Nowadays, the whole world is facing the environmental problem such as water pollution and air pollution. This is a knotty and serious problem that related to the human life. That is why I think it should be the most important and grandest challenge for engineering. As we all know, environmental problem is one of the “side effect” caused by the development of technology and industry. Engineers cannot stop the development from polluting the environment, but what they can do is to reduce the rate of pollution and to develop new sources of energy especially environmentally friendly power instead of using fossil fuels.
The burning of fossil fuels is the main culprit that caused the increasing of planet’s temperature and air pollution. Although engineers have explored technological methods of capturing the carbon dioxide produced from fuel burning and sequestering it underground to reduce air pollution, the fossil fuels will be eliminated from the Earth anytime soon. Developing the new sources of energy without causing pollution poses provocative engineering challenges. Solar power and nuclear fusion bring new hopes but also new challenges to the engineers to make them feasible not only technologically but also economically. Once they succeed, there will be bright prospects for the development of technology and industry.
On the other hand, water is a very important element that should be sustainably provided to maintain the quality of life. That is why engineers also play important roles in controlling the quality and quantity of water. Many regions of the world are facing the seriously short supply of water, so engineers have explored the new technologies for desalinating sea water and local water purification. These new technologies are beneficial to some countries such as Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
In conclusion, environmental problem is the most important challenge that should be solved by engineers in 21st century. Through the engineering achievements of the past, do believe that engineer is the real “magician” that can make the dreams come true.
National Academy of Engineering. (2008, February). Introduction to the grand challenges of engineering. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx
Interesting discovery
10 years ago
8 comments:
Well, it's true that the environmental issues should be the main concern for engineering, if not our earth may be destroyed in our generation; especially we’re now confront with serious problems of global warming and climate changes. Therefore in whatever invention or research, engineers must never neglect the side effects to our environment.
Hey, I totally agree with you. Environmental problem is becoming more and more serious now. And Sustainable problem becomes very popular today.more and more people are trying to solve these problem.however, because of some technological limitations, it costs too much to develop the green industry. so we had better try to find a way to balance interests of environment and ecomony.^^
all in all, your article has a good structure, effective supporting materials. It is enlightened^^
cheers:-)!!
AGREE! i think enviromental problem is important but difficult to solve. it always has conflict with industrial benefits. Actually many countries are more concern about economics. so i think it's not only engineers' duty to find a solution. it is more important to change people's concept first.
It is true that the engineers have made some environmental problems. They are also to be able to overcome the effect which is made by them at least by alleviating the problems. I think this problem need not only engineers' concern but also non engineers' concern. It is known that advancing countries consumes the energy inefficiently. It needs some regulations to control them. It will possibly help the engineers to realize their dreams of solving environmental problems.
Anyway,I am impressed with the words you use in your article! I think you have a wide vocabulary! :)
Hi, thanks for your comment. I think maybe you could add in some statistic to show how bad the pollution is as to further support your essay.=)
Hi Yew Siong,
I like the way you back up your piece with good supporting information about efforts in various countries, as this shows how different people are trying to tackle the major problem of fossil fuel consumption.
There are some language errors, but meaning is still clear, and your content more than makes up for any lacks. Keep it up! ~ Ms Khoo :)
hi, Yew Siong. I think nano technology and hydrogen energy will eventually solve the enviromental problem. I dont believe the solar energy can save the world, because the energy intensity is too low. As long as we can find a kind of material to effectively catalyze the decomposing reaction of water, the energy problem is solved. I believe this kind of material may be related to nano technology. just a thought.
Post a Comment