Materials and Sustainable Development - Michael F. Ashby

Materials and Sustainable Development (eBook)

Michael F. Ashby (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2015 | 1. Auflage
328 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-12-802562-8 (ISBN)

This book, from noted materials selection authority Mike Ashby, provides a structure and framework for analyzing sustainable development and the role of materials in it. The aim is to introduce ways of exploring sustainable development to readers in a way that avoids simplistic interpretations and approaches complexity in a systematic way. There is no completely 'right' answer to questions of sustainable development - instead, there is a thoughtful, well-researched response that recognizes concerns of stakeholders, the conflicting priorities and the economic, legal and social aspects of a technology as well as its environmental legacy. The intent is not to offer solutions to sustainability challenges but rather to improve the quality of discussion and enable informed, balanced debate. - Winner of a 2016 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association - Describes sustainable development in increasingly detailed progression, from a broad overview to specific tools and methods - Six chapter length case studies on such topics as biopolymers, electric cars, bamboo, and lighting vividly illustrate the sustainable development process from a materials perspective - Business and economic aspects are covered in chapters on corporate sustainability and the 'circular materials economy' - Support for course use includes online solutions manual and image bank

Mike Ashby is one of the world's foremost authorities on materials selection. He is sole or lead author of several of Elsevier's top selling engineering textbooks, including Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design, Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Materials and the Environment, Materials and Sustainable Development, and Materials: Engineering, Science, Processing and Design. He is also co-author of the books Engineering Materials 1&2, and Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Design.

This book, from noted materials selection authority Mike Ashby, provides a structure and framework for analyzing sustainable development and the role of materials in it. The aim is to introduce ways of exploring sustainable development to readers in a way that avoids simplistic interpretations and approaches complexity in a systematic way. There is no completely "e;right"e; answer to questions of sustainable development - instead, there is a thoughtful, well-researched response that recognizes concerns of stakeholders, the conflicting priorities and the economic, legal and social aspects of a technology as well as its environmental legacy. The intent is not to offer solutions to sustainability challenges but rather to improve the quality of discussion and enable informed, balanced debate. - Winner of a 2016 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook and Academic Authors Association- Describes sustainable development in increasingly detailed progression, from a broad overview to specific tools and methods- Six chapter length case studies on such topics as biopolymers, electric cars, bamboo, and lighting vividly illustrate the sustainable development process from a materials perspective- Business and economic aspects are covered in chapters on corporate sustainability and the "e;circular materials economy"e;- Support for course use includes online solutions manual and image bank

