Vidic 2:00
R17
Patrick Antall (pda10@pitt.edu)
The job of an engineer deals with solving the problems of society to increase the quality of living and increase the ease of life. Aside from the concrete issues the engineers are required to solve, they also must decide how to react concerning ethical debates as well. Engineers can be faced with many difficult decisions because to save money, their employer may not directly follow the code of ethics making the engineer’s work appear to be subpar. There is a very fine line that engineers are forced to walk as to doing what is right as a human being or doing what is right for the company. Each day at work is a moral dilemma sometimes between continuing occupational success or doing the humane thing, a tough decision for many to make.
Luckily, engineers have codes of ethics, a broad guide for professional engineers and more specific versions for each branch of engineering. According to the Professional
Engineers Code of Ethics, the decision when it comes to what may seem to be a tough ethical debate should be rather simple [1]. However the engineering dilemma that I was placed in is not as black and white as the code reads.
Biofuels that are created by engineers are necessary for the future as fossil fuels are nonrenewable and eventually are going to no longer exist. Human engineered biofuels also have a serious negative aspect raising ethical debate across the country, the destruction of ecosystems and land used to plant the components of a biofuel as well as the long term effect it could have on food production and water resources
[2]. There are two options that could be seen as viable to a spectator, so now as an engineer I must examine all situations and their outcomes. While weighing these options
The Project
While currently employed for the Biofuel Association of
Society our task at hand is to create a biofuel that can replace fossil fuels when they become extinct. Our resources are unlimited across the globe and there is already a good formula for producing biofuels being put to use. There is only one issue with the current process, it is destroying the areas in which the crops to produce these fuels are grown having a large negative impact on the environment. The production of the crops used to make these fuels also has a potential negative impact on the future fresh water supply. It is now important for my team and I to weigh all possible options and engineer a solution for this issue. It is not ideal to attempt to continue life without an alternative fuel source, but the environment and water supply are not things that can be put at risk for fuel.
The Environmental Impact
The negative environmental impact of the production of crops to make biofuels all stems from the lack of biodiversity in the fields in which they are grown. Along with that a study using a weed risk assessment system showed that 70% of biofuel crops have a high risk of becoming invasive species.
This great amount of negative environmental impacts comes mostly because of the lack of regulations on biofuel crop growth [3]. The environmental impact of monoculture comes in the lack of nutrients that are being replenished in the soil.
This forces farmers to use a great deal of fertilizers in their soil to keep the quality of the crop at the level necessary to produce biofuels. Along with that, a high yield of crops is required to have enough to produce the biofuel causing it is important that engineers reference the appropriate codes of ethics and case studies so they become well aware of the possible impact of their project. The final decision will be that with the most overall positive outcome and least overall negative outcome.
A biofuel is an alternative fuel source that is composed of any living matter, or the waste products produced from a farmers to change their runoff basins into cultivated land.
Without this extra buffer zone and the addition of fertilizer into the soil runoff water becomes an extreme pollutant contaminating the water supply [4]. This clearly disregards the National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics by not taking into account of the welfare of the public. The production of biofuels contaminates the soil and fresh water sources putting society in potential danger [1].
The Impact on the Water Supply living organism. Unfortunately many of these living organisms are constantly being mass produced on the same land leading to a serious lack of biodiversity. Therefore the ethical dilemma at hand is whether or not to continue to produce biofuels and destroy ecosystems and our future food and water supply or to halt production and risk not having a fuel source when the supply of fossil fuels are exhausted.
The three main crops that are cultivated to produce biofuels are sugar cane, palm oil, and maize which all have a rather high need for water when growing in such large proportions. This will become an issue because 70% of the world’s freshwater supply is already being utilized by the agriculture industry. Freshwater resources are becoming extremely difficult to get due to increased competition with
University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering
2014-10-28
1

Patrick Antall all other industries meaning that there is no extra water to make these crops sustainable. Along with having a negative impact on the supply of freshwater it will also force the quality of freshwater to decline. The production of these crops produces wastewater that is contaminated organically by the high amount of pesticides and other chemicals used to ensure a high crop yield to increase production of fuels.
Maize, for example, one of the top crops used for biofuel production also has one of the highest rates of pesticides and fertilizers used on it [5]. According to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Code of Ethics there is no way any chemical engineer could justify the damage to the water supply as being ethical. The code reads that chemical engineers should, “use their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare [6].” Destroying the supply of fresh water is doing nothing but negatively enhancing human welfare.
