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Monroe L. Weber-Shirk
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Environmental Engineering: Paramount or Passé?
Environmental Engineering: Paramount or Passé?
Ethics, Buzzwords,
Trends, and
A Vision for a Better World
EthicsEthics
A systematic framework for making decisions when there are conflicting values
The most important aspect of any ethical code or system one adopts is that one should then be prepared to defend it as a system that everyone should employ
Universality If an act is acceptable for one person it must be equally
acceptable for others
Introduction to Environmental Engineering by Aarne Vesilind
Is Universality our Ethic?Is Universality our Ethic?
What value does universality assume?What are examples where individuals or
groups didn’t apply (or aren’t applying) the ethic of universality?
Are we willing to adopt Universality as part of our ethic?
Can we extend Universality to past generations? (Would it be okay with us if they did what we are doing?)
Broad Goals of Environmental Engineering
Broad Goals of Environmental Engineering
Protecting the environment from the potentially deleterious effects of human activity
Improving environmental quality for human health and well-being
Why do we care about the environment?
What is the ethical basis for concern for the environment?
Environmental EthicsEnvironmental Ethics
Anthropocentric (human centered)Only human beings are morally significant persons and have
a direct moral standing. Since the environment is crucial to human well-being and
human survival, then we have an indirect duty towards the environment
Responsibility to future generations Leopold's Ecocentrism (The Land Ethic, 1949)
Humans as citizens rather than conquerors of the land "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity,
stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
More Environmental EthicsMore Environmental Ethics
Instrumental valuesEnvironment has value as a commodity
Deep ecologyHumans are no more important than other creaturesReduce the human populationUse fewer resources
Spiritual connectionThe amount of love and care is proportional to the ability to
give and demands nothing in returnReverence for life (Albert Schweitzer)
Compassion and a sense of sacredness toward all of life
Introduction to Environmental Engineering by Aarne Vesilind
Code of Ethics:Fundamental Principles2
Code of Ethics:Fundamental Principles2
Engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the engineering profession by: using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of
human welfare and the environment; being honest and impartial and serving with fidelity the
public, their employers and clients; striving to increase the competence and prestige of the
engineering profession; and supporting the professional and technical societies of
their disciplines.
What if there are conflicts?
Discover a spill
New power plant
Fundamental Canons
Fundamental Canons
1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development3 in the performance of their professional duties.
2. Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence.
3. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.
4. Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest.
Fundamental Canons
Fundamental Canons
5. Engineers shall build their professional reputation on the merit of their services and shall not compete unfairly with others.
6. Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity of the engineering profession.
7. Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers, and shall provide opportunities for the professional development of those engineers under their supervision.
SustainabilitySustainability
SustainabilityDevelopment which meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainable Development “the challenge of meeting human needs for natural
resources, industrial products, energy, food, transportation, shelter, and effective waste management while conserving and protecting environmental quality and the natural resource base essential for future development.”
What system of ethics are these based on?
East Ithaca Bypass?East Ithaca Bypass?
You are part of an engineering firm that has a contract to design a new road east of Ithaca
The road will reduce traffic flow thru several neighborhoods and provide a better connection to the airport
Develop a list of pros and cons How would you make an ethical
decision about your participation in helping to build this road?
Apply universality, anthropocentric and ecocentric ethics.
Or… •power plant•windmills
Ethics of the BypassEthics of the Bypass
UniversalityLocal?Global?
AnthropocentricGood for the human community?
EcocentricPreserve the biotic community?
SustainabilityMeets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs
ReflectionsReflections
How could we do a better job of “conserving and protecting environmental quality and the natural resource base essential for future development”?
What is a broader role for environmental engineers?
Now, the promised Buzz words…
Precautionary PrinciplePrecautionary Principle
People have a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm. "If you have a reasonable suspicion that something bad might be going to happen, you have an obligation to try to stop it.")
