SOCIETY ETHICS & TECHNOLOGY

LECTURE-6
Technological Advancement and the Effect on the Ecosystem:

TECHNOLOGY & ECOLOGY:

Greenhouse
effect Ozone layer
Depletion

GREEN HOUSE EFFECT

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface. When the Sun’s
energy reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is
absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and some
artificial chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Ozone layer Depletion:

Ozone hole in North America during 1984 ozone cycle

The Impact of Technology on the Environment

The industrial revolution has brought about new technologies with immense power. This was the
transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from
about 1760 to 1840. This has been succeeded by continued industrialization and further
technological advancements in developed countries around the world, and the impact of this
technology on the environment has included the misuse and damage of our natural earth.

These technologies have damaged our world in two main ways; pollution and the depletion of
natural resources.

1. Air and water pollution

Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of gases such as carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide and methane are introduced into the earth’s
atmosphere. The main sources all relate to technologies which emerged following the industrial
revolution such as the burning of fossil fuels, factories, power stations, mass agriculture and
vehicles. The consequences of air pollution include negative health impacts for humans and
animals and global warming, whereby the increased amount of greenhouse gases in the air trap
thermal energy in the Earth’s atmosphere and cause the global temperature to rise.

Water pollution on the other hand is the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers,
oceans, and groundwater, usually due to human activities. Some of the most common water
pollutants are domestic waste, industrial effluents and insecticides and pesticides. A specific
example is the release of inadequately treated wastewater into natural water bodies, which can
lead to degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Other detrimental effects include diseases such as
typhoid and cholera, eutrophication and the destruction of ecosystems which negatively affects
the food chain.

2. Depletion of natural resources

Resource depletion is another negative impact of technology on the environment. It refers to the
consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished. Natural resources consist of those
that are in existence without humans having created them and they can be either renewable or
non-renewable. There are several types of resource depletion, with the most severe being aquifer
depletion, deforestation, mining for fossil fuels and minerals, contamination of resources, soil
erosion and overconsumption of resources. These mainly occur as a result of agriculture, mining,
water usage and consumption of fossil fuels, all of which have been enabled by advancements in
technology.

Due to the increasing global population, levels of natural resource degradation are also
increasing. This has resulted in the estimation of the world’s eco-footprint to be one and a half
times the ability of the earth to sustainably provide each individual with enough resources that
meet their consumption levels. Since the industrial revolution, large-scale mineral and oil
exploration has been increasing, causing more and more natural oil and mineral depletion.
Combined with advancements in technology, development and research, the exploitation of
minerals has become easier and humans are therefore digging deeper to access more which has
led to many resources entering into a production decline.

Moreover, the consequence of deforestation has never been more severe, with the World Bank
reporting that the net loss of global forest between 1990 and 2015 was 1.3 million km2. This is
primarily for agricultural reasons but also logging for fuel and making space for residential areas,
encouraged by increasing population pressure. Not only does this result in a loss of trees which
are important as they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but thousands of plants and
animals lose their natural habitats and have become extinct.

Environmental Technology
Despite the negative impact of technology on environment, a recent rise in global concern for
climate change has led to the development of new environmental technology aiming to help
solve some of the biggest environmental concerns that we face as a society through a shift
towards a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. Environmental technology is also known as
‘green’ or ‘clean’ technology and refers to the development of new technologies which aim to
conserve, monitor or reduce the negative impact of technology on the environment and the
consumption of resources.

The Paris agreement, signed in 2016, has obliged almost every country in the world to undertake
ambitious efforts to combat climate change by keeping the rise in the global average temperature
at less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

This section will focus on the positive impact of technology on the environment as a result of the
development of environmental technology such as renewable energy, ‘smart technology’, electric
vehicles and carbon dioxide removal.

 Renewable energy

Renewable energy, also known as ‘clean energy’, is energy that is collected from renewable
resources which are naturally replenished such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and
geothermal heat. Modern environmental technology has enabled us to capture this naturally
occurring energy and convert it into electricity or useful heat through devices such as solar
panels, wind and water turbines, which reflects a highly positive impact of technology on the
environment.

Having overtaken coal in 2015 to become our second largest generator of electricity, renewable
sources currently produce more than 20% of the UK’s electricity, and EU targets means that this
is likely to increase to 30% by 2020. While many renewable energy projects are large-scale,
renewable technologies are also suited to remote areas and developing countries, where energy is
often crucial in human development.

The cost of renewable energy technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines are falling and
government investment is on the rise. This has contributed towards the amount of rooftop solar
installations in Australia growing from approximately 4,600 households to over 1.6 million
between 2007 and 2017.

 Smart technology

Smart home technology uses devices such as linking sensors and other appliances connected to
the Internet of Things (IoT) that can be remotely monitored and programmed in order to be as
energy efficient as possible and to respond to the needs of the users.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of internet-connected objects able to collect and
exchange data using embedded sensor technologies. This data allows devices in the network to
autonomously ‘make decisions’ based on real-time information. For example, intelligent lighting
systems only illuminate areas that require it and a smart thermostat keeps homes at certain
temperatures during certain times of day, therefore reducing wastage.

