Increasingly it is recognised that engineering cannot be separated from social or behavioural factors. This article explores some of the areas in which behavioural changes as a result of the coronavirus could be sustained to positive effect in moving towards more sustainable practice.
Personal transport
With global lockdown, there has been a major curtailment of movement of people and therefore transportation, with associated reduction in energy consumption and emissions. Whilst this has caused problems for business and indeed on a personal level in many ways, because people have been forced to adapt, they have adopted practices of remote communication that they may not otherwise have changed their habits for. The current state of technology of remote communication does not allow complete replacement of face-to-face communication, and it may be argued that it never will. There are aspects of communication involving subconscious signals that we do not fully understand that would be difficult and possibly not worthwhile attempting to replicate with technology. These aspects of communication may be valued when establishing relationships, or when reaching consensus on a critical and finely balanced matter. However, the vast majority of work communication can be done remotely and it may be that people will realise this through having had to communicate remotely during the lockdown phase.
From a sustainability perspective, reduced transportation is positive, but care needs to be taken in establishing alternative means of interpersonal engagement. The more sophisticated remote communication becomes, the more transfer and storage of data there will be, with associated energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Global emissions from data centres are comparable to those of aviation. In accordance with the Energy Hierarchy, priority should be given to avoidance of consumption before consideration of renewable energy supply. It is all very well for data centres to claim carbon neutrality through matching their consumption with renewable energy generation that they implement, but renewable energy is spatially and economically constrained, so this renewable energy may in large part be able to be used by other more important forms of consumption if data is managed more sustainably. What does this mean in practice when it comes to remote communication? Of particular importance is scrutiny of the need to store meeting data, a function that is available with a number of communication services. It is easy to opt to save a video conference, for example, but the gigabytes of data storage this could entail may be backed up indefinitely using significant amounts of energy. The question may be asked as to how likely it would be that someone will need to watch the meeting again. If it is viewed as important to record, then good archiving practice should be adopted to ensure that it is only stored for as long as is necessary.
Retail
There have been hugely increased demands on internet shopping over the coronavirus lockdown period, due to shop closures and people’s desire to minimise risk of infection through proximity to others. Subject to certain conditions, internet shopping can cut down transport movement and with consequent reduction in retail outlets, reduce the emissions associated with retail outlets. This is positive in environmental terms. It is worth noting, however, that many people’s social needs are in part satisfied by shopping trips, where they encounter people they know or even just benefit from the human connection through interaction with strangers. With this element of people’s social nutrition removed, they are likely to compensate for it in other ways, such as with travelling to cafes or other meeting places. Furthermore, with practice, internet shopping becomes far quicker than physical store shopping, freeing up time to visit other places. Therefore the real impacts of internet shopping in terms of sustainability have to be measured on a net basis, adding the impact of alternative activities to the reduced impact through reduction in travel and retail outlet energy.
Internet shopping, through its convenience, may result in increased consumption, and without the possibility of trying products in shops, exchanges and returns add to the burden. It will be interesting to note the balance between people’s greater caution with money due to reduced income through the lockdown phase and people’s increased level of shopping to relieve boredom.
There may be benefits through the coronavirus driving people towards internet shopping habits, but thought needs to be given to the full environmental picture of this, including the embodied emissions of products manufactured overseas that are not generally taken into account in national emissions calculations.
Local pollution
Significant reduction in air and water pollution has been noted over the lockdown period. NASA maps of air pollution over Europe and China have shown significant drops. Bogota was on a yellow warning for air quality just before the coronavirus crisis, but the inhabitants can now see the mountains. Water quality in the sea around Venice has improved with no tourist gondolas and the fish can now be seen. People have also been appreciating the greater peace that has come with reduced transport noise, both land and air.
What price are people prepared to pay for these benefits? Environmental pollution is unsustainable in the long term and the damage we cause now will have to be paid by future generations, so polluting activities are not truly cheaper than the alternatives. However, it may be that even the current generation will see the value in having a cleaner environment, through being reminded how it can be, and act to change their ways to keep it that way. With a dominance of capitalism across the world, predicated on a model of economic growth, there will likely need to be structural changes, as well as sustained behavioural changes, as the economic machine grinds back into action and tries to make up on lost time the other side of the epidemic. For this to happen, an increased level of international cooperation will be vital.
Manufacturing resilience
With shortfalls in personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers, weaknesses in supply chains have been identified. Whilst globally interconnected supply chains when the world is not in crisis can offer flexibility, increased quality and value, it has been the case that certain countries have prioritised their national interests by commandeering certain sections of the supply chain for PPE, or wielding their economic might by outbidding poorer nations. Is there then a case for paying a premium for internalising more manufacture to increase national resilience? This may also give other benefits in terms of skills development and potentially work satisfaction, as well as environmental benefits through reduced transportation of materials and products. Bringing manufacture home may be unrealistic for many industries, but it may be worth renewed evaluation for some. The response by UK industry in turning unrelated design and manufacturing services to the production of ventilators for COVID-19 has shown how quickly new product manufacture can be established, if there is the will.
Biodiversity and habitat destruction
Finally, attention should be given to an often overlooked area of sustainability, in the engineering world at least, but which is arguably the most important, because it is to a large extent irreversible, and that is biodiversity and habitat destruction. The coronavirus has come as no surprise to some in the scientific community, because the increased destruction of the natural environment has brought humans into contact with organisms that they have never been exposed to before, and it is expected for this reason that epidemics such as COVID-19 will become more frequent. As engineers we need to strive to understand more the impact of technological development on the natural environment and give priority to harmony over destruction in achieving our goals, or perhaps change our goals.