Sustainability Flashcards
Life cycle assessment?
Evaluate impact of product from ‘Cradle to the grave’
Sustainability?
Safeguarding the world for future generations
Balance is drawn between design benefits and impact on the environment
Life cycle inventory?
Consumers expect companies to pay attention to environmental impact of products
British Standards and ISO 14000 series demand continuous improvements of environmental systems
Inventory describes the raw materials used, emissions that occur during product’s life
Environmental inputs/outputs
Economic inputs/outputs
Cleaner product design - CONSIDERATIONS?
Raw materials
Waste production
Energy consumption
Atmospheric emissions
Recycling - CONSIDERATIONS?
Easy to dismantle
Easy to separate different materials
Easy to remove components
Avoid surface treatments
Sustainability factors?
Cyclic - use materials that are continually recycled or are biodegradable (decreases waste pollution)
Solar - only use renewable energy in manufacturing and use
Safe - don’t damage the environment- doesn’t emit pollutants
Efficient - reduce materials and energy consumption
Social - supports human rights and justice
Life cycle stages?
Raw materials - use less, use materials with recyclable materials
Manufacture - reduce energy use, simplify processes
Distribution - reduce packaging
Use - increase durability, efficiency,
End of life - make reuse/recycling easier
Life cycle - RAW MATERIALS?
Materials (ore) in earth’s crust
Extraction is costly and bad for the environment (converting ore)
Reducing materials: conserves resources and reduces energy consumption and pollution
Life cycle - MANUFACTURE?
Manufacturing has a lot of environmental impact and cost - companies look for more efficient and cleaner processes
Achieved with designs using less materials and energy to make
-Simpler designs
-Different materials
-Better materials
-Simpler components
-Simplified workflow and better quality control
Life cycle - DISTRIBUTION?
High energy use and carbon dioxide emissions - contribute to global warming
Make roads busier
Better transport used (electric) and reduced journey length (use local resources)
Reduce packaging and make more efficient
Fossil fuel alternatives?
Diesel/petrol cause pollution
Costs are rising
Alternatives need: performance, reliability and availability
Most have poor availability
Liquefied petroleum gas - ADVANTAGES?
Good fuel availability
Reduced emissions
Low fuel cost
Liquefied petroleum gas - DISADVANTAGES?
Not available for diesel vehicles
No factory-fit vehicles available
Bio ethanol - ADVANTAGES?
Reduced emissions
Increased power
Factory-fit models available
Renewable fuel
Bio ethanol - DISADVANTAGES?
Poor availability
Limited vehicle availability
Price similar to diesel
Lower economy to petrol
Compressed natural gas - ADVANTAGES?
Can be fit to existing diesel cars using kit
Similar economy to diesel
Reduced emissions
Compressed natural gas - DISADVANTAGES?
Poor availability
Limited kits available
Slow refuelling
Hydrogen - ADVANTAGES?
Zero emissions
Renewable fuel
Hydrogen - DISADVANTAGES?
Poor availability
Limited kits available
Electricity - ADVANTAGES?
Zero emissions
Electricity - DISADVANTAGES?
Limited range
Slow charging/recharging
Product use?
Built in obsolescence means it can’t be repaired - need to be replaced
Replaceable parts extend product life
Technology can be upgraded when it becomes obsolete instead of replacing the whole thing - compromises hardware design
Technology can be reused on secondhand market or developing markets
Reduce?
Reduce amount of material use
Packaging designers optimise amount of materials used - reduce resource consumption
Reduces costs and improve margins
Consider materials and design used
Optimise package use (level of protection needed)
Reuse?
Minimises extraction and processing of raw materials
Sometimes making something reusable requires more energy
Recover?
Manufacturing a product requires energy
Waste that can’t be recycled can be incinerated to generate electricity and hot water
Recycle?
Taking waste products and reprocessing as something new
Recovering/recycling metal?
Metals can be melted down and reused many times
Ferrous: melted down - low scrap value
Non-ferrous: valuable in scrap form
Difficult to tell non-ferrous to ferrous - use magnets
Takes less energy to recycle aluminium than produce
Burning fossil fuels?
Greenhouse gases
Contributes to climate change
Sandals?
Humanity should deeply weave itself into the natural world - using renewable energy sources
Nukes?
Technology is the way forward
Should reduce dependency on the planet’s natural resources
Wind?