This environmental technology has been enabled by increased connectivity to the internet as a
result of the increase in availability of WiFi, Bluetooth and smart sensors in buildings and cities.
Experts are predicting that cities of the future will be places where every car, phone, air
conditioner, light and more are interconnected, bringing about the concept of energy efficient
‘smart cities’.
The technology of the internet further demonstrates a positive impact of technology on the
environment due to the fact that social media can raise awareness of global issue and worldwide
virtual laboratories can be created. Experts from different fields can remotely share their
research, experience and ideas in order to come up with improved solutions. In addition, travel is
reduced as meetings/communication between friends and families can be done virtually, which
reduces pollution from transport emissions.

 Electric vehicles

The environmental technology of the electric vehicle is propelled by one or more electric motors,
using energy stored in rechargeable batteries. Since 2008, there has been an increase in the
manufacturing of electric vehicles due to the desire to reduce environmental concerns such as air
pollution and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Electric vehicles demonstrate a positive impact of technology on the environment because they
do not produce carbon emissions, which contribute towards the ‘greenhouse effect’ and leads to
global warming. Furthermore, they do not contribute to air pollution, meaning they are cleaner
and less harmful to human health, animals, plants, and water.

There have recently been several environmental technology government incentives encouraging
plug-in vehicles, tax credits and subsidies to promote the introduction and adoption of electric
vehicles. Electric vehicles could potentially be the way forward for a greener society because
companies such as Bloomberg have predicted that they could become cheaper than petrol cars by
2024 and according to Nissan, there are now in fact more electric vehicle charging stations in the
UK than fuel stations3.
  ‘Direct Air Capture’ (DAC) – Environmental Technology removing Carbon from
the atmosphere

For a slightly more ambitious technology to conclude with, the idea of pulling carbon dioxide
directly out of the atmosphere has been circulating climate change mitigation research for years,
however it has only recently been implemented and is still in the early stages of development.

The environmental technology is known as ‘Direct Air Capture’ (DAC) and is the process of
capturing carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air and generating a concentrated stream of
CO2 for sequestration or utilisation. The air is then pushed through a filter by many large fans,
where CO2 is removed. It is thought that this technology can be used to manage emissions from
distributed sources, such as exhaust fumes from cars. Full-scale DAC operations are able to
absorb the equivalent amount of carbon to the annual emissions of 250,000 average cars.

Many argue that DAC is essential for climate change mitigation and that it can help reach the
Paris Climate Agreement goals, as carbon dioxide in the air has been the main cause of the
problem after all. However, the high cost of DAC currently means that it is not an option on a
large scale and some believe that reliance on this technology would pose a risk as it may reduce
emission reduction as people may be under the pretense that all of their emissions will simply be
removed.
Although we cannot reverse the negative impact of technology on the environment caused by
industrialization, many believe that new environmental technology, such as renewable energy
combined with smart logistics and electric transport has the potential to bring about the rapid
decarburization of our economy and the mitigation of further detrimental harm.

Food Web Disruptions

Opportunities and constrains of late development:

GROWTH IN RAPID STEPS

MODEL OF MODERNITY

ENVIRONMENT

POLITICAL FACTORS

ECONOMIC & MARKET CONSTRAINTS

INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY ON A SOCIETY

TECHNOLOGY AS A FACTOR COMPONENT OF DEVELOPMENT

RAW MATERIAL PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION AND DISPOSAL CYCLE

Technology transfer:

Technology transfer, also called transfer of technology (TT), is the process of transferring
(disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another
person or organization. These transfers may occur between universities, businesses (of any size,
ranging from small, medium, to large), governments, across geopolitical borders, both formally
and informally, and both openly and secretly. Often it occurs by concerted effort to share skills,
knowledge, technologies, manufacturing methods, samples, and facilities among the participants.
to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users
who can then further develop and exploit the technology into new products, processes,
applications, materials, or services. It is closely related to (and may arguably be considered a
subset of) knowledge transfer. Horizontal transfer is the movement of technologies from one area
to another. At present [when?] transfer of technology is primarily horizontal. Vertical transfer
occurs when technologies are moved from applied research centers to research and development
departments.

Technology transfer (TT) refers to the process of conveying results stemming from scientific
and technological research to the market place and to wider society, along with associated skills
and procedures, and is as such an intrinsic part of the technological innovation process.

Drawbacks:
Despite incentives to move research into production, the practical aspects are sometimes difficult
to perform in practice. Using DoD technology readiness levels as a criterion (for example),
research tends to focus on TRL (technology readiness level) 1–3 while readiness for production
tends to focus on TRL 6–7 or higher. Bridging TRL-3 to TRL-6 has proven to be difficult in
some organizations. Attempting to rush research (prototypes) into production (fully tested under
diverse conditions, reliable, maintainable, etc.) tends to be more costly and time-consuming than
expected.
Define several modes of Technology Transfer:

PROCUREMENT OF
TECHNOLOGY

DFI

JOINT VENTURE

COOPERATION

Export Processing Zone (EPZ):

An Export Processing Zone (EPZ) is a Customs area where one is allowed to import plant, machinery,
equipment and material for the manufacture of export goods under security, without payment of duty.

Export Processing Zone, Barriers of EPZ expansion,

Objectives of EPZ