Conclusions and Looking to the Future - Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability - page 358

Nuclear power- and fossil fuel-based technologies, such as coal and oil, were
considered 'bad', and renewable technologies, such as wind and solar power, were
considered 'good', not least because the latter were seen as more amenable to local
community control. There are many very valid arguments for moving from fossil
fuels and nuclear power to renewable energy for all energy uses. However, the
simplistic categorization into 'good' and 'bad' technologies ignores important
issues related to good (engineering) design practice which requires a design to be
appropriate to the context and a consideration of all factors, as indicated by the dis-
cussion of trade-offs earlier.
While renewable energy sources generally have minimal carbon dioxide emissions
in operation, energy and material resources are required to construct them, leading
to emissions in the construction and implementation stages. Although most renewable
energy devices generate signifi cantly more energy than was used to produce them,
this may not be the case for some micro-wind turbines in low-wind-speed urban
environments. So small is not always beautiful. But big can also be bad. The con-
struction and implementation of very large-scale hydropower and tidal barrages
may have very signifi cant negative environmental and social impacts. A case in
point is the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River which required 1.24 million
people to be relocated, losing their homes, farms and workplaces, and resulted in the
loss of one of China's most valued landscapes.
It is often possible to fi nd counterexamples of applications of 'bad' technologies
which might be helpful or needed, such as the use of nuclear power sources to
power spacecraft, if we want to explore deep space. A counterargument is that we
need to resolve the many environmental and social problems that exist on Earth
before we start exploring deep space, or we may end up using it as a rubbish dump
or rapaciously exploiting extraterrestrial resources in the same way as we have
on Earth.
Debate is generally a good thing. Unfortunately though, some of the positions
are infl uenced by vested interests in the status quo. For example, while there is still
some debate over the scale and pace of human-induced climate change, there is a
consensus that its impacts will be very signifi cant and that an urgent response is
needed. However, as Chap. 6 illustrates, there are also vested interests which are
trying to suppress evidence and prevent action.
The response to the threat of climate change involves both technology and
changes to lifestyle. The technological part of the response is reasonably well
developed in terms of the existence of renewable energy sources, low energy tech-
nologies of various types and energy saving techniques. However, further research
will be required, and, as indicated in Chap. 11 , at least some of the highly industrialized
countries spend considerably more money on military research and development
than on research and development into renewables. This is an area in which engineers
and scientists could be involved in lobbying for change.
There are many other areas they can act on critically or supportively. As dis-
cussed in Chap. 3 , while on one hand, robots have signifi cant potential to improve
the lives of various groups of people and carry out boring, dirty and dangerous jobs,
on the other hand, they can change social relationships in undesirable ways and,