Project 3: Ethics of Current Energy Scenarios (Set by Dr. N.

Krishnamurthy) The world has in recent decades awakened to the fact that humans have under-rated the appetite and demand for energy and over-rated the quantity and quality of energy resources. Apart from the technological aspects of this mismatch, a new set of ethical concerns has surfaced in both under-developed and developed nations. Evaluate the ethical concerns in the search and exploitation of energy sources both in the short-term and in the long-term. Evaluate the credible options for balancing our energy demand and supply dilemma, emphasising the ethical considerations for engineers as well as society. Draft Outline: 1. Introduction - Brief background on current energy scenarios - Define our scope (What type of energy sources will we be discussing about?) - Non - renewable energy sources (Coal, Oil) - Renewable energy sources (Solar, Wind, Hydro-power, Nuclear) - Provide our stand? - Research Methodology? 2. Countries over-rating the quantity and quality of energy resources and under-rating their energy demand and consumption 2.1 Background - Energy consumption in many countries are increasing at an unhealthy rate - Currently, fossil fuels account for a majority of the worlds commercial energy consumption (US EIA, 2011) - Fossil-fuel is considered as a non-renewable energy source It takes centuries for the organic matter to form. Our increased usage will eventually cause the natural supply to run out - Lead to more greenhouse gases emission which causes environmental issues (i.e. global warming, acid rain, etc) Energy-related activities account for over 85% of our human-generated greenhouse gas emissions in US, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels (US EPA, 2011) 2.2 Ethical Issues - Wastefulness of energy resources The waste energy may be used by other groups of people and for more important and useful purposes - Cause environmental and energy shortage problems to future generations - Countries should not consume more energy than they can produce 3. Ethical concerns of search and exploitation of energy sources 3.1 Short-term issues (of search and exploitation) 3.1.1 Growing of crops solely for biofuels. In recent years, there has been suggestion to grow more corn as an alternative energy option. (citation) Biofuels such as ethanol, produced from corn is a better from a environmental

standpoint as it produces less pollutants during combustion. However, there are several concerns with this option. Firstly, growing crops as biofuels will use a significantly large portion of land and it may be using up precious land used for providing food to the population. Secondly, more fertilizer will be required for the crops and this may result in water quality degradation due to nutrient runoff from the fields. Soil Erosion is also a major concern with such large scale production of crops. 3.1.2 Switching to natural gas Natural gas is currently a feasible alternative to other fossil fuels like gasoline and diesel.It burns much cleaner and does not produce as much pollutants. The price of natural gas also fluctuates much lesser than that of its counterparts. (citation) The drawbacks of this option however is the new equipment running on natural gas would have to be newly equipped and the prices for these equipment are much higher. Some governments like the US are actively trying to provide grants to make the prices more affordable.(citation) 3.1.3Exploration of oil in oceans Who does the ocean belong to? 3.2 Long-term issues (of search and exploitation) 3.2.1Switch to Nuclear power The Nuclear Power option has been under the spotlight recently due to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. Potential for disaster and trouble with waste disposal, however the fact that radioactive fuels do not produce greenhouse gases and pollute the environment during power production is a feasible reason to implement it. (Report, 1995) 3.2.2Building of more Hydroelectric Dams Clearing of natural flora and fauna and environmental destruction resulting from the clearing of large amounts of land and recently the ethical challenge of Brazil energy needs outweighing the social and ecological impacts of building Belo Monte Dam. (Hoffman, 2011) (US iraq war, alaska) 4. Evaluate credible options of balancing our energy demand and supply - Recommendations * Reducing consumption (eg. LED lights used instead of conventional lightbulbs) - Appliances (solar lamp, green computing, power usage effectiveness), Building design (building performance skylights) Vehicles (hybrid,fuel cell, electric car) - Is air conditioning a need or a want and the ethics involved * Use and development of biofuel (less environmental effect) - With 90% of the energy requirement depending on fossil fuels the price and availability of commodities will in turn be constrained by fossil fuel costs - The ethics in deciding between greenhouse gas benefits to impact on land (low return of energy per acre, opportunity cost of using large area of land for biofuel) - Food Vs Fuel and Fuel Vs Nature issue for biofuel (Thompson, 2008) * Use of sustainable technology through smart infrastructure.

