4. Challenges of Sustainable Development Flashcards
Define Sustainable Development
(as defined by the Brundtland Commission in 1987)
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
In 2009, the Engineering Council stated that Engineers should play a leadership role in SD. What were some of the global challenges to overcome?
- Depletion of resources
- Environmental pollution
- Rapid population growth
- Damage to ecosystems
Material and energy flows are the two major CONSTRAINTS when considering SD. What are the DRIVERS?
Population and economic growth
Material flows are driven by economic activity and can be separated into Forward/ Reverse logistics.
Forward Logistics encompass:
Source (farming/ mining) –> parts manufacturing –> product manufacturing –> Retail/service provider –> user/ consumer.
finish the flow diagram with the processes involved in Reverse Logistics.
Energy Recovery –> Landfill –> Sink
Per capita we use about 10 tonnes of materials per year. This includes biomass, fossil energy carriers, ores and industrial minerals.
What is the most used? ( accounts for ~25% of total use).
Construction minerals
Peak copper is predicted to happen when?
What is meant by Peak copper?
What is a counter argument to this theory?
25 years time (2030).
Peak copper is a hypothetical point in time at which the maximum global copper production rate is reached.
Technological developments will make mining/ processing of less rich deposits more feasible. Improvements in recycling = reach a steady state where not extracting as much (e.g. in 2011, 35% of copper from recycling)
What is Leibig’s Law of Minimum?
Growth is controlled not by the total amount of resources available, but by the scarcest resource
What does the acronym EROEI represent? Do conventional fossil fuels have a small or large EROEI?
Energy return on energy invested.
Typically very large for fossil fuels (~30-100)
What EROEI is said to be required by society?
10
Note: most renewable sources are currently below this
The lack of sustainable development has what impact on material sinks?
List 4 things and briefly outline what they mean
Acidification: of soils/ waters through transformartion of air pollutants into acids
Eutrophication: enrichment of water by inorganic plant nutrients
Ozone Depletion
Global warming: changes in ability of atmosphere to absorb infra red-red radiation
What is Jevons’ Paradox?
(aka the rebound effect) Technical improvements to increase efficiency of energy and other material use do not have a commensurate effect on consumption