The burden of proof of harmlessness of a new technology, process, activity, or chemical lies with the proponents, not with the general public.
Before using a new technology, process, or chemical, or starting a new activity, people have an obligation to examine "a full range of alternatives" including the alternative of doing nothing.
Decisions applying the precautionary principle must be "open, informed, and democratic" and "must include affected parties."
Cleaner ProductionCleaner Production
Application of an integrated preventive environmental strategy to processes, products, and services to increase overall efficiency, and reduce risks to humans and the environment.
Can be applied to the processes used in any industry, to products themselves and to various services provided in society.
Cleaner ProductionCleaner Production
For production processes, Cleaner Production results from one or a combination of
conserving raw materials, water and energy; eliminating toxic and dangerous raw materials; and reducing the quantity and toxicity of all emissions and wastes at source during the production process.
For products, Cleaner Production aims to reduce the environmental, health and
safety impacts of products over their entire life cycles, from raw materials extraction, through manufacturing and use, to the 'ultimate' disposal of the product.
For services, Cleaner Production implies incorporating environmental concerns
into designing and delivering services.
Eco-EfficiencyEco-Efficiency
Delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life cycle, to a level at least in line with the earth's estimated carrying capacity
Pollution Prevention/Waste Minimization
Pollution Prevention/Waste Minimization
The terms Cleaner Production and pollution prevention are often used interchangeably.
Both, Cleaner Production and pollution prevention (P2) focus on a strategy of continuously reducing pollution and environmental impact through source reduction -- that is eliminating waste within the process rather than at the end-of-pipe.
Waste treatment does not fall under the definition of Cleaner Production or P2 because it does not prevent the creation of waste.
Green Productivity Green Productivity
A strategy for enhancing productivity and environmental performance for overall socio-economic development
Industrial Ecology or Industrial MetabolismIndustrial Ecology or Industrial Metabolism
Industrial ecology and industrial metabolism are concepts for new patterns of industrial production and are closely related to the Cleaner Production concept.
Industrial ecology and industrial metabolism are studies of industrial systems and economic activities, and their links to fundamental natural systems.
They aim to imitate the material recycling aspect of an ecosystem - a material flow management is the crucial aspect of these approaches.
Six Principal Elements of Industrial Metabolism
Six Principal Elements of Industrial Metabolism
1. The creation of industrial ecosystems: maximizing use of recycled materials in production, optimizing use of materials and embedded energy, minimizing waste generation, and re-evaluating "wastes" as raw material for other processes.
2. Balancing industrial input and output to natural ecosystem capacity: understanding the ability of the larger natural system to deal with toxics and other industrial wastes in typical and catastrophic situations.
3. Dematerialization of industrial output: reducing materials and energy intensity in industrial production.
Six Principal Elements of Industrial Metabolism
Six Principal Elements of Industrial Metabolism
4. Improving the metabolic pathways of industrial processes and materials use: reducing or simplifying industrial processes to emulate natural, highly efficient ones.
5. Promote the development of an energy supply system that functions as a part of the industrial ecosystem, and is free of the negative environmental impacts associated with current patterns of energy use.
6. Policy alignment with a long-term perspective of industrial system evolution: nations working together to integrate economic and environmental policies.
Life Cycle Assessment:From “Cradle to Grave”Life Cycle Assessment:From “Cradle to Grave”
LCA covers the entire life cycle of a product or function, from the extraction and processing of the raw materials needed to make the product to its recycling and disposal.
LCA also addresses different types of environmental impacts such as the use of scarce resources, the release of hazardous materials, impacts on the local environment, and the effects on global problems such as ozone depletion and climate change.
