Hoellstern DELTA 6.2-DSP User Manual page 23

Environment
„The typewriter I'm using contains
aluminium, probably from Jamaica or
Surinam, iron from Sweden, magnesium
from Czechoslovakia, manganese
from Gabon, chrome from Rhodesia
(today's Zimbabwe), vanadium from the
USSR, zinc from Peru, nickel from New
Caledonia, copper from Chile, tin from
Malaysia, cobalt from Zaire, lead from
Yugoslavia, molybdenum from Canada,
arsenic from France, tantalum from Brazil,
antimony from South Africa, silver from
Mexico as well as traces of other metals
from remote spots of the world.
The paint may contain titanium from
Norway; the plastic parts are made of
mineral oil which comes from the Middle
East and which has been cracked by
catalysts won from American mined rare
earths; they contain chlorine that was
separated by using mercury from Spain.
The moulding sand for the cast metal
frame comes from an Australian beach,
the machine tools for the production
contained tungsten from China, the coal
for the required energy came from the
Ruhr district – and the final product is
now consuming too many Scandinavian
spruce trees in the form of paper."
Thus wrote Armory B. Lovins, Head of the
Rocky Mountain Institute in the USA in his
book „Openpit Mining" in the year 1973.
Already then he was aware of what has
been proven in many studies today:
There are products which use up
extremely many resources and
therefore cause serious environmental
issues in the end. Unfortunately, audio
power amplifiers also fall into this
category.
Copper which is used for transformers
and chokes may serve as the best
example:
For the extraction and production
of 1 kg of copper we have to spend
1.18 tons of materials and resources.
The extraction of copper (Cu) takes place
in several production phases. On the
mining level (mines) coppery ore is lifted
in surface (about 2/3) or underground
mining (1/3).
The mined crude ores have a very low
copper content between 0.5 % and 4 %.
This low copper content of the crude ores
necessitates a considerable use of energy
during production and refinement.
For every ton of copper an average of
219 tons of mining waste accrue.
During the processing stage the crude
ores are enriched to form concentrates
with a copper content of mostly 25 %
to 35 %.
This is followed by other beneficiation
processes and hence more consumption
of energy and resources and more
emissions to provide copper for the
production of e.g. transformers and
chokes.
Likewise, for the production of aluminium
and steel frightening figures could be
presented. To this we still need to add
the routes of transportation between
mining, extraction and processing which
also devour energy and are therefore
pollutive.
By these examples it becomes clear
very fast that digital high-performance
power amplifiers which don't require
heavy transformers and heat sinks and
which also have a small frame size, go
easy on the resources of our Earth.
The Hoellstern audio amplifiers
®
help to keep the emissions and the
consumption of resources needed
for their production and during their
operation as low as possible.
Into the future with a good
conscience!