Sustainable Engineering Practices: A Reflective Account

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This reflective journal explores sustainable engineering.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
WORKSHOP 1................................................................................................................................4
WORKSHOP 2................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References:....................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
The practice of the sustainability is the capability of the maintaining and keep on improving the
living standards for the people in the presents and the for the coming future, keeping in the mind
that the naturally available resource is used properly and the environment is not harmed in the
process. The sustainability is a composite of the three main concepts that are the economic,
social and environmental outcomes. These three concepts are known to conflict with one another
which can be understood as the economic outcomes can be achieved only by overusing the
resources and sometimes harming the environment. In order to reach the maximum level of
stationarity, we need to make these components or concepts balanced.
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WORKSHOP 1
The first topic that I learned in the workshop 1 was the Current supply chain VS future supply
chain of electricity. The main reason behind the selection of this subject of the Engineering
Management for a Sustainable Future was to learn the main idea of using the engineering
services in order to save the environment and reach new levels of sustainability. I learned how I
can use the advancement of the technological growth for saving the environment as well for
achieving the development aims. Electricity plays a vital role in our day to day life and it is one
of the most important needs. After learning this topic, I came to know the main problems with
the current electricity supply chain and the ways in which this can be resolved (Dada 2014).
From what I learned I found out that the main problem faced by the electrical industry is the use
of renewable resources for the electricity generation and to reduce the effect on the environment.
From the workshop that I attended I can conclude these challenges can be resolved by switching
to solar and wind power for the general use and by using the low carbon emission methods for
electricity supply and generation (Panula-Ontto et al. 2018).
Figure 1: Renewable energy resources
The second topic of the workshop was how to make the kitchen appliances sustainable. This is
somewhat a part of the design thinking on how the technology can be molded in order to make
the things more environmentally focused. In this workshop, I learned that there are the ways in
which the kitchen appliances and the kitchen works can be made sustainable by implementing
the methods of my selected subject Engineering Management for a Sustainable Future. After the
workshop, I learned and found out that the problem with the sustainable kitchen appliances is the
cost of appliances and the CO2 emission (Louis et. al. 2016). These issues are needed to be
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resolved in order to make the engineering advancements turn into more sustainable. This issue
can be resolved using the sensors in the kitchen to detect the motion in the kitchen and the level
of heat. The sensors can read the motions and if there is no motion in the kitchen for the defined
time, the exhaust, light and other appliances will be switched to sleep or will be switched off.
The overall cost of sustainable appliances can be reduced by providing subsidies to the customer
in order to support the use of sustainable home appliances (Kelly 2012).
The last topic of the workshop was the Electric cars and this was explained and studied by me
with respect to sustainability and environmental effect. In this workshop the main idea behind
the shifting of the use of cars fuel from petrol to electricity in order to reduce the harm caused to
the environment. This workshop made me understand the two main challenges faced by the use
of electric cars is the acceptable cost structure and the production & consumption of electricity
for mobility (Heinicke & Wagenhaus 2015). According to the Brazilian case study of the
electronic car sharing the use of PSS i.e., the Product Sharing System model of business allows
enterprises to provide products with services which help in resolving the issue of the
sustainability. The car sharing will help in less consumption of the resources and the cost spend
on the mobility services (Teles et al. 2018).
Figure 2: Electric cars and cost efficiency
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WORKSHOP 2
The smart city was one of the topics from the workshop 2 and this helped me understand the
issues and the solutions to the issues related to the smart and livable cities. This workshop helped
me understand the use of sustainable principles in the implementation of smart cities. According
to what I understood from the workshop 2, smart cities are the emerging concepts due to
increment in the urbanization and population growth. From the data represented in the workshop
in the coming 30 years, more than 65% of the population of the countries will shift in the urban
cities leading to the rise in the requirement of the smart cities (Llacuna and Lluïsa et al. 2015).
Figure 3: rising population in cities in coming years
Source: United Nations (2014)
Due to changes caused in the technology on the daily basis, it has become very normal to see the
changes in the industrial implications. From this, I learned that smart cities face the challenge of
the technology and its implementation in the smart cities. The implementation of technology is
one of the major challenges of smart cities. According to what I have learned that issue can be
resolved with the use of the technology in such a way that it will help people in living freely,
identifying the services and feeling safe & secure (Aribilosho & Usoro 2016).
