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Highlights of the week:
For more career opportunities from various industries, please
access Career
Axis.
Dear Students,
In today’s issue, let us zoom into
the “E” in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Did you know that global losses caused
by major natural disasters have reached
US$270 billion in 2021,
with 85% attributed to floods and storms? Singapore is in a relatively
protected “bubble” where we may not feel the direct impact, but climate
change is as real as the “ponding” at Orchard Road back in 2011 or other
environmental issues we see on news. Global warming is caused by the
excessive accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG); and carbon dioxide mainly
comes from the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, transportation, and
general heating. This consequently led to terms like “reducing your carbon
footprints” to encourage corporations and individuals to be more mindful of
our actions that have consequences on the world. Manufacturing easily consumes more
than 50% of the world’s produced energy, a majority of which still comes
from the burning of oil, natural gases and coal; while the building sector
takes another 40%
of the global energy consumption.
Oh great, so it looks like the problem is us. How can we continue to sail the
boat while we are burning the vessel that is keeping us afloat? Now that’s where we, the
automation engineers come in. Industrial automation is widely misunderstood
as the “human replacement”, but there’s more than that. We design systems
that can produce more efficiently. Look at manufacturing processes for
example, additive manufacturing uses 3D-printing to produce sustainably by
reducing waste, as compared to subtractive manufacturing. We pursue Industry
4.0 in the manufacturing space to achieve higher flexibility, reusability,
and better sustainability to create a circular economy. We have kept production plants
running over the years, and now, we have a bigger task to run them
sustainably. In 1985 when the “ozone hole” was
first discovered, it kickstarted a flurry of actions including a ban on CFC
(chlorofluorocarbons).
Fast forward to 2022, the ozone hole is shrinking, and scientists believe it
will heal by 2050 (World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2022). Maybe we have a chance? Maybe we
can “arrest” climate deterioration in the same way we “rescued” the ozone
layer? Engineers have a role in saving
the world, and we welcome you to join us after graduation. But even if
you don’t, please keep the E in mind and practise it. Meanwhile, excuse us… Engineers
need to save the world. References: 1.
Jones, A. E., & Shanklin, J. D.
(1995). Continued decline of total ozone over Halley, Antarctica, since 1985.
Nature, 376(6539), 409–411. https://doi.org/10.1038/376409a0 2.
Ronke, P., Bevere,
L., & Remondi, F. (2022). Natural
catastrophes in 2021: The floodgates are open (No. 01/2022). Swiss Re
Institute. https://www.swissre.com/dam/jcr:326182d5-d433-46b1-af36-06f2aedd9d9a/swiss-re-institute-sigma-natcat-2022-en.pdf 3.
The Global Future Council on Advanced
Manufacturing and Production. (2019). Making Manufacturing Sustainable by
Design [Whitepaper]. World Economic Forum. 4.
Tricoire, J.-P. (2021, February 22). Why
buildings are the foundation of an energy-efficient future. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/02/why-the-buildings-of-the-future-are-key-to-an-efficient-energy-ecosystem/ 5.
World Meteorological Organization
(WMO). (2022). Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2022 (GAW
Report No. 278; p. 55). United Nations.
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