incinerators have been used for energy production, although not on a large scale. Household Waste and “Trash-to-Energy” Programs The large volume of household waste is becoming an increasing problem for many localities in the United States. Landfill space is at a premium in some areas, and incineration offers a means of reducing the waste stream through the destruction of organic material. Open burning is prohibited by the Clean Air Act as well as by many municipal ordinances. However, in- cineration in grate-type furnaces or kilns can reduce toxic releases to the air, and well-designed facilities can capture the ash for landfilling. This approach in- volves extensive sorting so that primarily organic ma- terial will be incinerated. Because waste incineration requires high tempera- tures, apossibility existsfor thegeneration ofelectrical energy as a by-product of the process. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, “trash-to-energy” processes appeared to have a promising future inseveral U.S. metropolitan areas. Several local governments intended to use in- cinerators to generate electrical energy, either on their own or in tandem with an electric utility. How- ever, a number of factors hampered the adoption of this approach. There were significant costs involved in sorting waste,andtherewas public reluctance to ac- cept waste incineration. Landfill fees proved to be cheaper than incineration, and low-cost electric power continued to be available from other sources. Char- lotte, North Carolina, for example, adopted a trash- to-energy program in the 1980’s but abandoned it in the early 1990’s as energy costs remained low and the costs of operating the incineration facility continued to increase. According to the Environmental Protec- tion Agency, bythe end of 2008, the United Stateshad nearly five hundred landfill-gas-to-energy sites. Hazardous Waste Incineration Thermal methods have been a commercial success in dealing with many types of hazardous industrial wastes as well as in cleaning contaminated Superfund sites. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 598 • Incineration of wastes Global Resources A garbage incinerator in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, belches smoke into the atmosphere. (AFP/Getty Images) regulates the incineration of both liquid and solid hazardous wastes intheUnitedStates. Although some municipal incinerators were intended toprovide elec- trical energy as well as reduce the volume of waste, hazardous waste incineration is intended primarily to reduce the waste stream. In only a few cases is energy generation a product of the process, and they usually involve specialized thermal methodssuch as firing ce- ment kilns with certain types of liquid hazardous waste. Liquid injection incinerators are the most com- mon type of thermal method for dealing with hazard- ous waste. As the name implies, this method deals al- most exclusively with pumpable liquid wastes. The waste material is injected into the burner or combus- tion zone of an incinerator through atomizing noz- zles. When waste with a low heating value, such as aqueous-organic material, is being incinerated, sec- ondary burners must be used. These incinerators op- erate at temperature levels from 1,000° to 1,700° Cel- sius. Residence time for the combustion products ranges from milliseconds to 2.5 seconds. Liquid injec- tion incinerators are carefully regulated as to the type of waste they can burn, the release of gaseous prod- ucts, and the disposition of the ash. Three major types of solid waste incinerators exist: grate-type incinerators, hearth-type incinerators, and fluidized bed incinerators. Grate-type incinerators are generally not suitable for hazardous waste incinera- tion because the high temperatures necessary for the decomposition of many hazardous compounds can destroy the grates. There are several types of hearth- type incinerators; the most common are rotary kilns, controlled-air (two-chamber fixed hearth) systems, and multiple-hearth incinerators. The nonslagging type of rotary kiln, often used in the United States, does not require close monitoring, butitalso does not have the feed flexibility that a slagging system does. Both types are viable and produce significant energy that can be used to burn additional waste. Multiple- hearth systems were originally designed to handle sewage sludge, but they have been adapted to other circumstances. Fluidized bed technology utilizes a sand or alumina bed sitting on a porous surface. An air flow from below with a carefully controlled velocity places the bed of sand in suspension. Some rotary kilns and fluidized bed systems are portable and have been used to incinerate contaminated soil at Superfund sites and soil contaminated by under - ground fuel tanks. Issues of Concern In the United States, there is a high level of suspicion regarding thermal methods for handling waste mate- rials. This suspicion applies particularly to hazardous waste incinerators, but municipal incinerators are of- ten opposed as well. The public’s worries about