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Chapter 5
TECHNOLGY
Technology presents great problems and opportunities to achieving sustainability. On the one hand technological development can be blamed for drastic increases in the use of resources and generation of pollution. On the other hand to overcome our dependence on fossil fuels, toxic chemicals, and failure to reuse resources we need to invest in the R&D that will make technology support the ecosystem rather than destroy it. As noted in chapter 4, the challenge is formidable because with increasing levels of population and expectations of affluence, technological performance has to improve the efficiency of energy and resource use by a factor of ten. This efficiency has to be achieved while at the same time reducing the use of chemicals or metals or any other pollutants that are going to disrupt the ecosystem or be antagonistic to human health. We are beginning to see the introduction of many promising technologies both for products and the processes that make them. These innovations are often the focus of pollution prevention and design for environment activities.
It is highly doubtful, however, that any one product or process innovation is going to achieved the necessary improvement in efficiency. The challenge is to create technology systems that reduce the overall environmental impact of a service that is currently provided by a product, or in other words create the physical infrastructure of industrial ecology. The objective of this chapter is to describe how these physical infrastructures can be integrated into alternative systems of reducing environmental impact.
5.1 Technologies and Industrial Ecology
Any company’s products, whether goods or services, do not stand-alone. They are part of the technological systems of society that are shared by all businesses and which make their business possible. A product can exist at many levels within this system. In our model of industrial ecology these relationships can be traced forward and backward in the product cycle. This movement in the product cycle, whether it is in the production, use or recycling of the product uses many different physical infrastructures. Not only are these infrastructures necessary to make and use the product, they usually set many of the parameters for production and use. Most importantly, from our perspective, is the great likelihood that most of the environmental impact of a product will come from the infrastructures that support it.
The automobile is a good example of how the focus on a particular product can obscure its greater environmental impacts. The greatest impacts from cars are not its use of gasoline and the contribution to the green house effect or the manufacture of cars with all the materials and energy that are used. Greater impacts come from the building of all the roads, bridges, parking lots and tunnels. This construction requires the destruction of vast natural areas and habitat to extract huge quantities of gravel, limestone, asphalt, steel, etc. Processing all these materials requires enormous amounts of energy and processing materials that produce huge amounts of green house gases and other pollutants. Construction is another source of energy use, pollution, and habitat disruption. And of course the roads, parking lots, etc. will occupy vast areas of
land that could be left to nature or used for other purposes. But that is not the end of the story. Cars need gasoline, oil, refrigerants, lubricants and other inputs throughout their life. The infrastructure to supply these extracts an enormous environmental cost. The greatest cost comes from gasoline and oil supply: in the extraction of crude oil; its refining; ships, trucks, and pipelines for distribution; and then there are the gas stations that not only take up space above the ground, but also underneath the ground (where leakage threatens the health of the water table). The impacts of a product and the infrastructure that supports it can also be exacerbated or reduced by land-use planning. Land-use that separates residences, commerce, industry, and leisure requires more cars, buses, and trains; more roads, bridges, parking lots, and gas stations; less parks and natural habitat.
It is important to mention here that the environmental impacts of the physical infrastructure of the automobile are, however, based on the social, economic, and political infrastructures that we will discuss in later chapters. These social infrastructures support physical infrastructures in both active and passive terms. The active support includes the policies and financing that builds the roads, bridges, and parking lots, the pipelines, refineries, and petrol stations; or to fight wars to ensure oil supply. The passive support includes a diversity of allowances for externalities. Governments support the environmental impact of cars when don’t recognize or tax the externalities created by cars or account only the GNP benefits of more building of infrastructure without considering the costs of lost space, habitat and quality of life. Finally, cultural values that see the car as a status symbol or means of independence and convenience are at the base of the system.
Although the automobile is a powerful and obvious example of how a product is reliant on high-impact infrastructure systems, any other product is reliant on similar systems and shares the responsibility for their impacts. Thus in table 5.i can be seen the infrastructure needs of a refrigerator, a t-shirt and a hotel room. These products are the focus of a product hierarchy that includes not only the components that go into them, but also all the technological, land-use, and political-economic-cultural institution infrastructure that is shared by them. That table can only indicate some of the components of the product subsystem, of the technological infrastructures, or of the policies and institutions that support them, and one can freely think of several other examples within each level of the hierarchy. More importantly, the table does not have enough room to mention the environmental impacts that occur at each level. The focus here can be placed on technological infrastructure systems because they produce the greatest impact, and the scale of that impact results not only from the type of product, but also from the nature of land use and political-economic-cultural institutions. Thus in regard to a refrigerator, we can consider the impacts of coal, oil, and uranium extraction, pollution from electricity generation, distribution systems, the disposal of wastes and how the location and regulation of power plants lessens or worsens those impacts. A t-shirt depends on an international division of labor and division of consumers from direct responsibility for their environmental impacts. Monoculture and chemical based cotton agriculture goes on in several places while textile production and sewing and their impacts go on in other places. Thus, not only does are there local impacts from production, but the constant traveling of the t-shirt from location to location also creates impacts. This system is encouraged by a belief in a free trade that ignores externalities and demand for cheap and easily disposed of clothing. Services are much more complex. The attractiveness of hotel room depends not only on its
Figure 5.i Physical and Social Infrastructures of Cars, Refrigerators, T-shirts, and Hotel Rooms. Product System Hierarchy
Automobile Electric Appliance Clothing Travel Services
Part and Component Subsystems
Engine, transmission, tires, batteries, drive trains, body, seats, electronics, oil etc.
