Engineering in Environmental

and Technological Contexts

Dr. Chandana Perera

Dr
Dept. of Management of Technology
Universityy of Moratuwa,,
Sri Lanka
1. Environmental impacts of
engineering decisions

h job
‰The j b off the
h engineer
i i the
is h world
ld -
making it habitable, enabling it to
support human life.
life
‰ Engineering is concerned with the
b ilt environment
built i t around d us, att the
th
present time and in the future; where it
will continue to evolve,
evolve with new
technologies and innovation being
discovered.
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‰Every time the built environment is

either changed or extended, the natural
environment has to transform with it.
it
‰ Whether this transformation is for the
b tt
better or for
f th worse, depends
the d d on
decisions made by the engineer in the
early stages of the design.
design
 2. Some “global”environmental
global environmental
concerns

‰ Population growth, food production, water

supply and energy supplies
‰ Global
Gl b l warming
i (the
(th greenhouse
h effect)
ff t)
‰ The depletion of the ozone layer
‰ Asteroid/Earth impact
•These problems have socio-political-economic as
well as technological aspects…
aspects
•All but the last are closely related to population
growth...
 3. How the engineering decisions affect
for environment
environment.

1. Any construction work that occurs anywhere in the

world, will have a profound effect on the natural
en i onment of both the site and the area
environment a ea around
a o nd it.
it
E.g.
If you build a dam on a piece of land,
land a body of water
will build up behind it to form a reservoir. Apart from the
visual impact of the dam itself, a large area of land will
be flooded and consequently many plants and possibly
animals may be lost.
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2. Global Warming
Deforestation is thought to be the main cause of
''Global
l b l Warming'.
i ' Iff it
i isi the
h civil
i il engineer
i that
h i
is
causing deforestation of some of the rainforest, then it
could be construed that it is the engineer who is
damaging the whole of the natural environment
3. Use of resource wasting and polluting technology by
industries in the absence of regulatory mechanisms.

4. Over-exploitation of resources by those who have

advanced
d d technology
t h l i order
in d t gain
to i supernormall
profits.

5. Excessive growth of fossil fuel powered vehicles.

 4. Strategies to minimize the worse effect
on environment by engineer
engineer’ss decisions
decisions.
‰Introducing Environmentally Friendly Technologies.
ƒ Some fundamental
f d l principles
i i l are as follows:
f ll
¾ The 4 R’S
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Replace the use of
natural resources
¾ Instead of end-of-pipe corrective measures, go for
preventive measures
¾ The
Th 3 E’S
In selecting technology consider Economic
Feasibility Endowment Rationality and Environment
Feasibility,
Sustainability
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ƒ One practical
i l approachh is
i to use the
h "Prevent
"
Pollution at the Point of Production (the 4 P's)"
approach
pp
¾ Use less polluting and less hazardous raw
materials.
¾ Use "green technology“
¾Use environmentally sound operating practices
¾Improve pollution monitoring systems
¾Modify products to minimize the use of
hazardous materials and processes.
¾Avoid waste through the use of "systems
systems
integration approaches".
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ƒ Using Cleaner Production

¾Historical steps to prevent the environmental
degradation
•Ignoring the problem
•Diluting or dispersing the pollution so that its
effects are less harmful or apparent
•Controlling pollution using ‘end-of-pipe’
treatment
• Preventing pollution and waste at the source
through a ‘Cleaner
Cleaner Production
Production’ approach
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¾ What is Cleaner Production:

Cleaner Production is defined as the continuous

application of an integrated preventive
environmental strategy applied to processes,
products and services to increase overall
efficiency and reduce risks to humans and the
environment
 Scientific
discoveries Technological
and
d breakthroughs
methodologies
Explosion
E l i off
Technological
Advancement

Advance Technological
g
Science devices and
know-how