safety have helped to curtail the adoption of municipal trash-to-energy facilities in the United States. They have also led to citizen protests regarding local haz- ardous waste incinerators. Yet the incineration of liq- uid and solid hazardous organic materials can reduce substantially the amount of hazardous material that needs to be landfilled. Before trash-to-energy incin- erators can become fully viable, citizen opposition needs to be reduced, and the costs of operation need to be controlled. Hazardous waste incineration does produce highly toxic ash that requires careful han- dling, often in specially designed landfills. It is thus not a panacea for curtailing the use of natural re- sources; rather, it is simply a means of reducing the volume of waste. John M. Theilmann Further Reading Blumberg, Louis, and Robert Gottlieb. War on Waste: Can America Win Its Battle with Garbage? Washing- ton, D.C.: Island Press, 1989. Cheremisinoff, Nicholas P. “Incineration of Munici- pal Sludge.” In Handbook of Solid Waste Management and Waste Minimization Technologies. Boston: Butter- worth-Heinemann, 2003. Gandy, Matthew. Recycling and the Politics of Urban Waste. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Hester, R. E., and R. M. Harrison, eds. Waste Incinera- tion and the Environment. Cambridge, England: Royal Society of Chemistry, 1994. LaGrega, Michael D., Phillip L. Buckingham, and Jeffrey C. Evans. Hazardous Waste Management.2d ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2001. National Research Council. WasteIncineration and Pub- lic Health. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2000. Neal, HomerA., and J.R. Schubel. SolidWaste Manage- ment and the Environment: The Mounting Garbage and Trash Crisis. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1987. Santoleri, Joseph J., Joseph Reynolds, and Louis The- odore. Introduction to Hazardous Waste Incineration. New York: John Wiley, 2000. Tammemagi, Hans. The WasteCrisis:Landfills, Incinera - Global Resources Incineration of wastes • 599 tors, and the Search for a Sustainable Future. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Web Site U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wastes—Hazardous Waste—Treatment and Disposal—Combustion http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/td/ combustion.htm See also: Air pollution and air pollution control; Landfills; Solid waste management; Superfund legis- lation and cleanup activities; Waste management and sewage disposal. India Categories: Countries; government and resources As of 2009, India was the world’s twelfth largest econ- omy based on currency exchange rates and the fourth largest based on purchasing power parity. India’s global trade rose by 72 percent from 2004 to 2007. In- dia has been a source of cheap natural resources for much ofthe past 250 years, but it may betransitioning into a supplier of finished goods and technology ser- vices as technology industries outpace agriculture and raw materials in the gross domestic product (GDP). The Country Located between 7.5° and 36° north latitude and 65° to 97.5° east longitude, India borders the regions of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (Burma), with Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China’s Xinjiang Province, and Tajikistan in close proximity. India includes the Andaman-Nicobar Is- lands in the Bay of Bengal and the Lakshadweep archipelago in the Arabian Sea. With a warm, humid climate and plentiful rivers, this region has seen con- tinuous human habitation for more than ten thou- sand years and is home to a very diverse population of more than one billion people.Himalayanpeaksinthe northern part of thecountry rise wellabove 8,000 me- ters and slope down to the fertile northern Indus- Ganga-Brahmaputra plain. The Deccan plateau in south-central India is bordered by the Eastern and Western Ghats mountain ranges along the respective coasts, the Vindhya-Satpuras to the north, and the Nilgiris in the South. Key resources in addition to ones already listed include aluminum, titanium, pe- troleum, natural gas, diamonds, limestone, and small reserves of uranium. Agriculture and dairy farming employ more than 60 percent of the workforce. Sunshine India receives anaverage of three hundred daysof an- nual sunshine, giving a theoretical solar power recep- tion of 5 quadrillion kilowatt-hours per year. Dense population in most of India means that a good per- centage of incident solar powercanbecapturedatthe point of use. The western Thar Desert and the dry Deccan plateau of central India are suited to large so- lar plants. India plans to use solar power to eliminate more than 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year by 2020. Coastal Resources India has a total of more than 7,000 kilometers of coastline, including the Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands. Fishing and salt extraction em- ploy more than six million people. The backwaters of Kerala on the southwest coast and the river deltas in the Rann of Kachchh and the Sunderbans in Bengal are