Front Cover 1
Materials and Sustainable Development 4
Copyright 5
Contents 6
Acknowledgements 12
Preface 14
Chapter 1 - Background: Materials, Energy and Sustainability 16
1.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 17
1.2 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – A BRIEF HISTORY 18
1.3 MATERIALS – AN EVEN BRIEFER HISTORY 22
1.4 CRITICAL MATERIALS 26
1.5 ENERGY – UNITS AND QUANTITIES 31
1.6 RESOURCES, CONSUMPTION, POPULATION, AFFLUENCE AND IMPACT 32
1.7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 35
1.8 EXERCISES 35
Chapter 2 - What is a “Sustainable Development”? 42
2.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 43
2.2 WHAT DOES “SUSTAINABILITY” MEAN? 43
2.3 DEFINING “SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT” 45
2.4 ARTICULATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 48
2.5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 51
2.6 EXERCISES 52
Chapter 3 - Assessing Sustainable Developments: The Steps 54
3.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 54
3.2 DEALING WITH COMPLEX SYSTEMS 55
3.3 A LAYERED APPROACH TO ASSESSING A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 57
3.4 ASSEMBLING THE LAYERS 65
3.5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 66
3.6 EXERCISES 66
Chapter 4 - Tools, Prompts and Check-Lists 70
4.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 71
4.2 STEP 1: CLARIFYING THE PRIME OBJECTIVE 71
4.3 STEP 2: STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS 72
4.4 STEP 3: FACT-FINDING 75
4.5 STEP 4: INFORMED SYNTHESIS 81
4.6 STEP 5: REFLECTION ON ALTERNATIVES 86
4.7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 86
4.8 APPENDIX: CREATIVITY AIDS – A BRIEF SURVEY 87
4.9 EXERCISES 97
Chapter 5 - Materials Supply-Chain Risk 100
5.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 100
5.2 EMERGING CONSTRAINT ON MATERIAL SOURCING AND USAGE 101
5.3 PRICE VOLATILITY RISK 103
5.4 MONOPOLY OF SUPPLY AND GEOPOLITICAL RISK 104
5.5 CONFLICT RISK 106
5.6 LEGISLATION AND REGULATION RISK 107
5.7 ABUNDANCE RISK 109
5.8 CHANGING EXPECTATION OF CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY 110
5.9 MANAGING RISK 111
5.10 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 112
5.11 EXERCISES 112
Chapter 6 - Corporate Sustainability and Materials 116
6.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 116
6.3 CASE STUDIES: CORPORATE SRS 120
6.4 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 123
6.5 EXERCISES 123
Chapter 7 - Introduction to Case Studies 126
7.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 126
7.2 THE STRUCTURE OF THE CASE STUDIES 127
7.3 ARTICULATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THAT WENT WRONG 128
7.4 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 130
7.5 EXERCISES 131
Chapter 8 - Scaling Up Biopolymer Production 132
8.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION 133
8.2 PRIME OBJECTIVE AND SCALE 135
8.3 STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR CONCERNS 135
8.4 FACT-FINDING 137
?8.5 SYNTHESIS WITH THE THREE CAPITALS 142
?8.6 REFLECTION ON ALTERNATIVES 145
8.7 RELATED PROJECTS 147
Chapter 9 - Wind Farms 150
9.2 PRIME OBJECTIVE AND SCALE 153
9.3 STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR CONCERNS 153
9.4 FACT-FINDING 155
9.5 SYNTHESIS WITH THE THREE CAPITALS 160
9.6 REFLECTION ON ALTERNATIVES 162
9.7 RELATED PROJECTS 163
Chapter 10 - Case Study: Electric Cars 166
10.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 166
10.2 PRIME OBJECTIVE AND SCALE 168
10.3 STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR CONCERNS 168
10.4 FACT-FINDING 170
10.5 SYNTHESIS WITH THE THREE CAPITALS 176
10.6 REFLECTION ON ALTERNATIVES 178
10.7 RELATED PROJECTS 180
Chapter 11 - Lighting 182
11.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION 182
11.2 PRIME OBJECTIVE AND SCALE 184
11.3 STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR CONCERNS 185
11.4 FACT-FINDING 187
11.5 SYNTHESIS WITH THE THREE CAPITALS 192
11.6 REFLECTION ON ALTERNATIVES 194
11.7 SUGGESTED PROJECTS 194
Chapter 12 - Solar PV 196
12.2 PRIME OBJECTIVE AND SCALE 198
12.3 STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR CONCERNS 199
12.4 FACT-FINDING 201
12.5 SYNTHESIS WITH THE THREE CAPITALS 206
12.6 REFLECTION ON ALTERNATIVES 207
12.7 SUGGESTED PROJECTS 209
Chapter 13 - Bamboo for Sustainable Flooring 212
13.2 PRIME OBJECTIVE AND SCALE 215
13.3 STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR.CONCERNS 215
13.4 FACT-FINDING 217
13.5 SYNTHESIS WITH THE THREE.CAPITALS 222
13.6 REFLECTION ON ALTERNATIVES 223
13.7 SUGGESTIONS FOR RELATED.PROJECTS 225
Chapter 14 - The Vision: A Circular Materials Economy 226
14.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 227
14.2 THE ECOLOGICAL METAPHOR 228
14.3 THE SCALE OF THE VISION 232
14.6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 249
14.7 EXERCISES 251
Chapter 15 - Data, Charts and Databases 256
15.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 257
15.2 THE CES SUSTAINABILITY DATABASE 257
15.3 USING THE ELEMENTS DATA-TABLE 259
15.4 USING THE MATERIALS DATA-TABLE 261
15.5 USING THE POWER SYSTEMS DATA-TABLE 262
15.6 USING THE ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS DATA-TABLE 264
15.7 USING THE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS DATA-TABLE 265
15.8 USING THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD DATA-TABLE 267
15.9 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 272
Chapter 16 - Guidance for Instructors 274
16.1 INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS 275
16.3 PBL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 276
16.4 ORGANIZING THE PROJECT SCHEDULING THE ACTIVITIES
16.5 ASSESSMENT 281
16.7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 285
16.8 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER PROJECTS 286
Appendix - Useful Numbers 290
A.1 INTRODUCTION 290
A.2 MATERIALS 293
A.3 ENERGY 298
A.4 ENVIRONMENT 306
A.5 ECONOMICS (2011 DATA) 310
A.6 SOCIETY 313
Index 318

