Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
vigorous reforestation in Japan are countered by deforestation elsewhere
in Asia to keep Japanese economy supplied with timber.
4
As recently as in 2003-2004, imports of energy kept the US economy
going. Today, the United States is a net exporter of energy with plenty of
shale gas and oil available!
5
Precautionary stance is essentially being “better be safe than be sorry
later” and is a risk-averse, conservative position based on intrinsic,
potential risks rather than proven perceived damage.
6
Statistically, the null hypothesis is Ho = the phenomenon (say, global
warming) has no adverse impact. If we reject Ho and adopt a
precautionary posture but in reality there was no adverse impact, we
wouldhavemadeatypeIerror.Nottakinganycorrectiveactionandlater
finding out that there is an adverse impact would amount to a costly type
II error.
7
A good illustration is how the attempted sale of Hershey Foods
Corporation (Hershey, PA) in 2002 was foiled by social and community
pressure.
8
Producing a plastic bag results in only 39% of GHG emissions, consumes
<6% of the water, generates almost five times less solid waste, and uses
71% less energy compared to manufacturing a paper bag (ULS Report,
2008).
9
International Energy Outlook 2013 (IEO, 2013).
10
Using the state-of-the-art equipment in plastic processing operations can
trim energy use by 30% (
www.omnexus.com
)
.
11
Over the decades, the cost of labor involved in making plastic products
has consistently decreased and now stands below 10% of the cost of
product. It is the material and overhead costs that dominate production
costs. Resource efficiency is therefore critical to sustainability of the
business as well and provides an effective means of competing with
production in regions where labor costs are lower.
12
Techtronic Industries Company (TTI). The company won the Think
Green Initiative award in 2010 for their greening efforts
(
www.ttigroup.com
)
.