Recovered materials44.8 Gg/yr
Reused materials
115.7 Gg/yr
Flow of Materials: US
Industrial scrap
After Vesiland and RimerUnit Operations in Resource Recovery Engineering, Prentice Hall (1981)
29.5 Gg/yrDomestic waste
Industrial wasteWaste to Energy
Waste to Energy
____________ of productsmanufacture
Environment____________Raw materials
____ __ products
Use of
Productscradle
grave
“Cradle to Cradle”“Cradle to Cradle”
Recycling is often “downcycling”Plastic bags become plastic lumber, but can’t be turned
back into plastic bagsPaper fibers become shorter and weaker
Design product cycles to mimic biological cycles Aim for zero waste! Products are leased for their service because the
company wants the materials back for reuse
Technical MetabolismTechnical
Metabolism
Eliminating the concept of waste means recognizing materials as nutrients that cycle through either the biological metabolism or the technical metabolism.
The biological metabolism is made up of natural processes that circulate the pool of materials or nutrients—water, oxygen, soil, CO2—that support life on Earth.
The technical metabolism, designed to mirror natural nutrient cycles, is a closed loop system in which valuable, high-tech synthetics and mineral resources circulate in an endless cycle of production, recovery and reuse.
Technical NutrientsTechnical Nutrients
Products can be designed from the outset so that, after their useful lives, they will provide nourishment for something new.
Biological nutrients that easily reenter the water or soil or
Technical nutrients that circulate as pure and valuable materials within closed-loop industrial cycles
Triple Bottom LineTriple Bottom Line
Measuring the benefits and costs of a product, service, or company in the areas ofSocietyEnvironmentEconomy
Traditional Environmental Engineering Focus
Traditional Environmental Engineering Focus
Drinking Water TreatmentWastewater TreatmentAir Pollution ControlSolid Waste DisposalHazardous Waste Site RemediationStorm Water Management
Summarize the difference between Cleaner Production and waste water treatment…
An Expanded RoleAn Expanded Role
Designing better products, processes, and services that get closer to the goals of zero waste and sustainability
Resist the temptation of being the faithful robot devoid of ethics
Be more active in helping to create sustainable policies
The ChallengeThe Challenge
Our society is so far from the goal of sustainability and from the ethic of universality that it is difficult to see the path.
We must all dream about how a better world would be structured and do what we can to make changes to move in the right direction.
Environmental Engineers are paramount if we accept this challenge!
0 50 100 150 200
Africa
Asia and the Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and theCaribbean
North America
West Asia
Total Energy Consumption (Pj)
0 100 200 300 400
Per Capita Energy Consumption (Gj)
Energy ConsumptionEnergy Consumption
Motor VehiclesMotor Vehicles
Transport now accounts for _____ of world energy use _____ of the world's oil production
motor vehicles account for nearly ___ % of all transport-related energy
Transport is a major contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions pollutes urban air uses substantial land degrades and fragments habitat
1/41/2
80
East Ithaca BypassEast Ithaca Bypass
Faster route to airport More jobs Reduce traffic in some
neighborhoods Decrease fuel
consumption
Pave over farms, forests, and homes
Increase development (strip malls…)
Encourage use of cars Increase fuel
consumption Fragment ecosystems Road kill
Pros Cons
UniversalityUniversality
How many miles per gallon per person is ethical?Global warmingPetroleum resources
AgendaAgenda
Course and Team evaluationsReturn Prelim 2WTP status: Schematic, PowerPoint,
Competition, JudgesEast Ithaca Bypass: pros, cons, ethicsCurrent environmental buzz words
WTP CompetitionWTP Competition
Posters: invite your friends Judges:
Paul Tunison, Plant ManagerMark Vallely, Plant OperatorProf. DickJesse Koehler, ENGRI 113 alum
Proposal: Stop economics competition on Friday afternoon
PowerPoint presentationPowerPoint presentation
Place in PowerPoint Presentations folder on Enviro
Practice your presentation Emphasize what you learned and how you learned
it! Make sure it will take 8 minutes Remember your primary audience (the judges)
Don’t show LabVIEW code (they won’t be impressed)Don’t speak in jargon (valve 1, black box, HMI)
Code of Ethics