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Questions and Answers
What are the three components of sustainability?
What are the three components of sustainability?
What is sustainable development?
What is sustainable development?
Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Which of the following is NOT a sustainable practice?
Which of the following is NOT a sustainable practice?
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is solely focused on helping developed countries meet their emission reduction targets.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is solely focused on helping developed countries meet their emission reduction targets.
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The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the same set of targets.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the same set of targets.
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Which of the following is NOT a feature of sustainable development?
Which of the following is NOT a feature of sustainable development?
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Which of the following is a major concern related to industrial civilization and consumerism?
Which of the following is a major concern related to industrial civilization and consumerism?
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What are the main goals of sustainable agriculture?
What are the main goals of sustainable agriculture?
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What are the six principles of sustainability that can help a community ensure that its social, economic, and environmental systems are well integrated?
What are the six principles of sustainability that can help a community ensure that its social, economic, and environmental systems are well integrated?
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What is the main purpose of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)?
What is the main purpose of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)?
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Study Notes
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Sustainable Engineering Module 1
- Sustainability is crucial due to the severe damage caused by industrial civilization and consumerism over the past three centuries.
- Incorrect assumptions underpinned past practices, including the belief that Earth's resources are limitless and humans are separate from the environment.
- Industrial civilization's advantages include economic growth and improved living standards, while disadvantages encompass environmental damage and threats to Earth's life support systems.
- Irreparable environmental damage, including ozone layer depletion and global warming.
- Concerns about Earth's life support systems have been voiced by top scientists globally, sparking the concept of sustainability championed at the Rio de Janeiro conference.
- Sustainability hinges on a fundamental principle: harmonious existence between humanity and nature for current and future generations.
- The environment supplies resources and raw materials for economic production. The economy manufactures products for public consumption. Human usage and production inflict harm to the environment.
Sustainability - Definition, Need & Concept
- Sustainability is the ability to achieve continuing economic success while protecting environmental systems and ensuring a high quality of life.
- Sustainability comprises three interconnected components: environment, society, and economy.
- Environmental impact involves resource depletion (water, petroleum, and forests), biodiversity loss, deforestation, ozone depletion, acid deposition, desertification, and eutrophication.
- Environmental considerations include the conservation of natural resources, minimizing pollution, and protecting biodiversity.
- Human activities impose significant damage on Earth, leading to freshwater scarcity, climate change, exposure to toxins, food insecurity, energy shortages, and ecosystem damage.
Economic Sustainability Considerations
- Economic sustainability ensures that industrial or business enterprises generate profit without significant ecological degradation; this is expressed through GDP, annual domestic product figures
- Growth must improve human quality of life—economic growth and population factors must ensure equilibrium.
Social-Environmental & Economic Sustainability Concepts
- Societal, economic, and environmental systems are interconnected and essential for maintaining community harmony.
- To ensure sustainability, communities must prioritize maintaining residents' quality of life, enhancing local economic vitality, and promoting social and intergenerational equity.
- Sustainability principles ensure that resources, opportunities, and services are available to all members of the community. A sustainable community avoids depleting resources and damaging natural ecosystems.
- Community sustainability is grounded in concern for quality of life, economic well-being, and environmental health in the present and future.
- Sustainability depends on considering the natural environment, embracing disaster resilience, and using participatory decision-making.
Environmental Sustainability
- Maintaining biodiversity (genes, species, and ecosystems), protecting natural capital (air, water, soil), and maintaining the planet's energy and material cycles are prerequisites for environmental sustainability.
- To achieve environmental sustainability, we need to reduce dependence on finite resources, consider substance biodegradability, prevent the degradation of ecosystems, ensure fair resource use, reduce consumerism (especially in wealthy nations) and safeguard the health and resilience of supporting systems.
Economic Sustainability
- Sustainable economic practices prioritize profit generation without environmental damage.
- Economic growth, measured by GDP, should align with human well-being.
Economic-Social and Environmental Matrix
- Societal and environmental considerations influence economic outcomes; sustainable practices promote economic progress, societal well-being, and environmental health.
- This matrix outlines the interrelationships between quality of life concerns, economic, social, and environmental issues, and factors impacting sustainability.
Sustainable Development
- Sustainable development meets current needs without jeopardizing future generations' ability to meet theirs.
- Environment, society, and economic factors are considered interdependent pillars of sustainable development
- The three core pillars of sustainable development are environment, society, and economy.
Sustainable Development Features
- Satisfy human needs, prioritize a high quality of life (Decent standard of living, equity in access to resources), act with concern for future generations, minimize resource use, waste, and pollution.
- Using technology effectively (appropriate technologies), minimizing resource use via the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' approach, promoting environmental education and awareness, and adapting resource consumption to carrying capacity are crucial measures for sustainable development.
Nexus Between Technology and Sustainable Development
- Technology has both positive (improved quality of life, reduced diseases) and negative (resource extraction, pollution) effects on sustainability.
- Technology supports sustainability by conserving resources, reducing waste, improving efficiency, and using cleaner production technologies.
- Sustainable energy production encompasses solar, biomass, wind, tide, and geothermal resources in addition to energy-efficient systems.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
- The United Nations' 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set targets for 2015, aimed at fighting poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- SDGs arose after the Rio +20 Conference (2012) to build on the achievements of MDGs and address pressing issues like poverty and economic/social/environmental challenges.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
- The CDM is an international mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol that facilitates emission reductions in developing countries where developed countries can offset their obligations by investing in CDM emission reduction projects, purchasing CERs.
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Description
Explore the essential aspects of sustainability in engineering through this quiz based on Module 1. Delve into the impact of industrialization on the environment and understand the pressing need for sustainable practices. This module highlights the balance required between economic growth and ecological preservation.