Power of wind turns turbines which generates electricity
Wind - ADVANTAGES?
No pollution
Low cost power - low maintenance to run
Flexibility - can be used in large scale wind farms or small individual ones
Installed offshore to avoid visual impact on environment
Wind - DISADVANTAGES?
Unsightly - ruin landscape
Take up lots of space - can only supply small proportion of total energy
Dangerous to birds - affect ecosystems
Noisy - disrupt community
Water?
Running water turns turbine
Generates hydroelectric power
Water - ADVANTAGES?
Hydroelectric plants are very efficient - minimum running cost (automated)
Last many years (50-100yrs+)
Lots of electricity generated (high set up cost payed off)
Dams can control flooding
Water - DISADVANTAGES?
Expensive construction
Areas must be flooded (make a dam) - people relocated
Dam failure would flood area (terrorism target)
High greenhouse gases produced (plant life destroyed)
Solar?
Hot water and electricity generated from solar energy via solar panels
Solar - ADVANTAGES?
Lots of energy in the sun
Little maintenance and cost (after set up)
Economically competitive for isolated areas
Solar - DISADVANTAGES?
Expensive set up
Energy more expensive - than other sources
Solar energy not available at night (cloudy)
Biomass/biofuels?
Plant materials incinerated to produce heat/electricity
Biomass/biofuels - ADVANTAGES?
Inexpensive
Lots of waste (landfills/agriculture)
Waste becomes useful
Biomass/biofuels - DISADVANTAGES?
Ecological damage - Deforestation
Carbon dioxide pollution
Expensive conversion - biomass to fuel
Nuclear?
Controlled nuclear chain reaction
Creates heat - boils water
Steam turns turbine
Generates electricity
Nuclear - ADVANTAGES?
Uranium is abundant
Heat created can heat the power station
Safety improving
Future developments more clean and efficient (fission reactor)
Nuclear - DISADVANTAGES?
Mistrust from public - large scale accidents (Chernobyl)
Risk of contamination (terrorism) and use to create nuclear bomb
Radioactive waste must be stored for 1000s of years (to decay)
Mining for uranium damages environment
Fossil fuels?
Burning hydrocarbons - oil, coal and gas
Produces heat and power
Fossil fuels - ADVANTAGES?
Large amounts of electricity for low costs - economies of scale
Efficient
Stations can be built anywhere
Fossil fuels - DISADVANTAGES?
Finite resources - will run out Produces emissions - carbon dioxide (largest contributor to global warming) Generates sulphuric acid (acid rain) Coal mining damages environment Wars started over oil reserves
Global sustainable development?
Developed countries need to reduce use of scarce resources
Requires shift to sustainable consumption and rescuing carbon footprint
Developing countries need to consume more (provide clean water, electricity) - trade with developed countries (developing countries need to expand and developed countries need to shrink to solve over consumption)
Sustainable consumption?
Improving analysis and public awareness Provide incentives New transport strategies Use more efficient/cleaner technologies Strengthen international action
Kyoto protocol?
Sets targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
Developed countries contributed most to global emissions
Emissions from developing countries will grow - meet their developmental needs
Developing countries exempt from emission targets
Non fossil fuel obligation?
NFO
Reduces carbon emissions
15% renewable wind by 2015
Carbon footprint?
Impact of human activities on the environment
Reducing carbon footprint?
Turning off electrical appliances
Installing energy saving light bulbs
Walking
Carbon offsetting - compensating carbon saving
Manufacturers reducing carbon footprint?
Life cycle assessments
Identifying production hot spots
Optimising energy efficiency
Identifying carbon offsetting solutions - neutralise carbon dioxide emissions (that can’t be eliminated)
Problems with forests?
Deforestation - removal of forests for land/timber
Environmental degradation of forest area - pollution reduces health
Loss of biodiversity - kills ecosystem
Loss of cultural assets - indigenous people
Loss of livelihood - forest dependent people
Climate change - forest removal releases carbon dioxide into environment
Sustainable timber production?
UK has responsibility to encourage sustainable production to minimise deforestation by:
- using sustainable sources - no longer importing from sources that deforest
- moving supply sources to areas of ecological quantity
- certificate system to ensure goods are sustainability managed
- reduce use of timber - educate to produce with less (simplify designs)
- support international efforts to control trade of unsustainable wood
