Judging a new technology's environmental impact

An electric car has no exhaust pipe. So does it cause no pollution at all? It looks clean. But its battery was mined, its body was pressed from steel made in a furnace, and the electricity that charges it tonight may have come from burning gas. Zero emissions may be painted on the side, but the side is not the whole story. Judging that car fairly takes more than its badge, and it comes back at the end.

A new or emerging technology is one still being developed, or only now reaching people, such as robot lawnmowers, electric delivery vans and smart thermostats. Laser cutters, CNC routers, which are computer-controlled cutting machines, and 3D printers are different. They are established in design and technology, so they are not what is judged here. CAD and CAM, designing and making with computers, describe how products are made. They are not the new technology being judged either. A drone that delivers parcels: established or emerging, and why? Emerging. Delivery drones are still being developed, and they are only starting to reach people. One examiner's report notes this: the term new and emerging technologies confused some candidates, leading them to discuss CAD, CAM and prototyping as ways to minimise material impact. The fix is to judge the new technology itself, not the computers used to design and make products, before writing a word about it.

To judge a technology from the environment's side, put four questions to it, using what the footprint and life cycle assessment videos teach. Materials come first: what it is made from, and whether those materials are finite or rare. Then making and moving it: the energy and carbon in manufacture, and its product miles. Then use: the energy it uses, and the energy it saves. And end of life: whether it can be repaired, and whether it can be recycled. Every answer is weighed against what the technology replaces. A new technology is judged against the old way, never against nothing. One more habit first: read which factor a question names. A furniture factory wants to use new technology to cut its carbon footprint. One student writes: use recycled timber instead of new timber. Another writes: fit solar panels on the factory roof and switch to electric forklifts charged from them, so less fossil fuel is burnt and less carbon dioxide released. Which answer fits the question, and why does the other miss it? The solar panel answer. The question asks for technology, and it names technology and links it to the planet. The first is a sound idea, but it changes a material, not a technology. One examiner's report records: Candidates often struggled with this question perhaps because they did not read the question carefully enough confusing materials and technology. The fix is to underline the factor the question names, then answer that factor and only that. The same report has good news too. It says the most common correct answers were electric delivery vehicles, or powering factories with renewable energy and newer, more energy efficient machinery. Those are ordinary, sensible ideas, so the hard part is reading the factor, not knowing difficult content. Read the factor, then answer it with an idea like these.

Now the four questions on one technology: a robot lawnmower that cuts the grass on its own and returns to a charging dock, against the petrol mower it replaces. Can you judge the robot against the petrol mower, one heading at a time? Materials: an ABS body from crude oil, a lithium-ion battery with mined lithium and cobalt, copper windings in its motors, and a circuit board. That is more electronics, and rarer materials, than a petrol mower. Making and moving: it is made abroad and shipped, so there is carbon from manufacture and from product miles. Use: no petrol is burnt, and there are no exhaust fumes in the garden. It runs on electricity, so its carbon depends on how that electricity is generated. It cuts little and often, using little energy each time. End of life: the battery and electronics are hard to recycle, but if the battery can be replaced, the mower lasts much longer. Each heading made a different point. Saying it uses electricity in four different ways would be one point, not four. Now the judgement: is the robot better overall, and on what conditions? Better in use, worse in materials. It wins if it is kept for many years, its battery can be replaced, and it is charged from low-carbon electricity. One examiner's report notes: Many candidates were repetitive in the points that they made and effectively reworded their answer given numerous times. The fix is to plan the headings before writing, so each one carries a point of its own. One examiner's report, on a question about electric vehicles in city centres, says higher achieving candidates explained how fossil fuels can generate the electricity, and the damage done when the materials for electric vehicles are sourced, extracted and disposed of. So the fix is to follow an impact to where it really happens. That is the electric car from the start: its impact did not vanish, it moved from the exhaust pipe to the mine, the steelworks and the power station. Whether it comes out ahead of the petrol car it replaces depends on how it is made, how long it is kept, and how its electricity is generated.

The chapter ends on four questions, with the electric car last. Is a laser cutter a new or emerging technology? No. It is established in design and technology. Emerging means still being developed, or only now reaching people. Now another: asked for technology to cut a shop's carbon, would recycled packaging fit? No. Recycled packaging is a change of material. A fit would be technology, like LED lights on motion sensors, which use less electricity. Here's a different one: a smart thermostat. One environmental gain, and one cost? Gain: it heats only when needed, so less gas or electricity is used in the home. Cost: its electronics need mined metals and are hard to recycle. Now the electric car: does no exhaust pipe mean no pollution? No. The impact moved to the mine for its battery, the furnace for its steel and the power station for its charge. It is judged over its life, against the car it replaces.

If you can sort emerging from established and judge a technology under four headings, this one's yours, so give it a thumbs up and it is ticked off. If it is not there yet, keep it saved and come back to it later in the week.

That completes our chapter on Sustainability and the environment. Next chapter: Ethics, fair trade and responsibility in design. Hopefully that's next in your feed, but if not, search for ScholaFly D T oh eight, oh oh.

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