Transcript Slide 1

CP551 Sustainable Development
‘irrespective of the social and
economic context, the health of the
biosphere is the limiting factor for
sustainability’
Raymond J. Cole
University of British Columbia
01 Feb 2008
R. Shanthini
Module 5:
Science, Technology, Innovations
and Sustainable Development.
01 Feb 2008
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You are given a grant opportunity to
invent something.
It could be anything;
big or small,
useful or useless,
beneficial or destructive.
What would you invent?
(Write down on a paper in one sentence.)
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Technology Dissemination Portfolio Strategy
The Lemelson Foundation (improving lives through invention)
For as little as two
dollars, a family
can obtain a drip
irrigation kit and
improve family
nutrition by cultivating
a 200 square-foot
kitchen garden.
Photo: IDE-India.
http://www.lemelson.org/pdf/technologydisseminationstrategy.pdf
01 Feb 2008
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Technology Dissemination Portfolio Strategy
The Lemelson Foundation (improving lives through invention)
A Kenyan makes a
living delivering clean
water to restaurants,
schools and homes.
He can carry twice as
much water with the
XAccess Longtail
bicycle.
Photo by Rick Randall.
http://www.lemelson.org/pdf/technologydisseminationstrategy.pdf
01 Feb 2008
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Technology Dissemination Portfolio Strategy
The Lemelson Foundation (improving lives through invention)
Children in
Mozambique pump
water for their village
while at play on one
of Roundabout’s
innovative carousel
pumps.
Photo: Roundabout.
http://www.lemelson.org/pdf/technologydisseminationstrategy.pdf
01 Feb 2008
R. Shanthini
Technology Dissemination Portfolio Strategy
The Lemelson Foundation (improving lives through invention)
A SEWA Bank
employee (right) and a
vegetable vendor
discuss the benefits of
using SELCO’s safe and
affordable solarpowered
lanterns for his nightmarket business in
Ahmedabad, India.
Photo by Erin Conlon.
http://www.lemelson.org/pdf/technologydisseminationstrategy.pdf
01 Feb 2008
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Talking of innovation….
Engineers must design more efficient
internal combustion engines capable of
running on alternative fuels such as
alcohol, and new research into battery
power should be undertaken… Wind
motors and solar engines hold great
promise and would reduce the level of
CO2 emissions. Forests must be
planted…
- Prof. Svante August Arrhenius, 1925
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Some inventions:
Indeterminate time: Music and Language
(65,000,000 years ago: Dinosaur was abundant)
1,000,000 years ago: Controlled fire and sterilization of
food in East Africa
400, 000 years ago: Pigments in Zambia
60,000 years ago: Ships probably used by settlers of
New Guinea
50,000 years ago: Flute in Slovenia
43,000 years ago: Mining in Swaziland and Hungary
26,000 years ago: Ceramics in Moravia (Czech and
Slovak)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#Paleolithic_Era
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Some inventions (continued):
7,000 BC: Dental surgery in Mehrgarh (Pakistan)
5,000 to 6,000 BC: City in Mesopotamia (Iraq)
4,000 – 5,000 BC: Beer and bread in Egypt
5,000 – 5,000 BC: Wheel & axle combination in
Mesopotamia (Iraq)
3100 BC: Drainage in the Indus Valley Civilization
(India/Pakistan)
3,000 BC: Silk in China
3,000 BC: Cement in Egypt
2500 BC: Flush toilet in the Indus Valley Civilization
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#Paleolithic_Era
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Some inventions (continued):
500s BC: Sugar in India
500s BC: Plastic/Cosmetic surgery (Sushruta) in India
350 BC: Water wheel / Watermill in India
800-873: Valve, Feedback controller, Automatic
flute player, Programmable machine and much more by
Banū Mūsā brothers in Iraq
800s: Windmills in Persia
1200s: Closed-loop system, Cam & Crank shafts,
Reciprocating piston engine, Programmable robots and
much more by Al-Jazari in Iraq,
1551: Steam turbine and much more by Taqi al-Din in
Egypt
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#Paleolithic_Era
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Some inventions (continued):
1593 BC: Thermoscope by Galileo
1633 BC: Manned rocket by Lagari Hasan Celebi in
Turkey
1698 BC: Steam engine by Thomas Savery in England
1700: Piano by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy
1712: Steam piston engine by Thomas Newcomen in
England
1769: Steam car by Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot in France
1776: Steam engine with a condenser by James Watt of
Scotland
1884: Steam turbine by Charles Parsons
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#Paleolithic_Era
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Thomas Newcomen’s
Steam Piston Engine
Thermal efficiency
is about 0.05%
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#Paleolithic_Era