unique ecosystems, enabling special rice crops and fishing. These resources sustain a large seafood industry that also specializes in prawns and shrimp. India produces 9.4 million metric tons of coconuts a year, putting the country in third place behind the Philippines and Indonesia. Coconut and other palm- based industries are major employers in the coastal states. Hydroelectric Potential The Deccan plateau is relatively dry, while the coasts and northern plains receive heavy rains from the southwest monsoon (June to August) and the north- east monsoon (November to December), and the northern plains receive Himalayan snowmelt through spring and summer. In 2007, nearly 25 percent of In- dian electricitycame from hydroelectric projects, and India ranked fifthin the worldin hydroelectric poten- tial. Viable potential is estimated at 84 gigawatts at 60 percent load factor, corresponding to 149 gigawatts installed capacity. This is distributed as follows: the Indus basin in the northwest, 34 gigawatts; the Brahmaputra basin in the northeast, 66 gigawatts; the Ganga basin inthe north, 21gigawatts; the CentralIn - dian River system, 4 gigawatts; the west-flowing rivers 600 • India Global Resources Global Resources India • 601 India: Resources at a Glance Official name: Republic of India Government: Federal republic Capital city: New Delhi Area: 1,269,312 mi 2 ; 3,287,263 km 2 Population (2009 est.): 1,166,079,217 Languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit Monetary unit: Indian rupee (INR) Economic summary: GDP composition by sector (2008 est.): agriculture, 17.6%; industry, 29%; services, 53.4% Natural resources: coal (fourth largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land, hydropower potential, thorium Land use (2005): arable land, 48.83%; permanent crops, 2.8%; other, 48.37% Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software Agricultural products: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes, onions, dairy products, sheep, goats, poultry, fish Exports (2008 est.): $176.4 billion Commodities exported: petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures Imports (2008 est.): $305.5 billion Commodities imported: crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals Labor force (2008 est.): 523.5 million Labor force by occupation (2003): agriculture, 60%; industry, 12%; services, 28% Energy resources: Electricity production (2007 est.): 665.3 billion kWh Electricity consumption (2006 est.): 517.2 billion kWh Electricity exports (2006 est.): 378 million kWh Electricity imports (2006 est.): 3.189 billion kWh Natural gas production (2007 est.): 31.7 billion m 3 Natural gas consumption (2007 est.): 41.7 billion m 3 Natural gas exports (2007 est.): 0 m 3 Natural gas imports (2007 est.): 10 billion m 3 Natural gas proved reserves (Jan. 2008 est.): 1.075 trillion m 3 Oil production (2007 est.): 880,500 bbl/day Oil imports (2005 est.): 2.159 million bbl/day Oil proved reserves (Jan. 2008 est.): 5.7 billion bbl Source: Data from The World Factbook 2009. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009. Notes: Data are the most recent tracked by the CIA. Values are given in U.S. dollars. Abbreviations: bbl/day = barrels per day; GDP = gross domestic product; km 2 = square kilometers; kWh = kilowatt-hours; m 3 = cubic meters; mi 2 = square miles. New Delhi India Pakistan China Myanmar Nepal Bhutan Sri Lanka Bangladesh Arabian Sea Indian Ocean of southern India, 9 gigawatts; and the east-flowing rivers of southern India, 15 gigawatts. Major hydroelectric projects are the Damodar Proj- ect, serving Jharkhand and West Bengal; Bhakra Nangal Dam on the Sutlej River, serving Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan; Hirakud Dam on the Ma- hanadi River in Orissa; on the Kosi River in Bihar; on the Chambal River, serving Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; Thungabhadra Dam, serving Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh; Nagarjuna Sagar Dam on the Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh; Narmada Dam, serving Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan; Indira Gandhi Canal, connecting the Beas and Sutlej rivers and serving Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan; Krishnaraja Sagar Dam inKarnataka; and Idukki Dam in Kerala. Another 7 gigawatts are viable from micro- hydel plants, suitable for distributed generation in ar- eas that are hard to reach for the main power grid, with someestimates of upto 15 gigawatts.Of the total, less than 20 percent had been exploited by 2009. Large dam projects encounter extreme political op- position in India,stemmingfrom public concernover the displacement of the generally poor people in the fertile catchment areas and the potential for earth- quakes in a seismically active region. Arable Land and Agriculture The northern Gangetic Plain, spanning Uttar Pra- desh, Haryana, and Punjab, and the eastern and west- ern coastal strips of India have rich alluvial soil suit- able for cultivation. The large Maharashtra-Gujarat region has black soil, suitable for