Presentation on 25th October 2017

1. 16B8090 Amirul Ikhwan bin Haji Khalid
16B8091 Muhammad Muizzuddin bin Md Shahrin
16B9037 Muhammad Afiq Qamalul Azri bin Azmi
16B9503 Muhammad Zahidi bin Bikir
Environmental sustainability is
incompatible with the needs of
development.
Discuss using examples from Asia or
Southeast Asia

2. INTRODUCTION
CASE STUDY: CHINA
CASE STUDY: JAPAN
CONCLUSION
TABLE OF CONTENT

3. INTRODUCTION
Environmental Sustainability:
Responsible interaction with the environment to avoid depletion or degradation of natural
resources and allow for long-term environmental quality (Gyllapsy, 2017)

4. CONDITIONS
1. For renewable resources- The rate of harvest should not exceed the rate of regeneration
(sustainable yield);
2. For pollution-The rates of waste generation from projects should not exceed the
assimilative capacity of the environment (sustainable waste disposal); and
3. For non-renewable resources- The depletion of the non-renewable resources should
require comparable development of renewable substitutes for that resource (Daly, 1990).

5. Not all country can survive and develop without harming the environment
• Since the industrial revolution in 1950s, the world has been powered by the fossil fuels such
as Coal, Oil and Gas.
• At this stage, it is difficult to increase the development without damaging the environment
because most developing countries such as China are more dependent on fossil fuels
example coal as their source of income.
• Fortunately, Continual growth in a finite world is possible through the power of technology
(Sharon, 1994).
• Technology enabled us to produce products that making human’s life easier and efficient as
well as to reduce the environmental impact caused by development processes.
• Unfortunately, over-dependent on technology does bring several environmental
consequences as consumer’s increasing demand.

6. • In order for a country to grow, the development need to feed on natural resources
(depletion of resources) which can pollute the environment during extraction and
installation as well as when the technology for development is operating.
• It would be easy for the already developed country (MEDCs) to minimize the impact of drilling
the natural resources by using a high-tech technology but it would be difficult for the Third
world countries due to economic and maintenance factors.
• Coal burning, while it is a simple technology to produce energy, has numerous side effects
(detrimental) in addition to carbon dioxide emission.
• Building technology such as Hydro Electric Power(HEP) and drilling to extract fossil fuel may
disrupt the ecology due to clearing land where animals used to live to build factories and
allowing pollution to contaminate the food chain which can greatly affect the environment's
natural cycles.

7. So, is it still possible for a country to develop without
harming the environment?

8. CASE STUDY 1.2: COAL IN CHINA
❑ Coal has been the most important source of energy
supply and resource in China ever since industrialization
which began in 1950s (Sun, 2010).
❑ Nearly 97% of the China’s coal energy is consumed in
five sectors which include power generation, industrial
sectors, coking, residential use as well as heating
supply.
❑ The largest coal-consuming sector since 1995 is the
power generation which was once belonged to industrial
sectors.

9. CASE STUDY 1: COAL IN CHINA CONT.
❑ According to Nagle (2015), 16 out of 20 world’s most
polluted countries are in China.
❑ In 1998, Lanzhou was named as the world’s most
polluted city in the world due to the major industrial
center and the burning of tons of coal every day.
Government’s Initiatives to sustain environment:
1. Coal Plantations
2. Introducing renewable energy (Three Gorges Dam)

10. CASE STUDY 1.2: COAL PLANTATION
❑ 3 categories of coal plants:
1. Subcritical
2. Supercritical
3. Ultra-supercritical
❑ All of them burn coal to boil water and generating steam
to spin the turbine.
❑ The higher the temperature and pressure, the process
gets cleaner and more energy can be obtained as well
as less pollution.

11. CASE STUDY 1.3: THREE GORGES DAM
➢ Government's initiative to renewable energy with the
construction of the Three Gorges Hydropower Dam in
Yangtze River
➢ Built USD $24 Billion producing 22,500 MWh and 98.8
terawatts/year
➢ The reason why the dam was built was initially to avoid
flooding at further downstream. flooding used to be a major
problem for the seasonal Yangtze River. The need for a dam
was highlighted in 1954 when people were killed as a result of
flooding of the Yangtze River.

12. CASE STUDY 1.3: THREE GORGES DAM
➢ The construction process: requires large areas to be flooded, clearing of land
➢ Flooded several places in china due to malfunction which affects the
archaeological and cultural sites.
➢ This world’s largest dam also create pressure on the land which lead to
landslides.
➢ Reduction of water flows to other regions.
➢ Alters weather patterns.
➢ Endangering at least 57 plant species and 177 fish species.
➢ other city is still using coal which still adds up to the
environmental pollution as it started in the first place

13. CASE STUDY 2: JAPAN
➔ One approach to reduce pollution to the environment is to
manage the transportation, and enhancing its efficiency in
producing lesser carbon dioxide.
➔ This consideration of sustainability in development are
bringing pressure on manufacturers to produce vehicle
designs that are revolutionary different from the current
vehicles.
➔ The alternative that have been discussed by car
manufacturers and governments are such as
1. Battery powered vehicles
2. Hybrid electric vehicles
3. Ethanol & methanol fueled vehicles

14. CASE STUDY 2: JAPAN CONT.
➔ Japan had applied in the development of alternative
on conventional vehicles which started in the early
1970s.
➔ However, the efforts of improving transportational
capabilities has several difficulties
● Technical development
● Creating new standards
● Building fuel infrastructure
➔ The plan of considering sustainability through
transportation was also delayed due to the
difficulties faced

15. CASE STUDY 2: JAPAN CONT.
➔ The first plan was intended to take 10 years to implement,
but after a few years it was no longer appropriate. The oil
market progress in technical development was delayed and
making the plan inconsistent.
➔ The last 30 years, Japanese government has succeeded in
reducing transport emissions and increasing the fuel
economy. On the other hand, attempts to become
independent towards oil imports have failed.
➔ The dependency on oil may deter financial stability and
hinder other developments in the future. Therefore,
sustainable improvements comes with costly
drawbacks which possibly puts a huge strain
on the national budget.

16. Conclusion
• to reduce environmental damage is possible, but to not harm the environment at all is not.
• Industrialization requires a lot of energy resources which could lead to environmental
degradation.
• According to a theory, environmental pollution and degradation increase in the early stages
of economic growth, get to a peak point, and reverse in such a way that the environment
improves at high income levels (Omoju, 2014).

17. Conclusion cont.
• China would not achieved the impressive economic growth and development it has ever
recorded today, if the government had cared about pollution at the initial stage of
development.
• Some countries tried to use alternative resources and reducing the development impact
towards the environment but it still brings harm to the surrounding.
• Most country especially developing regions put aside the environmental issues as their main
goal is to achieve the economic development from the exportation of Unsustainable
resources. They tend to put economic growth, energy and industrialization at the forefront
even though they know the impact of exploiting the natural resources to the environment.