Notes from Chapter 6: Society and Technological Change

The ideas and examples referenced below are notes compiled by Robert Keel from his reading of Volti, Rudi. 2014. Society and Technological Change. 7th edition. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. They are intended for classroom use.

TECHNOLOGY, ENERGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Two types of consequences

1. Pollution— substances damage environment and people.
2. Depletion— loss of resources from unchecked technological advances.
   • USA: 5% of world's population consumes 25% of resources
3. Technology is one of the sources of the problems and may be part of the solution to the problems.

Fossil Fuels, Air Pollution, and Climate Change

• Fossil Fuels— petroleum, coal, and natural gas (6 billion tons carbon fuel exhaust dumped— >1 ton/human being).
• Other Threats:
  1. CO2 emission— Greenhouse effect.
  2. Global Warming (climate change). See, An Inconvenient Truth. (Al Gore's web site)
  4. Acid rain— nitrogen & sulphur by-products of combustion mixed with H2O.
  5. Deforestation.
  • USA: 2012 USA Forest Facts, 2012 Forest Resources
  6. Hazardous Wastes.
  7. Overall energy crisis.

ARE YOU DEPRESSED YET???

Is Technology the Problem or the Solution?

• The effects of technology on the environment are not purely distructive or purely beneficial.
• Damage to the environment is not a modern phenomena.
• Fixes of the Past.
  1. England--16th century, deforestation as a result of ship building, construction, iron manufacturing. Forests were never fully restored but switch to coal helped some. (see also)(wikipedia)
  2. Coal eventually faced total depletion.
• Resource depletion often solved by use of other substitutes: wood— coal— natural gas— oil— electricity— solar energy— nuclear energy— ???
• We musn’t idealize the past as a time of perfect energy use and disposal.
  • New York City- (early 20^th century) Replacement of horse by car applauded.
  • Horses generated 2.5 million tons manure/year.
  • Cars viewed as far more environmentally friendly!!

Alternatives to Fossil Fuels

Nuclear Energy— an option, but very problematic

1. Requires considerable expenditure (twice the cost of coal-fired plants per megawatt, five times gas), requires energy for mining, transportation equipment, construction, management, and waste disposal.
2. Product of Nuclear plants is electricity, which itself is problematic.
3. Not a source of primary energy--electricity is a way of transmitting power (10% lost in transmission).
   • Nuclear power plants are centralized--high transmission costs
4. Requires Uranium for fuel— supplies are limited.
5. By-product is plutonium— one of the most toxic elements on earth.
6. Serious disposal problems— plutonium (½ life- 24,000 years)(radioactive waste and pollution).
7. Accidents, attacks, and disasters.
8. 2011: producing 13.5% of world's electricity output. If tripled, could reduce greenhouse gases by 11-26%.

Solar Energy

1. Great Stuff, but hard to use efficiently and cheaply.
2. Improvement: 1970 $60 per kilowatt-hour. 1980: $1. 2009: ~60 cents. 12-30 cents in 2015. Still 4-10 times the cost of coal-fired plants (3.23 cents).
3. Cheaper to generate electricity from solar energy if production is centralized.

Other Minor Sources:

1. Wind Power
2. Geothermal
3. Methanol
4. Ethanol

• All possibilities, but not seriously considered in light of present energy sources.
• Industrial society depends on use of massive energy.
• Answer to problem is not elimination of use but rather regulation.
• Today more energy is being used but it is being used more efficiently.
• This is due in large part to the development of energy saving technology.
• Minor changes in everyday technology (stoves and fridges) have made a big difference.
• So, the effects of technology on the environment is not an all or nothing proposition.

Doing More with Less

• Reducing energy use: energy intensity (energy used/productive output) peaked in the 1920s.
  • Energy use is up, but it is being generated more efficiently.
  • Rise of the service sector--decline of manufacturing (in the West).
  • New technologies:
    • HVAC systems.
    • Refrigerators.
    • CFL and LED lighting (1/3 of all electricity generated in USA is used for lighting).
    • Buildings and intelligent site selection, insulation, thermal storage, microprossessor controls.
  • Recycling.
  • Freeganism (documentary).
  • Sustainability.

