ENGR 202

Sustainable Development and

Environmental Stewardship

Chapter 1
Why are we interested in the environment?

- Environment: not just the physical environment (air, water, soil), but also anything non-living/manmade
(buildings, highways, etc.) and living environment that are all part of an ecosystem.

- We care about the welfare of the environment

• If we can’t improve it, at least we can maintain it rather than making it
worse for future generations
• We therefore don’t do any development that go against the welfare
• We rather aim for a sustainable development
• Past 50 years: improved awareness on this problem

3 priorities for human survival Chemical engineers are highly involved because there are a lot
of changes and processes that transform biological and
• Air (without air, can only last few seconds) chemical environment.
• Water (without water, can only last 3 weeks) - Focus on the negative aspects of:
• Food (without food, can only last 2 months) • Polluted air
• Waste/polluted water
• Contaminated soil
Laws and regulations

Put in place to prevent negative changes to our environment

• First environmental laws introduced: United States,1970
 Richard Nixon: the creation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

 Biggest environmental agency in the world

 Legislation on National Environment Policy Act (NEPA)
 Until that time, there were student recruitments in universities for companies
 EPA established 50 centers around USA that employ PhD’s that study environmental subjects
 EPA references are government documents that can be provided on demand
FRAMING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Human activity influences the environment

The adverse effects caused by

Development

Industrial

or by the release of a substances in the environment

or by any other human activity

Source: https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/our-
environment/effects-of-human-activities-on-environment/
Human activity influences the environment

Past:
Historically, the most pervasive environmental changes caused by people have been related to
land use—particularly the clearing of forests for agriculture and urbanization.

Present:
Now, in the modern industrial aera, the added impacts of emissions from modern industrial
technology are rapidly accelerating the process of human induced environmental change.

Past Action:
In preindustrial societies, for instance, the clear-cutting of forests to support agriculture was
essential for providing food for a growing population.

Past Result:
Over time, however, the continued depletion of forests often led to soil erosion loss of soil
nutrients, and a subsequent inability to sustain agricultural production As a result, many
communities disappeared or were forced to migrate elsewhere.
Human activity influences the environment

Factors
Factors contributing to Environmental loss are:

Deforestation,

Over-population,

Waste,

Pollution,

Overuse/wastage of natural resources,

Energy industry

Source: https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/our-
environment/effects-of-human-activities-on-environment/
Deforestation
Occurs for many reason:

Used or sold as fuel,

Used as pasture for livestock,

Plantation of commodities,

Settlement

Over-population

The number of people in a group exceeds the

carrying capacity of a region occupied by that group

Source: https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/our-
environment/effects-of-human-activities-on-environment/
Waste

Waste & wastes are terms for unwanted materials:

Ex)
• municipal solid waste (household trash/refuse)

• Hazardous waste

• Wastewater (such as sewage, which contains bodily wastes,

or surface runoff

• Radioactive waste, and others

Source: https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/our-
environment/effects-of-human-activities-on-environment/
Pollution

Pollution-adding harmful substances or products into the

environment
The use of fossil fuels is the major cause of pollution

Air Land Water

Smog Solid wastes Oil spills
Ozone
Depletion Landfills Fertilizers
Acid rain

Source: https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/our-
environment/effects-of-human-activities-on-environment/
Overuse of natural resources
The depletion of natural resources has
become a major focus of governments
and organizations such as the United
Nations

The deletion is caused by

Mining,

Petroleum extraction

Fishing,

Forestry
 Energy Industry

The environmental impact of energy

harvesting and consumption is diverse.

• Biodiesel
• Coal mining and burning
• Electricity generation
• Nuclear power
• Petroleum
• Wind power
• Oil shale industry
• Reservoirs
Human activity influences the environment

Present Situation

In today s industrial society, many air pollutants and water contaminants entering the environment as
byproducts of modern technology are widely recognized sources of human illness and ecological
damage.

More subtle or indirect impacts, such as the effects of long-term global warming from anthropogenic
emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, are less clearly defined at the moment but raise new
concerns about the longer-term effects of energy use and industrial activities.
Enter Public Policy

Environmental policies also are often based on concepts of fairness, or equity, such as the
idea that all citizens have a right to breathe clean air.

In other cases, the symbolism or basic ethic of environmental protection is most important,
as with the protection of endangered species. Because environmental policy often has
significant economic implications, it is almost always influenced by private interests as well
as the public interest.

