Information Sheet 1: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineering
is a professional engineering discipline related to environmental science. It
encompasses broad scientific topics
like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology,
and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and also improve the
health of living organisms and improve the quality of the environment.

The environment and its domains

Scope of environmental engineering
❑Pollution Control
• identify sources of pollutants,
• understand fate and transport of pollutants, and design and engineer
solutions

❑ Environmental Impact Assessment

• Assess short-term and long-term impacts of current proposed projects

❑Environmental Auditing
• Inventory of mass and energy for any facility to minimize waste and
inefficiency

❑ Environmental Risk Assessment

• Minimize risks to public health and environment

❑ Environmental Management
• Optimization of systems with due regard to user expectation

Engineers play a crucial role in improving living standards throughout the

world. As a result, engineers can have a significant impact on progress towards
sustainable development.

Engineers have a direct effect on: the design and development of products,
processes, and systems, as well as on natural systems through material
selection, project siting, and the end-of-life handling of products.

Existing and Emerging Environmental Issues

1. Globalization, trade, and development
2. Coping with climate change and variability
3. Growth of megacities
4. Human vulnerability to climate change
5. Freshwater depletion and degradation Existing and Emerging Environmental
issue
6. Marine and coastal degradation
7. Population growth
8. Rising consumption in developing countries
9. Biodiversity depletion
10. Biosecurity

Sustainable engineering is defined as the design of human and industrial

systems to ensure that humankind's use of natural resources and cycles do
not lead to diminished quality of life due either to losses in future economic
opportunities or to adverse impacts on social conditions, human health, and
the environment.

 Under this definition, sustainability requires integrating the three

elements of the triple bottom line (environment, economy, society).

 Most definitions incorporate the triple bottom line, along with the aim of
meeting the needs of current and future generations.

 However, in the past, society has "evolved around the principle of fighting
against limits rather than learning to live with them."

 Historically, humans could live within a system of finite resources.

However, with population increasing and industrial production and
consumption on the rise, this historical trend of a world that can
moderate the environmental impact of humans might not be feasible in
the long term
Environmental sustainability

Ability to maintain balance of a certain process or state in a given system.

Sustainable Development (SD) Implies economic growth together with the

protection of environment and public health, each reinforcing the other.

 Means adopting lifestyles and development paths that respect and work
within nature’s limits.

 Means aiming for economic growth, but looking at the impacts to the
environment and social/communal living.
Roles of Engineers
The engineering, design and planning professions play significant role in
moving society/community to a more sustainable way of life. Their decision
directly affects the quality of the environment, economy and public. Modern
engineering systems have the power to significantly affect the environment
future!

Some impacts of human activities and decisions made for the past 100
years:
Some global impacts of Local Activities

 Chemicals is transported through atmosphere and are not bound by

political borders.

 DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and its derivatives are found in

Arctic and Antarctic but never been used there. DDT is used in
pesticides!

 Radionuclides from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion power station in the

Ukraine in 1986 still contaminate Britain in 2000, lambs can be sold for
human consumption
Issues That Will Affect Engineering Practice in the Future
In the ongoing debate over the major challenges to sustainability, key problems
and most engaged in solutions involve engineering systems related to:

 water quality
 climate
 air quality
 sanitation
 waste management
 health
 energy
 food production
 chemicals and materials
 built environment

These issues pose local and global challenges that uniquely affect
communities located in every part of the world and are closely related to
population and demographics. Solutions will require an integrated approach
that combines technology, governance, and economics.

With an understanding of these broader issues, current engineering design

can be engaged more effectively to advance the goal of local, regional, and
global sustainability.

POPULATION AND URBANIZATION

The current global population of 6 billion is expected to reach 9 billion to 10
billion people during this century.

The impact of population growth has long been understood as one of the
grand challenges to mutually advancing environmental, economic, and
societal goals and creating a sustainable future.

It also has a great impact on how we manage natural resources and design
and invest in engineering infrastructure.
One of the environmental issues listed in is the growth of megacities, a
process called urbanization.

For the first time in human history, urban population exceeds rural
population.

