Civil Engineers' Vital Role in Reducing Ecological Footprint

This article above highlights on the ecological footprint and engineers’ role to reducing and tackling it. Ecological footprint is a measure of the land area needed to produce the resources used by a person. It is important to know so that we can preserve the remaining resources and think of ways to tackle it. Civil engineers play a huge and important role in tackling ecological footprint. Current roles of Civil Engineers Civil engineers should adapt to the current situation which is climate change.

They have to work with other engineers to create a more sustainable environment. Civil engineers should develop ideas to mitigate and tackle climate change.

Building green homes is one of the initiatives taken in the past few years. Green homes are environmental friendly as they focus on the use of materials as well as resources. It does not emit a lot of carbon dioxide, but improve its indoor air quality. Another example is the development of sky garden.

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It is a concept where the garden is built on top on the building. The plants will absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis and thus reducing the greenhouse gases emitted from the building. Constructing infrastructure that serve two purposes is an ideal example to help tackle climate change. For example, shopping mall with sky garden and green roofs.

Transportation is another issue that cause climate change. Vehicles tend to release carbon monoxide, which is also a type of greenhouse gases. High speed rails are being introduced more nowadays.

It gives out lesser greenhouse gases as compared to road vehicles and air vehicles. Thus, more railways can be designed and built. Rail that uses electricity to move consume the least fuel compared to rail that uses diesel to move. Freeways and motorways should be constructed lesser so that amount of carbon dioxide released can be reduced. This has been proven by Vancouver – the most liveable city in the world, where the city only has 10% of motorways.

This can cut down the high maintenance cost as well as reducing ecological footprint. Waste water management and sewage system can also be a cause to environmental pollution. Low and middle-income countries are implementing the ‘separating toilets’ policy where nutrient in liquid waste is being extracted and treated while solid waste are being drawn into a vacuum tube for digestion by anaerobic digesters. Through this, water pollution can be prevented and cost for treatment can be greatly reduced. Also, water can be captured and recycled for secondary purposes like agriculture or landscape. Indirectly, use of potable water can be reduced as well as mitigating climate change. Civil engineers should therefore develop a sewage and waste water management system so that they can be recycled and does not pollute the water.

Resources are becoming more limited for the past few decades. Civil engineers should focus on the use of renewable resources rather than the non-renewable ones as it is less harmful towards the environment as well as generating greater work efficiency. Countries are implementing policies that benefit both the environment and its residents through renewable energy. For instance, solar energy is a type of renewable energy. It can be found anywhere, especially in the deserts. To mitigate climate change, civil engineers should make use of this energy to build infrastructure to transfer the power to the city from desert.

Also, civil engineers should use materials that does not emit greenhouse gases. Carbon negative cement, which does not produce carbon dioxide, should be used more in construction in the future. Civil engineers should learn how to turn waste into useful resources. Wheat and rice straw can be reuse as a fire retardant tool for buildings’ wall. Use of steel that is made from recycled steel can be increased. Through this, extraction of raw minerals and carbon emission can be greatly reduced. Power plant that generate energy from renewable resources should be built more.

For instance, Sheffield has a plant that generates electricity from household waste. It is said that 15108 tonnes of carbon dioxide was prevented from being released into the atmosphere as compared to the energy generated from a fossil fuel plant. Tidal energy is also a renewable resource. Countries with high tidal power can build more tidal power plant at the bay. It absorbs the tidal energy to generate electricity through the turbine. The construction of Shiwa Lake Tidal Power Plant in South Korea is a great example for other countries as it is eco-friendly. It is believed that this power plant generates 254MW of electricity, making it the largest tidal power plant in the world.

Maintaining a clean groundwater is a huge challenge for civil engineers in the future. Groundwater is the one of the main source for drinking water and its use had been increased dramatically for the past decade. It is important for civil engineers to develop a system that can maintain the quality and usable quantity of groundwater. Agricultural products that contain chemical should not be used as the chemical will infiltrate the soil and affect the groundwater. Civil engineers have to develop a transportation system that is safe and sustainable for the environment. New public transport routes can be introduced with more interchanges in and out of the suburbs.

Through this, the use of public transport by public can be increased and thus reducing ecological footprint. Self-driving car that has lesser carbon dioxide output can be seen on the road now. Civil engineers have to design and build routes to accommodate them so that they are safe to be on the road. In conclusion, there are many different aspects that should be looked into as they are all interconnected. Engineers of different disciplines should work together as they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to solve the problems. They should always be ready to face the challenges and problems.