Elec4011 Ethics & Electrical Engineering Practice 2007 Ethics & the Electricity Industry, 27/8/07 1 Hugh Outhred ([email protected]) School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications & Centre for Energy & Environmental Markets Elec4011, Ethics & Electrical Engineering Practice, 27 August 2007 Ethics and the Electricity Industry 2 Ethics & the Electricity Industry 2007 Outline The nature of technology Decision-making & its consequences Ethical issues for the electricity industry Addressing the climate change challenge for the Australian electricity industry
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Elec4011 Ethics & Electrical Engineering Practice 2007
School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications
& Centre for Energy & Environmental Markets
Elec4011, Ethics & Electrical Engineering Practice, 27 August 2007
Ethics and the Electricity Industry
2Ethics & the Electricity Industry 2007
Outline
The nature of technology
Decision-making & its consequences
Ethical issues for the electricity industry
Addressing the climate change challenge for theAustralian electricity industry
Elec4011 Ethics & Electrical Engineering Practice 2007
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What istechnology?(www.iiasa.ac.at)
Orgware is
critical for
complex
industries such
as electricity &
communications
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Decision-making & its consequences #1Decision-making always involves uncertainty:
– No uncertainty implies no decision
Technological decision-making is often utilitarian:
– Whether a proposed action is considered to be right orwrong depends on its (anticipated) consequences
Decision-making intent (from the perspective of thedecision-maker):
– To reduce uncertainty about the consequences:
Increase probability of intended outcomes
Reduce probability of unintended outcomes
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Decision-making & its consequences #2
Contrasting criteria for utilitarian decision-making
– Economic growth: Proceed with a project unless costsproved to outweigh benefits
– Precautionary principle: Only proceed if benefits provedto outweigh costs & with informed consent
When benefits are distributed differently from costs:
– Tragedy of the commons (Hardin, 1968) - Individualinterest runs counter to group interest:
Hardin’s solution: mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon
– Economist’s perspective: Externalities are impacts (goodor bad) on others that do not impact on a decision-maker
Economists’ solution: internalise the externalities
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Decision-making & its consequences #3
Decision-making right (authority):– Independent decision-making by individuals:
Appropriate when there are few externalities
– Group decision-making by consensus or delegation:Appropriate when there are significant externalities
Some forms of group decision-making:– Governance: delegation of decision-making authority
through an election process
– Commercial: coordination of decision-making via trading:Internalise externalities by taxes, tradeable permits, etc.
– Engineering: coordination of decision-making bytechnical standards, protocols, design techniques, etc.
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Governance in an isolated, “pure”parliamentary democracy
People (citizens of a State)as the source of power in a parliamentary democracy
Elected governmentact as Governance
Decision Makers
Delegated DM authority
Accountability
Corporations as toolsfor implementingeconomic activity
Influence
Ow
ne
rsh
ip
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Opinions on the role of the corporation
Porter & Kramer, 2002:
– “the most important thing for a corporation can do forsociety, and for any community, is to contribute to aprosperous economy” (profit-maximising behaviour)
Beder, 2006:
– “the rise of corporate power and the increasingimportance accorded to markets means that TNCs areeclipsing the nation state as the driving force behindpolicy making” (capturing government decision-making)
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Governance in the modern world
Citizens of a specific Stateas the source of power in a parliamentary democracy
Elected governmentact as Governance
Decision Makers
Delegated DM authority
Accountability?
Corporations as the toolsfor implementingeconomic activity In
flu
en
ce
Ow
ne
rsh
ip?
People (citizens of other States)
Elected governmentsof other StatesAccountability?
10Ethics & the Electricity Industry 2007
Ethical issues for the electricity industry
Social issues - electricity as an essential good:– Residential energy services in advanced countries:
Are air-conditioning, entertainment & swimming pools essential?
– Residential energy services in poor countries:What rights do poor people have & who should fulfil them?
– Commercial & industrial energy services:What is the appropriate role of subsidised electrical energy inregional, industry and corporate development?
Findings on civilian nuclear energy“Is nuclear dangerous? Can it help reduce CO2 emissions?The short answer to the first questions is ‘very’: nuclearpower is uniquely dangerous when compared to other energysources. For the second question the answer is ‘not enoughand not in time” (Oxford Research Group, Secure Energy? Civil Nuclear
Power, Security & Global Warming, 2007, p7)
“In one scenario, deployment of nuclear power [in Australia]starting in 2020 could see 25 reactors producing about a thirdof the nation’s electricity by 2050” (UMPNER, 2006)
Issues for nuclear power in Australia:
– Competitive disadvantage, safety, fuel cycle management, weaponsproliferation, late availability, role in generation mix
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Options for carbon sequestration
Leave fossil fuels in the ground
– Nature’s sequestration - proven over millions of years &fossil fuels still available for future generations to use
Biosphere sequestration:
– Plant matter & carbon in soils - not safely sequestereddue to bushfires, animals, etc.
Geosequestration:
– Burn fossil fuels, then capture & geo-sequester CO2
An irreversible process
How safe is it for future generations (inter-generational equity)?
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CCS does not mean zero emissions
IGCC with geosequestration will still have CO2 emissions– Energy and cost tradeoff in CO2 capture from flue / gasifier stream;
also energy for transport and pumping underground
IEA (2001)
Coal IGCC with CO2 capture
emits approx. 40% of standard
CCGT (without capture)
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Key findings of IPCC CCS report(www.ipcc.ch, 2005)
A portfolio of mitigation measures will be needed(CCS alone not sufficient)
Large-scale CCS power plant don’t yet exist
By 2050, 20-40% of fossil fuel CO2 technicallysuitable for CCS at cost of 13 to 67 A$/MWh
Deployment needs CO2 price of 25-30 US$/MWh
CCS might contribute 15-44% of cumulativemitigation effort to 2100, limited beyond that(identified storage sites would then be full)
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Scenarios of CCS contribution to 2100(IPCC CCS report, www.ipcc.ch, 2005) CCS might decline
beyond 2100
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Capture-ready coal-fired power stations(IEA Greenhouse Issues, June 2007)
No accepted definition of a capture-ready plant
Minimum steps that should be taken:– Study options for CO2 capture retrofit
– Provide sufficient space & access for the additionalfacilities required
– Allow for the reduction in net power output with CO2capture (20-25% for post-combustion capture)