Sustainable Development - Essay Example

Optimum development in various spheres is taking place due to heightened industrialization, automation, etc. However, this development is negatively affecting the environment and human lives in the form of global warming. With these developmental activities becoming an intricate part of human evolution, it cannot be stopped altogether, necessitating the need for adopting sustainable development practices. Sustainability focuses on the welfare of the people of the current times and also the future. It will also take into account the social and environmental aspects, along with economic aspects. Sustainable energy options can be adopted by all the stakeholders from companies, government bodies to the common people. Wind energy appears to be feasible sustainable energy option, which can fulfil power needs, even while countering global warming. Table of Contents Introduction 3 Aims and Objectives 3 Global Warming and how sustainable development is the way forward 4 Sustainable options 5 Conclusion 7 References 8 Sustainable development is part of the solution to man-made global warming Introduction Man-made global warming subjects the environment to various forms of ‘assaults’ and that is having a extreme effect on the human lives as well, as both coexist. Loss of human supporting biodiversity, shortage of fresh water, drastic changes in climate, etc are having negative effect on the health of the humans. Unless this negative impact of global warming is stopped or paused or even minimized, it will continue to endanger many human lives not only in the present but also in the future. Thus, before formulating any strategies against global warming, it is necessary to understand how actions taken by people of current generation could have an impact or consequence for them as well as for the future generations. This aspect of understanding and caring for the people of present times as well as future, and thereby acting accordingly only constitutes sustainable development. As defined by Kates, Parris and Leiserowitz (2005) sustainable development is the “…ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” Aims and Objectives Development is carried out mainly focusing on economic and materialistic aspects, without thinking about sustainability. That is, as pointed out above, sustainable development focuses on the wellbeing of not only the present generation of people but also the future, but this focus on economic aspects and materialism is destroying the environment and the people dependent on it. Thus, it is very crucial to carry out these developmental activities in a sustainable way. Sustainable development is a major part of the solution to global warming, as it eliminates the catalytic factors of global warming. After focusing on how sustainable development is the way forward for the human race, the next part of the paper will discuss the various sustainable options, particularly focusing on Wind power. The paper will end with a personal conclusion on how to stop or pause or even minimize global warming and its effects. Global Warming and how sustainable development is the way forward Global Warming is mainly caused by the GHG, particularly Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and their activities in the atmosphere. This increased CO2 emissions and the resultant global warming hots up the earth abnormally, leading to various negative effects on the environment as well as the human lives. CO2 emissions are visible in various human developmental activities starting from constructing new infrastructure to the process of electrification. For example, Coal, used to generate electrical power in many countries around the world, is also high emitter of CO2. “With Coal having the highest carbon intensity among fossil fuels, coal-fired plants have the highest output rate of CO2 per kilowatthour.” (eia.doe.gov). As there is increasing emission of CO2, earth gets hotted up very quickly melting the glaciers, increasing the sea-level and resulting in floods. On the other hand, high temperatures also leads to droughts, heat strokes among the people, increase in the prevalence of various diseases, etc. All these negative effects of global warming have to be controlled or eradicated for the human race to live a healthy life. If the humans are allowed to continue their detrimental activities, they could the lives of not only the current generation but also the future generation in peril. Ironically, the same destructive or if said positively the development activities cannot be avoided or stopped, as it has been providing many developments and comforts to the human population. The only way out is to carrying out those activities in a sustainable way. Thus, when developmental activities are carried taking into consideration economic aspects, social aspects and environmental aspects, it will be beneficial to all the sections of the population. For that to actualize there has to be fullest cooperation as well as coordinated actions by all the people of the world, with the key decision making entities from governments to business companies optimally contributing to it. Sustainable development can be viewed as a social movement—“a group of people with a common ideology who try together to achieve certain general goals.” (Kates, Parris and Leiserowitz 2005). If safe development is carried out, it will safeguard the health of the people as well as that of the environment in the current times as well as in the