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The Sustainability of New Technologies: Are We Considering Our Future?

Orange Journal
Last modified February 01, 2006 at 06:45 PM

TheSustainabilityofNew Technologies:AreWe ConsideringOurFuture?

Jacque Henson
Arguesthattechnicalcommunicatorsneedtoevaluateourdependenceon electricitysothatwearepreparedforthepossibilityofafuturewithout traditionalsourcesofelectricity.Inordertoevaluateourenergy dependence,weneedtoconsiderthesustainabilityofnewtechnologies beforeintroducingthemtooursociety. New technologies continue to emerge with one major factor in common dependence on electricity. When we, as technical communicators, evaluate, consider and implement these new technologies, should we also be considering their sustainability? The issue at hand is our vulnerability. If we exhaust all natural resources, what will our society use as an energy source to power our computers and light our homes? We need to evaluate our extreme dependence on electricity so that we are prepared for the possibility of a future without traditional sources of electricity. In order to evaluate our energy dependence, do we need to consider the sustainability of new technologies before introducing them to our society?

TheProblemsAssociatedwithElectricity
Most of us rarely consider the electricity we use every day. Electricity has become one of the most important aspects of the technological world as each new technology becomes increasingly reliant on it as a source of power. Every time we turn on our computers, flip a light switch or watch a movie, we not only employ the technology but the energy source that comes with it. We take electricity, and its accessibility, for granted because it is prevalent in every home, office and building in America. Does this pose a problem for the technological future of America? As technical communicators, we need to evaluate what would happen to our society if

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we could no longer rely on traditional sources of energy.

OverlyDependent:HowDidWeBecome ElectricityDependent?
It all started with the introduction of electricity to American society. For forty years, scientists and inventorsAmerican and English, French, Russian, Belgianhad been largely frustrated in their efforts to create a practical indoor electric light, some kind of enclosed glass globe that could safely and brightly glow (Jonnes 55). The world was tired of the dim flicker of candlelight; electricity would bring a new life to the old world. Jill Jonnes notes that Thomas Edison brought electricity to the world on September 16, 1878. Edison introduced electricitythe light bulb and a larger electrical lighting networkto the modern world (56). Soon after the introduction of electricity into mainstream society, Edison invented the phonograph and the motion picture. As an excellent marketing strategy to promote the abundant use of electricity, Edisons new technologies relied on electricity as the power source. Without realizing it, Edison started a downward spiral toward complete electricity dependence.

WhatWastheInitialReactionto Electricity?
Although it now seems that electricity has its downfalls, initially, it was a shocking invention that changed the lives of Americans. Edisons invention could not have come at a better time. According to Jonnes, the America of the 1880s was changing rapidly, daring men and women to dream bold dreams, to grasp for great ventures and great wealth (4). This included bringing electric light to homes, buildings and street lamps. Electricity was the new technology and people soon became reliant on electricity to light and power their homes. When electricity first emerged in the late 1800s, it changed America in a way that has yet to be replicated. People were able to read at night without the dim flicker of candle flame. Carolyn Marvin notes that electric lights provided occasions for . . . the outdoor electric light spectacles and the ball game after dark (153). This awe-inspiring power must have been a phenomenal sight for Americans of that time. The electric light also expressed the sense of unlimited potential that was a staple of nineteenthcentury discourse (Marvin 158). Today, we tend not to think about electricity as a technology; however, we do think of our computers, cell phones and palm pilots as technologies, forgetting that each of these relies solely upon electricity. Edison brought electricity to the public to enhance the American way of life. Since the introduction of his inventions, many have added to them to create what we now know as DVDs, CDs, and numerous other electricity dependent technologies.

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The Sustainability of New Technologies: Are We Considering Our Future?

LimitedSupplies
The United States uses many sources for energy: oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and hydropower. In order to fully utilize these energies, scientists first needed to develop a technology to convert the unrefined sources into what we know as electricity. Electricity is a technology that has enabled the industrialized world to flourish, but as Baldur Eliasson points out, man has become increasingly aware of the limits of his unchecked use of some energy sources (64). Eliasson also believes that global warming has the potential to change long-term energy prospects entirely (64). Although approximately one third of the earths 6 billion inhabitants still lives without electricity, the world has still managed to vastly deplete its unreplenishable resources (Eliasson 64). According to todays estimates, the amount of fossil fuels available in the form of oil and gas will last only another fifty years or so, and only two and a half centuries in the form of coal (Eliasson 64).

