Introduction to Sustainable

Engineering
S-1
Module -I

Sujith S T
Asst Professor
Mechanical
Department

Module-1

Text Book : An Introduction to Sustainable Engineering by Prof. Shibu

Krishnan

INTRODUCTION
The term sustainability is the capacity to
endure (continue to exist in the same
state).
Sustainability can be thought of as the goal of
sustainable development
Sustainable development is a process for
meetinghuman
developmentgoals
while
maintaining the ability of natural systems to
continue to provide thenatural resources.

 Basic Spheres of Sustainability

Environment - Ecological
sustainability
Economy - Fair distribution of
wealth
Social
- Community participation

United Nations Key

Concepts
Inter-generational equity - Inter-generational
equity expects the present generation to hand
over a safe healthy and resourceful environment
to the future generation.
lntra-generational equity - Intra-generational
equity
emphasizes
that
technological
development should support economic growth of
the poorer section so as to reduce the gap within
nations as well as between nations.

NEED FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Over exploitation of resources
Accumulation of waste
Sustainability is more concerned over the
reckless
exploitation
of
our
natural
resources which is leading to environmental
degradation.
Population explosion in the developing world
Unsustainable consumption levels in the
developed world

 The sustainability goal is to raise the global

standard of living without increasing the
use of resources beyond global sustainable
levels; that is, not to exceed One Planet
consumption.
lt is necessary for all of us to maintain an
acceptable standard of living, at the same
time,
maintaining
sustainable
use
of
resources.

CONCEPT OF
SUSTAINABILITY
Meeting the needs of current and future
generations
through
integrating
environmental
protection,
social
advancement and economic prosperity".
Thus sustainability refers to the quality of life
which is to be achieved in a manner that does not
harm the quality of life of future generations.

 For the world to be sustainable, the following four

principles are to be followed:
Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels
Reduce dependence upon synthetic chemicals
and other unnatural substances
Reduce encroachment upon nature
Meet human needs fairly & efficiently

 The figure shown below illustrates the three

spheres of sustainability (which makes a
community sustainable)

Venn Diagram for Sustainability

CONCEPT OF SOCIAL
SUSTAINABILITY
Social sustainability is a process for creating
sustainable,
successful
places
that
promote
wellbeing, by understanding what people need from
the places they live and work.
Three values that forms the core of social sustainability
are:
Quality of life
Growth and
Equality

Hence socially sustainable communities are equitable,

diverse, democratic and provide good quality of life.

 But there is a universal disagreement between

nations (not only between nations, religions,
culture, political parties etc.) on what the
quality of life goals should be.
Thus social sustainability is the least defined
and least understood (hence the weakest
among the three spheres of sustainability) as
people cant even agree on what quality of
life is.

CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
Environmental sustainability is improving the
quality of human life while living within the
carrying capacity of supporting Ecosystems.
Currently, environmental sustainability is receiving
plenty of attention from the media and from
different governmental departments.
This is as a result of the amount of research going
into assessing the impact that human activity can
have on the environment.

 When the sum total of natural resources is

used up faster than it can be replenished,
degradation of the environment occurs.
However, if human activity only uses natural
resources at a rate at which they can be
replenished naturally, sustainability occurs.
These situations are summarized below in the
form of a table.

 Environmental sustainability involves making

decisions and taking actions that are in the
interest of protecting the natural world
especially the capability of the environment to
support human life.
It is not simply about reducing the amount of
waste we produce or using less energy, but is
concerned with development processes that
will lead to businesses becoming completely
sustainable in the future.

CONCEPT OF ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

The real idea of economic sustainability is to
make sure that the industry/ business is making
profit without creating much environmental harm
to the balance of the existing ecology.
Currently, the average resource consumption in the
developing world is sustainable, at the same time
population is exploding which is totally unsustainable.
In the developed economies, population increase is
less (which is sustainable) but the resource
consumption is very high which is unsustainable.

 The challenge for sustainability is to

Curb and manage western style consumption, at
the same time

Raising the standard of living of the developing

world,

Without increasing the

environmental impact.

resource

use

and

 HELIX OF SUSTAINABILITY
A
concept
for
the
manufacturing
industries to move to more sustainable
practices.
Sustainable use of materials has targeted the
idea of convening the linear path of
materials (i.e. raw material extraction,
product use and disposal) to a circular
material path (i.e. raw material extraction,
product use and reuse) that reuses material as
much as possible.

SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Until two decades ago, the world looked at economic status
alone as a measure of human development.
The developed countries not only exploited their own
natural resources rapidly, but also used the natural
resources of developing countries.
The rich countries got richer, while the poor nations got
poorer.
Then the developed countries began to realise that their lives
are
seriously
affected
by
the
environmental
consequences because of the
development based on
economic growth.

