Climate change, contemporary society and engineering practice: a sustainability journey

[Abstract]: Climate change, Contemporary Society and engineers share an indivisible pathway towards sustainability through the means of technology. Climate change and sustainability are now new domains that require a better understanding by engineers. Ten years ago sustainability was a development for the future however the absence of climate certainty in contemporary society has raised sustainability awareness to the forefront of societal debate. While sustainability in theory is defined as the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely. However the literal meaning of “indefinitely” in sustainability definition poses a set of intriguing questions, is indefinite human survival a plausible proposition in a finite world. For this reason efforts in the fight against climate change are becoming a global effort, since it requires global cooperation and greater scientific consensus to reduce carbon emissions and consequently the planet’s energy footprint. We recognize that Sustainability ought to be economically viable, ecologically sound and sensitive; socially responsible and culturally appropriate. Surrounded by this realm of thinking all these mentioned definitions are equal measures that fail to address the importance of “technology” as a subject in the climate change and sustainability debate. Since this generation had inherited the historical legacy of nonrenewable energy technologies. The term “technology” in this context implies any technical system that can result in and/or be well described in terms of a process by which humans modify nature to meet their needs and wants. This paper seeks to investigate the underlying philosophical frames and the nature of the issues of sustainability present to engineers. It explores the notion of “Sustainability” and “technology “in engineering practice. Further, we argue that in order to establish a clear, measurable, actionable, and universally accessible working definition of sustainable engineering practices. climate change and technology life cycle need to be inclusive to sustainability

Contemporary society, technology and sustainability

[Abstract]: The notion of a sociotechnical system is still developing and evidence can be viewed in a series of recent articles that has appeared over the last few years. With titles like Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Technology Analysis, and Strategic Technology Management, and, similarly, Technology/Knowledge Society and Sustainability are all buzzword terminology in a rapidly moving field, migrating from the scientific periphery to mainstream culture of a technology driven society. With the advent of global turmoil and the financial reins of 2008 credit crunch, the topic of sustainability and contemporary society is ever more concerning, as for years we as a society and our economy have been driven by two key measures of success profit and loss statements and our quarterly earnings. This article attempts to provide a brief assessment of a sizable body of literature, it also aims to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between contemporary society, technology in sustainability from an engineering perceptive. It was found that contemporary society is profoundly reliant on technology, and for sustainability to be considered we call for a new legacy, not a continuation of the past

Sustainability and economic theory: an organism in premise

[Abstract]: So what is the link if any between economic management theory and sustainability? Is it the interrelatedness of the world international economies; but alongside connectedness comes vulnerabilities? as I reflect on the impact of the economic turmoil and the deepening economic contractions of late 2008.Since economic traditions are migrating towards sustainable development raising the need for an understanding of operational principles of Sustainability. what are its implications for the engineering industry in particular commodities sector, with this in consideration I would like to call on Gaia hypothesis Lovelock (1972) that proposed living and non-living parts of the earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism, similarly another interesting and relative theory is that of Meadows in his book “Limits to Growth” (1972) modeling the consequences of a rapidly growing world population and finite resource supplies, commissioned by the Club of Rome. This paper examines juxtaposition of sustainability in economic management theory using the laws of thermodynamics. The objective of this review paper is to collaborate on the economic dimensions of sustainability. We posit that cohesiveness between economic theory and sustainability are necessary to alleviate the current credit crunch. We argue that a sustainable management theory as an organism is a key determinant of economic relationships; it thus highlights the relationship between industry sectors diversification and economic sustainability

A review of sustainability assessment methods in engineering

[Abstract]: Sustainability Assessment (SA) debate had undergone a dramatic transformation in response to global policy changes, i.e. Kyoto Protocol, trade liberalization, Doha negotiations. The purpose of this paper was to review the body of literature relevant to Sustainability Assessment functional methods in engineering. To shed light on the current standing of sustainability assessment (SA) this paper reviewed and compared up to fifty five (SA) tools. These include descriptive, quantitative and qualitative measures, or indices. In order to achieve a unified approach integrating the needs of society and the natural system, the application and spatial implication of these tools in engineering were considered within the bounds of systems theory. It was found that whilst progress has been made in the development of assessment tools, definitional ambiguities remains evident (i.e. indicators and criteria). Furthermore (SA) exhibited a skewed alignment towards the triple bottom line theory i.e. economic, social, environmental objectives with baseline conditions. Therefore, there is a pressing need for further research into engineering (SA) sustainability assessment frameworks and their ultimate objectives,direction and magnitude, particularly whether the engineering professional can afford to endorse scores of tools

Chemical engineering industry transition towards sustainability

The past decade has seen vast changes in both chemical industry and chemical engineering profession for example what was once a vibrant industry in some countries are now mere memories of yesteryears. Similarly the current chemical engineering workforce is undergoing many challenges that have affected the sector from pollution control, CO2, NOx SOx emissions to labour shortages to an economic downturn. So what are the Implications for chemical engineering? Why has it lost its shine? Will chemical engineering become a seasonal profession, at the mercy of commodity prices? Can Chemical Engineering afford to live in isolation, and must it consider interactions amongst industrial processes, human and ecological systems. At the present rates, i.e. lack of skilled labour and dwindling interest from students studying degree level (or above) presents the biggest challenge for chemical engineering. This article investigates the nature of transition required to assist chemical engineering towards sustainability. The purpose of this study is to assist the chemical 'industry' in defining the transition by developing awareness, knowledge, and ability to minimize the environmental impact of the chemical manufacturing processes towards sustainability. We argue that the chemical engineering profession is uniquely placed to support in sustainability and the industry and professionals need to move away from the present philosophy of optimizing the existing process to a new generation of novel processes that would eventually lead to more equity in prosperity and stable economical situations worldwide. It remains to be seen whether these old-established 'invisible' barriers will be overcome in the future or the professional formation of a contemporary chemical engineer will remain halfway between paradigms of technocracy with this mind set. For this reason sustainability in chemical engineering was once confined to research needs however now it is to be the 'new frontiers'