More Miles to the Gallon

• Cars and trucks use ½ earth’s petroleum supply.
• Major source of environmental damage (roads, parking lots, pollution, manufacturing waste).
• Making motor vehicles more efficient would greatly reduce pollution and depletion.
• Three ways to do this:
  1. Reduce weight of vehicle (use of plastics and aluminum) Safety issue here.
  2. Improve aerodynamics (improving air resistance— improves fuel economy).
  3. Make engines and accessories perform more effectively (powertrain): hybrids and all-electric.
• Mass transit anyone?
  • Role of General Motors in the demise of public transit "Taken for a Ride," a film by Jim Klein and Martha Olson (part 1 of the documentary)(part 2)(full documetary).
  • Street Cars in St. Louis and this.

Economic Systems, Government Policies, and the Environment

• Technology regulated by laws and overall social, political climate.
• Centrally planned economies worst culprits of environmental degradation and energy waste.
  1. China— uses 3X the energy/unit of GNP than Japan (1990s).
  2. Soviet Union— (1989) toxic air pollutants 10X the max permissible.
  3. Czechoslovakia— sulfur dioxide (from coal burn) 4--8X > than Western Europe.
  4. Poland— only 1% of water is safe to drink— 1/3 pop. Suffers from diseases related to pollution.
• Market Economies pretty bad too.
• Prices in economy typically don’t reflect depletion costs.
  1. Government regulation can have negative and positive repercussions on the environment.
  2. Government does and doesn’t do all research and investment needed to make changes/improvements.
  3. 2008 federal budget for energy R&D: $1.44 billion--32% to oil, gas, and coal; 30% to nuclear; 37% to renewable (history)(2013)(2014)
     1. Oil and gas industry (indirect) tax breaks around $7 billion a year.
  4. If we have alternatives, will we use them?

"While the development of technologies can improve environmental challenges; the greatest source of change will come from individual choices, corporate and government policies, distribution of income and power and most importantly... AN OVERALL WILLINGNESS TO FORSAKE SHORT TERM ADVANTAGES FOR LONG TERM BENEFITS" (page 121, emphasis added)

Questions (pages 121-122):

1. What do you consider to be the greatest environmental threat facing the world today? What sort of measures need to be taken to counter it? What will be the major sources of resistance to these measures?
2. The long-term environmental consequences of C02 emissions cannot be known for sure. The earth's atmosphere is an extremely complex system that is driven by a great multitude of variables. Predictions of climate trends are, and probably always will be, based on data that are not completely adequate. Are we justified in enacting laws to enforce significant reductions in the use of fossil fuels on the basis of imperfect scientific information? At what point can we decide that the assessment of risk is exact enough to warrant taking firm actions?
3. A distinction has to be drawn between conservation and curtailment. The former implies doing the same sorts of things with fewer inputs of materials and energy, while the latter implies an actual loss of output and consumption. Are the energy-saving measures taken in the last 15 years primarily examples of conservation or curtailment? Will future energy-saving strategies be based on the former or the latter?
4. The continual extraction and use of natural resources does not result in their being completely "used up," but eventually the costs of extracting a diminishing resource exceed the value of the resource; barring improvements in extraction technologies, the resource is as good as gone. This may not happen for a long time, perhaps not until we as individuals are long departed from this earth. Is there anything immoral about using large quantities of the earth's resources for our own benefit? Do we owe anything to future generations? If so, by how much should we restrict our use of resources? How should these restrictions be mandated?
5. A considerable improvement in the fuel economy of automobiles has been the result of "downsizing." Yet all other things being equal, smaller cars are not as safe as larger ones. Can a substantial savings in fuel justify the likelihood of more traffic-related injuries and fatalities? At the same time, more fuel-efficient automobiles also produce fewer pollutant s, leading to fewer pollution-induced deaths and illnesses. Is it possible to construct a balance sheet that takes into account all of these factors in order to determine if smaller cars improve or threaten our physical health?
6. A major issue in environmental analysis is sustainability. Is our present economy and society sustainable over the long run? In what ways do present technologies undermine sustainability? Are there any that promote it?

Chapter 7