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Concept
Sustainable engineering
Summary
Sustainable engineering is the process of designing or operating systems such that they use energy and resources sustainably, in other words, at a rate that does not compromise the natural environment, or the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Sustainable Engineering focuses on the following -
Water supply
Food production
Housing and shelter
Sanitation and waste management
Energy development
Transportation
Industrial processing
Development of natural resources
Cleaning up polluted waste sites
Planning projects to reduce environmental and social impacts
Restoring natural environments such as forests, lakes, streams, and wetlands
Providing medical care to those in need
Minimizing and responsibly disposing of waste to benefit all
Improving industrial processes to eliminate waste and reduce consumption
Recommending the appropriate and innovative use of technology
Every engineering discipline is engaged in sustainable design, employing numerous initiatives, especially life cycle analysis (LCA), pollution prevention, Design for the Environment (DfE), Design for Disassembly (DfD), and Design for Recycling (DfR). These are replacing or at least changing pollution control paradigms. For example, concept of a "cap and trade" has been tested and works well for some pollutants. This is a system where companies are allowed to place a "bubble" over a whole manufacturing complex or trade pollution credits with other companies in their industry instead of a "stack-by-stack" and "pipe-by-pipe" approach, i.e. the so-called "command and control" approach. Such policy and regulatory innovations call for some improved technology based approaches as well as better quality-based approaches, such as leveling out the pollutant loadings and using less expensive technologies to remove the first large bulk of pollutants, followed by higher operation and maintenance (O&M) technologies for the more difficult to treat stacks and pipes. But, the net effect can be a greater reduction of pollutant emissions and effluents than treating each stack or pipe as an independent entity.
Official source
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