giraffe. Be on the lookout for florescent light bulbs that hum folk songs from the sixties.
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