Vidic 2:00
L18
ELECTRIC VEHICLE IMPACT ON MIDDLE EASTERN OIL ECONOMY
Josh Pope (jmp211@pitt.edu)
INTRODUCTION
At first glance it may seem difficult to imagine ethical
controversy within the field of electric vehicles, which so
many people look at as the future of environmentally friendly
transportation, but pondering the technology’s global impact
reveals significant issues. Locally, jobs would disappear in
the emerging oil production industries such as fracking.
Globally, OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries) says that the Middle East, already an unstable
region, possesses around two thirds of the world’s oil supply
and relies heavily on exporting it to drive its economy [1].
How would the nations in this area handle a shift in
dependence on oil? Were other nations around the world to
phase out use of normal vehicles in an effort to phase out
emissions, would the economies in the Middle East be able to
handle the massive drop in oil exports? Most importantly,
would the region’s political unrest be even further inflamed
after the millions of people employed by the oil industry lost
their livelihood?
These are the questions my team and I are facing as we
near completion of our lithium-sulfur battery for electric
vehicles. As leader of the team, seeing these last three years
of research funded by Tesla Motors finally coming to fruition
feels amazing. Our battery will hopefully prove the biggest
advancement in green technology in recent history.
DILEMMA
Everyone was feeling incredibly excited until last week
when we received a letter from the federal government asking
us to confidentially postpone completing our research and to
tell Tesla that we would need three more years due to
unforeseen complications. All of this was to be done for the
purpose of preserving peace and economic stability in the
Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as
protecting oil production jobs in the United States. The whole
team was uneasy after the letter. None of us felt comfortable
lying to our superiors and directly tampering with our project.
Options
Negative impacts of my research had never even crossed
my mind until now. I’m left with a dilemma that doesn’t have
a clear ethical answer. Should I finish research on my battery
and release it to market or should I adhere to the government’s
requests and delay the research so as to protect the major oilproducing nations? The NSPE (National Society of
Professional Engineers) and ASME (American Society of
Mechanical Engineers) both state that an engineer must hold
paramount the health and well-being of humanity but how can
University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering 1
Submission Date 2015-11-03
I possibly do that when both decisions would have some
degree of negative impact on people’s lives [2,3].
If I make the utilitarian decision and release the
technology with the thought the needs of the world outweigh
the needs of the few, I would be responsible for ruining entire
economies and possibly even causing wars. On the other
hand, if I choose to apply Kant’s Formula of Humanity, which
states that all people should be treated with dignity and
respect, to the decision I’m left leaning toward acting with
compassion for the Middle East [5]. It entirely boils down the
needs of the many vs the needs of the few.
On top of this dilemma is the more immediate ethical issue
of deceiving my employer and deliberately delaying the
research I am being paid to do. The fourth and fifth
fundamental canons of the NSPE and ASME codes of ethics
are, “Engineers shall act for each employer or client as faithful
agents or trustees,” and “Engineers shall avoid deceptive acts
[2,3].” It seems that no matter what choice I make I’ll have to
break the ethical code in order to follow it.
Ethics
The NSPE board of ethical review determined during
deliberation on a case that public safety takes precedence over
the other canons of the ethical code [6]. For these reasons we
feel that the correct choice should be determined not by our
obligations to Tesla but by what is best for people around the
world. In doing so we can ensure that our decision upholds
the main goal of an engineer to always act with honesty,
integrity, and the best interest of the public in mind.
Rushworth M. Kidder says in his book, “How Good
People Make Tough Choices,” that real ethical dilemmas do
not involve a situation with definite right or wrong answers
[4]. An ethical dilemma’s defining characteristic is that both
sides of the issue can be supported by a valid argument. In the
absence of a true right answer the resulting course of action
falls upon the decision maker’s personal values and frame of
mind. This describes perfectly my current situation and
illustrates the difficulty my team and I are experiencing in
making a decision.
PERSONAL IMPACT
At this point, a large part of my team feels that we should
release the technology anyway since inevitably it is for the
greater good. However, I am worried that they are focusing
more on personal gain than on how our work will affect the
world.
Despite feeling somewhat selfish for it I understand the
appeal of going forward and introducing the technology to the
general public. Designing a power source that will power an
Josh Pope
efficient electric vehicle is a massive breakthrough for
environmentally friendly technology. Being leader of the
team that brought the game changing battery to market will
give me worldwide recognition and incredible opportunities
to advance my career. It’s very difficult to imagine
postponing the glory that will surely come with completing
my research.
having to deal with whatever fallout occurs in the Middle East
and loss of some domestic jobs. America is the second largest
producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the world after China
[8]. This is due to several major reasons, one of which is the
high concentration of vehicles in the country. Something
needs to be done to fix all the pollution coming from the
country.
