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Constructive Technology Assessment and Technology Dynamics: The Case of Clean Technologies
Published in Andrew Maynard, Jack Stilgoe, The Ethics of Nanotechnology, Geoengineering and Clean Energy, 2020
Environmental technology comprises all the techniques, processes, and products that are of importance in preventing or reducing the burden on the environment. An extremely broad range of processes and products is involved. A distinction can be made between clean and end-of-pipe (or add-on) technologies. The essence of the end-of-pipe technology approach is to treat the residuals the production process generates but to leave the production process unchanged. The residuals are modified, so that they are less noxious, easier to store, or reusable.9 In contrast, clean technologies alter the production process, the inputs into the process, or the product itself in such a way that it generates a smaller amount of the same or a different, less noxious, residual. The Commission of the European Communities defines clean technologies as “any technical measures taken in various industries to reduce or even eliminate at source the production of any nuisance, pollution or waste, and to help to save raw materials, natural resources and energy.”10
The contrasting roles of science and technology in environmental challenges
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2019
Nikolaos Voulvoulis, Mark A. Burgman
Addressing environmental challenges requires looking at all relevant research, understanding socio-ecological context, integrating diverse evidence, and engaging with the public to solve problems or make policy. Engaging with dialog can reach more useful and appropriate outcomes. Environmental technology has a distinct role, applying science, policy, engineering and social change to address environmental challenges and deliver sustainability. Environmental issues require a new generation of technologists who have the ability to mediate, understand social context and constraints, and orchestrate participatory activities that engage and empower people (Clark, Steen-Adams, Pfirman, & Wallace, 2011). These innovators should have skills that go beyond disciplinary expertise (Table 1) and be equipped with tools to reach across cultural, political, and disciplinary boundaries. They will facilitate public participation in environmental decision making about what should be achieved and how, increasing problem ownership and thus the chances of both proposition acceptance and implementation success. They will enable people to understand and better define sustainability challenges based on the available science and empower them to respond by inducing the appropriate necessary changes.
Analysing the role of environment-related technologies and carbon emissions in emerging economies: a step towards sustainable development
Published in Environmental Technology, 2022
Muzzammil Hussain, Ghulam Mustafa Mir, Muhammad Usman, Chengang Ye, Sadia Mansoor
In E-7 economies, the supportive role of investment in ERT to mitigate carbon emissions is found in the empirical findings of this study based on state-of-the-art econometric techniques. This finding is substantiated by many pieces of evidence; for example, emerging economies with maximum industrial exports are gradually transforming their technologies from traditional to modern and significantly reducing carbon emissions. Development in environmental technology helps reduce energy consumption and consequently minimise energy use, which leads to sustainable development [6].