future, thus showcasing how sustainable development is the only way forward. Sustainable options Sustainable development includes adopting sustainable designs while constructing infrastructure, while manufacturing energy based products and also while utilizing sustainable energy options instead of fossil energy options. These are the two major areas through which sustainability can be achieved. If the business companies and even common people incorporate sustainable designs while designing and constructing their infrastructures or buildings or even their residences, they can reduce their carbon imprint, thereby reducing global warming. Apart from these sustainable designs, prominently sustainable energy options have to be followed. The new sustainable practices that would reduce fossil fuel consumption are the use of bio fuels in automobiles as well as other industries. The usage of electric batteries and hydrogen fuel cells in cars could also be implemented to sustainably improve the functionality of automobiles in respect to preserving fuel. Among all these sustainable energy options, wind energy is perhaps the cleanest and most efficient forms of renewable and sustainable energy. This is because wind energy based power plants do not cause any pollution including CO2 emissions, unlike the other power plants, which carries out combustion of coal, fossil fuels or even natural gas to produce electricity. Thus, there will no GHG and the resultant global warming due to Wind energy. “A cumulative total of 7,600 million tons of CO2 would be avoided by 2030, and more than 15,000 million tons of CO2 would be avoided by 2050.” (EERE, 2010). The other advantage is it is one of the low-priced sustainable energy options. The common industry standard is that it costs between 4 and 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, depending upon the wind resource and project financing of the particular project. (EERE, 2010). Although, one of the disadvantages is the high installation costs for setting up large plants, the idea, however, would be the installation of small wind power plants for domestic or for a particularly community’s use, which would require relatively small investment. “In isolated communities without easy access to an electricity network, or grid, wind power can be a cheap solution to people's electricity needs.” (Spilsbury and Spilsbury, 2007). One of the major cons of wind power is locating a feasible site for wind turbine installation. All areas may not be suitable for wind power generation as those areas could be land locked and also where there will be visible inconsistencies in wind speeds. In addition, feasible and productive sites for wind turbine installation could be far away from the city, and located in remote areas. In those cases, long transmission lines involving heavy investment has to be built to integrate the generated electricity into the electric grid. Another major deterrent against wind power generation is the non-availability of apt land for installation, with the land owners going for other cost productive utilizations. “Wind resource development may compete with other uses for the land and those alternative uses may be more highly valued than electricity generation.” (EERE, 2010). Although, as mentioned above, the process of wind power generation has no or little impact on the environment, some concerns are being raised regarding the noise produced by large windmills and plants. “Large wind generators may be noisy and may also impair television reception and also microwave communication used by telephone companies” (Chiras, 2004). With pros outweighing the cons, many countries are tapping it, with United States leading the pack. Fig. 1: Alistair Pott (n. d) Conclusion One of the ‘hottest’ topics about the environment is the man-made global warming. The entire world needs to work together towards trying and reducing the negative effects of global warming. Several smart shoppers and environment conscious people, now days, would be willingly ready to pay just a few dollars more if their power supply came from a sustainable energy options like wind energy. If the usage of wind power is greatly promoted at greater levels, it would drastically lessen the usage and burning of fossil fuel, reducing the emissions of greenhouse gasses and importantly controlling or minimizing or even eradicating the negative effects of man-made global warming. References Alistair Pott (n. d). Wind power is taking off. Available from: http://alistairpott.com/2009/02/04/wind-power-is-taking-off/[25 March 2011]. Chiras, D.D. (2004). Environmental Science: Creating a Sustainable Future. New York: Jones & Bartlett Learning. eia.doe.gov. (2000). Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Generation of Electric Power in the United States. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Available from: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/co2_report/co2report.html[25 March 2011]. EERE. (2010). Advantages and Challenges of Wind Energy. U.S. Department of Energy. Available from: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_ad.html. [25 March 2011]. Spilsbury, R and Spilsbury, L. (2007). The Pros and Cons of Wind Power. London: The Rosen Publishing Group. Kates, A.A., Parris, R.W and Leiserowitz, T.M. (2005). What is Sustainable development? Goals, Indicators, Values and Practice. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development. Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 8-21. Read More