 Development based on economic growth had

begun to suffer from serious environmental
problems due to air and water pollution, solid
waste accumulation, deforestation etc, that
seriously affected peoples wellbeing and
health.
This form of development did not add quality
of life as the environmental conditions has
begun to deteriorate.

 Theoretical frame work for

sustainable development
The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment,
held in Stockholm in 1972 was the first major international
gathering to discuss sustainability at the global scale.

Led to the establishment of the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP) as well as the creations of numerous
national environmental protection agencies at the global
level.

UNEP aimed to advance Sustainable Development by

meeting the needs of people for natural resources and
the environment for future generations.

 In
1987
the
World
Commission
on
Environment and Development clearly defined
the term sustainable development.
Definition of Sustainable Development:
Development which meets the needs of
the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.

3 Pillars of Sustainable
Development
Social
(Community /
Societal
development that
provides food,
shelter, clothing,
education and
health for human
beings)

Environment

Sustainable
Developem
ent

Economic
(Economic
development such
as industrial
development,
business policy
change and so on
for improving
the quality of life).

(Environmental
protection that
provides pollution
free air, water and
soil for the present
and future
generations)

 The actions of government to implement

sustainable development in their policies may
even be considered as the fourth pillar
(Institutional
pillar)
of
sustainable
development.
Thus sustainable development is based on
improving the quality of life for all, especially the
poor and the deprived,
which leads to better quality of life
while reducing the impact on the environment
within the carrying capacity of the supporting
ecosystems.

 The Earth Summit held at Rio de-Janeiro in 1992 put

the world on the path of sustainable development.
The Rio declaration propagated that eradication of
poverty is indispensable and thus development
process and environment protection must go
hand in hand.
The two aspects of Sustainable Development
are:
Inter-generational equity - Inter-generational equity expects
the present generation to hand over a safe healthy and
resourceful environment to the future generation.
lntra-generational equity - Intra-generational equity
emphasizes that technological development should support
economic growth of the poorer section so as to reduce the gap
within nations as well as between nations.

 Measures for sustainable development

To promote environmental education and awareness
to develop a feeling of belongingness to our planet.
Three R approach: Three R means reduce, reuse
and recycle i.e we should not only reduce the excessive
use of natural resources but also reuse them again and
again.
Appropriate technology: The technology should use
less resource and produce minimum waste i.e it should
be eco-friendly.
Utilize resources as per carrying capacity of the
environment: Once the carrying capacity is exceeded
degeneration starts.

 Frame work to measure Sustainable

Development:

To ensure sustainable development, every activity is

expected to bring about economic growth and also
consider its environmental impact so that it is more
consistent with long term growth and development.

There must be a scientifically and honestly carried out

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for every project
we carry out.

NEXUS BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Technological innovation can be seen as a doubleedged sword with respect to sustainable development.
On one hand, technology has offered the promise of a
better world through the elimination of disease and
material improvements to standards of living.
On the other hand, resource extraction and pollution
of air, water and soil have created conditions leading
to environmental catastrophe and have already caused
irreversible damage to the biosphere.

 Despite the ongoing technological revolution,

the majority of the world population still lives
in extreme poverty with inadequate food,
housing sanitation and energy, plagued by
illnesses
that could be easily cured if clean water and
simple drugs were made available.

 Thus, the focus should be

not only to allow renewable
withdrawals
exceed
the
regenerative capacity

resource
natures

but also not to generate waste which

exceeds
the
environmental
absorptive
capacity.
Technology can support sustainability of natural by:
Reducing waste
Raising efficiency standards
Finding substitutes

 Some of the technological applications towards

sustainable development on various sectors are
explained below:
Agricultural Technologies
Energy Technologies
Environmental Technologies
Disease related Bio medical Technologies
Technologies for Local Development

 Agricultural Technologies
The goal of agricultural research and technology
development generally has been
to improve productivity,
soil and water conservation,
improving human nutrition,
food quality, and
safety which contribute to the economy as a
whole.

Concerns
The absence of Maximum Residue Levels (MRL)
for pesticides used on various vegetables and
fruits in many countries.
Genetically Modified Crops (GMC)

 Energy Technologies
Energy efficiencies of the developing world is
much lower than in the industrialized countries.
Energy is produced, converted, and used in
developing
countries
with
low
technical
efficiencies could be improved through adoption
of proven technologies.
Technologies to provide and improve energy
services for developing world include:
more efficient biomass stoves
simple motor-driven systems for pumping
water and grinding grains
energy-efficient pumps, fertilizers, and
mechanical traction to improve agricultural
productivity

 Increased emphasis on natural gas and other

alternative fuel sources (e.g., biomass systems
and renewable energy) could reduce adverse
environmental impacts compared with conventional
sources, and avoid some of the problems of large
hydroelectric and nuclear projects.
It helps in,
Developing local energy resources and
Reducing imports
Promote rural development
Employment

Concerns
The policy environment that determines patterns of
incentives and disincentives to energy efficiency is
crucial to the adoption of new technologies.

