Engineering Sustainability John Lees infraharmonic LLC University of Minnesota - Duluth MIE Seminar October 11, 2010 October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 1
Engineering Sustainability The Crisis Is Upon Us Industrial Sustainability (Ending Sub-optimization) One Way to Start Discussion October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 2
This Cannot Go On Lots of things are going wrong with the biosphere. Source: IPCC AR4 October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 3
This Cannot Go On Lots of things are going wrong with the biosphere. October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 4
This Cannot Go On Lots of things are going wrong with the biosphere. October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 5
This Cannot Go On We are running out of stuff. Source: Reserve Bank of Australia October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 6
This Cannot Go On We are not being fair to each other, either. Source: Frank Van Mierlo/IEA October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 7
Acting Unsustainably Suburban Sprawl, SUVs and Oil Dependency Precious Metals in the Garbage Exhausted Fisheries, Forests, and Aquifers Continental Monoculture of Corn In all cases, the engineers did what they were supposed to do But they were solving the wrong problems October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 8
Sub-optimization Technology and the economy are supposed to be improving prosperity -- but are they today? Failing to consider whole systems Resource conservation Social effects of technology Feedback effects in the biosphere Failing to define appropriate objectives Short term vs. long term Investors vs. customers vs. employees vs. innocent bystanders October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 9
Sustainable Innovation: Solving the Right Problems World Commission on Environment and Development (1983): "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 10
Sustainable Innovation: Solving the Right Problems The Natural step Framework Four system conditions : In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing: 1. Concentrations of substances extracted from the earth's crust 2. Concentrations of substances produced by society 3. Degradation by physical means 4. And, in that society, people are not subject to conditions that systemically undermine their capacity to meet their needs Source: www.thenaturalstep.org October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 11
Sustainable Innovation: Solving the Right Problems The Natural Step Framework Backcasting: each step should move us closer to the 4 conditions preserve as much flexibility as possible pay for itself as quickly as possible Source: www.thenaturalstep.org October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 12
Sustainable Industry Nature and humanity were getting along fine before Industry was invented, but going back is not a humane option We need industrial-scale solutions to support more than 6 billion people But we need to copy the magic of natural ecosystems October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 13
Natural Ecosystems October 11, 2010 Complex and diverse Multiple redundant pathways Zero waste Biological and geo-physical Solar powered John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 14
Industrial Sustainability From a one way trip Simple! but wasteful October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 15
Industrial Sustainability To a loop? Or something more like a food web October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 16
Engineering Sustainability How? LCA and DfE? LCA has been a great eye-opener, but Incremental and ultimately limited Too many assumptions to be credible Really just more sub-optimization October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 17
Engineering Sustainability Case study: Tetra Pak 160 billion milk and juice cartons per year: 4M tonnes of carton material Envisioning a zero-waste material-cycling web Collaboratively developing industrial ecosystems» Visualizing and quantifying the status quo with system models» Comparing across geographies» Identifying high-leverage R&D opportunities» Clearing bottlenecks and breaking vicious cycles in partnership with other stakeholders October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 18
Engineering Sustainability Tetra Pak: Material-cycling Web October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 19
Engineering Sustainability Tetra Pak: Industrial Ecosystem models October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 20
A Sustainable Product Over its lifecycle, Does not systematically degrade people, non-renewable materials or the environment, and, Delivers a competitive cost-benefit balance to all critical stakeholders This takes an industrial ecosystem! They can be designed and managed. October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 21
Discussion Topics Whose responsibility is sustainability? Industry, consumers, government What are engineers different roles and responsibilities? Professional: in big and small firms Personal Community Growth, limits and prosperity Collaboration vs. competition October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 22
Resources W. McDonough, M. Braungart. 2002. Cradle to Cradle. North Point Press, New York. T. Jackson. 2009. Prosperity Without Growth, Economics for a Finite Planet. Earthscan, London. D. MacKay. 2008. Sustainable Energy -- Without the Hot Air. UIT, Cambridge, UK Ayres, Ayres [eds.]. 2002. A Handbook of Industrial Ecology. Elgar, Cheltenham, UK. J. Holmberg, K-H Robert. 2000. Backcasting from non-overlapping sustainability principles a framework for strategic planning. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 7:291-308. October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 23
in fra har mon ic (ĭnʼfră-här-mŏnʼĭc) adj. 1. Of, or relating to deep, underlying complementarity. 2. Profoundly resonant. infraharmonic Natural lifecycles are made up of components that are deeply complementary. They are harmonious systems, whose parts fit together on many levels and make a robust and adaptable whole. Product lifecycles can be sustainable systems, when they too are infraharmonic. October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 24
Sustainability infraharmonic Innovation Lifecycle Systems management methods for sustainable innovation
John Lees Principal infraharmonic LLC 1521 Kaltern Lane Minneapolis, MN 55416 USA www.infraharmonic.com phone: +1 763 370 0267 john.lees@infraharmonic.com October 11, 2010 John Lees / infraharmonic LLC 26