Sustainable Engineering Module 1

Table of Content 

Table of Content (toc)

    Syllabus Covered:
   
    • Sustainability- Introduction
    • Sustainability- Definition
    • Sustainability- Need & Concept
    • Social Sustainability Concept
    • Environmental Sustainability Concept
    • Economic Sustainability Concept
    • Sustainable Development
    • Nexus Between Technology And Sustainable Development
    • Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
    • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
    • Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
 

1. SUSTAINABILITY- INTRODUCTION

The concept of sustainability become so important nowadays, because of the irreparable damage

caused to the environment by industrial civilization & consumerism, which originated about 3 centuries

ago. They were based on the following wrong assumptions:

•  The earth belongs to humans only
•  Ignore the fact that humans are part of the Earth's biosphere
•  Earth's stock of resources are infinite
•  The environment can bear any amount of damage that is caused by human activity.

The advantages & disadvantages of industrial civilization & consumerism are listed below:-

Advantages

1.  Flourished the economy
2.  Improved the living quality of the society

Disadvantages

1. Caused irreparable damage to the environment
2.  Pose a threat to the life support systems of the earth.
3. E.g.1.The hole in the ozone layer surrounding our planet is a shield against the dangerous
4. ultraviolet radiation from the sunE.g.2. Increased carbon dioxide content and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cause global warming

 Several warnings concerning the instability of Earth’s life support systems have been raised in

recent times. In 1992, some of the world’s senior scientists from 70 countries, signed and sent an urgent warning “The environment is suffering critical stress...” to the government leaders of all nations as part of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the “Earth Summit”) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This marked the beginning of the concept of sustainability.

Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-

being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permits fulfilling the requirements of present and future generations. Sustainability is important to make sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.

2. SUSTAINABILITY- DEFINITION

Sustainability is the ability to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural

systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for its people.

3. SUSTAINABILITY- NEED & CONCEPT

Sustainability has three components, which are inter-related, as shown in Fig.1:

1.  Environment
2. Society
3. Economy

The environment gives resources, raw materials to the Economy for production activities. The economy creates products and sells them to society for use. Production by Economy and Consumption by Society lead to the following environmental impacts.

1. Exhaustion of Resources – Water, Petroleum, Forests
2. Loss of Biodiversity - Extinction of Animal/Plant Species due to Water, Soil, Air Pollution
3. Deforestation - conversion of forestland to farms, urban use, etc.
4. Ozone Depletion - reduction of the amount of ozone in the stratosphere due to the emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFC/s emitted from the industries, rises to the Stratosphere. Sunlight breaks CFCs to release Chlorine. Chlorine reacts with Ozone and destroys it. 
5. Acid Deposition – results in acid rain, acid fog, and acid mist.
6.  Desertification - the type of land degradation in which a land region becomes dry, typically losing its water bodies, vegetation, and wildlife.
7. Eutrophication - a form of water pollution that occurs when excessive fertilizers run into lakes and rivers. This encourages the overgrowth of algae and other aquatic plants.
8. Global Warming - a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases – Carbon oxides, Nitrousoxides, sulfur oxides, Fluorocarbons