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Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot’s Steam Car
Thermal efficiency
= ??%
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#Paleolithic_Era
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Perhaps the first
automobile accident
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention#Paleolithic_Era
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Waves of Innovation since 1785
6th wave
Innovation
5th wave
4th wave
3rd wave
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
01 Feb 2008
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Waves of Innovation since 1785
Innovation
Iron
Water power
Mechanization
Textiles
Commerce
6th wave
5th wave
4th wave
3rd wave
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
01 Feb 2008
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Waves of Innovation since 1785
5th wave
Steam power
Railroad
Steel
cotton
Innovation
6th wave
4th wave
3rd wave
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
01 Feb 2008
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Innovation
Waves of Innovation since 1785
6th wave
5th wave
Electricity
Chemicals
Internal combustion
engine
4th wave
3rd wave
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
01 Feb 2008
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Waves of Innovation since 1785
5th wave
Petrochemicals
Electronics
Aviation
Space
Innovation
6th wave
4th wave
3rd wave
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
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Innovation
Waves of Innovation since 1785
6th wave
5th wave
Digital Networks
Biotechnology
Software
Information technology
4th wave
3rd wave
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
01 Feb 2008
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Waves of Innovation since 1785
6th wave
Innovation
Sustainability
5th wave
Radical resource productivity
Whole system design
th wave
4
Biomimicry
Green chemistry
Industrial ecology
3rd wave
Renewable energy
Green nanotechnology
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
01 Feb 2008
R. Shanthini
Waves of Innovation since 1785
6th wave
Innovation
Sustainability
5th wave
Radical resource productivity
Whole system design
th wave
4
Biomimicry
Green chemistry
Industrial ecology
3rd wave
Renewable energy
Green nanotechnology
2nd wave
1st wave
1785
1845
1900
1950
1990
2020
Source: Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (2005), p 17.
01 Feb 2008
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Sustainability
01 Feb 2008
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Sustainability
means surviving to infinity.
Economic
sustainability
Man-made capital
(buildings &
equipment)
Weak
sustainability
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vs
Environmental
sustainability
Natural capital
(natural resources &
ecosystem services)
Strong
sustainability
R. Shanthini
Examples of Natural Capital:
Natural resources such as
- water, minerals, biomass and oil
Ecosystem services such as
- Land which provides space to live and work
- Water and nutrient cycling
- Purification of water and air
- Atmospheric and ecological stability
- Pollination and biodiversity
- Pest and disease control
- Topsoil and biological productivity
- Waste decomposition and detoxification
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Weak (or Economic) Sustainability
Sustainable development is achievable as long as
Total (which is natural plus man-made) Capital
remains constant.
It means it is okay to reduce the natural capital
stocks as far as they are being substituted by
increase in the man-made stock.
Increasing man-made stocks provide high
incomes, which lead to increased levels of
environmental protectionism.
(Substitutability Paradigm)
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Strong (or Environmental) Sustainability
Sustainable development is achievable only when
the natural capital is maintained constant
independently from man-made capital.
(Non-substitutability Paradigm)
Substituting man-made capital for natural capital
leads to disaster.
Examples?
Boats for Fish
Pumps for Aquifers
Saw mills for Forests
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Radical Resource Productivity
(or Eco-efficiency)
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Radical Resource Productivity
(or Eco-Efficiency)
The Industrial Revolution led to a radical
increase in the productivity of labour and capital
at the cost of exploitation of natural resources
since they are considered abundant.
What we need now is a radical increase in the
productivity of resources
since we know that natural resources are
indeed limited (examples: trees, oil and fish).
01 Feb 2008
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Radical Resource Productivity
(or Eco-Efficiency)
dramatically
increases the output
per unit input of resources
(such as energy, man-made materials & natural
resources such as air, water, or minerals).