The production of biofuels by engineers is something that must be done in order to maintain the quality of life that we enjoy today when our supply of fossil fuels is extinct. In my decision making process the engineer codes of ethics will not play the biggest part in my decision but will carry some influence. My greatest concern as an engineer is to formulate a solution with the greatest positive and smallest negative yields. The solution that integrates both the code of ethics and positive aspects with little negative risk will be the solution that I choose to engineer. Therefore not only will my reputation as an engineer be safe, but I will also be improving the quality of the environment.
The first possible solution would be to pay little attention to any negative impacts on the environment and society and continue production of biofuels as is. There is only one positive outcome from this situation which is the fact that when fossil fuels are exhausted an alternative fuel source will not be difficult to come by. The negative aspects of this situation tremendously outweigh the positives. First of all, this solution would completely ignore the American
Institute of Chemical Engineers Code of Ethics when it mentions protecting the environment and public welfare.
This solution is ignorant to the ethical dilemma at hand because it does absolutely nothing to protect the depleting fresh water source nor the environment’s lack of biodiversity
[6]. With this solution the fresh water source continues to be strained past its limits as well as polluting it reducing the quality immensely. The water quality will also decrease due to this plan because land that was previously set aside to collect polluted runoff and prevent contamination will likely be converted to cultivated land to increase the crop yield to satisfy the high demand [7]. Along with the damage to the water supply the lack of biodiversity continually growing the same crop on the same land nonstop will lead to lack of nutrient replenishment in the soil. The lack of nutrient replenishment organically requires farmers to use fertilizers which add to the pollution in the water supply. Overall biofuel production cannot continue as is, or the environment and water supply will suffer causing the quality of life to decrease more than it would without an alternative fuel source [4].
The second possible solution would be to cease all production of biofuels to allow the ecosystems at risk time to rejuvenate. It is predicted that the Earth’s supply of fossil fuels will become completely depleted by the year 2088, a full 74 years from the present day [8]. Biofuel production could cease for a few years to allow time for the water supply and environment to heal from the abuse it has taken.
This seems like a good idea, but it only helps short term, and actually would cause even more harm than it would good.
Taking a break for a few years and continuing the same practices would solve absolutely nothing but lead us closer to the year 2088 with no sustainable alternative fueling source. Furthermore, the abuse the land and water supply would take would be much more vigorous as an increased demand and panic would arise due to the looming exhaustion of current fuel sources [3]. There seems to be no positive aspects to this so it hardly can even be considered to be a solution. This would be a clear violation of the
National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics as it is deceptive as well as not looking out for the welfare of society [1]. No engineering is being done in this scenario to protect the environment or water supply, just laziness waiting for the next engineer to complete a similar project to solve.
The third and final possible solution would be to join forces with other engineers and create a process for creating biofuels that would be more environmentally sustainable.
There is no reason that engineers today cannot partner together and create a sustainable biofuel without destroying the environment. This is clearly the most logical option because it handles both the ethics and engineering issues at hand. This prevents all destruction of the water supply which helps society greatly. It also prevents the destruction of the environment also benefiting society positively. The only difficult part is going to be formulating a way for crops with such great yield required to be produced without these negative effects [9]. This solution is perfect ethically as it follows the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Code of Ethics perfectly. It takes into account both society and the environment and benefits both of them [6].
While working on this project with the Biofuel
Association of Society I decided that the best option both ethically and from an engineering standpoint would be the third and final option. Biofuels are an alternative fuel source that has been proven to be effective and could replace fossil fuels when need be. The third option solves the ethical debate
2

Patrick Antall perfectly by creating environmentally sustainable biofuels removing the great deal of harm from the environment. This is the clear decision to make because it not only provides a solution for the crisis of alternative fuel, but also almost completely removes the negative footprint on the environment. This would be a perfect solution as there would not even be any conflict with the Code of Ethics because everything being done is for the good of society and the environment in an honest way. With this new more environmentally sustainable process there could always come more ethical dilemmas that would have to be solved in order for this to remain the ideal choice, but unfortunately that would come no matter what decision was made. Formulating a new, more environmentally sustainable way to produce biofuels is the ideal option because as the National Society of
Professional Engineers Code of Ethics says, “Engineers shall at all times strive to serve the public interest [1]” Creating biofuels that are environmentally sustainable does just that by ensuring a fuel source will be available when fossil fuels become extinct that will not destroy the environment or water supply.