Compressor, insulation, refrigerants (HFC), copper tubing, plastic, metal, wiring, etc.
Cotton, dies, bleaches, transfers
Room furnishings and fixtures, bedding & towels, consumables
End-Use Product Car Refrigerator T-shirt Hotel room Physical Infrastructure
Roads, bridges, parking lots, and their maintenance; refineries, pipelines, stations for petrol supply; recycling systems; air quality monitoring
Resource extraction, fuel port and pipeline facilities, electricity generation and transmission, ash and nuclear waste disposal facilities
Monoculture agricultural systems; transport systems (road, rail, ship, air), disposal & recycling systems
Building structure and facilities (restaurants, etc), tourist attractions, business opportunities, transport (airplanes, Airports, taxis), restaurants, local culture, shopping, etc. Land-use Patterns Separation of workplace and residence; space occupied by roads and parking
Distance between shops and residences, commuting requirements
Spatial division of labor between cotton, textile, sewing production and also points of distribution
Localized entertainment & business districts, airport & port locations, zoning for industrial exclusion Social Infrastructure Regulation of car use, petrol pricing, externalities and mitigation, industry role in economy and employment, freedom and identification role of cars, international relations/war
Regulation of refrigerant gases, energy use, electricity providers, generation of emissions, Work and shopping patterns, food choices
Free trade and tariffs, utility and fashion, throw-away culture
Local business and cultural development, support for transport infrastructure, cultural development, zoning regulations, pollution control
Table 5.ii Product or Function: lessening impacts with a shift from the personal commute to place-based living
Function System Hierarchy
Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs)
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVs)
HFC Bus Based Public Transport
Mixing Residences, Commerce and Industry Part and Component Subsystems
More efficient engines and transmissions, catalytic converters, electronic sensors and controls, lighter materials, low VOC paints, etc., cleaner production
Advanced electric motors and batteries, fuel cells, regenerative brakes, lighter materials, hydrogen capable fuel tanks/materials, low VOC paints; clean production
Advanced electric motors and batteries, fuel cells, regenerative brakes, lighter materials, hydrogen capable fuel tanks/materials, low VOC paints; clean production
Feet, Bicycles components, components for HFCV and Buses
End-Use Product
Fuel efficiency and pollution reduction integrated design (aerodynamics, weight, power, pollution control), cleaner production
Radical redesign of car around fuel cell, electric motors and drive train; clean production
Radical redesign of bus around fuel cell, electric motors and drive train; clean production
Radical redesign of buses and cars; limited redesign of shoes and bicycles
Technologic al Infrastructur e
Resource extraction, fuel distribution systems remain; Sound barriers, low noise pavements, some recycled materials used in roads etc., majority of vehicle recycled
Distributed hydrogen production, but still requirements for distribution (trucks, pipelines, stations); sound problem eliminated, roads remain/expanded; new recycling requirements
Hydrogen production & distribution; sound problem eliminated, roads remain/expanded; new recycling requirements; interchange platforms
Planning to achieve industrial ecology among residence, commerce, and industry to allow for reduced travel needs and greater pedestrian and bicycle transport
Land-use Patterns
Unaffected or increase in separation of residence, work, leisure
Unaffected or increase in separation of residence, work, leisure
Unaffected or increase in separation of residence, work, leisure
Decreased separation of residence, work and leisure
Political-Ec onomic-Cult ural Policies and Institutions
Controls on hazardous emissions, fuel efficiency, fuel/road taxes; but subsidies for roads
Disincentives for ICEVs (gas, sales taxes); incentives for HFCVs (lower taxes, subsidies for cars & infrastructure); standards; government purchasing
Disincentives against cars, incentives for bus and passengers; Bus company coordination
Disincentives against cars, elimination of road subsidies; incentives for small scale industry; integrated planning
The focus in table 5.i is on the product, that is, what a company is trying to deliver and profit from. Changes to products and company operations can significantly reduce their direct environmental impacts and they can also reduce the impact from physical infrastructures. For example, the elimination of phosphates and other nutrients from detergents can reduce the load on sewage systems; energy saving light bulbs and motors can eliminate the need for increased electricity generation; investments in landscaping in business facilities and residential complexes can reduce the need for government green zoning. The effectiveness and efficiency of these initiatives is enhanced, indeed often only made possible, when complimented by industrial ecology infrastructures. Investment in recycling facilities and creation of product take-back laws are examples, respectively, of physical and social infrastructures necessary to close the loop in some industries. Yet, a greater potential of industrial ecology can be realized if we focus on the actual service or need that is to be filled, rather than on the product itself. Let’s explore this idea of service or function in relation to one of the needs that lies behind the use of a car.
not very far along in working toward these industrial ecologies, however, many of the technologies to make these industrial ecologies possible are already here.