- Today about 0.1% of the world's energy comes from solar power, most of it using photovoltaic cells. With better utilization of technology the it could grow to as much as 10% in 20 to 35 years (Guinness,2007) *

5. Conclusion - Provide an overview of the issue and maybe reiterate key points References Guinness, E. (2007). The Sunshine Economy, Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/23/energy-sources-future-tech-07egangcx_ee_0824sources.html on 20 February 2012 Radioactive Waste Management Committee (1995). Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal of long-lived Radioactive wastes. http://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/reports/1995/geodisp/geological-disposal.pdf Retrieved 20th February 2012 Karen Hoffman (2011). Ecologist, Belo Monte dam marks a troubling new era in Brazil's attitude to its rainforest. http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1016666/belo_monte_dam_marks_a_troubling _new_era_in_brazils_attitude_to_its_rainforest.html Thompson, P. B. (2008). Agricultural Biofuels: Two Ethical Issues, Michigan State University. Retrieved from http://nabc.cals.cornell.edu/pubs/nabc_20/NABC20_Part_3_4a-Thompson.pdf on 20 February 2012 US Energy Information Administration (2011). International Energy Outlook 2011. Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/pdf/0484(2011).pdf on 20 February 2012. US Environmental Protection Agency (2011). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 - 2009. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads11/US-GHG-Inventory2011-Complete_Report.pdf on 20 February 2012. Questions: RED Hizam: GREEN Tinu: BLUE David: ORANGE Key Terms: 1) under-rated the appetite and demand for energy? (define) So we have underestimated the worlds demand and usage of energy. I think we are not giving due importance (under-rating) to our increasing energy demand. We are in the race to find more energy rather than reducing over consumption. So this should be an

ethical dilemma rite? Our sole idea should be reducing consumption but we are trying to improve the efficiency of energy generation (renewable and non-renewable) Hmm so I guess, theres two different parts like u mentioned in fb. Haha yeah if u linked it like tat, then its okay i think. yeap2 tats good! But the point over here is we derive much of the energy needs (say 90% or more) from nonrenewable sources, which is wrong. It means we are not leaving anything behind for the future generation.(In ethics we are being selfish :P ) I know. I think we will gather our points and then ask Prof Krishna in the next tutorial on which point we should emphasize. So where does the security to civilians come? Lets say, while creating a dam there is always a chance of flooding. And then for nuclear plants, if something goes wrong there will be a massacre (Like the fukushima , the one in Russia etc) So there is an ethical dilemma--> Creation of energy for economic development but the same thing if gone wrong can take valuable lives. Hmm, for the nuclear plant im not sure abt the ethical dilemma. But i guess naturally it falls under the exploitation of energy sources? Like destruction of natural habitat, forest, wildfire. e.g. Alaska and Africa. Oh yah the chernobyl incident. haha, hmm tats a good point. My thinking is tat for chernobyl disaster, the ethical issues are the improper safety measures put in place in the plant on the use of the nuclear energy itself. hmm, Im reallie not sure abt it. Maybe its an ethical issue. Right now I just find it hard to reallie link using Nuclear energy as an ethics issue. No worries, maybe ur right. =) We can ask David. but i like ur point on humans keep on increasing their energy usage. haha ok. I m still reading the top lines...hang on.Hey guys, if im not wrong...you all were initially discussing about the underratednedness (this is not even a word :P but got u )of the energy issue right? ahahahahah but then....you all deviated? and started talking about...erm...ethical issues relating to energy. Have you come to a conclusion to the above question? arh ok...i look at the question and i am a little confused myself at what exactly it wants it seems to want alot of things answered. I am wondering whether....Evaluate the credible options for balancing our energy demand and supply dilemma, emphasising the ethical considerations for engineers as well as society. he wants us to evaluate this point from an engineering or purely ethical perspective

hmm, yeah i tink its from both views. like engineers, they are naturally obligated to improve a humans life and make us technologically advanced (i.e. professional ethics). But from societal view, is it morally right to exploit energy sources if they cause harm? well, from what we learn in our ethics classes, I do not think we can exploit any energy source if it is clearly going to cause significant harm to the people. However, with rules placed it may become acceptable. But even with the rules in place when a government announces a new power plant there is a lot of pressure from the society (activist) to stop it due to environmental issues like protesting, strikes etc etc. So it is not about working based on the rules defined as per law. Why would people protest if the government plans a new plant? The government is not going against the law, they are following all the rules. So the ethical way is balancing the economic development with the environmental issues. both of ur points are good. I wanna ask tinu, what do u mean by balancing economic development yeah? just curious With new energy sources there is economic development but there is also a concern to environment (pollution etc). That is what I meant by balancing. If we just go for economic development we can burn all the fossil fuel but then there will be no environment to live in. I see, I get your point, yeah its a good point. =) So government votes for new plants (maybe because of lobbying of Multi national companies etc) and people try to protect the environment (ethical way). So in the end there is a balance between development and environment. Right now we are not clear on what ethical issue we are supposed to work on. There are a million of them. Another ethical question would be the ever increasing price of oil in the current world scenario (just thought of it now) - with the increasing demand oil gets priced more (which increase the price of other goods and services leading to inflation) and more the reason being it is more difficult to extract oil from the lower layers eh yeah, this is a current issue. how do u link increasing oil prices to ethical issue yah? it looks promising but im trying to link it. haha, not good with my linking. haha, we have some thoughts on the question so yeap, we are just brainstorming and giving our views. Havent really form any conclusion yet. David, what are ur thoughts yah to the question? like how do u view and approach it? I feel I am wrong myself, I am just putting out my view. (So David what do you think?We can wait :) ) I dont know if I am right but here goes one example : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