Embedding sustainability in capstone engineering design projects

The pace of change in education curriculums is growing exponentially due to numerous legislative arrangements and changes. Carbon tax, carbon pollution reduction schemes, emissions trading legislation are paving the way for environmental accountability in engineering industry. Engineering education moves into the twenty first century charged with an environmental agenda due to response to wider changes in society. Educators are regularly modifying curriculum content to embrace sustainability in learning outcomes. However this crosses over between a number of multi-disciplinary, multidimensional study areas that include philosophy and ethics. Consequently a major challenge for educators is to encourage engineering students whose primary focus is purely technical to include sustainability viewpoint in their designs. Unlike technical or financial evaluations where measures are either empirical or numerical estimates, sustainability position includes criteria in economic, natural, social, technological and time indicators. For the most part sustainability evaluations are content and competency driven and rely sometimes on rather intangible and proximal criteria. These criteria form the basis of assessment for measuring the sustainability of a design. The purpose of this article is to present various criterion, and indicators available to evaluate sustainability in engineering designs feasibility assessments. The paper presents the application of sustainability design criteria in the context of capstone design projects by way of applying social, economic, ecological, technological and time SEETT framework. These criteria form the basis of sustainability education embedment in engineering capstone design projects. Finally this paper argues the thesis that Sustainability feasibility studies and assessment in capstone engineering design projects are of grave importance for the success of the new frontier

Sustainability philosophy in engineering context: review and discussion

Subsequent to the Rio Earth Summit both the engineering industry and the profession alike recognized the need for shifting towards sustainable practices. Similarly literature is mushrooming with sustainability definitions, themes and descriptions in many complex shapes and sizes, thus, presenting an immense diversity of opinion. This research defines the concept and principles of sustainability from an engineering perspective. It also addresses how sustainability philosophy or culture in engineering may one day drive net positive development. In recent times going 'green' has been the focus of governmental agencies, non‐ governmental organizations, private sector and society at large with a modest universality between these efforts. By way of example the overabundance of sustainability definitions and assessment tools found in literature, poses a unique set of challenges: first and foremost differing values describing how ideal criteria and indicators in sustainability assessment 'should be'. The surplus of definitions causes perplexity from an operational engineering perspective. This research probed sustainability operational issues experienced by engineers in the course of a series of consultative interviews with experts to account for generic criteria and indicators used in engineering sustainability assessment. This research presents a synopsis of these expert interviews. Furthermore, it reviewed and critiqued existing mechanisms, rating schemes and assessment methods frequently used by the engineering profession, in order to examine current practices purporting to enable or facilitate sustainability in engineering practice. The study makes a contribution to sustainability science in the sense that it illustrates the concept diagrams of social, economic, environmental, technology and time criteria based on results from expert interviews. It also highlights the limitation of the rampant practice of minimizing negative impacts on the environment and society. The research will benefit members of the engineering profession by providing them with a background on the development of sustainability within engineering, thus allowing them to make informed sustainability decisions. It is intended to outline non‐specific relations between sustainability indicators and criteria for any given engineering project despite the definitional ambiguities indicators and criteria displayed. Finally scale is important for defining sustainability approach to measurement and the outcomes in decision‐making, since the majority of environmental and economic issues cut across several scales. The thesis argues for a transdisciplinary approach to achieve sustainability in engineering and sets out a typology of contexts in which this research finding could be applied and developed further

Dimensions of sustainability

Literature reveals definitions, themes and descriptions of sustainability in many complex shapes and sizes some ranging from strategy, framework, phrases, concepts, indexes, indictors, weak, strong, externality, internally and criterion, Hence, presenting an immense diversity of opinion, with confusion to its literal implementation. It exposes “sustainability” as function to transdisciplinary variables which are underlined in three common themes, social, economic, technological and ecological. Many questions are raised than answers, is it a utopian state or pseudo ideal process? Where do the complex issues of sustainability leave us engineers? The objective of this paper was to define the bounds of sustainability and to investigate a fourth dimension called “technology” in order to form a methodology to quantify

Sustainability classifications in engineering: discipline and approach

In order to discuss how to advance sustainability in engineering, it is necessary to be clear as to what exactly is the science of sustainability. The linkage between sustainability philosophy and scientific principles has, in some ways, been acknowledged in the wider literature. Moreover, the recent scholarship on sustainability in international literature has focused on providing definitions, policies and methods, though from an engineering perspective, there is an obvious need for clarity on how the engineering and science community can integrate the science of sustainability into practice. Prima facie, this article provides an overview of the development of sustainability science through a textual analysis to collate the underlying discourse and ideology cited in literature. While the number one sustainability challenge is to mitigate climate change, compiling a definition genesis of sustainability will assist the engineering community in gaining an understanding in the underlying philosophical frames. The aim of this paper is to analyse sustainability information in the print press, journals, periodicals and textbooks since publication patterns contribute to our understanding of the cognitive aspects of scholarly knowledge development