Literally, that which can be maintained for a definable period of time, sustainable energy is energy production that can last for the foreseeable future. Sustainable energy practices must rely on resources which can continue to supply our needs. These sources must be used cautiously so that they will not be used up, run out, or otherwise become unusable.
Even renewable resources can become unsustainable. If a resource is used up faster than it can regenerate, it will eventually be entirely depleted despite its renewability. Conversely, a non-renewable resource can be sustainable if it's used in moderation.
Again, if used without caution, these too may become be depleted in a short time. For most people sustainable energy use means that the environment is not significantly damaged due to accumulated effects of an energy practice. This part of the definition of sustainable energy is quite politically charged with widely varying opinions. Lack of understanding of the possible long term consequences makes it to become unsustainable. A good example of unsustainable development can occur in irrigation projects.
These projects are always planned with good intentions and with good interest of both the current and future generations. They can be carried out to relieve countries suffering from hunger and poverty, which is a global predicament. In this way, the project falls under sustainable development since the future generation will not be affected by food insecurity.
However, over irrigation might result in depletion of natural water sources. Aral Sea in Asia is a typical example of a water source that was utilized in irrigation by the Soviet Union. Overuse of this sea initiated a long process of desertification that endangered the future generations. Another example of an unsustainable development that is initially planned with good intentions is an urban planning project.
This plan is supposed to solve urban housing problem, prevent the growth of slums, and solve the sewerage and garbage problem. Growth in population changes everything that was initially planned. The houses constructed under the plan serve the current generation but cannot handle an increase in population. Some studies have attempted to consolidate the wide literature of sustainable development. The relationship and distinction between what advocates and analysts seek to sustain and what they seek to develop has been focused by some researchers.
Three categories of what need to be sustained are nature, community and life support system. Emphasis is placed on life support systems that incorporate environment. Environmental studies have strengthened this definition of sustainable development. Many of these debates are on social, cultural, economic and scientific positions which are often based on ideological guidelines and directions. The theories, hypotheses, concepts and methodologies of the sciences, when listened to and taken seriously, become truths even if transitory which are upheld by ethical standards.
Yet looking at economic interests, we can see they are generally dissociated from ideologies in contrast with the sciences and are temporally or spatially transitory, in contrast with the sciences, and are rarely full of justice. Theodoro et al. Attempts at mediating so many diverse interests has led to establishing principles and obligations employing laws and regulations, which are thus imposed on the collective to control confrontations, behaviors and actions of individuals under the accepted principles for that particular period in society.
Such laws are understood as norms that, in theory, are established to make social cohabitation easier. These laws condition not just the decision-making process of individuals, but also how these individuals can live with the restrictions of general norms which are placed upon them.
This view summarizes the idea of path dependence, where decisions one faces at a single moment in time limit the possibilities for future changes Couto COUTO CG. Looking back at the purpose of norms, regulations, accords, treaties and laws in society one can ascertain that they have adapted and evolved — not always in a positive fashion — over the course of time.
Nevertheless, their obligation of establishing rights and responsibilities for the collective is improving by encompassing more of the overall desires of the society even though these desires can be erroneous and manipulated. But how does one unequivocally express or summarize the collective and legitimate desires of society?
Thinkers like Rousseau — believe that general desires should essentially involve a social contract; in other words, a free association of intelligent human beings who intentionally decide to create a type of society which they obey.
For Rousseau, a social contract is the only legitimate foundation for a community that wishes to live under the premises of human liberty.
He does not believe that obedience means servitude or apprehension since general desires will always be following the common good. It just so happens that the common ground is reached through agreements, which hold the best arguments and receive the most votes, and ultimately becoming laws.
Even though laws convey common determinations and agreements, they are not able to placate all the various interests. Even when agreements are reached, there are always other groups who are in opposition to the majority. This difference of interests brings about conflicts that usually arise due to particular demands that were not addressed by majority agreements. Hence, we need to use the conventions and the laws to include what does not reflect the common desire.
The history of conflicts and wars throughout civilization shows us that agreements are often transitory and focus much more on certain groups maintaining their dominance over others than collective justice itself. Despite this dichotomy of modern conflicts being subliminal, it is a fundamental reason for a lack of truth, ethics and social justice — principles that should go hand in hand.
But what is ethics? How does it establish itself? Has it changed throughout the process of building society? Finding the answers to these questions has been a life-long goal for many thinkers starting with Plato in Ancient Greece, who spent a great deal of time theorizing about these thought provoking issues, built on the understanding of each era.
The goal of Platonic ethics, based on the idea of order or fairness that exists, was to conduce man towards doing good deeds, a behavior that exists in balancing out diverse elements that strive for the same goal.
From that point is where the almost always tumultuous relationship between ethics and politics originates. Consequently, it is impossible to talk of sustainability in its current developmental model without considering or discussing principles or concepts related to ethics, to social justice and to politics. Ethics is a word of Greek origin with two meanings. The second defines, and somewhat guides, what we currently refer to as a set of rules, principles or ideas that guide or account for the actions of a person or group, or the systematic study of arguments on how one should act Carvalho CARVALHO LL.
This definition comes very close to the concept of law, which, as previously mentioned, refers to a set of norms and rules established to make collective cohabitation easier.
Ethics and justice are understood as a set of habits, attitudes, thoughts and cultural forms acquired over time and, therefore, the concepts and principles attached to them have evolved with society. As an example, he looks at the role of women over throughout history. He attributes the injustices and oppression suffered by women to the consolidation of masculine ideas that were based on ethics to express their philosophical premises.
He believes these premises resulted in the forms of domination, which were strengthened over time, causing a multitude of inequalities and oppression for women. Letraviva, p. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira. Breaking this entrenched system of mostly white male domination has been an arduous task that triggers huge disputes — which involve cultural, religious, economic, educational and political principles that are deeply rooted in society.
The struggles take place in various fields — from the political, through the educational, to the institutional — in all the levels that involve social organization Pinto PINTO CRJ. Rev Sociol Polit 18 36 : However, lot of male leadership and other sectors of society remain demonstratinghas been huge difficulties in accepting female protagonism, along with male collaboration in making of social change Moreira et al.
La Paz. SOCLA, p. Some victories have been achieved over time, but much remains to be done. More recently, women especially coming from developing countries have accumulated a more extensive workload; in comparison to men, they receive lower income and hold less public and business management posts, despite having higher levels of education Brazil BRAZIL. This greater access to education expands possibilities, increases the level of information and encourages critical awareness, which tends to result in better life choices.
If this is the case for the thought process or the abstract notion of the truth, what is the case for products? If this is the case, then the sustainability criterion established in Chapter 3 will require that the sustainable product emit products that continue to be beneficial to the environment. If the sustainable product is exposed to unsustainable medium e.
0コメント