Here the power plant was created for energy generation but it is always argued that nuclear plants can cause a huge death toll if something goes wrong. Thereby the government choose to start a nuclear plant and put the lives of people at risk. [ethical concern for exploitation of energy resource] [but the same would not have happened if they used, lets say, wind mills or solar power out there, but would not have achieved the huge power output like the nuclear power plant gives.It would have never caused any disaster. So what I am saying is to get more energy we are taking more risk. Does that have anything to do with ethics?]

2) over-rated the quantity and quality of energy resources (define)

Two important questions: 1) Evaluate the ethical concerns in the search and exploitation of energy sources both in the short-term and in the long-term. 2) Evaluate the credible options for balancing our energy demand and supply dilemma, emphasising the ethical considerations for engineers as well as society. lol. Davids random brain storming content: 1. Present short term energy solutions: Hybrid fuel systems, Biofuels, Coal, Improvements to efficiency (But why are hybrid and renewable soruces not developed much? The simple answer is the calorific value is very less and the cost of production is very high. So people goes on using fossil fuels -> But is this an ethical scenario?) 2. ok at least in my opinion, what i was trying to brainstorm was the various energy alternatives in the short term then hope to establish any ethical issues involved in such alternatives...then hopefully we can start answering the question in some way.(I was just trolling :) ) i see what you did there...:X (My work here is done.) WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW?????? :P haha im just researching and breaking down the question. trying to understand what the question reallie wants. lol, yeah i guess fundamentally thats wat its abt To me ethics is all about good and evil. Let me put it this way, example, lets say creating a new dam (a lot of people need to be relocated and also the risk of flooding etc ) for powering a group of private factories is ethically wrong [but then if the factories provide employment opportunity to a large number of people, will it then become acceptable, there is a question MINDFUCKED :P] but if the same is done for powering a village or a group of villages it becomes morally acceptable coincidentally this is whats happening in brazil right now. The prime minister just gave the go ahead to clear the tribes people in favour for the dam --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Background scenarios in question: 1) under-rated the appetite and demand for energy 2) over-rated the quantity and quality of energy resources 3) a new set of ethical concerns has surfaced in both under-developed and developed nations Parts of the question: Evaluate the ethical concerns in the search and exploitation of energy sources both in the short-term and in the long-term. hmm hey david, just ask u yeah. I think the short-term and long-term here is referring to the ethical concerns? 1. Present short term alternatives Hybrid fuel systems, Biofuels, Coal, Improvements to efficiency of powerplants 2.Future long term alternatives Alternative fuels (nuclear energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydroelectric energy, tidal energy), changing system of power generation entirely. Ethical Issues Involved (with short term and long term alternatives!) 1. Exploiting and using fossil fuels cause adverse environmental effects (Common Morality) - Destruction of forests, wildfire and natural habitats to meet the oils supply (e.g. Alaska and Africa) 2. Fossil fuel is a finite resource. We are using up the resource at a very fast rate and it will run out in the future, causing problems to future generation. Evaluate the credible options for balancing our energy demand and supply dilemma dilemma in question? 1.energy demand dilemma...either decrease population OR decrease demand OR increase supply at the cost of the environment. 2.energy supply dilemma... using renewable sources over fossil fuel Any other credible options to balance the dilemma? wait for the end of the world in dec 2012.

Emphasising the ethical considerations for engineers as well as society.

Stupid points i know (dont consider the content just see the style used :P), but I think this is how we should weigh the ethical considerations. Including scientific facts from research material and evaluate how to balance the supply.

Renewable Source Engineer Society Non-renewable (fossil fuel) Engineer Society

Good NIL Less environmental effect

Evil More investment and better technology needed Higher cost per unit Trololololololol

Easier to generate. lesser price Supply will end at some point of time. Pollution

{I got to leave now.....WIll join you guys later :) } alrite! think im going off soon too. =) if im not ard, can just fb or msg me for aniting.

Hizams Corner: Factual Issues: Conceptual Issues: Ethical and Moral Issues: Case Studies: 1) Keystone XL Pipeline (US) - Oil from Tar sand is one of the worlds most carbon-intensive fuel References: 1) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001235/123511eo.pdf