Engineering Ethics, Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles - Essay Example

Assignment A Engineering ethics Engineering is the knowledge required, and the process applied to conceive, design implement, operate, evolve and decommission some object of significant technical content for a purpose. Engineers on making decisions and undertaking some actions in the engineering activity have some significant impact on society and the world at large. Therefore, the engineering profession involves public commitment to operating with honesty and integrity. This is essential in development of an immense level of confidence and trust, and a positive perception of the field. In order to attain this, engineering ethics, which are, a set of principles that guide the conduct and the way engineers perform their roles are employed. Engineers being professionals should work to raise the health, welfare and safety standards of the society while putting into consideration the sustainability of resources and the environmental impacts. They should be personally and professionally committed to improving the livelihood of the society through proper knowledge exploitation and innovations. The guiding principles that form the building blocks of the professional ethics are: Honesty and integrity The engineering discipline derives its values from the individuals involved. These values are based on the common values which bring people together. Therefore, all activities should be conducted with honesty, fairness and integrity. Engineers should adhere to the essence of equality in opportunity and social justice, and freedom of choice. They should be conscious while relating to other people, respect their rights and reputation, and should act in a reliable and trust worthy way to every client or employer. Accuracy and rigour Professional engineers have to acquire and apply wisely, the knowledge relevant to the skills required to serve other people. They should act with competence and exceptional care at all times. They should keep themselves updated and avoid misleading others and perform only services within their areas of expertise. Engineers should also present and review engineering theories and interpretations honestly and accurately. Respect life, law and public interest Engineers should ensure that all the activities undertaken is lawful and justified. They should strive to lessen and justify the impacts on society and the environment, and withhold the health and safety concerns of the public. They should also act responsibly, lawfully and professionally to protect the reputation of their discipline. Responsible leadership Engineers should exert high leadership standards in the application and management of technology. They should ensure that the positions they hold in the society is not used to realize personal interests or to harm the society. They should promote the understanding on the effects and advantages of engineering achievements while being objective and honest in any statements they make. They should be listening and be aware of the emerging issues that sprouts up from engineering and technology Therefore, basing on the responsibilities of an engineer, in the case scenario, I think that it was the faults of both the engineer and the contractor. The engineer acted on the minimalist model, conformed only to the accepted practice and fulfillment of prescribed terms of employment. Though he or she denied the request to remove the baskets, no actions are undertaken to ensure that mistakes are prevented, and the public welfare is safe guarded. He recognizes the insufficient standards be applied but takes no action. The contractor is also liable or responsible as he despises the engineer’s consent of not removing the baskets holding the antennas. He goes ahead and removes them before lifting. This causes the electric shock when the extension boom fails. The engineers should have reviewed the plans of the contractor, but withhold the paramount need for the health and safety conditions of others. The engineer should have taken an action when the contractor despised the advice against removing the baskets, blocking the lifting basing on the safety concerns. Works cited Bergmann, S. (2008) Spaces of mobility: essays on the planning, ethics, engineering and religion of human motion, London: Equinox Mitcham, C., & Duval, R. S. (2000) Engineering ethics, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Environmental impact of electric vehicles According to a study done under the world business council for sustainable development, the ownership of light- duty cars could rise from approximately 700 million to slightly 2 billion over the years 2000 to 2050. These light duty automobiles contribute approximately 10% of the world’s energy use and green house gas emissions (Solomon et al. 2007). These trends project an immense rise in the demands of fuel, energy security concerns and the implications for climatic changes. Understanding the environmental impacts of replacing the gasoline or diesel powered engines with the electric vehicles as an alternate technology involves a lot of considerations (Hacker et al, 2009). Hybrid and electric vehicles have emerged as an important, integral part of the technologies needed to address these issues of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. In order to ensure that espousal of electric vehicles in the reducing the emissions of green house gases does not result in other undesired effects, environmental assessments should be performed. Several studies were undertaken in the 90’s with a focus on the air quality, benefits and environmental impacts of electric vehicles. The studies yielded comparative tail- pipe emissions, and pinpointed concerns about the surplus emissions linked to the rise in the production of batteries (Lave et al., 1995). Early studies also on the lifecycle assessment (LCA) highlighted the uncertainties of taking into account the isolated mechanisms and impacts within a major system. The ISO 14040 and 14044 give a guideline for the data requirements of life cycle inventory (LCI) which is addressed in the study. Most of the studies undertaken to determine the environmental impacts of electric vehicle do not consider the impacts related to the disposal, recycle and reuse of components. Most of the studies focus on the green house gas emissions. They do not provide sufficient detail to allow the separation of the impacts associated with the production of vehicles from those linked with the production of batteries. The lifetime of the vehicle as well