5.2 Alternative Physical Infrastructures
Everyone in Hong Kong knows that cell phones have reduced the needs for increased provision of fixed line telephones and has actually reduced the number of such lines. People are probably less aware of the beneficial environmental effects the switch to cell phones has had or could have in countries such as China that will not need to bother with building fixed line telephone infrastructures.
Infrastructures that provide products such as roads, railways, telephone service, electricity, petrol, water, and sewage treatment incur much greater environmental impacts than that resulting directly from their production. These impacts include: pollution and energy loss involved with the transportation of fuels, materials, solid waste, and sewage; the landscape and habitat damage resulting from the building of more roads, pipelines, power lines, canals, ports, etc.; the materials, energy, and pollution costs of building infrastructure; the energy and pollution costs resulting from demolition and disposal. Many of these secondary impacts are simply the result of large-scale centralized systems. The impacts could be greatly reduced by companies being able to provide for their own input and output needs or avoid the necessity of relying on the centralized system. The problems could be reduced further if companies made products that reduced commercial and residential customers dependence on centralized facilities. Many such technologies are now available in biological treatment of wastewater; recovery of brown water; recycling of waste materials; increasing use of public transport, cycling and walking and so on. For the sake of brevity lets focus on energy, the technology that is key to so many constraints and opportunities.
Some of the many ways to avoid infrastructure costs by developing distributed energy generation:
Solar power is produced by a variety of types of technologies that can be divided into two groups. The first group is made up of those that use the sun to directly generate heat. They are called solar thermal technologies and include: solar concentrator power systems, flat plate solar collectors, and passive solar heating. These technologies are used to heat water and the air in a building. The other group of solar power technologies convert solar radiation into electricity through the photoelectric effect produced by photovoltaic technologies. This electricity can be used to provide electricity for the producer needs and/or can be fed into an electricity grid or otherwise sold. Both types of technologies can designed into the buildings construction or retrofitted and substantially reduce a buildings energy needs. Photovoltaics are especially cost effective for providing energy sources in places where costs of providing transmission lines is prohibitive.
Wind energy has become price competitive with fossil fuel generated energy and can be harnessed by businesses with larger facilities and grounds. The installation of wind turbines has been growing at a rate of over 20 percent per year for about a decade.
Fuel cells can provide independent energy production for homes, business and industry. They can also provide energy for vehicles, appliances and electronic devices. These
devices are looked to as the key component in the conversion from fossil fuels to a hydrogen economy.
High efficiency gas turbines are being used to provide independent fossil fuel based electricity production at efficiency levels exceeding those providing by conventional large-scale electricity providers and much better performing in terms of cost of installation, dependability, and financial costs. They do so because they produce electricity directly by driving the turbine with natural gas, and by heating up steam with the turbine’s exhaust to turn another generator. Among the developed countries especially, these relatively small generators are replacing investment in large thermal and nuclear power plants.
Biomass is solar energy stored in green plants and other organic matter. Biomass facilities burn wood, agricultural wastes and/or methane gases from landfills to spin a turbine that then generates electricity. Many industries can use the waste from their operations to produce a portion of the energy they need.
Waste Generated Gas : landfills produce gas that many places are now capturing for the generation of electric power and other uses.
Geothermal : Regions such as California and Japan are turning what were natural hazards into sources of steam for electricity generation.
Tidal : Tides produce a vast amount of energy every day. Practical devices are now close to be able to capture this energy at locations favoured by powerful tidal flows.
Difficulties still exist with these technologies. Cost efficiency and immature technology are often cited, but as in the case of gas turbines, wind energy or even remote use of solar power, many of these technologies are already better performing in terms of cost. Those problems that do exist could likely be solved by research and manufacturing economies of scale. An important basis of the cost efficiency of these technologies is the fact that they do not necessarily eliminate the old technology, particularly that of electric power grids. Often they supplement conventional power sources and distribution grids—and enable the avoidance of expanding large generation sources or the distribution network.
The challenges facing distributed and other alternative forms of infrastructure are not just technological or economic. Many of the centralized facilities are supported by regulations and subsidies that make other forms of energy less competitive than they should be. Electricity providers, for example, have a monopoly over feeding electricity to peoples’ homes and can block other providers from offering alternative electricity sources to customers. Building owners are also limited in their ability to sell excess energy produced by their solar or biomass sources into the electricity grid. Another example is the subsidization of water, garbage disposal, and sewage disposal by the government that doesn’t allow market based environmentally efficient alternatives to develop. In several regions, however, deregulation of power grids is allowing alternative energy producers (including homeowners) to sell electricity and the polluter pays principle is being applied to sewage, garbage, and water pricing. The future probably lies with these technologies. The Rocky Mountain Institute lists twelve drivers that will likely make these technologies dominant in the near future:
Composting toilets relieve the sewage system of one of its greatest burdens by redirecting to other positive uses.
5.3 Conclusion
The examples of the alternative physical infrastructure given here are only indications of the components of how what industrial ecologies could be made up of. Bringing these together into functioning systems is the topic of the next chapters.