cultivation of cotton and other crops that do not demand as much water as rice. Tropical rain forests anddeciduous forests occur in the coastal and northeastern regions and in the Andaman-Nicobar Islands. Temperate forests and grasslands are found in the foot- hills of the Himalayas between 1,000 and 3,000 meters, rising to alpine and tundra re- gions above 3,600 meters. Terraced cultiva- tion is practiced extensively in the moun- tains. As of 2009, India was second in the world in agricultural output. In 2007, the share of agriculture in the Indian GDP was less than 17 percent, having fallen from its 30 percent share in the mid-1990’s. However, the indus- try still employed more than 60 percent of the total Indian workforce. India is the world’s leading producer of coconuts, tea,black pep- per, turmeric, ginger, and cashew nuts. With the world’s largest number (more than 280 million) of cattle, it is also the leading pro- ducer of dairy milk, though per-unit produc- tivity is low. India is the second largest pro- ducer of wheat, rice, sugar, peanuts (called “groundnuts” in India), and freshwater fish and thethird largest producer of tobacco. In- dia produces 10 percent of the world’s fruit, led by bananas and kiwifruit. Farms are generally fragmented, averag- ing less than 20,000 square meters. There- fore, farming depends heavily on human la- bor. Exceptions are the larger wheat fields in the Punjab, where modern machinery en - ables efficiencies of scale. Tea, coffee, and rubber are major products from plantations 602 • India Global Resources India’s economy is dependent on the country’s agriculture industry. In this photo, a woman sorts dried corn. (AFP/Getty Images) in the hilly regions of Assam, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu/Kerala/Karnataka. Since ancient times, the growing of crops in India was tied to themonsoonrains and northern snowmelt flooding cycles, with limited establishment of artifi- cial irrigation. Indian crop cycles are classified into three seasonal names: kharif (or monsoon) crops, sowed in June and harvested in November, which in- clude rice,maize, cotton, millets, jute, sugarcane, and groundnut; rabi (or winter) crops, sowed in Novem- ber and harvested in March, which include wheat, to- bacco, mustard, pulses, and linseed; and zaid (or hot season) crops, sowed in March and harvested in June, which include fruits and vegetables. Although an ex- tensive network of dams and canals has been estab- lished for flood control, irrigation, drinking water, and hydroelectric power since Indian independence in 1947, irrigation reaches less than 55 percent of the agricultural land; therefore the dependence on mon- soon timing and intensity remains strong. Wells are used in most microfarms, and these again depend on the groundwater table through the year. Rainwater harvesting was practiced in some regions in ancient times and has been reestablished in the twenty-first century through home building codes and public ed- ucation, with mandated rooftop collection on new homes and drilling of groundwater replenishment holes to compensate for tube wells. While these activi- ties alleviate the monsoon dependence, the mon- soons are suchmassive water deliverers that even ade- lay of a few days and variations in intensity still have large effects on national crop yield. Given fragmented farms and a distributed market- ing system dependent on cattle-drawn carts and un- paved roads to deliver produce, agricultural output grew more slowly than population in the impover- ished colonial and postcolonial years, and India was known asa nation in which monsoonfailures resulted in mass famine in several parts. In the 1960’s, modern agricultural practices were adoptedthrough national- level planning. High-yieldingstrainsof rice and wheat from American andIndian agricultural research were introduced in the larger farms of north and east In- dia. Japanese intensive cultivation techniquessuitable for microfarms were adoptedin other parts. From the 1950’s to 1990, food grain output rose from 46.07mil- lion metric tons to 159.6 million metric tons, a 246 percent increase, outpacing the 175 percent popula - tion growth. By2000,India was anetexporter of food. Wheat production rose by a factor of eight in forty years, and rice grew by more than 350 percent. In the twenty-first century, there is rising concern that agri- cultural output is not increasing fast enough to meet demand, as rising urban wealth and population accel- erate demand. Textile Fibers Textiles from natural fibers have been one of In- dia’s largest industries for both the domestic market and exports for many centuries. The black soil of the Deccan plateauissuited to cotton cultivation.The silk industry employs more than 6 million people in Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jammu and Kash- mir, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. Silk output is almost 16,000 metric tons per year and is tied into a village industry and urban marketing system that achieves superlative levels of artistry, craftsmanship, and