Chapter 1

Background

Materials, Energy and Sustainability

Abstract

Sustainable development is a systems problem. Visionary individuals (Malthus, Rachel Carsons, Meadows) perceived both this and the risks it implies, but it was not until the 1980s that the importance of thinking in holistic terms took hold. Since then numerous studies, most recently those of the International Panel on Climate Change, have highlighted the potential problems for the future inherent in the way we live at present.

Materials are an important part of this system. Recent technological developments, particularly in mobile communication, information processing, entertainment and defence have made them more so. We are now dependent on access to most of the periodic table and while the ores from which some of its members are drawn are plentiful, others are scarce, often localised in unsympathetic surroundings and controlled by regimes that may have other plans for them. And refining and synthesising materials is energy intensive – some 21% of all the energy we use is used to make materials.

The global population is increasing, and the affluence of this population is rising at the same time. With increased affluence comes increase in consumption, so, unless we can find ways to stop it, the consumption of materials and energy will rise considerably faster than the population itself. The vision expressed in the Brundtland Commission report – that of providing for the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs – is one that almost everyone would accept. But a consensus on how to achieve it is harder to achieve.

Keywords

Brundtland report; Energy; IPAT equation; Landmark publications; Materials; Sustainable development

Chapter Outline

1.1 Introduction and Synopsis 2

1.2 Sustainable Development – A Brief History 3

1.3 Materials – An Even Briefer History 7

1.4 Critical Materials 11

1.5 Energy – Units and Quantities 16

1.6 Resources, Consumption, Population, Affluence and Impact 17

1.7 Summary and Conclusions 20

1.8 Exercises 20

1.1. Introduction and Synopsis

Sustainable development has to do with our relationship with the natural environment on which we depend for food, water, energy and raw materials. But there is much more to it than that. It is also about our relationship with the global economic system in which we source raw materials, manufacture products and trade. And perhaps most important, it has to do with our relationship with each other, meaning the values of the society in which we live and its relationship with other societies. Understandably, not everyone perceives sustainable development in the same way. An environmentalist might judge it by its contribution to the protection and nurture of the natural environment, preserving clean air, pure water, productive land and a thriving biosystem. A humanist might instead look for its contribution to the generation and sharing of knowledge and understanding. The corporate view of sustainable development might accept these but see the financial health of the corporation as the ultimate metric. Thus even the simplest of sustainable developments has at least three facets: environmental, social and economic.

The Western view of development is one of economic growth based on urbanization and technical innovation, using global markets to source resources and to distribute goods and services. Western democracies have become good at this, harnessing the energy and resources of the natural environment to provide goods and services. Its proponents recognize that natural resources are finite in extent but point out that technical advance has, in the past, more than offset the depletion of resources and that there is no reason to think that it will fail to do so in the future. The economic histories of developed nations suggest a natural progression from early agrarian society through industrialization to a postindustrial economy in which wealth increases faster than population thereby enabling further economic growth, and with it, an evolving society. In this view, less-developed nations should try to emulate the Western model, opening their countries to Western values and to global trade in resources, goods and services.

