Ethics Of Energy Technologies .

1. ETHICS OF ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

2.  Global problems related to energy:
 Environmental problems / Sustainability
 Climate change
 Human Development /
Global Justice
 Energy security / War & peace
GLOBAL ENERGY CHALLENGES
AS ETHICAL CHALLENGES
6 juli 2014 2

3.  Use of fossil fuels causes
 Pollution
 Acid rain
 Climate change
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
6 juli 2014 3

4.  Perceived as the major environmental issue of our time
 What is happening…
 Evidence includes continued ice-loss from glaciers
 Changes in (other) ecosystems
CLIMATE CHANGE
6 juli 2014 4

5.  Consequences for environment, but also for economy, human lives
 Dimensions: environmental, economic, health & safety, food
production, security, …
 Recommendation UNEP: Transform hydrocarbon based energy systems
NOW!
CLIMATE CHANGE
6 juli 2014 5

6.  Peak oil: maximum rate of petroleum extraction is expected to decline
soon (optimistic scenario)
SUSTAINABILITY
6 juli 2014 6

7.  Alternatives? Gas is not sustainable, nuclear energy also ethically
problematic
 Consensus that our current way of producing and using energy is
not sustainable, and that we need to develop, and invest in, renewable
energy sources (production) and improve energy efficiency (use)
 Better technologies
 Different behaviour, different lives
 Make sure that our (current) use does not burden future generations:
inter-generational justice
SUSTAINABILITY
6 juli 2014 7

8.  Energy not only central to sustainable development, but also to poverty
reduction
 Affects all aspects of development, including livelihoods, access to
water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels, …
 Aims (see also UNDP):
 Access to energy
 Quality of energy
 Security of energy
 Affordability of energy (problem of oil price after peak oil…)
 Clean energy
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
6 juli 2014 8

9.  How should (the benefits of) energy production and use be distributed
across society and across the world?
 How should the burdens of energy production and use be distributed?
 North – South, West – East
 Energy and goods produced in one part of the world, (health) risks in
other part of the world
GLOBAL JUSTICE
6 juli 2014 9

10.  Problems
 Depletion of oil and other non-renewable sources of energy
 Energy needs of the West
 Energy needs of poorer countries AND OF ADVANCING
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (e.g. China, India, Brazil – the so-called BRIC
countries)
 Population growth
 Accidents and natural disasters
 Competition, political instability, geopolitics, war
 Address energy concerns in a sustainable and peaceful manner
 IEA (International Energy Agency): ‘the world is locking itself into an
insecure, inefficient and high-carbon energy system’
ENERGY SECURITY
6 juli 2014 10

11.  Energy conflicts
 wars
WAR & PEACE
6 juli 2014 11

12.  Survival
 Better lives
 Sustainability
 Human development
 Justice
 Security
 Peace
ENERGY & VALUES
6 juli 2014 12

13.  Take values into account in design of new technologies (see also Brey,
van den Hoven, and others)
DESIGN & VALUES
6 juli 2014 13

14.  Threats
 ‘old’ energy technologies
 Opportunities
 Innovation
ENERGY & TECHNOLOGY
6 juli 2014 14

15.  Global context: competition, innovation wars: ‘green technology race’
ENERGY & TECHNOLOGY
6 juli 2014 15
US energy secretary warns
of 'Sputnik moment' in green
technology race
Steven Chu says US must invest
urgently in research and
innovation to keep pace with
China and other countries
(Guardian)

16.  Philosophers
 Social scientists
 Engineers & designers
 Policy makers
 Consumers / citizens
COLLABORATION
6 juli 2014 16

17.  CTIT research
 projects on energy and sustainability
 energy-efficiency via micro-CHP
 energy pricing
 optimalization of traffic-, transport and logistics processes
 environmental monitoring via sensor networks
 Philosophy
 Ethics & technology
 energy
EXAMPLE: CTIT RESEARCH + PHILOSOPHY
6 juli 2014 17

18. EXAMPLE: SMART GRIDS
6 juli 2014 18

19.  Scientific methods
 Other ways of thinking about the future
 Imagining the future
 fiction
EXAMPLE: SCENARIOS
6 juli 2014 19

20. CONTACT
M.COECKELBERGH@UTWENTE.NL
6 juli 2014 20