quality, highly attuned to changing fashions and customer preferences. Coal India has the world’s fourth largest coal reserves (197 billion metric tons, or 7 percent of the world total), of Global Resources India • 603 Textiles, such as those produced fromsilk, the material in use above, are a key component of India’s industrial economy. (AFP/Getty Images) which 102 billion are believed to be recoverable, but produces the third largest amount. Production is 403 million metric tons per year. Open-cast methods are used to mine the 64 billion metric tons located within a depth of 300 meters. Coal generates 67 percent of India’s total primary energy consumption. Non- coking coal constitutes 85 percent of reserves, and coking coal the rest. High ash content of 15 to 45 per- cent means low calorific value for Indian coal. Coal deposits are spread over the states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, and Meghalaya. Lignite (60 percent carbon)resources are present in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. Iron Ore Iron-ore deposits of 22billionmetric tons, amounting to 20 percent of the world total, are estimated to be in India. These are found in the states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Andhra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh and in two locations each in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. India produced nearly 47million metric tonsof finished steelsand 4.4 million metric tons of pig iron in 2008, putting the country in seventh place among steel-producing na- tions. However, roughly two-thirds of iron ore is used for export, primarily to China, South Korea, and Japan. This is a controversial issue in India asdomestic demand and the Indian steel industry expand. Thorium The black sands of southern Kerala beaches contain large deposits of thorium, which is a low-grade nu- clear fuel. This deposit has been known since Ger- many tried to ship out large quantities of black sand for itsnuclear weapon program prior to World War II. India is estimated to have the world’s third largest re- serves of thorium. With the civilian nuclear deal with the United States and Nuclear Suppliers Group, ura- nium imports are projected to enable India to irradi- ate the thorium and set up a “third-stage thorium cy- cle” in which thorium becomes a primary energy source for electric power reactors, making India self- sufficient in nuclear energy and eliminating the need for uranium imports. Because thorium is much more abundant than uranium worldwide, the Indian tho- rium reactor approach is watched with great interest as a possible breakthrough technology for nuclear power. Oil and Natural Gas As of 2007, India had 5.6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, second to China in the Asia-Pacific region. New resources have been identified in the Bay of Ben- gal and in the Rajasthan desert. Production in 2007 was 810,000 to 850,000 barrels per day. Thus, more than 70 percent of oil demand must be met by im- ports, mainly from the Middle East.Petroleum depen- dence has had a primary destructive effect on Indian economic growth, with “oil shocks” in the 1970’s and 1980’s draining foreign exchange revenues and forc- ing steep loss of value of the Indian rupee by as much as 90 percent between 1972 and 2000. Domestic production ofnatural gas is52 billion cu- bic meters per year, a sudden growth in production from 30,000 cubic meters per year because of new fields inthe Krishna-Godavari basin.According to the Oil and Gas Journal,India had 1 trillion cubicmetersof confirmed natural gas reserves as of 2007. Other Resources India contributes 60 percent of the world supply of mica, used as a nonconductor in electrical switchgear manufacturing. Major mica-producing regions are Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra, and Rajasthan. Bauxite and other aluminum-ore reserves are estimated at more than 2 billion metric tons, out of a global esti- mate of 75 billion metric tons. India produced more than 700,000 metric tons ofaluminum (spelled asalu- minium in India) in 2001. India is known to have more than 16 percent oftheworld’s ilmenite reserves, but production of titanium is very low. The cata- strophic tsunami of December, 2004, exposed sub- stantial offshore deposits along the Tamil Nadu coast. Sitting on approximately 20 percent of the world’s re- sources, India is the world’s fifth largest producer of manganese. Deposits are found in Karnataka, Maha- rashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Medicinal herbs are a major natural resource for India. Empirical experience over thousands of years has been codified through the ayurveda medicinal knowledge base. As modern diagnostics open up ge- netic engineering and nanoscience, the importance of these various natural resources is beginning to be understood. Finally, the fauna of India serve as natural attrac- tions to a growing tourism industry, complementing geographic attractions such as the Himalayas, the Sunderbans river delta, the Nilgiri and Kerala moun - 604 • India Global