The concept of sustainable development challenges this technocentric view. The view of nature as a resource to be tapped to meet present-day human needs ignores the needs both of other forms of life and of future generations of humans. The focus on disposable income, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) seen as a metric of national prosperity, prioritizes wealth and ownership of goods above quality of life and individual self-attainment above the common good. Recent history, particularly, has prompted self-analysis in the West: the banking crisis of 2008 and the failure of democracy to root itself immediately in the Arab spring raise questions about the Western ideal of free-market economies. Most telling, perhaps, is the simple fact that it is not possible for all nations to replicate the lifestyle of the West – the planet’s atmosphere is not able to absorb the resulting emissions, its natural hydrological cycle cannot provide the necessary freshwater, and the present-day international scramble to secure access to mineral resources suggests that these, too, are under pressure.

Well, there is a lot here. How can we get to grips with it all? The best place to start is the big picture. What is the background to current thinking about sustainable development and how is it evolving? How has our dependence on materials arisen? And where does the energy needed to extract and process them come from? We start with brief histories of all three.

1.2. Sustainable Development – A Brief History

Technological development without regard for environmental and social impacts brings undesired consequences: degradation of air, water and land, loss of biodiversity, resource depletion, and increasing inequality. This realization may seem recent, but it is not new. Thomas Malthus, writing in 1798, foresaw the link between population growth and resource depletion, predicting gloomily that the demands of a growing population would, sooner or later, outstrip the capacity of the earth to support it. Almost 200 years later, a group of scientists known as the Club of Rome reported their modeling of the interaction of population growth, resource depletion and pollution, concluding that “if (current trends) continue unchanged .… humanity is destined to reach the natural limits of development within the next 100 years” (Meadows et al., 1972). The report generated both consternation and criticism, largely on the grounds that the modeling did not allow for scientific and technological advance. But in the last decade thinking about this broad issue has reawakened. There is a growing acceptance that, in the words of another distinguished report, “many aspects of developed societies are approaching…saturation, in the sense that things cannot go on growing much longer without reaching fundamental limits. This does not mean that growth will stop in the next decade, but that a declining rate of growth is foreseeable in the lifetime of many people now alive. In a society accustomed…to 300 years of growth, this is something quite new, and it will require considerable adjustment” (WCED, 1987).

Table 1.1 lists nine documents that have had profound influence on current thinking about the effects of human activity on the environment. The publications span a little over 50 years. The starting point for today’s thinking about sustainable development is the report of the Brundtland Commission of 1987 (WCED, 1987), Figure 1.1. It makes the observation that “- each community, each country, strives for survival and prosperity with little regard for the impact on others. Some consume the earth’s resources at a rate that would leave little for future generations. Others …consume too little and live with the prospects of hunger, squalor, disease and early death.” The report formulates an ideal: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

A series of initiatives since the Brundtland report have created the wide-ranging interpretation of sustainable development that we see today. The Montreal Protocol (UNEP, 1989) banned substances that damage the ozone layer and has largely fulfilled its aims. The Rio Earth Summit (UNEP, 1992), endorsed by 180 nations, set out 27 principles supporting sustainable development. After 10 years, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, 2002), meeting in Johannesburg, reaffirmed the commitment of 183 countries to achieve sustainable development objectives, among them are as follows:

▪ To halve the number of people in poverty by 2015.

▪ To halve the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water by 2015.

Table 1.1

Landmark Publications

Date, Author and Title

Subject

1962
Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring” (Carson, R., 1962)

Meticulous examination of the consequences of the use of the pesticide DDT...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	19.1.2015
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz
	Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften
	Technik ► Bauwesen
	Technik ► Maschinenbau
	Weitere Fachgebiete ► Land- / Forstwirtschaft / Fischerei
ISBN-10	0-12-802562-X / 012802562X
ISBN-13	978-0-12-802562-8 / 9780128025628

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