According to Tim Boden and Bob Andres from the
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, transportation
accounted for about 13% of America’s total greenhouse gas
emissions in 2011 [9]. Thus, switching to electric vehicles
instead of fuel-burning ones could reduce the nation’s
greenhouse gas emissions by a huge amount. This just adds
more support to bringing the technology to market instead of
postponing it since another one of the clauses in the NSPE and
ASME codes of ethics is that engineers must strive to protect
the environment for future generations [2,3].
Advice
For this reason, engineers must remove themselves from
the picture when making decisions such as the one in
question. The temptation of personal financial and social
rewards should never constitute the deciding factor of an
ethical decision. Instead of considering what will happen to
him, the engineer must fall back on his own personal
principles and the codes of ethics. Adhering to the ethical
codes as strictly as possible while also employing a strong
sense of morality is the best way to make any ethical decision
as an engineer.
DRAWBACKS
Really the only ones who stand to lose anything major
from my work are countries in the Middle East whose
economies rely heavily on oil exports and oil production
facilities within the United States. Oil price drops that are
occurring now give some insight into what the future holds if
electric cars are able to replace fuel-burning ones.
ENGINEERING IMPACT
Personal gains wouldn’t nearly account for all of the good
that would come from the work either. The entire world of
battery technology would take a massive leap forward. The
diminishing annual increases in battery power would be
replaced by big jumps from expanding on my work.
Engineering as a whole would benefit from the new
information and the work other scientists around the world
would do to improve upon it.
Global
Herman Franssen, the executive director of Energy
Intelligence, remarked that over the last year oil prices have
dropped over 50% due to several factors, including increased
production by countries not historically associated with oil as
well as a surplus of stored oil reserves [10]. In just this one
year of price drops, the nations in OPEC, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, have seen major budget cuts
and projects being postponed as a result of break-even oil
prices not being met [11,10]. Extended decline in oil prices
would be disastrous. Chakib Kehlil, the former minister for
energy and mines for Algeria, expanded further by saying that
damage has been especially bad in nations with large debts,
weak economies, or little hard currency [12]. Overall the price
drops have caused significant financial and political damage.
Kehlil also explained that non-OPEC oil production,
mainly in the United States and Canada, will also decline
along with the oil prices as the break-even points are not met
[12]. This already began with fracking due to the high costs
associated with the process. In order to remain profitable in
its oil production, the US requires higher oil prices [12]. If
low oil prices persisted, as they will when my technology is
brought to market, production in America and Canada will
eventually be phased out.
Looking at what’s happened over just a year of declining
oil prices I can only imagine what the fallout will be after a
major shift away from global oil dependency. Economies in
OPEC nations will crumble, political relations will degrade,
Technology Background
Until now electric cars have used lithium-ion batteries as
power sources, however, that type of battery can only possibly
supply so much power [7]. The electric car concept clearly
has potential but the batteries of today aren’t enough to make
them practical. Lithium-ion batteries have reached the peak of
their potential so designing more efficient ones to store more
energy will be impossible [7]. Our battery is able to store
approximately five times as much energy as the best lithiumion batteries being used in today’s electric vehicles [7].
BENEFITS
Because of my team’s work, Tesla’s next line of vehicles
will theoretically have the potential to totally replace fuelburning ones and the company will see massive profit gains.
Over time other companies will be sold the technology as well
and electric vehicles will assuredly become the norm, making
the world better off as well as the companies.
Even the United States government, which is making an
effort to stop us, stands to gain more than it will lose from the
technology. Environmental and economic benefits outweigh
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Josh Pope
and it will all be because of my work. I’ll have to watch all of
it happen while I comfortably sit and gain off of the Middle
East falling apart. How could I consider myself to have made
the right decisions when I violated Kant’s Formula of
Humanity by treating the people who suffer from my work as
a means to an end [5]?
In order to minimize the damage that will come as a result
of my decision other countries should come together to
prepare a way to help the Middle East before the damage has
fully happened yet. Full replacement of fuel-burning vehicles
will take years to happen so the shift in oil usage will not be
immediate. Politicians and businessmen should use the time
during this gradual decline in oil consumption to mitigate the
financial and political degradation. While it is highly unlikely
that major losses can be totally avoided there is still a chance
that political conflict can be lessened and economic hardships
diminished. Development of another major source of income
for these countries will be immediately necessary.
