Transcript 12. Sustainability

Sustainability
There are four “don’ts” of sustainability,
adapted on the following slides, are taken
from “the Natural Step”, originated by Karl
Henrik Robert of Sweden.
http://www.naturalstep.org/
1. Don’t take excess from the ground and spread it on the
Earth’s surface.
2. Don’t make new things (unknown to nature) and
spread them on the Earth’s surface.
Bioaccumulation of PCBs in the
Great Lakes
Source: http://concernedcitizens.homestead.com/osf.html
PCBs in the Arctic
PCBs enter the St. Lawrence and other waterways
Initially picked up by algae and zooplankton in Gulf
of St. Lawrence
These in turn are consumed by relatives of shrimp
called copepods.
Copepods are the primary food of smaller fish, who
are consumed by mackerel and larger fish
Ultimately seals, whales and finally polar bears and
humans.
PCBs concentration in human breast milk of Inuit's
on the west coast of Greenland and Baffin Island rises
to the level of toxic waste.
http://eces.org/articles/000754.php
3. Don’t harvest renewable resources at a
faster rate than they can recover.
www.esig.ucar.edu/rates/
4. Don’t allow a skewing
of resources to select parts
of the human population.
The Favela (Brazil) vs.
McMansion (USA)
The do’s of sustainability
Move closer to solar as the primary energy source.
Use local resources first.
Keep resources in place.
Natural systems are best, imitate local ecosystems as
much as possible in designing human systems.
Account for Nature’s services.
Do not externalize costs, internalize them.
Develop communal resource management systems.
“Small is Beautiful”: example - microlending
Solar and Wind Power
Erosion on Madagascar: what
happens when soil cover is lost
Erosion in the
Betsiboka
River Valley,
Madagascar
Riparian Buffer for erosion control, Putnam County, Ohio
www.oh.nrcs.usda.gov/. ../riparian.html
Logging
with
horses
Table 14.2
Table 14.3
Industrial Ecology
The “science of sustainability”
Predicated on two precepts:
–
–
We are interested in sustainability
We want to remain industrial
The Master Equation
ISAT 428: Industrial Ecology
Industrial Ecology
Two personalities:
–
–
An analogy with the cyclic nature of biological
economies
A set of methodologies for pursuing
sustainability
Goal: mimic the inherent efficiency of
nature
Information is key
What are the analogs to
Species?
Population?
Community?
Ecosystem?
Niche?
Predator/Prey relationships?
Succession?
Master Equation
GDP Env _ impact
Env _ impact  Population 

person unit _ GDP
where
–
Population is growing (as is growth rate)
–
GDP is the country's Gross Domestic Product, also
growing in rough proportion to the drive toward
increased quality of life
–
Env_impact is largely technology driven, and has a
somewhat bell shaped curve with time. Env_impact per
unit_GDP must shrink if overall Env_impact is to shrink.
Tools
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Design for Environment (DFE)
Material Flow Analysis (MFA)
Life Cycle Assessment
An underpinning tenet of Industrial Ecology
Predicated on the ability to evaluate the
(relative) impacts of production or design
decisions throughout the life span of the
product in question.
Three Major Elements of LCA
Inventory Analysis: This optimization
problem first requires information about
impacts
Impact Analysis: Then alternative strategies
are compared
Improvement Analysis: Evaluation and
implementation of opportunities to reduce
environmental impacts
Design for Environment
One of the DFx family:
–
–
–
–
Manufacturability
Reliability
Cost
&c
Brings results of LCA to product/service
design
Material Flow Analysis
Similar to LCA but based on mass balance
around a geographic system (e.g. a nation)
Examines movement of material with view
towards reduction (“dematerialization”)
Can be used for energy as well