Sustainability

?
  • Created by: IzzyB1
  • Created on: 09-04-19 14:54

Finite and non-finite resources

Finite resources

  • limited supply, cannot be reproduced
  • should be avoided or only used in small amounts when necessary
  • coal, oil and natural gas - harder to get as they have to dig deeper and deeper
  • used faster than naturally replaced
  • 84% of energy comes from finite resources
  • government working hard to reduce this

Non-finite resources

  • abundant supply, unlikely ever to be exhausted
  • grown and replced at the same rate of being used
  • wind, wave, solar, geothermal, tidal and biomass energy
  • energy used in residential, commercial, industrial situations and transport
  • materials - oxygen, freshwater, timber, leather, paper
1 of 6

Responsible design

  • CO2 emissions - energy required to produce materials and while products are in use
  • transportation methods and distance travelled
  • impact on environment through mining or harvesting
  • impact on availability or scarcity
  • maintenance and repair costs
  • ethical and moral issues
2 of 6

Waste disposal

  • production and consumption creates waste
  • incineration - produces harmful gases
  • landfill - can't build or grow on
  • dumping at sea - hurts wildlife
  • recycling - only certain plastics will recycle
  • careful planning:
  • less raw material required
  • waste materials reused inetrnally for alternative parts and products
  • some of the cost of materials recouped through the sale of recyclable waste
  • energy to heat and power a business may be generated
3 of 6

Impact of consumption

  • chemicals can leach into soil and water courses
  • industrial waste may be radioactive - can't be cleaned up easily, can cause deformities or death
  • all materials leave a footprint in terms of impacts their production and consumption has on the planet
  • the footprint is left in these stages:

1. Obtaining raw materials

2. Manufacture and processing

3. Shipping/ transportation/ distribution

4. Battery or fuel power/ consumption/ wear and tear

5. End of life

4 of 6

LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)

  • investigates the whole life of a product
  • looks at ethics and proventance of the product

1. Extraction and processing - amount of energy used to extract raw material from the earth, or to produce it through farming or other methods and process it ready for manufacture

2. Manufacturing and production - energy required to maipulate the raw and refined materials into a product ready for sale

3. Distribution - packaging and transport of the product to the end user

4. In use - energy that the product or any related consumables used during its working life or useful lifetime

5. End of life - energy required to recycle the product and/ or dispose of any waste

5 of 6

LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) continued

Ethical questions

  • Where can energy be saved?
  • Where can working conditions be improved
  • Where can emissions be reduced?
  • Where can material be saved?
  • Do our actions have a negative effect on communities or natural environments?
6 of 6

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Design & Technology: Resistant Materials resources:

See all Design & Technology: Resistant Materials resources »See all New and emerging technologies resources »