ExcessiveConsumption
The Committee for Economic Development found that world energy consumption grew at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent during the period from 1967 to 1972 (19). The Committee also found that oil consumption increased at an even quicker rate, as cheap oil replaced coal in Europe and Japan as well as the United States (19). With the evaporation of spare capacity at the end of the decade, US self-sufficiency also ended (19). As consumption steadily increased, one must wonder: Did people think about the potential long-term effects of this rapid use? The Committee for Economic Development recommended that the US government encourage its citizens to conserve natural resources when normal market forces act too slowly to moderate the impact of energy scarcity on society. The Committee suggests that consumers be aware of the costs they are incurring; otherwise, higher prices will not bring about reduction in energy use. Part of the Committees recommendation involves the labeling of appliances and electronics so that consumers are aware of their energy consumption (26-27). As thoughtful as this recommendation seems, we hold the consumer responsible for energy conservation. Instead, shouldnt we be holding the inventor responsible for his/her invention? The recommendations of the Committee for Economic Development should not be taken lightly as the projected consumption for the United States in 2025 is 5,207 billion kilowatt-hours (Infoplease.com). After learning about the problems associated with electricity dependence, its time to look at why we should evaluate each new technology according to its sustainability.

WhyShouldWeEvaluateNew TechnologiesAccordingtoTheir Sustainability?

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If we continue to accept every new technology proposed to our society without considering the long-term effects of it, what will happen to us after weve depleted all natural resources? Many new technologies seem wonderful at first, but sometimes innovators worry more about advancing the technological world than conserving the environmental world. When we fail to consider the amount of electricity being consumed by our televisions and computer monitors, we fail to consider the environment. Electricity comes from a variety of sourcessome renewable, others irreplaceable.

EnergyPowerSources
Currently, the most-used energy source is oil, followed by natural gas, coal, nuclear power, and hydropower. Each of these sources has its own cause for alarm. Oil, natural gas and coal are all natural resources that are limited in supply. Nuclear power emits radioactive waste that must be stored indefinitely because it is harmful to the environment and to humans. And believe it or not, there are skeptics who have determined that hydropower is detrimental to the environment because it is a manmade device that affects the fish population (although hydropower emits no harmful gases or waste). There exist a few other sources of energy that are not as widely usedsolar, wind, and ocean wave. Eliasson states that nuclear power has developed over the past fifty years and accounts for approximately 20 percent of the worlds electricity today. More recently, nuclear power has come under scrutiny because of its radioactive waste; however, supporters cite countries who are close to a technical solution to this problem (Eliasson 65). Like nuclear energy, hydropower has also been scrutinized as an energy source in many parts of the world. Opponents argue that manmade dams and reservoirs have a negative impact on the environment. Instead of recognizing the clean generation of emission-free power from harnessed river, opponents only point to the negative effects of the man-made dams and reservoirs (Eliasson 66). Eliasson counts solar energy, wind turbines, small hydro plants, ocean wave energy and a few others as the so-called new renewables, which account for 1.5% of the worlds total electric generating capacity (67). Larger hydro power plants, however, account for approximately 22% of the installed capacity (Eliasson 67). Collinson cites several reasons for the current interest in electrical energy storage including changes in the worldwide utility regulatory environment, an ever increasing reliance on electricity in industry, commerce and the home, the growth of renewables, as a major new source of electricity supply, and all combined with ever more stringent environmental requirements (25). Because we depend so heavily on electricity to power our computers and light our homes, we need to be considering the long-term effects of our energy consumption on the environment. If we know where were getting the electricity, and that most of our energy sources come from irreplaceable fossil fuels, we stand a better chance at changing our patterns of

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consumption. As technical communicators, we need to be selective and evaluate each new technology based on its sustainability.

WhyShouldWeBeSelectiveWhen IntegratingNewTechnologies?
If we are selective, we are able to forgo blackouts and power outages, we can save natural resources and the environment, and we can save ourselves from becoming too reliant on energy from other nations and irreplaceable resources.

BlackoutsandPowerOutages
In the past five years, the US has seen blackouts on both coasts. According to Edward L. Morse and Amy Myers Jaffe, recent energy price spikes, electricity outages in California, localized oil product and natural gas shortages, and extreme energy price volatility have ushered in a new era of energy scarcity (8). The outages are not only limited to the West Coast; every corner of this nation may, at some point, be susceptible to these energy crises. If not today, we will all be tainted by the effects of energy scarcity in the near future. In 2003, the largest blackout recorded in America cost businesses an estimated $13 billion in productivity and an estimated 50 million people were affected throughout eight states (McClure).

