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Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleColston Research Society Annual Dinner: "Green Engineering" |
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GREEN ENGINEERINGIntroductory RemarksI would like to thank Sir John Kingman for inviting me here to speak about Engineering for Sustainability. I have entitled my speech tonight Green Engineering because I want to put forward the simple, but to many people surprising, idea that science and engineering are the key to solving our environmental problems. Building a Sustainable Future Let me begin by painting in the background of this issue. The application of science has transformed our lives in the last 150 years. As a result of vaccinations and penicillin we have been able to reduce the threat of infectious disease, and using pasteurisation, sterilisation, water purification and other techniques we have been able to combat food and water-borne disease. The result has been an incredible increase in the quality and length of our lives within the last 50 years, If we take the world as a whole, life expectancy at birth rose from 46.4 years in 1950-55 to 64.4 years in 1990-95, an increase of 18 years. And equally significant, the gap in life expectancy between the more developed regions and the less developed regions fell from 26 years in 1950-55 to 12 years in 1990-95. And though it remains shockingly high in developing regions, the absolute numbers and fractions of people who were chronically undernourished fell from 941 million around 1970 to 786 million around 1990. When people today see on their television set scenes of famine and disease in developing countries they are rightly shocked, but such scenes would have been commonplace in pre-industrial Revolution in Britain. The reason why they no longer exist is due in large measure to the application of advances in science. As the historian J H Plumb, in one of his attacks on the teaching of a picture book past, wrote "No one in his senses would choose to have been born in a previous age unless he could be certain that he would have been born into a prosperous family, that he would have enjoyed extremely good health, and that he would have accepted stoically the death of the majority of his children.' At the same time we must face the fact that major problems of disease, hunger and poverty exist in the developing world. A quarter of the world's people have to survive on incomes of less than 60 pence a day. A fifth have no access to health care. Huge though this challenge may seem, it is becoming greater: the world's population is forecast to increase by half, another 3 billion people by 2050. It is a moral imperative that consumption levels increase in the developing world. But the environment cannot cope even with the current levels of consumption. Global warming is just the starkest of a number of wake-up calls. And it is as unrealistic to expect people in the West to accept a significantly lower standard of living, as it is wrong to deny growth and prosperity to those living in the developing world. We must, therefore, find new ways to meet peoples' aspirations and expectation without damaging the environment. That is the challenge of sustainable development. As we begin the 21st Century we are therefore confronted by a host of major environmental problems. The rush towards industrialisation has, in many cases, led to an unthinking approach to our natural resources. For instance, the UK uses 600m tonnes of resources per annum. Of that, 60m tonnes are of usable goods of which only 6m tonnes are in use six months later. We cannot continue in this way and we need to apply our science and engineering skills to improving our use of resources. Only innovative exploitation of new developments in Science, engineering and technology will improve our standard of living, while improving our environment. Too often people regard science and engineering as the cause of environmental degradation. I believe the reverse is true. It is the scientists and engineers who will provide solutions to environmental problems and create a basis for new commercial opportunities. Only by using our science and engineering skills will we realistically be able to deliver a sustainable future. Let me give an example of what I mean. The hole in the ozone layer was, of course, discovered by science. In the 1970s, three chemists. Rowland and Molina in the USA and Crutzen in Germany (who shared the Nobel Prize 3 years ago), demonstrated that CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) used in, for example, refrigerators and aerosols, can cause the breakdown of ozone when they disperse into the stratosphere. This sounded alarm bells and led to discussions about the need to phase out CFCs. Then in the 1980s, Joe Farman at the British Antarctic Survey, first produced unequivocal proof that stratospheric ozone is depleted over the Antarctic. The quantity of ozone is now 40% of the levels in the 1960s. Similar depletion is also occurring over the northern hemisphere, with springtime levels of ozone down by 20%-30% in recent years. Farman's observation, together with the known chemical mechanism, were crucial pieces of evidence that led to the signing of the Montreal Protocol on phasing out CFCs. The replacement of CFCs has also relied on science to produce alternative solutions to refrigeration and other uses. The Role of Government In this process of engineering a more sustainable future Government has a key role to play, creating incentives which stimulate innovation. Renewable Energy Take energy for instance. Climate change means that we have to look at ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions - in our view the "do nothing" option is not an option. We have set ourselves a domestic goal of a 20% reduction in CO2 by 2010. Renewable energy - with low or no-emissions- will be an important feature of our energy scene in the future. We are taking powers in the Utilities Bill currently before Parliament to enable a set percentage of the UK's electricity supplies to be provided from renewable sources. Our target is 10% by 2010, subject to the cost of this being acceptable to consumers. Effectively this means that we shall have created a guaranteed market for renewables up to 2025, offering the UK's