Technology and Environment: A Changing Climate

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Technology and Environment A Changing Climate

• Kevin Hallinan
• Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
  Engineering
  
• University of Dayton

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Overview of My Talk

• History of Technology
• The Consequences of Our Actions
• Can We Still Hope?
• What Can You Do?

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Anatomy of a Television

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Anatomy of a Television - Where does it come from?

Copper Mine
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Anatomy of Technology

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The Consequences of Our Actions
Energy and Material flows are core physical
causes of these consequences

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Carbon
a material flow intrinsically tied to energy use
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The History of Stored Carbon

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CO2 Gas Emission Trends

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CO2 in the Atmosphere
(IPCC Climate Change 2001 The Scientific Basis)
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How Much Stored Carbon Is Left?

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How Much Stored Carbon is Left?
Dr. Colin J. Campbell geologist, exploration
manager, and VP for oil companies such as Amoca,
BP, Fina, Texaco
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Importance of CO2 in Atmosphere - Greenhouse
Effect

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Global Warming

(IPCC Climate Change 2001 The Scientific Basis)
CO2 emissions are a major cause of global warming
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Why is global temperature rising?
(IPCC Climate Change 2001 The Scientific Basis)
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Glaciers Melting
Glacier in Perus Andes Mountains, 1978 and 1995

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Increased Severe Storm Events

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Relevance of Carbon Impacts to Engineering Design

• Energy Use!!!!
• electricity (from coal, oil, or natural gas power
  plants)
  
• gasoline
• natural gas

For instance...

• cell phone battery chargers are only 12.7
  efficient when plugged in for 10 hours (i.e.,
  overnight)
  
• they are only 8.2 efficient if the charger in
  the phone is used

(Hoffman, Nicolaescu, 2001, IEEE Symp. on Elect.
and the Env.)
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Non-Carbon Impacts of Technology
All things connect. Whatever we do to the web,
we do to ourselves.
Chief Seattle
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Ozone Layer Depletion - Localized Effects

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Acid Rain

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Toxic Materials
Common Name POLYVINYL CHLORIDE
Chronic Hazard YES Signal Word CAUTION! Acut
e Health Hazard-Slight X Contact Hazard-Slight
X Fire Hazard-None X Reactivity Hazard-Slight
X Special Hazard Precautions INHALATION UPP
ER RESPIRATORY TRACT IRRITATION.
EYES/SKIN IRRITATION. CARCINOGEN CARBON BLACK
IS A SUSPECTED HUMAN CARCINOGEN.

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Other Problems
all are systems issues

• multiple causes/effects
• interrelated
• broad in scale

• -- resource depletion
• -- topsoil erosion
• -- genetic altering of life
• -- population pressures
• -- reduction in biodiversity
• -- habitat destruction
• -- space for all this waste!

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Hope
Love all of the children of all of the
species for all of the time.
William McDonough - Sustainable Architect - 19
99

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Hope
Pollution is nothing but the resources we are
not harvesting. We allow them to disperse
because weve been ignorant to their value.
Buckminster Fuller
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Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature
be your teacher. --William Wordsworth
Hope
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The Story of the Cherry Tree

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Natures Rules

• Use the Suns energy
• No WASTE.
• No extraction of materials
• No centralized systems
• Coexistence

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Exciting Development I - Natural Step
I. Substances from the Earths crust must not
systematically increase in the biosphere
II. Substances produced by society must not
systematically increase in the biosphere.
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Exciting Development I - Natural Step
III. Natures functions and diversity are not
systematically impoverished by physical
displacement, overharvesting, or other forms of
ecosystem manipulation.
IV. Resources must be used fairly and efficiently
in order to meet basic human needs globally.
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Exciting Development II Specific Companies

• Inteface
• Electrolux
• IBM product takeback
• IKEA
• 3M
• YSI
• and the list goes on!

The Essential Range Washing machine is placed
above the toilet and has a water tank that
reserves the last rinse for the next wash or to
flush the toilet.
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Exciting Development III
Renewable plastic sources

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Exciting Development IV - Renewable NRG

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Not So Exciting Development

• Dick Cheney conservation does not have a role
  in the energy policy in the U.S. increasing
  production is the only way to accommodate the
  people of the U.S.

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What I am doing

• Education --- Design for Environment course
• New Engineer Program - teaming, leadership,
  sustainability - more holistic problem solving
  
• Establishing educational programs with local
  industries Trying to establish frameworks to
  influence how they design. Trying to establish
  databases that designers can rely upon to design
  green.
• Ride my bike to work
• Recycling purchasing based on environmental
  issues investing based on environmental record

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What can you do?

• As an individual?
• As an engineer?