as that of the battery has a substantial effect on the global warming potential(GWP) as per the distance in kilometers covered by the vehicle. This increase in GWP is attributed to the doubling of the production of the Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries. It is also noted that individual studies on the battery and vehicle production have shown that the trend; increasing GWP associated with the increase in the level of electrification, always hold. With respect to other emissions associated, king and Webber find in their study that the water withdrawals are more than forty times higher, and the water consumption is twice for the electric cars as compared with the internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV) (King & Webber, 2008). For their case, they report the water withdrawals associated with electricity production of 40 Litres per Kilometre driven while the ICEV recorded 0.2 Litres per Kilometre driven. The battery components of the electric vehicle are also a source of environmental impact and should be handled well at the end of disposal of the battery. According to Van den Bossche and his colleagues, avoiding the impacts related to reuse and recycle of materials can reduce the battery associated impacts by close to 50%. In concluding basing on the studies, the most decisive steps to take in understanding the effects of electric vehicles with respect to internal combustion engine vehicles are: Improving the estimates of the effects, related with the electricity used to power the growing fleet of electric vehicles. Obtaining well-informed and comparable estimates of use phase energy consumption. Better understanding of battery lifetime and vehicle lifetime. Implementing transparent, rigorous, and accessible LCIs of the production of electric vehicle. Works cited Hacker, F., Harthan, R., Matthes, F., & Zimmer, W. (2009) ‘environmental impacts and impact on the electricity market of a large scale introduction of electric cars in Europe’. Oeko-Institut e.V. For The European Topic Center on Air and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany King, C. & Webber, M., (2008) ‘The water intensity of the plugged-in automotive economy’. Environ Sci Technol, vol.42, no. 12, pp. 4305– 4311. Lave, L., Hendrickson, C.T., & McMichael F.C. (1995) Environmental implications of electric cars. Science, no.268, pp. 993– 995. Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Averyt, K. B., Chen, Z., Marquis, M.,Tignor, M. & Miller, H. L. (2007) Contribution of Working Group 1 to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Off shore wind energy Wind energy is considered a form of energy although indirect. Approximately 1-2% of the solar energy striking the earth surface is transformed to wind energy. In general, wind is a result of non-uniform heating of different surfaces of the earth. Although a good quantity of the solar energy is absorbed by air, most of the sun’s energy present in the wind is first absorbed by the earth surface and then channeled to the air by the processes of convection. Wind energy is globally considered a viable technology to meet the ever-rising demands for a sustainable and clean energy source. Wind energy can be harnessed both in the on shores or the off shores. Offshore wind farms are at the initial stages of the commercialization and deployment stage (International Renewable Energy Agency, 2012). Offshore wind technology has a higher capital demand than the onshore technology, but this is often offset by the higher capacity factors. Offshore wind farms are seen to foster the massive expansion and commercialization of wind energy in the long run. This greater deployment and higher capacities can be attributed to the characteristics the offshore turbines have as follows: They are tall and have longer blades. Thus, sweeps a larger area producing higher energy output They are located in positions with a fair wind speeds and have less turbulence (Esteban, López-Gutiérrez, Diez & Negro, 2011). Offshore wind farms carry with it output a vast range of benefits. First, the seas provide large, continuous area to expand on without being constrained by the location related issues on land which normally comes as in the case of on shore wind energy farms. There is access to immense speeds of the wind which, tend to increase with the distance from the shores. This is achieved since the water surface is frees from any structures which may alter the flow of air. This leads to low turbulence level, allowing the turbines to effectively harness energy while having a reduced fatigue loads. The seas also provide lower wind Shear than the land surfaces which allows for the use of shorter towers. Wind Shear is the gap size of boundary of slower moving wind to the water surface. Offshore wind energy sources are also considered being reducing atmospheric pollution as it reduces the emission of Carbon dioxide. Although offshore wind farms possess a number of advantageous, they also have shortcomings. Offshore wind farms are expensive to install due to the foundations necessary for the offshore turbines. These turbines are complex compared to the on shore turbines. They involve greater technical challenges and should be designed to withstand the harsh marine environment and the impact of the waves and. Offshore wind farms do also have environmental impacts though reduced as compared to onshore farms. Noise and visual, related issues are not serious challenges. Previous studies on the projects going on have suggested that noise generated by the turbines travel underwater and causes disturbances to marine life (Carey, 2012). The turbine towers are also seen as barriers to sea transport. Despite the negative impacts that the offshore wind farms might present, it is a viable and a promising source of clean energy that should be commercialized with urgency. Offshore wind energy has lesser impacts than the onshore wind energy technology giving it a green flag for an expansive adoption. Works cited Carey, B. (2012) Offshore wind energy could power entire U.S. East Coast, Stanford scientists say, Stanford news, accessed 22 November 2012, Esteban, M. D., López-Gutierrez, J.S., Diez, J.J. & Negro, V. (2011) ‘Methodology for the Design of Offshore Wind Farms’ Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64 (Proceedings of the 11th International Coastal Symposium),pp.496 –500. International Renewable Energy Agency (2012) ‘Renewable Energy Technologies: Cost Analysis Series’ International Renewable Energy Agency, Issue 5/5, June 2012, accessed 22 November 2012, Read More