renewable energy industry an unprecedented opportunity for expansion and one we hope they will grasp enthusiastically. We have also exempted renewables electricity from the Climate Change Levy and have boosted the R&D budget to over £43m over this and the next 2 years. But if we are to make renewable energy affordable, whether it is wind power, wave power, or photovoltaics, we will need some major engineering breakthroughs. We also need to create a new kind of transport system which meets people's needs for mobility and access to goods and services, without putting too great a strain on the environment or our purses - public or private. We have to take advantage of the opportunities that technology offers us to alter our ways of living. We have to ask how do we make public transport more attractive as well as how do we make cars less polluting. Foresight Above all we need to look ahead. The Foresight Programme has taken sustainable development as an underpinning theme for the current phase of its work - i.e. every Panel is being asked to consider the implications of its proposals for sustainable development. We are also trying to ensure that we have people involved in the Foresight process with a thorough understanding of sustainable development. That is partly about having the right mix of people on the Panels. But it is also about ensuring that there is opportunity for people outside the Panels to comment on developing ideas and make a contribution to Panels' work. I hope people in this audience will take advantage of this now that the Panels are starting to put their initial ideas and proposals out for consultation. It is also clearly important that outputs from Foresight lead to action by industry and by Government. One example of such action is the Foresight Vehicle initiative, which grew out of the first round of Foresight. This focuses on developing product and process technologies for use in mass-market vehicles of 2020 that are clean, efficient, and sustainable. It currently supports the research, development and demonstration of technology in the areas of hybrid, electric and alternatively fuelled vehicles, advanced structures and materials, advanced electronics and sensors, telematic systems and powertrain. Foresight Vehicle also includes research on the components of the infrastructure which interact with the vehicle. It is primarily concerned with road vehicles but the boundaries of the initiative follow technology rather than a particular transport mode. For example, it includes work on lightweight materials and telematics which are equally relevant to road and rail. In common with all foresight activities it brings together representatives from UK industry, academia, user groups and public sector bodies. Several government departments including the DTI/OST, DETR, EPSRC, HA and MoD are actively involved. It has created a growing network of over 350 organisations and comprises a research portfolio of some £65 million. Over £12 million of government funding is being made available. This is another example of how engineering skills can be used to improve the environment. Earth Observation Another area which I find fascinating is Earth Observation. Advances in the relatively new science of Earth Observation offer the potential to widen our understanding of how our planet functions in its wider environment. The UK is a subscriber to the European Space Agency's Living Planet Programme which aims to produce timely research results which can then be exploited to manage the Earth's environment more effectively. The UK played an active part in developing the programme proposals. It responds to the research community's need for a faster more cost-effective service, uses innovative techniques and provides for hands-on involvement of researchers in the engineering design of missions and in running them. The European Space Agency, in which the UK is a major player, is at the forefront of space-based Earth Observation thanks to the highly successful ERS-1 and ERS-2 spacecraft launched in 1991 and 1995. Major engineering challenges were involved in bringing ERS-1 and ERS-2 to fruition, notably through the development by Matra Marconi Space (UK) of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument, which operates by transmitting short pulses of radar energy to a swath of width 100km perpendicular to the flight direction of the spacecraft. The returned energy is measured by the SAR and sent to the ground for processing to build up a high resolution image of surface features. Specification of the SAR design and discrimination of the necessary hardware into its high performance elements required strong engineering skills by MMS and their European subcontractors. The ERS-1 SAR operated in orbit for almost nine years proving to be an instrument of substantial quality and serviceability. The ERS-2 SAR is now in its fifth year of operation. ERS-1 and ERS-2 also carried an infrared radiometer instrument known as ATSR, developed by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. ATSR was designed to detect small differences in temperature between different areas of ocean. The ability of instruments to do this is limited by the natural noise generated in the infrared detectors. This noise is reduced by cooling the detectors with a Stirling Cycle Cooler, developed by Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, allowing very small sea surface temperature differences to be imaged. As a result the spatial structure of surface temperature has been seen by ATSR in finer detail than has been possible before. ERS-1 and ERS-2 will be followed by ENVISAT, due to be launched next year. ENVISAT will be the largest free-flying and probably the most complex satellite ever built in Europe. Ten instruments, including advanced versions of the SAR and ATSR instruments, will be flown on ENVISAT. A major engineering driver for the ENVISAT satellite configuration has been the need to maximise the instrument mounting area and to meet stringent viewing requirements within the constraints of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle interface. E-Commerce The increasing use of e-commerce by business, Government, and the public at large could also have a profound impact on our ability to become more sustainable. E-commerce has the potential to reduce the