 Environmental Technologies
Environmental
awareness
and
transfer
of
environmental technologies can reduce day-to-day
operating inefficiencies, emissions, exposure to
hazardous materials and risks of technological
disasters.
For developing countries, provision of basic facilities
such as access to drinking water and proper
sanitation, gaseous liquid and solid waste
disposal services are major environmental priorities.
Technologies such as forest management and
improved agricultural practices are primary
environmental needs in most of the developing
countries.
Electric power, chemical, petroleum refining, steel, pulp
and paper, food, textile, etc. are major potential buyers
of environmental technologies.

 Disease- related Biomedical Technologies

A majority of the total deaths are caused by infectious
and parasitic diseases in developing countries.
Opening of International Health Research Centers
(IHRCs) could make a large contribution in improving
the health care/ maintenance systems in
developing countries.
They could identify and analyze the sources of health
problems as well as conduct local research on design
and delivery of health maintenance systems.
Better sanitation and cleaner water would have
tremendous benefits for controlling diseases.

 Technologies for Local Development

Projects such as solar greenhouses, small
farm systems, farmers markets, resource
recovery from municipal solid wastes,
wastewater treatment, etc. could be
developed at the community level.
These projects can be developed only with the
help of public interest, proper financing,
technical information and expertise.
These technologies need to be shared
with other local communities as well in
order to bring out the best of the technologies.

 TECHNOLOGICAL UNDERPINNINGS
FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The fundamentals to the pursuit of sustainable
development are : a. INFORMATION
b. EDUCATION
c. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
a) Sharing of Information and appropriate
technologies with sister institutions in developing
countries is very essential.
However, with intellectual property rights
protection, technology developers may be not
willing to invest in research and development.
Hence, the creation of international centres for
sustainable development that would be funded
is the need of the hour.

b) Education is one mechanism through which

the objectives of sustainable development might
be realized.
Educational programs at all levels that teach
the relationship among poverty, population
growth,
unsustainable
production,
environmental
degradation
should
be
imparted.

c) Communication technologies are playing an

important role in business, trade, health and
education.
Satellite based personal communication systems
and wireless technology are extremely costly and
sophisticated.
In order to improve its availability widely, the United
Nations Sustainable Development Network (SDN) is
working make the modern technologies accessible to
developing nations.
The SDN is just one goal as to how information and
communication can be linked to assist decision
makers and to promote education

 Some new and emerging technologies such as

recycling, renewable energy and low-input
agricultural production systems have been
generated primarily to reduce waste.

CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
i.

ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.

Misconception about sustainable development: The

popular perception that undertaking a sustainable
development path hinders developmental
activities.
Population explosion in the developing economies
(requires more food, energy, goods etc.).
Poverty (To achieve sustainable development,
eradication of poverty is indispensable).
Absence of adequate political and industrial
will for moving towards a sustainable future .
Over exploitation of natural resources in the
developed countries
Corruption
and
misuse
of
sustainable
development assistance funds.

vii. Poor solid waste management (Focusing on

mere waste disposal )
viii.High cost of the appropriate technology to
tap renewable energy resources .
ix. Lack of co-ordination between the three
pillars of sustainable development is one of
the biggest challenge in finding long- term
solutions that combine economic growth, social
needs and environmental protection .
x. Unsustainable urbanization results in slums,
congestion of living space, inadequate food,
poverty and so on.
xi. Fresh water scarcity (According to a United
Nations report, one out of six persons in this planet
lacks access to safe drinking water and around 2.4
billion lack access to adequate sanitation)
xii. Loss in biodiversity.

xiii.Over dependence on fossil fuels leading to

global warming and climate change.
xiv.Absence of strict environment laws and
legislations, to curb the menace of pollution .
xv. Lack of broad based public awareness
towards sustainable development .

MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
AGREEMENTS AND PROTOCOL
A multilateral environmental agreement is a legally binding
agreement between two or more nations which contains
commitments
to
meet
specific
environmental
objectives.
The first international enlightenment towards the problems of
environmental
pollution
was
the
United
Nations
Conference on the Human Environment held in
Stockholm, Sweden in June 1972 which laid the
foundation of modern environmentalism.
The key events were the Villach Conference (October 1985), the
Toronto Conference (June 1988), the Ottawa Conference (February
1989), the Tata Conference (February 1989), the Hague Conference
and Declaration (March 1989), the Noordwijk Ministerial Conference
(November 1989), the Cairo Compact (December 1989), the Bergen
Conference (May 1990), and the Second World Climate Conference
(November 1990).