01 Feb 2008
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Radical Resource Productivity
(or Eco-Efficiency)
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
(WBCSD) has identified the following seven elements of
eco-efficiency:
- reduce the material requirements for goods &
services
- reduce the energy intensity of goods & services
- enhance material recyclability
- maximize sustainable use of renewable resources
- extend product durability
- increase the service intensity of goods & services
- reduce toxic dispersion
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Whole System Design
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Whole System Design
optimizes an entire system to
capture synergies.
WSD requires
creativity,
good communication,
and a desire to look at causes of problems
rather than adopting familiar solutions,
and
it requires getting to the root of the problem.
Source: http://www.frugalmarketing.com/dtb/10xe.shtml
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Whole System Design
Pumping is the largest use of electric motors, which
use more than 50% of world’s electricity use.
One heat-transfer loop was designed to use 14 pumps
totaling 95 horsepower by a top Western firm.
Dutch engineer Jan Schilham (using the methods
learned from the efficiency expert Eng Lock Lee of
Singapore) cut the design’s pumping power use by
92% to just 7 horsepower
Source: http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/LovinsLovins1997.pdf
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Whole System Design
How was that possible?
The pipes diameter was increased. Since friction falls
as nearly the fifth power of pipe diameter, small
pumps were enough.
Pipes were laid out first, and then the equipment were
installed. The pipes are therefore short and straight,
with far less friction, requiring still smaller and cheaper
pumps, motors, inverters, and electricals.
The straighter pipes also allowed to add more
insulation, saving 70 kilowatts of heat loss with a twomonth payback.
Source: http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/LovinsLovins1997.pdf
01 Feb 2008
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Whole System Design
What about the cost?
When optimizing the lifecycle savings in pumping
energy plus capital cost of not just the pipes but of the
whole system, the extra cost of the slightly bigger
pipes was smaller than the cost reduction for the
dramatically smaller pumps and drive systems.
Whole-system life cycle costing is widely used in
principle, but in practice, energy-using components
are usually optimized (if at all) over the short term,
singly, and in isolation.
Source: http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/LovinsLovins1997.pdf
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Whole System Design
Like the engineering profession itself, engineering
education is often compartmentalized, with
minimal consideration of systems, design,
sustainability, and economics.
The traditional design process focuses on
optimizing components for single benefits
rather than whole systems for multiple benefits.
This, plus schedule-driven repetitis (i.e., copy
the previous drawings), perpetuates inferior
design.
Source: http://www.frugalmarketing.com/dtb/10xe.shtml
01 Feb 2008
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Whole System Design
Rocky Mountain Institute kicked off Factor Ten
Engineering (“10XE”), a four-year program to
develop and introduce pedagogic tools on wholesystem design for both engineering students and
practicing engineers.
The focus is on case studies where whole-system
design boosted resource productivity by at least
tenfold, usually at lower initial cost than traditional
engineering approaches.
Source: http://www.frugalmarketing.com/dtb/10xe.shtml
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Whole System Design
WSD prevents weak pieces compromising the
entire system.
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Biomimicry (or Bionics)
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Biomimicry (or Bionics)
Study nature, observe its ingenious designs
and processes, and then imitates these designs
and processes to solve human problems.
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Interactions between organisms
in an ecosystem (symbiosis):
Mutualism: both populations benefit and
they need each other for survival
Protocooperation: both populations
benefit but the relationship is not
obligatory
Commensalism: one population benefits
and the other is not affected
01 Feb 2008
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Interactions between organisms
in an ecosystem (symbiosis):
Amensalism - one is inhibited and the
other is not affected
Competition – one’s fitness is lowered
by the presence of the other
Parasitism – one is inhibited and for
the other its obligatory
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Biomimicry (or Bionics)
Nature runs on sunlight
Nature uses only the energy it needs
Nature fits form to function
Nature recycles everything
Nature rewards cooperation
Nature banks on diversity
Nature demands local expertise
Nature curbs excesses from within
Nature taps the power of limits
Janine Benyus, 1997
01 Feb 2008
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Biomimicry (or Bionics)
Super-grip
gecko tape
modelled after
gecko’s feet
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Biomimicry (or Bionics)
Eastgate centre
(shopping centre
and office block)
at central
Harare,
Zimbabwe is
modelled on
local termite
mounds and is
ventilated and
cooled entirely
by natural
means.
Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/biomimetic_buil_1.php
01 Feb 2008
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Biomimicry (or Bionics)
Termite mounds include
flues which vent through
the top and sides, and the
mound itself is designed to
catch the breeze. As the
wind blows, hot air from
the main chambers below
ground is drawn out of the
structure, helped by
termites opening or
blocking tunnels to control
air flow.
Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/biomimetic_buil_1.php
01 Feb 2008
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Biomimicry (or Bionics)
Trapped air in the interstitial spaces of the roughened surface
of the lotus leaf results in a reduced liquid-to-solid contact
area. This allows water's self-attraction to form a sphere.
However, due to natural adhesion between water and solids,
dirt particles on a leaf's surface stick to the water.
Since a ball rolls easily, the
slightest angle in the surface
of the leaf (e.g., caused by a
passing breeze) causes balls
of water to roll off the leaf
surface, carrying away the
attached dirt particles.
Lotus leaf
http://biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/
01 Feb 2008
R. Shanthini
Biomimicry (or Bionics)
GreenShield™ coats textile fibres with liquid repelling nano
particles in order to create water and stain repellency on
textiles, and results in a 10-fold decrease in the use of
environmentally harmful fluorocarbons, the conventional
means of achieving repellency.
Other products
inspired by the Lotus
Effect include
Lotusan paint and
Signapur glass finish.
http://biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/
01 Feb 2008
R. Shanthini
Biomimicry (or Bionics)
Polyaramid Kevlar, a tough fiber that can stop bullets, is made
by pouring petroleum-derived molecules into a pressurized vat
of concentrated sulfuric acid and boiled at several hundred
degrees Fahrenheit in order to force it into a liquid crystal form,
which is then subject to high pressures to force the fibers into
alignment as we draw them out. The energy input is extreme
and the toxic byproducts are odious.
The spider manages to make an equally strong and much
tougher fiber at body temperature, without high pressures,
heat, or corrosive acids. If we could learn to do what the spider
does, we could take a soluble raw material that is infinitely
renewable and make a super-strong water-insoluble fiber with
negligible energy inputs and no toxic outputs.
Janine Benyus, 1997
01 Feb 2008
R. Shanthini
A multidisciplinary (engineering,
science, social science, and
governance) process of solution
development that takes a holistic
view of natural and human system
interactions is known as
Earth Systems Engineering.
- US National Academy for Engineering
Earth System Engineering
emphasizes five main
characteristics that apply to
all branches of engineering:
Characteristic 1
Our ability to cause planetary change through
technology is growing faster than our ability to
understand and manage the technical, social,
economic, environmental, and ethical consequences
of such change.
Since modern engineering systems have the power to
significantly affect the environment far into the future,
many engineering decisions cannot be made
independently of the surrounding natural and humanmade systems.
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/ESSPCLP-Intro_to_SD-PreliminariesKeynote1.aspx
01 Feb 2008
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Characteristic 2
The traditional approach that engineering is only a
process to devise and implement a chosen solution
amid several purely technical options must be
challenged.
A more holistic approach to engineering requires
an understanding of interactions between engineered
and non-engineered systems, inclusion of nontechnical issues, and a system approach (rather than
a Cartesian approach) to simulate and comprehend
such interactions.
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/ESSPCLP-Intro_to_SD-PreliminariesKeynote1.aspx
01 Feb 2008
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Characteristic 3
The quality of engineering decisions in society directly
affects the quality of life of human and natural
systems today and in the future.
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/ESSPCLP-Intro_to_SD-PreliminariesKeynote1.aspx
01 Feb 2008
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Characteristic 4
There is a need for a new educational approach that
will give engineering students a broader perspective
beyond technical issues and an exposure to the
principles of sustainable development, renewable
resources management, and systems thinking.
This does not mean that existing engineering curricula
need to be changed in their entirety. Rather, new
holistic components need to be integrated,
emphasizing more of a system approach to
engineering education.
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/ESSPCLP-Intro_to_SD-PreliminariesKeynote1.aspx
01 Feb 2008
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Characteristic 5
Multi-disciplinary research is needed to create
new quantitative tools and methods to better
manage non-natural systems so that such
systems have a longer life cycle and are less
disruptive to natural systems in general.
http://www.naturaledgeproject.net/ESSPCLP-Intro_to_SD-PreliminariesKeynote1.aspx
01 Feb 2008
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Creativity is not so
much having a new
idea as stopping
having an old idea.
- Inventor Edwin Land
Green indoor walls
Home for an ecologist
01 Feb 2008
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