Every engineer is their own person with their own morals that will lead them all to make their own unique decision regarding this situation. Ideally, as a community of engineers, it would be preferred that we all share the same thought process to minimize conflict as mentioned in the
National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics, but without conflicting opinions progress becomes difficult.
During the process of conducting my research I have learned a lot on how to respond when facing an ethical dilemma in the world of engineering. The first thing that must be considered is the code of ethics concerning a certain career or engineering discipline [1]. When referencing the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers Code of Ethics it made my decision making process extremely easy. One point in the Code was to take into account the health and welfare of the public as well as the environment which made me realize that the third option was the ideal choice [6].
Another aspect that must also be taken into consideration would be the positive and negative aspects that the project would have on society as a whole. Before making a decision concerning an ethical conflict it is very important to take your time and weigh all possible options before choosing the option most beneficial to society.
Engineers complete tasks that improve the quality of life for society and must do all of that while following a strict
Code of Ethics to ensure they never risk the quality of a project. Before an engineer makes a decision that has risks that can affect society and their own corporation they must properly look at the positives and negatives of all outcomes.
That is why developing a more environmentally sustainable process for creation of biofuels is the best decision, more positives than negatives, as well as respecting the American
Institute of Chemical Engineers Code of Ethics. Engineers go through this same process every day to ensure the world that we live in is the best that it could possibly be. Engineers in the future, while creating biofuels will go through this same process and hopefully make the same decision, saving the future of energy, the water supply, and the environment.
Ethics is a large part of engineering that many on the outside do not see until they experience it firsthand.
[1] “NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers.” (July 2007).
National Society of Professional Engineers.
(Code of
Ethics). http://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics.
[2] “Impacts of Biofuel Production” (2012).
Global
Assessments and Guidelines for Sustainable Liquid Biofuel
Production in Developing Countries.
(Case Study). http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/user_media_upgrade/What_ we_do/Topics/Energy_access/BF_Case_Studies_FINAL_R
EPORT_PRINT_and_WEB__20022014.pdf.
[3] C. Buddenhagen. (22 April 2009). “Assessing Biofuel
Crop Invasiveness: A Case Study.” PlosOne . (Case Study). http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2
Fjournal.pone.0005261#pone-0005261-g001.
[4] S. Astyk. (28 December 2006). “Ethics of Biofuels.”
Resilience.
(Website). http://www.resilience.org/stories/2006-12-28/ethics-biofuels.
[5] “Liquid Biofuels for Transport Prospects, Risks and
Opportunities.” (2014). GreenFacts.
(Website). http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biofuels/l-3/4-environmentalimpacts.htm#6p0.
[6] “Code of Ethics.” (2013). American Institute of Chemical
Engineers.
(Code of Ethics). http://www.aiche.org/about/code-ethics.
[7] J. Tait. (2011). “The Ethics of Biofuels.” Global Change
Biology.
(Article). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1757-
1707.2011.01107.x/pdf.
[8] P. Thompson. (28 March 2012). “The Agricultural Ethics of Biofuels.” International Journal of Ethics of Science.
(Article). http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10202-
012-0105-6/fulltext.html.
[9] A. Buyx. (2013). “Biofuels: Ethical Issues.”
Nuffield
Council on Bioethics.
(Case Study). http://www.fairfuels.de/data/user/Download/Veranstaltungen/Presentation_
Buyx_Biofuels_ethical_issues.pdf?PHPSESSID=3d4ab0b81
358d7c70d183f7585ecb65f.
3

Patrick Antall
While typing this paper a strong support system that assisted me behind the scenes deserves some of the credit for my success. It is extremely helpful having people be on your side constantly giving you the necessary confidence to succeed. My family was very helpful by helping me stay focused through all 2300 words of this daunting assignment.
My friends also were extremely helpful as we got together in a group and helped each other proofread our papers. The faculty of the University of Pittsburgh was also very helpful because I knew that if I ever had an issue they would be willing to assist me with whatever troubles I may have encountered.
4

Patrick Antall
5