Resources tains, and the ocean beaches. Several unique animal species, including theIndian elephant, lion,tiger, rhi- noceros, peacock, pheasant, and black deer, are found in the forests and animal sanctuaries of India. Narayanan M. Komerath and Padma P. Komerath Further Reading Abdul Kalam,A. P. J., withY. S.Rajan. India 2020: A Vi- sion for the New Millennium. New York:Viking, 1998. Ali, N. Natural Resource Management and Sustainable De- velopment in North-East India. New Delhi: Mittal, 2007. Mukhopahdyay, Durgadas. “Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Natural Resource Management in the Indian Desert.” In The Future of Drylands: Inter- national Scientific Conference on Desertification and Dryland Research, edited by Cathy Lee and Thomas Schaaf. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer, 2008. Parikh, Kirit S. Natural Resource Accounting: A Frame- work for India. Mumbai: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, 1993. Pearce, Fred. When the Rivers Run Dry: Water—The De- fining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century. Boston: Bea- con Press, 2006. Rao, R. Rama. India and the Atom. New Delhi: Allied, 1982. Sachs, JeffreyD. The End of Poverty:Economic Possibilities for Our Time. New York: Penguin, 2005. Singh, Amrik. The Green Revolution: A Symposium. New Delhi: Harman, 1990. Sur,A.K.Natural Resources of India. Vadodara: Pad- maja, 1947. Varma, C. V. J., and B. L. Jatana. A Century of Hydro Power Development in India. New Delhi: Central Board of Irrigation and Power, 1997. See also: Agricultural products; Agriculture indus- try; Aluminum; Coal; Hydroenergy; Iron; Mica; Textiles and fabrics; Thorium. Indium Category: Mineral and other nonliving resources Where Found Indium is widely distributed in the Earth’s crust in small amounts. Itisfairly rare and isabout as common as silver.Indium is never foundasafreemetalbut only in combination with other elements. It is found as a trace component in many minerals, particularly in ores of zinc,copper, lead, andtin.The richest concen- trations of indium are found in Colorado, Argentina, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Primary Uses Indium is used for a variety of purposes in the elec- tronics industry, including liquid-crystal displays and transistors. It isalsousedin batteries, solders,coatings for glass, sealants, and alloys that melt at low tempera- tures. Technical Definition Indium (abbreviated In), atomic number 49, belongs to Group IIIA of the periodic table of the elements and resembles aluminum in its chemical and physical properties. It has two naturallyoccurringisotopes and an average atomic weight of 114.82. Pure indium is a soft, white metal. Its density is 7.31 grams per cubic centimeter; it has a melting point of 156.61° Celsius and a boiling point of 2,080° Celsius. Description, Distribution, and Forms Indium, a fairly uncommon element, occurs in the Earth’s crust with an average concentration of about one part in ten million. It is most commonly found in ores that are richinzinc, particularly thosewhichcon- tain sphalerite(zinc sulfide). It is alsofound in ores of copper, lead, and tin. History Indium was discovered in 1863 by Ferdinand Reich and Hieronymous Theodor Richter. It was not pro- duced in large amounts until 1940. Its first major in- dustrial use was in the production of automobile and aircraft engine bearings, where it added strength, hardness, resistance to corrosion, and ability to retain a coating of oil. In the 1960’s, it was first used in tran- sistors. Obtaining Indium Indium isusually obtained asa by-product ofzinc pro- duction. A variety of methods exist for obtaining in- dium from the residue left over after most of the zinc is removed from the ore. One method involves treat- ing the residue with dilute sulfuric acid to dissolve the remaining zinc. The undissolved material left behind is then treated with stronger acid to dissolve the in - Global Resources Indium • 605 dium. The indium is treated with zinc oxide to obtain indium hydroxide or with sodium sulfite or sodium bisulfite to obtain indium sulfite. Pure indium metal is then obtained by subjecting these compounds to electrolysis. Uses of Indium Indium is often combined with other metals such as bismuth, cadmium, lead, and tin to form alloys with a low melting point; production of indium tinoxidewas the most common end use worldwide as of 2008. These alloys are used in fuses and heat-detecting sprinkler systems. It has also been mixed with lead to form solders that remain flexible over a wide range of temperatures. Molten indium has the unusual prop- erty of clinging to glass and other smooth surfaces and is often used to form seals and coatings. High- purity indium is used in combination with germa- nium to form transistors. The electronics industry also uses indiumin liquid-crystal displays, infrared de - tectors, and solar cells. Rose Secrest Web Sites Natural Resources Canada Canadian Minerals Yearbook: Indium http://www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/mms-smm/busi- indu/cmy-amc/content/2005/31.pdf