A site visit was one of the exercises of the workshop 2 that helped me understand the concepts of
the Hannover principle and circular economy.
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Figure 4: Proposed site for SCU student accommodation
The site displayed in figure 4 is the site I visited during the workshop 2 for the purpose of
understanding the use of sustainable resources and their implementations in the building of our
college. The site that is shown in figure 4 is the site with a waterfront that will be used for the
townhouse waterfront accommodation. For making this building we can use the Hannover
principle. According to the Hannover principle as explained in the workshop, the site can be
made sustainable is the responsibility of the consequences is accepted and the long-term safe
objects are created. For the college accommodation site to be safer and more sustainable, the
major focus should be on the waterfront. The students will live in accommodation and this might
cause water pollution. This can be reduced by the use of the water treatment by using the
DAMO process-Denitrifying Anaerobic Methane Oxidation process, in which methane will
be used as an electron donator and nitrate will be used as the electron acceptor. This can be used
inside the Waste Water Treatment of the wastewater coming out of the college accommodation
building to reduce the wastage and pollution amount in the water body near the college
accommodation site.
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Figure 5: DAMO process of wastewater treatment
Monbiot Article review- at the end of the workshop I decided to review the article “The Earth
is in a death spiral. It will take radical action to save us.” From this article, I came to know
that the system of the earth is highly complex an that is why the system of the earth does not
respond linearly to the pressure. When the system of earth faces the change, the results created
from it are not predictable. I came to know that science professor Kevin MacKay elaborated that
oligarchy is the main reason for the failure of the civilization process instead of the energy needs
and social complexity. In the workshop, it was explained that oligarchs are a small group of
people that have control. These oligarchs control affects the decision making and this causes the
long-term problems to stay unresolved. I learned that the maximum tolerance of earth for
resource consumption is known to be 50bn tones and we the people of earth are overconsuming
it by consuming 70bn tones presently (Monbiot 2018).
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Conclusion
In this reflective journal, I have summarized my learning from workshop 1 and workshop 2. In
this journal, I have selected three topics from workshop 1 which are Current supply chain VS
future supply chain of electricity, how to make the kitchen appliances sustainable and electric
cars. In the second workshop, I selected Smart city, Site visit & Monbiot Article review for
discussion. In this journal, I have explained the challenges faced and the solution to those
challenges. Also, I have used some literature in order to support the challenges and solutions.
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References:
Aribilosho, Mpantor & Usoro, Abel (2016) A review on smart cities: impact of technology and
social factors.(Report). Computing and Information Systems. 20 (1),
Dada, Joseph O. (2014) Towards understanding the benefits and challenges of Smart/Micro-Grid
for electricity supply system in Nigeria. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. [Online]
381003–1014.
Heinicke, Matthias & Wagenhaus, Gerd (2015) Sustainability in the car-based mobility: the case
of the electric vehicle Editha. International Journal of Energy Sector Management. [Online] 9
(1), 105–119.
Kelly, Geoff (2012) Sustainability at home: Policy measures for energy-efficient
appliances. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. [Online] 16 (9), 6851–6860.
Louis, Jean-Nicolas et al. (2016) Modelling home electricity management for sustainability: The
impact of response levels, technological deployment & occupancy.(Report). Energy & Buildings.
[Online] 119 (C), 218–232.
Marsal-Llacuna, Maria-Lluïsa et al. (2015) Lessons in urban monitoring taken from sustainable
and livable cities to better address the Smart Cities initiative. Technological Forecasting &
Social Change. [Online] 90 (PB), 611–622.
Monbiot, G 2018 ‘The Earth is in a death spiral. It will take radical action to save us’, Support
the Guardian. Review, 14Nov, viewed 6 January 2019.
Panula-Ontto, Juha et al. (2018) Cross-impact analysis of Finnish electricity system with
increased renewables: Long-run energy policy challenges in balancing supply and
consumption. Energy Policy. [Online] 118504–513.
Teles, F. et al. (2018) Sustainability measurement of product-service systems: Brazilian case
studies about electric car-sharing. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World
Ecology. [Online] 25 (8), 722–729.
UNITED NATIONS 2014. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision Highlights.
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014).
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Wang, Dongbo et al. (2017) Is denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation-centered technologies a
solution for the sustainable operation of wastewater treatment Plants? Bioresource Technology.
[Online] 234 (C), 456–465.
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