Abstract:
In general, it is desired that Sri Lankan economy shows growth. A growing economy
brings waste production which leads environmental pollutions such as air pollution water
pollution etc. At present, increasing population in Sri Lanka requires more natural
resources to meet the market demand. The ultimate result is an imbalance in the
biological cycles, and an irreversible change in both economic process and environment.
An irreversible economic process increases entropy. Ultimately, the entropy will reach its
maximum value. Then everything will become standstill since there would not exist more
energy to continue the economic process. As a solution, the concept of a steady state
economy is structured.Sri Lankan economy was assessed within steady state economics
to evaluate the present economic situation of Sri Lanka. A statistical analysis was carried
out on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), population, energy use, CO2 emission through
time series analysis and regression analysis,to identify the extent to which Sri Lankan
economy has deviated from a steady state economy. Regression analysis indicates a
strong relationship between GDP and CO2 emission. Total population size in Sri Lanka is increased from 9.9 million in 1960 to 20.48 million in 2013. CO2 emission per capita is
increased from 0.25 metric tons in 1960 to 0.65 metric tons in 2010. CO2 emission is
increased from 2259 kiloton in 1960 to 12831 kiloton in 2010. Rapid growth rates, CO2 emissions, population growth rates reveal that Sri Lankan
economy is far apart from the concept of steady state.Transition to a steady state
economy would require the implementation of new policies to restrict the utilization of
nonrenewable resources. On the other hand it is mandatory to have legal regulations
encouraging renewable resource use, energy efficiency, and reuse and recycling.
