Systems intelligence needed to respond to development challenges
Professor Harro von Blottnitz, one of the African Climate & Development Initiative’s affiliates, defines his research and teaching interests according to the challenges of sustainable development in developing country settings, particularly in terms of resource flows. After receiving a cum laude Doctorate degree in Germany, von Blottnitz joined the University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering in 1998 to research topics in the fields of Environmental Systems Analysis, Renewable Fuels Processing, Waste Management and Sustainable Consumption.
Von Blottnitz is known as an industrial ecologist, and at his inaugural lecture as a professor on 27 August 2014, he discussed the role of chemical engineers in balancing human development with creating an environmentally sustainable society. “Sustainable development has always been the leitmotif of my work,” von Blottnitz said at the inaugural. He explained how the contrast of his own early life experiences of uranium mining in Swakopmund, Namibia, with those of his German cousin growing up in the popular resistance to a nuclear waste disposal site, had provided him with an intuitive introduction to life cycle assessment (LCA) – a technique that assesses the environmental aspects and potential impacts of a product or process from cradle to grave.
According to von Blottnitz, an engineer’s aim of applying science to the benefit of humanity, should include “the moral necessity of conserving our ecosphere for future generations.” He identified three issues that call for a response from the chemical engineering field: plastic pollution in our seas, the extraction of resources (including fossil fuels and ores) and climate change. “These are global challenges and must be looked at from a global point of view,” he said. He discussed the interconnectedness of our ecosystems by referring to the earth as a “giant heat engine,” and added: “… From a thermodynamic point of view we can see the earth as a closed system which can cycle materials because of its energy balance.”
Von Blottnitz believes that an environmentally sustainable society requires the closure of such cycles of materials and that human technology can mimic natural global processes to do so. He added that in addition to joint action and collaboration, a holistic view, through tools such as a life cycle assessment (LCA), and essentially building “systems intelligence” is crucial to closing material cycles. As an example, he referred to studies he conducted on the energy life cycles of biofuels. In cases such as the corn-ethanol production in the United States, a holistic view showed that biofuels had a lower carbon footprint than traditional fuels, but, in fact, an overall higher ecological impact.
As for life cycle systems in South Africa, Von Blottnitz said that progress in our recycling looks different for every individual material. “Studies show that glass and paper are recycled to a greater extent than plastic and tyres,” he said. He then explained that for some products, such as plastic bottles, the costs of recycling have been built into the product – hence a more efficient and increasing recycling rate (currently at 48%). He added that thanks to the Waste Act of 2008, tyres would soon follow suit with a R2.30/kg levy for recycling.
Finally, Von Blottnitz appealed to students and young people to take up the climate change and development challenges he had outlined throughout the speech. He also made an appeal to his colleagues for collaboration on these issues. Referring to the pending big political decisions on matters such as shale gas exploitation and nuclear energy, von Blottnitz also appealed to the South African president to have faith in his staff and their processes to reach good outcomes, and to consider the legacy that he wanted to leave for future generations.
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