Chapter 10

Sustainability

Based on Ethics Technology and Engineering, An

Introduction, Van de Poel & Royyakers
 Chapter Outline

10.1. Introduction
10.2. Environmental Ethics
10.3. Environmental Problems
10.4. Sustainable Development
10.5. Sustainable Society
10.6. Engineers and Sustainability
10.7. Summary
 10.1 Introduction

Case: Biofuels

• “Peak Oil” theory: Decrease of oil production while transportation needs

keep growing

• Problem: Greenhouse effect caused by car emissions due to fossil fuels

• Possible solution: Biofuels

• Drawback: Endangering food provisions of poor people alive now in an

effort to minimize the impact of fossil fuels used for transportation on
future generations

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Considerations arising from biofuels case:

• Do we have to prevent future environmental problems even if they mostly

affect future generations?

• Should we leave each generation to solve the problems that are relevant
to their lifetime?

• What is the trade-off between our obligations to future generations and

the present one?

• In many environmental issues, technology is part of the cause of these

problems but is also often part of the solution

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 10.2 Environmental Ethics
• Anthropocentrism: The philosophical view that the environment has only
instrumental value, that is, only value for humans and not in itself

• Biocentrism: The viewpoint that the environment has an intrinsic value or

a value of its own

Engineers have
People in general special
Environment
Environment are responsible responsibility
has moral value
must be for the because of both
(instrumental
protected environment positive and
or intrinsic)
negative effects
of technology

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 10.3 Environmental Problems

• Pollution: Environmental problem in which something undesirable or

damaging is added to the environment

• Exhaustion: Environmental problem in which something valuable is

removed from the environment that cannot easily be renewed
- Non-renewable resources: natural resources that cannot be renewed
or reproduced such as fossil fuel
- Renewable resources: Natural resources that can be renewed or
reproduced

• Degradation: Structural damage to the environment such as soil erosion

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Social dimension of environmental problems

• Exhausting resources and polluting water, air and soil are endangering the
continuity of human welfare and well-being
Humans depend on the environment

• Environmental problems hit those lower on the social ladder first and
harder (ex.: Housing near sources of pollution such as highways or
municipal dumps is cheaper)

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Ecological Footprint

• A measure for the total environmental impact of a person’s lifestyle

expressed in an amount of space required to support this lifestyle

• Average ecological footprint (Living Planet Report, World Wildlife Fund):

- USA: 9.6 ha per person
- Western Europe: 5.0 ha per person
- Asia and Africa: 1.4 ha per person
Productive surface availability: 1.9 ha per person, for the present world
population
Total footprint of the world population is 20% too large

• The regenerative ability of the various resources cannot keep up with our
demand
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 10.4 Sustainable Development
10.4.1 Brundtland Definition
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland definition)

Three factors are of importance for sustainable development: the ecological factor, the
social and the economical ones.
Example

A design choice can be positive for more than one field at the same time:

For example take a design in which you can reduce the amount of material required, it
is favorable both from an economic and environmental point of view.

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Source :Circles of Sustainability, Melbourne 2011 11
 10.4.2 Moral justification

- Intergenerational justice: “ can we continue to use fossil fuels simply until we run out
and let next generation find alternatives? ”

- Intragenerational justice: unjust division of resources between First and Third Worlds

- Property rights (historical principle) “without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs”

- Utilitarianism approach:
a) The total utility must be maximized over an extremely extended period, otherwise
in the short term it will not lead to sustainability.
b) Criticism: utilitarianism is insensitive to questions of distribution both between
different groups of people or across time => morally unsatisfactory

- Duty Ethics: Golden Rule (Kant) “Treat other generations as you would have to treat
Them.” => it defends intergenerational justice

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- Operationalization: sustainability should be detailed into a number of concrete
policy measures and design guidelines.

- Points for discussion:

a) Needs: which needs are legitimate ones and which are not ? If they go further
than basic needs, how do we justify them?
b) Present needs: basic needs of the Third World should be addressed first
c) Needs of future generations: economic and technological developments may turn
needs that are legitimate now into illegitimate ones and vice versa.
d) Without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs:
it is wrong to assume that technological advancement will be able to meet future
needs.

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- Environmental Space: we must ensure that our environmental impact does not
exceed our environmental space => ecological footprint. What damage can we do to
the environment without the damage being irreversible?
Problems: inaccuracy of predictions, the earth ecosystem as a whole is very complex to
analyze, the fact that irreversible damage has been done often becomes clear when
it’s too late.

- The precautionary principle: “Where there are threats of serious or irreversible

damage, lack
of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective
measures to
prevent environmental degradation.”

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 10.5 Can a Sustainable Society be Realized?

• Sustainable development might seem unachievable

• “not cost effective economically speaking”
• Consumers not willing to pay more for sustainable products
• Presence of an economical boundary condition

• Cost of environmental damage is not included in the price of a product

(ex: environmental tax on kerosene)

• People are not willing to behave in an ecological manner at the expense of

their comfort and pleasures (social boundary condition)

• Failure of politicians to take appropriate environmental measures

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• What about a green dictatorship?
• No
• Dictatorships often fail to achieve their goals
• Sustainable society is achieved through a voluntary action of its citizens

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 10.6 Engineers and Sustainability

• Technical knowledge used to resolve environmental problems

• Measures taken by engineers can be categorized according level and type

• The three levels are:

a) Product Level
b) Process level
c) Business Level

• The three types are listed according to increasing effectiveness:

1. Cleaning up pollution
2. Processing of waste flows
3. Preventing waste flows

• Example: b2 measure = processing waste flows at the process level

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 10.6.1 Design Process

• Each product is characterized by Life phases:

 Production Phase
 Use
 Removal Phase

• Case: Heat Pump Boiler

 Decisions that impact sustainability:
 Life span
 Recyclability
 Energy Source

• Verifying those criteria does not mean that a product is sustainable

• Sometimes sustainability is maximized by comparing an entire concept and
not the individual components
• Hydrogen cell car v/s petrol engine car
• Hydrogen cell car v/s public transportation

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 10.6.2 Life Cycle Analysis

• “Analysis that maps the environmental impact of a product across the

entire cycle of production, use and disposal”
• Two types of approach

1. Quantitative
• Use of specialized software
• Analysis used on a database of the environmental impact of each
operation during the life cycle.
• A final score expresses the environmental impact of the product (UBP 06
scale)

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• Limitations of the quantitative method
1. Time consumption
2. Use of a one-dimensional indicator scale (fixed weighing factors for
exhaustion of materials, pollution and degradation)
3. Designer is not given access to fundamental design variables

2. Qualitative
• Focuses on several rules of thumb
• The LiDS wheel approach is based on eight rules of thumb:
1. New concept Development
2. Selection of low-impact materials
3. Reduction of material
4. Optimization of production techniques
5. Efficient distribution system
6. Reduce of the environmental impact in the user stage
7. Optimization of initial life-time
8. Optimization of end-of-life system

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 10.7 Summary

• Sustainability preserves natural resources and environment for future

generation
• Sustainability justified by several theories (Utilitarian, Kantian,
Intergenerational, Golden Rule…)
• The environment is only valuable as a mean to human well-being
• The establishment of a sustainable society faces economical, social and
political constraints
• Engineers play an important role in environmental sustainability especially
in the design process and life cycle of their products

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 References

• Ethics Technology and Engineering, An Introduction, Van de Poel &

Royyakers

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