Local
Locally, the impact from electric vehicles won’t be as
tremendous as in the Middle East but it will definitely still be
felt. As oil consumption decreases, domestic oil production
will also inevitably decrease. As a result, industries which are
currently growing, such as fracking, will shrink and a
considerable number of jobs will be lost.
Fortunately, the United States economy could quickly
recover from losing oil production jobs since a huge number
of jobs will surely become available in other fields as a result
of the shift to electric vehicles. Power consumption will
obviously increase as everyone has to charge their cars instead
of filling them up with gas. In order to deal with this change
in power usage many more power plants will need to be built.
As these facilities get built they will add plenty of jobs to the
economy. Also, a large number of jobs will arise as the
nation’s highway infrastructure moves away from gas stations
and toward charging stations. Workers will be needed to
build, own, and operate these charging stations all across the
country.
CONCLUSION
Ethically speaking, this choice isn’t right or wrong. It
simply embodies the utilitarian choice instead of the Kantian
one [4,5]. Both options were right and neither was wrong.
What matters most is that my team and I adhered to the canons
of the NSPE and ASME codes of ethics as strictly as we could
under the strenuous circumstances. Most importantly, we
acted in what we interpreted as the global best interest. On top
of that we adhered to the canons regarding confidentiality and
employee-employer relationship while still acting in the best
interest of society. Making this decision perfectly embodied
the core concept of ethical dilemmas, right vs. right decisions,
as applied to the engineering world [4].
REFERENCES
MOVING FORWARD
[1] “OPEC share of world Crude Oil Reserves, 2014.”
(2014).
OPEC.
(Online
Article).
http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/330.htm
[2] “NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers.” (2007). National
Society of Professional Engineers. (Online Article).
http://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics
[3] “ASME Code of Ethics of Engineers.” (2012). American
Society of Mechanical Engineers. (Online Article).
https://www.asme.org/getmedia/9EB36017-FA98-477E8A73-77B04B36D410/P157_Ethics.aspx
[4] R. Kidder. (1995). How Good People Make Tough
Choices. New York, NY: Harper Perennial. (Print Book).
[5] P. Formosa. (2014). “Dignity and Respect: How to Apply
Kant’s Formula of Humanity.” The Philosophical Forum.
(Article).
[6] “Public Health and Safety – Delay in Addressing Fire
Code Violations.” (2014). NSPE Board of Ethical Review.
(Case Study).
[7] R. Van Noorden. (2014). “A Better Battery.” Nature.
(Online
article).
http://www.nature.com/news/therechargeable-revolution-a-better-battery-1.14815
[8] T. Boden. B. Andres. (2011). “Ranking of the World’s
Countries by 2011 Total CO2 Emissions.” Carbon Dioxide
Information Analysis Center. (Online Article). doi
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to make a decision
such as this so anyone considering engineering as a profession
should prepare themselves for the weight of ethical dilemmas.
Most engineers will be faced with a situation involving
difficult ethics at some point during their career. It is
extremely important not to make a quick decision because in
many cases there will be several layers of detail. During this
experience my team and I deliberated for over a week before
coming to a decision.
Final Decision
Taking into account all of the information available to me,
I feel that the most beneficial decision for mainly the world,
but also myself, is to go forward with completing my research
and beginning the process of replacing fuel-burning vehicles
with electric ones. While fallout in the Middle East and other
OPEC nations will be huge, the world will eventually recover
and it will be better off. In the end I believe that my lithiumsulfur battery technology will do more good for the wellbeing of the world than bad. Also by not postponing the
completion of my project I allow further research by other
scientists to begin more quickly thus allowing even more
advanced work to come into play.
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10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2015
http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/top2011.tot
[9] “Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.” (2011).
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (Online
Article).
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.ht
ml
[10] H. Franssen. (2015). “The Impact of Falling Oil Prices
on the Future of the Middle East.” The Middle East Institute.
(Recorded Presentation)
[11] “OPEC Statute.” (2012). Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries. (Article).
[12] C. Khelil. (2015). “The Impact of Falling Oil Prices on
the Future of the Middle East.” The Middle East Institute.
(Recorded Presentation).
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
“The Coercive Contribution Conundrum.” (2003). National
Institute for Engineering Ethics. (Case Study).
“What’s the Angle.” (2013). National Institute for
Engineering Ethics. (Case Study).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to sincerely thank the Bevier Library staff for
their assistance in the research process as well as Dr. Natasa
Vidic and the University of Pittsburgh for affording me the
opportunity to write this paper
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