WhatDotheSourcesDotothe Environment?
In The Social Life of Information, Brown and Duguid discuss the confident predictions of the 1950s. They state that in the 1950s, it was predicted that by the turn of the century local and even domestic power stations would provide all the electricity needed at no cost. Not only did such predictions overlook some of the technological problems ahead, they also overlooked the social forces that confronted nuclear power with the rise of environmentalism (31). Currently, America, and most of the world, relies heavily on fossil fuels. According to Eliasson, the energy backbone of our modern societies covering 80% of the worlds requirementsdepends on fossil fuels, namely coal for power generation, oil for transportation fuels and chemical manufacture, and natural gas for power production and chemistry, and all three for heating purposes (66). Again, these fossil fuels contribute largely to global warming, which is an ever-increasing environmental concern. With so many people being so reliant on such a harmful pollutant, we should consider the environment at the same time as we consider incorporating new technologies into mainstream America. We may be helping to advance our technological world, but the environment is suffering simultaneously.

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According to Walter J. Mead, in 1970, public utilities in particular were ordered by the federal government to shift from coal-fired electric power generators to alternative energy forms, including gas and oil (20). Almost a decade later, the government chose to reverse this order because the initial objective was to reduce air pollution (Mead 20). The government ordered the reversal to form a new objective, to reduce US dependence on foreign supplies of crude oil and to reserve dwindling domestic gas supplies for what is deemed to be higher priority uses (Mead 20).

EnergyIndependence
Eliasson feels that humanity will find a way to become energy independent. He states that, man, with his ingenuity, will deal with these problems so as to continue providing energy for the citizens of this world to use for their own betterment (68). Because we rely so heavily on electricity to power our modern world, he believes that we will find a solution. After all, energy is the basis of our standard of living and will remain so for as long as we populate this planet (Eliasson 68). The Committee for Economic Development argues that US energy independence will not, by itself, put an end to the energy problem. The problem will persist for the extended period of European and Japanese energy dependence (14). In order to be fully independent, we need to evaluate the sources of our energy; not just where the electricity comes from but who it comes from. The Committee also believes that the US needs to evaluate its consumption in order to become energy independent. A substantial change in US patterns of consumption and production will go a long way toward easing the worlds transition to an era in which oil and gas are no longer the major sources of energy (Committee for Economic Development 14). The Committee for Economic Development states that a program to achieve independence will have to contain: continuing and increasing energy conservation measures that will reduce demand for energy; stepping up research and development to improve efficiency in energy use; developing new technology that will provide alternatives for energy production beyond 1990 (15). Another relevant recommendation by the Committee states that energy conservation is the quickest and surest path to reduced imports (15). This includes driving less and at reduced speeds, improving the insulation of buildings, setting thermostats higher in the summer and lower in winter, and monitoring industrial energy consumption closely (Committee for Economic Development 15). If we begin by evaluating existing technologies electronics, appliances, cars, computersand end by being selective when implementing new technologies, we will be able to start the process of conserving the world we live in.

Conclusion
We should hold ourselves, as technical communicators, responsible. As

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ethical professionals, we should not allow new technologies that consume exorbitant amounts of energy to flourish. We must evaluate each new technology not only by its importance in advancing our society or because it makes life easier and more convenient, but by the long-term effects of it. If we do these things, we will preserve the natural resources we have left, protect our environment and still have viable technologies to continue to advance our modern world.

WorksCited
Brown, John Seely and Paul Duguid. TheSocialLifeofInformation. Boston: Harvard Business School: 2002. Collinson, A. The Costs and Benefits of Electrical Energy Storage. Renewable Energy Storage. London: Professional Engineering, 2000. Committee for Economic Development. Achieving Energy Independence. New York: Georgian Press, 1974. Eliasson, Baldur. The Road to Renewables: Opportunities and Challenges. Renewable Energy: World Renewable Energy Congress VI. Ed. A.A.M. Sayigh. Amsterdam: Pergamon, 2000. Infoplease.com. Pearson Education, Inc. 2005. 10 April 2005 < www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778281.html>. Jonnes, Jill. Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. New York: Random House, 2003. Marvin, Carolyn. When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century. New York: Oxford U P, 1988. McClure, George F. Electric Power Transmission Reliability Not Keeping Pace with Conservation Efforts. IEEE. . Mead, Walter J. Energy and the Environment: Conflict in Public Policy. Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1978. Morse, Edward L. and Amy Myers Jaffe. Strategic Energy Policy: Challenges for the 21st Century. New York: James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations, 2001.

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