In fact, by 2030, 61 percent of the global population is expected to live in

urban areas.

Urbanization is widely recognized to be a source of health problems.

For example, 30 to 60 percent of the urban population in the developing

world lacks adequate sanitary facilities, drainage systems, and piping for
clean water.
2. Health
 The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that poor environmental
quality contributes to 25, percent of all preventable illnesses in the
world.

 In addition, WHO reports that 900 million people lack access to an

improved water supply—a household connection, public standpipe,
borehole, protected dug well, protected spring, or rainwater collection.

 Access to adequate sanitation is even worse, with 2.5 billion people

lacking access to any type of sanitation equipment.

 One consequence is devastating ecological impact on surface waters that

receive domestic water processed by households and businesses,
because more than 90 percent of the waste-water in developing countries
and 33 percent in developed countries is not treated (WHO, 1999).

 This has led to dire consequences for downstream communities' water

supplies and for fishing communities’ dependent on aquatic ecosystems
for their economic livelihood.

 Because many disease-causing vectors are transmitted through contact

with water, air, and solid waste, health issues are critical to the
environmental engineering profession. As WHO points out, health is
inextricably linked to sustainable development.

 How can health problem be an economic problem?

For people living in poverty, illness and disability translate directly into
loss of income. This can be devastating for individuals and their families
who are dependent on their health for household income. (WHO, 2004)

Energy and Climate

 Much of the energy consumption is in sectors designed, constructed, and

managed by engineers (for example, transportation and residential and
commercial buildings)

 Energy consumption is one reason why greenhouse gas emissions are

causing changes in global climate.
  The majority of these emissions are associated with burning fossil fuels
for energy, with a smaller amount associated with land use.

 The more than 2,000 notable predict that the likely range of temperature
increase in the next century will range from 2.4°C to 6.4°C.

 The global consequences of warming will be significant.

 Expected impacts on water, ecosystems, food, coastal areas, and health

as they relate to the specific increase in global mean temperature.

 Not only are ecosystems and wildlife heavily dependent on climate, but
human health and the economy are as well.

As climate, population, and demographics change in the future, engineers

must not only incorporate technological advances to reduce energy and water
usage, but also make use of renewable sources of energy and materials.

Engineers designing infrastructure must anticipate future growth, societal

behavior, and other factors that affect demand during the intended lifetime of
the infrastructure projects.

Toxic Chemicals and Finite Resources

 The use, generation, and release of toxic chemicals to the environment

remains a global issue.

 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other toxic chemicals, including

endocrine disruptors, are serious global concerns.

 As these chemicals cycle through natural and human systems, they pose
significant risks to ecosystem function and human health, because
humans are exposed to these chemicals by breathing air, drinking water,
and eating food.

 Engineers play a significant role in reducing the risks associated with the
use and generation of these chemicals.
 Ideally, they achieve this by designing products, processes, and systems
that do not specify these chemicals in production, repair, operation, and
maintenance.

 Another important contribution engineers can make is understanding

the fate and transport of these chemicals so that damage to natural
systems and exposure to humans can be eliminated or minimized.

 When it comes to materials, another concern beyond toxicity is our

current reliance on nonrenewable resources, which will likely grow in
magnitude as the population increases.

 A renewable resource is any natural resource that is depleted at a rate

slower than the rate at which it regenerates or that is unlikely to be
depleted in the conceivable future.

 For the current population of our planet to live at the same, quality of life
would require the resources of four Earths.

 Engineers can contribute to meeting this challenge in several ways.

 The first is to incorporate renewable resources into designs and

specifications.

 The second is to design products, processes, and systems for high

material efficiency, reducing the amount of material acquired,
manufactured, and later wasted.

 There is also significant opportunity to improve our current material

efficiency. "Recent analysis has found that, of all raw materials used in
manufacturing processes, 94 percent ends up as waste

 In addition, 99 percent of the original material used in the production of

or contained in U.S. goods becomes waste within six weeks of sale
(Lovins, 1997).

 The majority of those discarded materials are from nonrenewable

resources, particularly petroleum, which adds to environmental and
human health impacts.