U.S. Geological Survey Minerals Information: Indium Statistics and Information http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/ commodity/indium/ See also: Alloys; Aluminum; Metals and metallurgy; Zinc. Indonesia Categories: Countries; government and resources Analysis of Indonesia’s natural resource potential is complicated by several factors. After Indonesia’s long heritage asa Dutch colony (and a source for cheap raw materials), its more attractive resources gradually took on global importance. Both massive supplies of rare hardwoods and important mineral deposits have made the country a key, but extremely vulnerable, partici- pant in theglobal economy. Although allsectionsof the archipelago have some form of economically attractive resources, development is inevitably confronted with two obstacles: thehighcost of necessary infrastructural improvements and the high cost of shipping over long distances to markets beyond Southeast or East Asia. The Country Indonesia is an archipelago of more than seventeen thousand islands, extending from the southeastern boundaries of the Indian Ocean in an arc leading to the South China Sea. Most of these islands are small and economically insignificant. In such cases local populations depend on mainly subsistence agricul- ture and animal husbandry. The country’s main is- lands, especially Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi (formerly Celebes), and Kalimantan (formerly Borneo), are characterized byvolcanic peaks, generally rugged ter- rain broken by stretches of arable land, and extensive tropical forests. Each of the main islands possesses one or more major maritime ports linking it to the rest of the archipelago and to international ship - 606 • Indonesia Global Resources Coatings 65% Solders & alloys 15% Electrical components & semiconductors 10% Research &other 10% Source: Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities in the United States U.S. Geological Survey, 2005, indium statistics, in T.D.KellyandG.R.Matos,comps., , U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 140. Available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/. U.S. End Uses of Indium Global Resources Indonesia • 607 Indonesia: Resources at a Glance Official name: Republic of Indonesia Government: Republic Capital city: Jakarta Area: 735,412 mi 2 ; 1,904,569 km 2 Population (2009 est.): 240,271,522 Language: Bahasa Indonesia Monetary unit: Indonesian rupiah (IDR) Economic summary: GDP composition by sector (2008 est.): agriculture, 14.4%; industry, 48.1%; services, 37.5% Natural resources: petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold, silver, gypsum Land use (2005): arable land, 11.03%; permanent crops, 7.04%; other, 81.93% Industries: petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear, mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, tourism Agricultural products: rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, copra, poultry, beef, pork, eggs Exports (2008 est.): $139.3 billion Commodities exported: oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, textiles, rubber Imports (2008 est.): $116 billion Commodities imported: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs Labor force (2008 est.): 112 million Labor force by occupation (2006 est.): agriculture, 42.1%; industry, 18.6%; services, 39.3% Energy resources: Electricity production (2007 est.): 142.4 billion kWh Electricity consumption (2007 est.): 121.2 billion kWh Electricity exports (2007 est.): 0 kWh Electricity imports (2007 est.): 0 kWh Natural gas production (2007 est.): 56 billion m 3 Natural gas consumption (2007 est.): 23.4 billion m 3 Natural gas exports (2007 est.): 32.6 billion m 3 Natural gas imports (2007 est.): 0 m 3 Natural gas proved reserves (Jan. 2008 est.): 2.659 trillion m 3 Oil production (2008 est.): 977,000 bbl/day Oil imports (2008 est.): 672,000 bbl/day Oil proved reserves (Jan. 2008 est.): 3.8 billion bbl Source: Data from The World Factbook 2009. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009. Notes: Data are the most recent tracked by the CIA. Values are given in U.S. dollars. Abbreviations: bbl/day = barrels per day; GDP = gross domestic product; km 2 = square kilometers; kWh = kilowatt-hours; m 3 = cubic meters; mi 2 = square miles. Jakarta Thailand Malaysia Papua New Guinea Brunei Singapore Philippines Indonesia Australia Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean . http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/. U.S. End Uses of Indium Global Resources Indonesia • 607 Indonesia: Resources at a Glance Official name: Republic of Indonesia Government: Republic Capital city:. metric tons, or 7 percent of the world total), of Global Resources India • 603 Textiles, such as those produced fromsilk, the material in use above, are a key component of India’s industrial economy concentration of about one part in ten million. It is most commonly found in ores that are richinzinc, particularly thosewhichcon- tain sphalerite(zinc sulfide). It is alsofound in ores of copper,