resource intensity of many products and services, but it is important that we assess the benefits and problems in a systematic and balanced way. The Digital Futures inquiry, led by Forum for the Future and backed by a consortium of companies, think-tanks and government departments including DTI, will investigate the environmental and social impacts of the explosion in e-commerce. Much attention has focused on the economic potential of e-commerce, but this project will analyse its wider impacts on energy use, transport, planning and social exclusion. Managing Sustainability But meeting these challenges is not just a matter of developing new technologies. It is also a question of how we manage the use of these technologies. So we have recently begun funding a project managed by Forum for the Future, the British Standards Institution, and the Institute of Environmental and Ethical Accountability to develop the next generation of management systems. We have called this a Sustainability Management System. I am sure you will hear a great deal about the need to manage sustainability over the coming years. Indeed the Government Office for the South West here in Bristol is working with partners throughout the region to bring the message of sustainable business management to the attention of South West businesses. Through the internet and also a network of environmental business support organisations called "Horizon South West", the message that sustainable business practice makes good business sense is being promoted and is backed up with specialist help either locally or from the Government's Energy Efficiency and Environmental Technology Best Practice programmes. To demonstrate the value of using modern information technology to deliver advice to business, the South West region has its own sustainable development web site, www.oursouthwest.com, managed by GOSW providing news, information, environmental data, contacts and links. "Sustainable Business" is a recent addition to the site giving advice on what the issues are and where local and national help can be obtained. Business Opportunities This brings me to one of the other main points I want to make this evening. The problems of the environment bring opportunities as well as difficulties for business. Sustainable development can provide new opportunities for growth and competitive advantage. The sectors concerned with environmental monitoring and instrumentation, water services and energy management already provide employment for over 225,000 people in the UK. And the rapidly growing world market for environmental equipment and services is estimated to double from £200bn in 2000 to £400bn in 2010. These are substantial markets and comparable globally to aerospace and pharmaceuticals. It is also anticipated that during the next 10 years, worldwide investment in renewable energy sources will be in the range of £150bn-£400bn. Sustainability and the Engineer To meet the challenge of sustainability engineers will need the right approach and an understanding of sustainability to be fully effective. To this end, DTI is supporting various projects. One of these is the Engineers for Sustainability - The Engineer of the 21st Century inquiry, being led by Forum for the Future. It will develop a vision of the 21st century engineer and their role in helping to achieve sustainable development, and recommend policies and mechanisms to prepare and support them. Its report will make recommendations to engineering institutions, employers, government, educators and trainers. It will also highlight what engineers are already doing with regards to sustainable development. DTI is also supporting the development of Sustainability Guidelines for Engineers. The Engineering Council is revising and updating its Guidelines on Environmental Issues, which educate engineers and others about their responsibilities to the environment and the community. The concept of sustainable development will be included in the new guidelines. Perceptions of Engineering Engineering is changing. The traditional perceptions of engineering rooted in the nineteenth century are obsolete. The inter-disciplinary nature of the new technologies requires us to take a fresh look at engineering in its widest sense and re-position it to meet the challenges ahead. That is why I asked Bob Hawley, Chairman of the Engineering Council, to work with DTI officials to review the contribution the Engineering Council should make to add value to this "wider engineering community" by improving the effectiveness of existing activities. I impressed upon Dr Hawley that the review engages with the widest possible spread of interests. I believe that engineers need to be at the forefront of our drive to meet the challenges of the ever growing global market, whilst also ensuring that future growth is sustainable. This is a tough demand, and we must, therefore, ensure that we have a sufficient supply of bright, well-educated and well-motivated young people entering engineering at all levels, and that they understand how those markets are changing. This requires people to be more confident and imaginative. It is also crucial that modern British excellence is recognised abroad. The extent to which the UK is viewed as a leader in top rank science and innovative engineering is vital in today's markets. It influences key decision makers in the fields of procurement and overseas investment. For too many people, Britain has a proud science and engineering heritage. To win export contracts and dominate emerging markets, we must make sure the image of engineering is as up to date and dynamic as our design and architecture profession. We need to create a new confidence in a proud science and engineering future. Conclusion The challenge of engineering a sustainable future is one of the most exciting challenges facing young people today. We have the duty and the exciting task of describing the problems and inspiring them to find solutions. To do so will require knowledge and creativity, but few things are more important for the future of engineering or the future of our planet. |
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Other speeches by Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(the following are available from the archive) |
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