Environmental Sustainability, Governments and Engineers Can Save the World (2008)

Name: Tafara Makuni

ENGINEER IN SOCIETY ESSAY Coursework 2008 Environmental Sustainability, Governments and Engineers Can Save the World Question: How can governments and engineers work together to address the challenges of environmental sustainability?

Name: Tafara Makuni College: Murray Edwards College

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Name: Tafara Makuni

Environmental Sustainability, Governments and Engineers Can Save the World “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. We are faced now with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late…” - Martin Luther King Jr. Spoken decades ago by M. L. King, these words uphold resonance today. As we embark on this new century, we are too confronted with a “fierce urgency”. An urgency that dictates our past, and shall our present and future. Environmental sustainability – it’s not too late.

By definition, environmental sustainability can be considered as the manner in which our development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of our future generations to meet their own[1] . These needs include everyday essentials such as food and water, to necessities such as healthcare, education and energy. Over the past decade, addressing environmental sustainability has moved on from being subject at environmental conferences to an agenda of public, national and international interest. Captivating a strong hold on preserving the environment, fundamentally the key to solving environmental sustainability is to address the big issue which is climate change. Stating the obvious; we all inhabit this planet. For anything to be truly sustainable, it must have social and economic factors in consideration.

Famously stated by John F Kennedy, “In short, we must face problems which do not lend themselves to easy or quick or permanent solutions” [2]. For us, these problems are a direct result of climate change and need to be addressed now. It is primarily the job of engineers in collaboration with governments to help solve climate change, although turning off unused lights and generally wasting less energy aids to the cause. The harsh consequences of climate change are starting to emerge with drought, flooding, melting icecaps and natural disasters becoming more frequent. Hurricane Katrina [3] and the Asian Tsunami in 2004 [4], being testament that climate change is a global issue, not subject to segregation or divisions of wealth and GDP. Ironically, Engineers have the dubious honor of being largely to blame. Some could argue that without the invention steam engines, railways, oil rigs, cars, coal power stations and etc; the excretion of large amounts greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, giving rise to global warming; resulting in climate change and it’s associated problems wouldn’t have occurred. On the other hand, without engineering, the population would have been ridiculed to an early mortality due to disease and starvation. The basics which sustainable development strives to obtain. This posts the reply that engineers aren’t to blame, although they are guilty of not accounting for the long term -2-

Name: Tafara Makuni

negative effects each piece of technology proposed. It then follows; that the task now is to find alternative ways of developing whilst still being sustainable.

Transport and infrastructure are a key part of the global world today however this sector contributes approximately 15% of annual greenhouse emissions [5] . To try and reduce CO2 emissions from this sector, governments have been discouraging people from using cars and encouraging for other forms of transport such as bicycles, public transport or simply walking. In 2003 the City of London (United Kingdom) proposed the congestion charge which basically charges motorists a fee for travelling in certain parts of London [6]. The fee has an emission based structure hereby reducing the number of heavily polluting vehicles on the streets of London. If other big cities such as New York, or Tokyo were to follow suit, this system could have a positive impact on the reduction of CO2 emissions. Economically, this proposal is sound because although it will cost money for the technology to be implemented, when complete, it will act as a source of income and will pay for itself given several years. Another key way of reducing emissions in the automotive industry is the introduction of hybrid cars[7]. The only difference to petrol cars being that they operate on a “clean” fuel such as electricity. A fuel that doesn’t emit dangerous greenhouse gasses.

Still keeping our eye on greenhouse gases as they indirectly cause climate change, the power industry collectively contributes a astonishing 35% of global greenhouse gas emissions [5]. This is largely due to the burning of the extracted coal in order to generate the electricity shelved into our homes. To act on this CO2, several approaches can be taken. The first is to simply reduce our energy intake. Easily done by switching off un-used lights as stated earlier on, pulling the plug instead of hitting standby. Governments have recently invested a lot of money into public awareness of this, by launching various adverts and websites such as http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/index.html probing us to be more energy saving. Although this measure appears to be working, engineers can play by far the biggest role, researching and engineering alternative forms of energy that are sustainable. Renewable energy is already being used today. Solar panels, wind farms, hydroelectric power playing a role. Although renewable energy sources at the moment can’t provide for all our energy needs, some countries such as Denmark manage; virtually only reliant on renewable energy sources [8]. Other countries such as France do not emit many greenhouse gases from this sector because they obtain 87.5% of their energy requirements from Nuclear Power [9]. The sustainability nuclear power is debatable. On one side of the argument, nuclear power would produce all the energy we need, and although the waste is highly radioactive, relatively speaking, only a small amount of it is created. On the other hand if a disaster like Chernobyl [10] where to happen again, it would have long term effects on the environment of the surrounding area. This would contravene the principle of sustainability.

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Name: Tafara Makuni

By engineers and governments successfully tackling these issues, our greenhouse gas emissions could theoretically be reduced by 50%. This would leave our planet in a healthier status quo. This is because despite the negative connotation attached to the word greenhouse gases, they are useful to us. Without them, we wouldn’t we shielded from the sun, and this has its own disastrous consequences.

In conclusion, “confronted with the fierce urgency of now”, it’s not too late to actively make a difference. Together governments and engineers hold the key.

[Words: 1042]

I, Tafara Makuni hereby declare that this essay is entirely my work.

Signed:

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Date: ________________________________

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Name: Tafara Makuni

References: 1. Global Sustainability http://www.rmit.edu.au/sustainability 2. John F Kennedy Quote: jhttp://www.learner.org/workshops/primarysources/coldwar/docs/jfk.html

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3. Hurricane Katrina: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/americas/2005/hurricane_katrina/default.stm 4. Tsunami in Asia 2004: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake 5. Green house gasses: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas 6. London congestion charge: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/6723.aspx 7. Hybrid cars: http://www.hybridcars.com/ 8. Denmark: http://www.investindk.com/visArtikel.asp?artikelID=12991 9. Nuclear power in France: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France 10. Chernobyl disaster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_accident 11. Climate Change – The Role of Engineers: http://www.ofw.facs.gov.au/apec_wln/documents/climate_change_kanga.PDF 12. 2008 Environmental Performance Index: http://www.yale.edu/epi/files/2008EPI_Text.pdf 13. Sustainability goals: http://ddpext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&goalId=11&menuId=LNAV01GOAL7 14. A Perspective on environmental sustainability http://www.ces.vic.gov.au/CES/wcmn301.nsf/obj/cesplan/$file/A+Perspective+on+environ mental+sustainability.pdf -5-