 The
United
Nations
Conference
on
Environment and Development (UNCED),
was held in Rio-de-Janeiro from 3rd to 14 June
1992 and around 172 countries participated.
An important achievement was an agreement on
the Climate Change Convention which in turn
led to the Kyoto Protocol (1997).

KYOTO PROTOCOL
Among these conferences, the one held in 1997 at
Kyoto, Japan has established legally binding
obligation to developed countries to reduce
their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.
Kyoto Protocol requires developed economies listed in
its annexure Ito reduce their collective emissions of
six important greenhouse gases namely carbon
dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, set of per
fluorocarbons, and hydro fluorocarbons by at
least 5.2% as compared to 1990 level during the
period 2008-2012.
As per the Kyoto Protocol emissions of greenhouse
gases needs to be cut by 25% below the current
level by 2050, so that the growth of countries is not
compromised.

CLEAN DEVELOPMENT
MECHANISM(CDM)
The Clean Development Mechanism is a key
component of the Kyoto Protocol a legally binding
global agreement by 192 countries to combat
climate change through a reduction of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions.
The Kyoto Protocol follows the fundamental UNFCCC
principle
of
"common
but
differentiated
responsibility" which recognizes that the burden of
responsibility should fall heaviest on the countries .
The CDM is a market-based mechanism. It entices
private companies to fund GHG-reducing
projects in developing countries by awarding
these projects Certified Emission Reductions (CERs).

PURPOSE OF CDM
The stated purpose of the Clean Development
Mechanism is to help developing countries achieve
sustainable development, and assist industrialized
countries in complying with their emission reduction
commitments.
They must also meet sustainable development criteria
and the "additionality' requirement, which means the
emission reductions made must be "additional' to what
would have been possible without CDM funding.
The CDM allows countries to continue emitting
greenhouse gases. so long as they pay for reductions
made elsewhere.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATIONS IN
INDIA

Laws that regulate the human interaction with the

environment are termed environmental laws.
We have over 200 environmental laws available in India
today.
It was in the year 1976, the 42nd amendment was
incorporated into the Constitution by means of two
important articles.
Article 48 - A of the constitution comes under Directive
Principles of State Policy. It states that it is the responsibility
of states to protect and improve environment and to safe
guard the forests and wildlife of the country.
Article 51 A (g) of the Constitution comes under the
Fundamental Duties of citizens. It states that it is the
fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve
the environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife
and to have compassion for living creatures.

 The different legislations in India are as follows:

a. The Serais Act 1867
b. The North Indian Canal and Drainage Act 1873
c. Obstruction in Fairways Act 1881
d. Indian Easements Act 1882
e. The Indian Fisheries Act 1897
f. Indian Ports Act 1908
g. The Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948
h. The Factories Act 1948 The Mines Act 1952
i. The River Boats Act 1956 The Merchant Shipping Act
1958
Other Acts include:
i. Indian Forest Act 1927
ii. Wildlife Protection Act 1972
iii. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974
iv. Forest Conservation Act 1980
v. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981

WATER ACT, 1974

This is an Act to provide measures for the
prevention and control of water pollution and
maintaining or restoring the wholesomeness
(purity) of water.
The Act defines terms like pollution, sewage
effluent, trade effluent, stream and boards.
The Act prohibits disposal of any poisonous,
noxious or polluting matter or any matter causing
obstruction to proper flow of water in a stream.

 Some of the salient features of the water act are listed below
a) Establishment of Boards / Authorities Central and State level
.
b) Mandates prior approval of PCB for operating. establishing
and expanding industrial activities leading to discharge of
industrial effluents.
c) Empowers PCBs to enter into industrial plants, factories
establishment etc. and inspect plant/ factory records,
registers and documents.
d) Empowers PCBs to take samples of industrial effluents
wastewater (discharges) and its subsequent analysis.
e) Provides for criminal liabilities

AIR ACT, 1981

This Act (commonly known as Air Act) was passed
under Article 253 of the Constitution of India which
provide measures for the prevention, control and
abatement of air pollution.
The Act defines relevant terms such as air pollution,
air pollutant, automobile, industrial plant etc..
As per this Act, Air pollution is defined as the
"presence of any liquid or gaseous substances in
the atmosphere in such concentration as may be or
tend to be injurious to human beings or other living
creatures or plants or property or environment".

 Some of the salient features of the Air act are listed

below:
a) Empowers PCBs to take appropriate measures for the
prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.
b) Mandates prior approval of PCB for operating,
establishing and expanding industrial activities
leading to discharge of emissions and air pollutants to
the atmosphere.
c) Empowers PCBs to enter into industrial plants,
factories establishment etc. and inspect plant /
factory records, registers and documents
d) Empowers PCBs to give direction for closure of any
industry, operation and regulation of supply of
electricity, water or any other service.
e) Empowers PCBs to take samples of ambient air, stock
(chimney) emissions.
f) Provides for criminal liabilities