New cars might have to be equipped with catalytic converters to reduce air pollution and
cleaner technologies may be demanded to generate electricity.
 THE ROLE OF ENGINEERING
Engineers are primarily involved in problems related to technology development and deployment.

 solving technical problems in various fields such as construction, manufacturing, medicine, and numerous
other areas
Computer science

The sources of anthropogenic environmental change fall into two broad categories:
(1) changes associated with [and use (including depletion of natural resources) and
(2) changes induced by emissions or residues from products and industrial processes.
APPROACHES TO “GREEN” ENGINEERING

The design, commercialization, and use of processes and products in a way that reduces pollution,
promotes sustainability, and minimizes risk to human health and the environment, without
sacrificing economic viability and efficiency

Green vs sustainable engineering

Green engineering Sustainable engineering
Optimized to minimize negative impacts Focused on building a better future for the
without depleting natural environmental
vs next generations
resources
3 parts of green engineering:

1) Green design: for all the products we produce, the design needs to consider the environment
• Doesn’t have to be industrial
• Can be any kind of design

2) Prevention of pollution

3) Industrial ecology: producing an industrial product with an ecological mind

• Convince industries to do their process in an ecological way (waste, material, processes)
Sources of Environmental Impacts
Categories:
Materials selection, Manufacturing processes, and Energy use.

Materials Selection
Two key questions to keep in mind when selecting materials are “Can I use alternative materials that are
environmentally prefer.

Manufacturing Processes
This topic refers to the methods that engineers devise to turn raw materials into finished materials and
products.

Energy Use
It is perhaps the most pervasive and most important of any that engineers deal with. Energy is vital for
life and for an economy, and the quantities and types of energy that a society uses directly affect
environmental quality.

Nuclear power leaves a different kind of environmental legacy, and even renewable energy sources like
hydroelectric, biomass, solar energy, and wind power are not without their adverse environmental
consequences.
 Recent trends
Material & Manufacturing Processes
Consider removing hazardous substances from emerging contaminants, such as
Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), from manufactured products.

Applied widely as industrial chemicals and in

consumer products  Unique properties are
useful for their durability and resistance to
heat, oil, and water

Source: 2019 Water Reuse Foundation 2019

Energy use: Carbon sequestration

The process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is one
method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the
goal of reducing global climate change
Source: AMWINS, 2022
A Life Cycle Perspective: life cycle assessment (LCA)
A systematic analysis of environmental impact over the course of the entire life cycle of a product, material, process,
or other measurable activity
 the “big picture" of how engineering decisions in any particular area affect the environment.

Improvements result from creating cleaner, more efficient manufacturing operations; from
reducing the energy and materials needed for use of a product; and from improving the recovery
of energy and materials during waste management.
Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Development

As defined by Graedel and Allenby (1995)

Industrial ecology: humanity can deliberately and rationally approach and maintain a desirable carrying capacity,
given continued economic, cultural, and technological evolution  optimize the consumption of natural resources
and energy and minimize the generation of waste

The Industrial ecology concept:

Understanding an industrial system requires considering its relationship with the surrounding systems, not in
isolation

Optimize the total materials cycle from virgin material, to finished material, to component, to product, to obsolete
product, and to ultimate disposal.

Factors to be optimized include resources, energy, and capital.

Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Development

Another embodiment of industrial ecology principles was offered in a recent National Research Council study
(NRC, 1996) that suggests that industrial ecology should include
(1) circulating and reusing material flows within the system;
(2) reducing the amount of materials Used in products to achieve a particular function;
(3) protecting living organisms by minimizing or eliminating the flow of harmful substances; and
(4) minimizing the use of energy and the flow of waste heat back to the environment.

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987)

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present with- out compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
BASIC ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES
Two basic principles that apply to nearly all types of environmental problem solving:
conservation of mass and conservation of energy

1. Conservation of Mass

law of mass conservation states that mass can be neither created nor
destroyed

Rate of creation of mass = 0

A common application of the mass conservation principle is a mass balance for

a specific technology or environmental system defined by an explicit boundary
or control volume

Total mass flow in = Total mass flow out + Change in mass stored
Rate of mass storage
Problem

An industrial plant discharges 100 kg/day of liquids into a disposal pond. Measurements show that 1
kg/day seeps out of the bottom of the pond into the ground and 2 kg/day evaporates into the air.

What is the rate of mass accumulation in the pond?

Total mass flow in = Total mass flow out + Rate of mass storage

100 kg/d = (I kg/d + 2 kg/d) + (Rate of mass storage)

Rate of mass storage = 100 kg/d - 3 kg/d = 97 kg/d

2. Conservation of Energy

Analogous to the law of mass conservation, a second fundamental tenet of engineering analysis is
that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but merely transformed from one form to another.

Rate of creation of energy = 0

the First Law of Thermodynamics

Total energy flow in = Total energy flow out + Change in energy stored
Problem

Over a year an electric power plant generated 30 million kilowatt-hours (kW-hr) of useful electrical
energy by burning a fuel. The total fuel energy input to the plant was 100 million kW-hr.

How much energy was released to the environment in the form of waste heat, assuming no change
in energy stored?

Total energy flow in = Total energy flow out + Change in energy stored

assuming no change in energy stored

So, Total energy flow in = Total energy flow out

100 M = 30 M+ ? (Heat environment)

Heat to environment = (100 M – 30 M) = 70 M kW-hr