Sustainability Test

Example paper Spring Semester 2011

For students taking modules:
1. Design, sustainability & component production (ENG1058; 20 credit module)
2. Introduction to systems engineering & sustainability (ENG1054; 10 credit module)
3. Civil engineering practice & sustainability (ENG1051; 10 credit module)

URN number:______________________________ Course:_________________________________

Please answer ALL the questions

40 minutes
1. Which of these roots of sustainability originated in the 1960s and 1970s as a counter to the
perceived indiscriminate use and exportation of technologies that may pose dangers to the
environment? Please tick the correct answer. ONE MARK
(a) Biosphere
(b) Ecodevelopment
(c) No growth/slow growth
(d) Critique of technology

2. Please fill in the missing word. These are the four system conditions set out by the Natural Step
organisation. FOUR MARKS
(a) Materials from the Earths crust must not be systematically increased in the ecosphere
(b) Materials produced by society must not be systematically increased in the ecosphere
(c) The physical basis for the productivity and diversity of nature must not be systematically
diminished
(d) There must be fair and efficient use of resources with respect to meeting human needs

3. List the four primary objectives of the UK Governments strategy for energy policy. FOUR MARKS
(a) Security of supply
(b) Protection of vulnerable customers (i.e. fuel poverty)
(c) Competitiveness in the energy industry
(d) Climate change/sustainability

4. What are the units used for the Redefining Progress version of the Ecological Footprint? Please
tick the correct answers. TWO MARKS
(a) square metres
(b) global hectares
(c) global nature
(d) US dollars/capita
(e) global hectares/capita

5. What are the six components of the Ecological footprint as set out by Redefining Progress and
the World Wildlife Fund? SIX MARKS
(a) crop land
(b) grazing land
(c) forest land
(d) fishing
(e) built-up land
(f) carbon uptake land

6. Please complete the missing words in the following phrase. TWO MARKS
Gross Domestic Product is often adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity

7. Some have argued that the ratio of the Environmentally Adjusted Net Domestic Product (EDP) and
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) provides a measure of sustainability. What does a decreasing value
EDP/GDP over time suggest? Please circle the appropriate answer. ONE MARK
(a) Sustainability
(b) Unsustainability
(c) Economic recession
(d) Economic growth

8. What is Total Factor Productivity and why is it relevant to sustainability? TEN MARKS

Answer can be wide ranging and draw from much of the material of the second lecture plus
textbook. Relevant points include:
definition of what is meant by TFP. Perhaps also say how it differs from Partial Factor
Productivity
mathematical/graphical expressions of TFP such as TFP = output/(input 1, input 2, input 3
etc.) to help illustrate what it is. The inputs and outputs are usually expressed in economic
terms
TFP has been used as a measure of sustainability. Sustainability suggests that TFP is either
constant or increasing. Examples were given in the lecture that can be employed here (e.g.
agriculture in the USA) again diagrams can be used to illustrate the point
BUT complications exist in terms of knowing the inputs to include in TFP. In agriculture for
instance there are inputs such as rainfall, sunlight, nutrients etc. that are not usually costed
by farmers and hence included in the TFP. In other words being clear about what is in the
system we are assessing the sustainability of.
Above point can be illustrated by drawing upon the examples I gave towards the end of the
lecture (i.e. with and without these common pool resources)

9. Describe what you understand by the term distributed generation of electricity and how it differs
from the current system of electricity supply in the UK. TEN MARKS

Draws from the third lecture on energy and sustainability. Some points that could be made here
include:
Distributed generation refers to many small suppliers generating electricity that is mainly
used in geographical areas local to the supply plants.
In this sense it has been described as generation that is on the customer side of the
network.
This is different from the current generation set-up in the UK which relies on a small number
of big energy companies (e.g. Eon, British Gas, Scottish and Southern) generating electricity
in large power stations that is then transmitted nationally via a network of transformers,
pylons and cables known as the National Grid.

10. What is the difference between the Gross Domestic Product and the Genuine Progress Indicator
(GPI)? TEN MARKS
Draws from the lecture on economic systems and sustainability.
GDP is a measure of monetary flow within an economy. Can be illustrated using a diagram
and/or equation as follows:
GDP = C + I + G + (EX - IM)
Where
C = consumers expenditure on goods and services
I = investment
G = government expenditure on goods and services
EX = exports
IM = imports
Some of these components can be discussed further to illustrate what they are in some more detail.
GPI is an alternative to the GDP in the sense that it attempts to take on board wider social
and environmental costs. It is but one of a number of attempts to do this over the years.
GPI makes a number of key assumptions.
GPI = Cw + social benefits social costs environmental costs
Where Cw is an adjusted value for consumer expenditure based upon income distribution. GPI
assumes that greater equality in income distribution is desirable. Examples of social benefits, social
costs and environmental costs were given in the lecture and it would be good to provide some of
them here as well to illustrate how GPI differs from GDP. For example, GPI includes costs of crime
and commuting as well as benefits such as volunteering and higher education.
thus GPI is similar to the GDP in being an economic measure of monetary flow but differs in
terms of what is included as flows as well as the desirability of a more equitable income
distribution. GDP does not make those value judgements although it is also based upon
assumptions.