Environmental Decisions

Decisions based on Risk

To buy or not to buy an umbrella? You need to attend a meeting in impeccable conditions. Probability of raining is 30% and you need to cross a long uncovered park to get to the meeting. At the park entrance they sell umbrellas for $10 and the end of the park a store sells full clothing starting at $200

To buy or not to buy an umbrella?

Buying a Generator You have a business in a city where blackouts happen no more than once in a year with probability of 1%. Every time there is a blackout you loose $10,000. Should you pay $500 a month for backup power service?

To buy or not to buy an insurance You live in a country that may be hit by hurricanes. The cost of insurance is $ 3,000, it will cover all repairs but has a deductible of $4,000. It is Friday and in 5 minutes everybody will retire until Monday for the weekend. There is a forecast that with probability of 5% a hurricane will strike your city. Should you protect your $500,000?

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What should you, as future engineers, do?

Help to solve the problem Help to avoid that the problem happens again

Humanity, Nature, and Technology: The Hannover Principles The City of Hannover, Germany, was designated as the site of the world exposition in the year The city decided to directly address the difficult issue of imagining and encouraging a sustainable future.

THE HANNOVER PRINCIPLES 1.Insist on rights of humanity and nature to co-exist in a healthy, supportive, diverse and sustainable condition. 2.Recognize interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend upon the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognizing even distant effects. 3.Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness. 4.Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems and their right to co- exist. 5.Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creation of products, processes or standards.

THE HANNOVER PRINCIPLES 6.Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems. in which there is no waste. 7.Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporate this energy efficiently and safely for responsible use. 8.Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not as an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled. 9.Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers and users to link long term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and re-establish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.

U.S. Emits Nearly Half World's Automotive Carbon Dioxide WASHINGTON, DC, June 28, 2006 (ENS) - The United States has five percent of the world's population and 30 percent of the world's automobiles, but the country contributes 45 percent of the world's automotive emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, according to a report released today by the advocacy group Environmental Defense.

Kilogram-force Weight is usually expressed in kilogram-force or pound-force. 1 kg-force = force of gravity on 1 kg of mass. 1 lb-force = force of gravity on 1 lb of mass. – These are not SI units but they have the advantage that the magnitude of the weight is identical to the magnitude of the mass. 1 kg-force = 9.8 Newtons When you say I weight 200 lbs you are indirectly saying: I have a mass of 200 lbs and the force of gravity on me is 890 N. In the next examples all weights are expressed either in in lb- force or in kg-force and in order to calculate rolling resistance they will need to be converted to Newtons

One passenger 60 mph

Car weight reduced 10 times

Speed Reduced to 40 mph

Carpool (4 passengers)

What to do? Innovate Follow good examples

France derives over 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy. – This is due to a long-standing policy based on energy security. France is the world's largest net exporter of electricity – Due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over EUR 3 billion per year from this.

France has been very active in developing nuclear technology. – Reactors and fuel products and services are a major export. It is building its first Generation III reactor and planning a second.

EDF, one of the European leaders in the energy field, operates the largest electricity generation capacity, 95% of which does not emit any greenhouse gases. The competitiveness of EDF’s generation facilities is based on diversity, performance and safety of its means of generation.

Powerful, safe and efficient, nuclear power forms the basis of EDF’s power generation business. Not only does it make France independent in terms of energy supply, but also generates power without producing any greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, its plants have a high capacity rate and electricity prices are amongst the most competitive in Europe. The construction of a new EPR unit at Flamanville is part of the EDF Group’s industrial project.

l EDF, the world’s leading nuclear power utility, operates a French nuclear fleet consisting of 58 reactors spread over 19 different sites

Due to be commissioned in 2012, the EPR plant will constitute the first version of a new generation of reactors. Preparing for the replacement of EDF’s nuclear power plants, as the oldest ones could be decommissioned in around 2020.

power-generation html Since 1996, the EDF Group has operated the first and only geothermal power plant in the world to generate electricity on a commercial basis. The power plant is located at Bouillante in Guadeloupe.