BE Magazine Volume 5, Issue 2 - (Page 11) A focus on expanding, improving, and maintaining the world’s infrastructure addresses many aspects of sustainability. For example, the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could not have been clearer regarding the impact B E N T L E Y U S E R S S U S TA I N I N G T H E E N V I R O N M E N T Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions To identify the most appropriate and energy-efficient route for new roads throughout the European Union, Ireland’s Waterford County Council spearheaded a study that would calculate the amount of energy used during road construction and operation. The project included the participation of a team of partners from the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The overall cost of the project, which was partially funded by the European Union’s SAVE Programme, was 839,490 euros, equivalent to about $1.1 million U.S. dollars. The study was carried out by Ireland-based Tramore House regional design office. Five proposed road schemes, either at the design or early construction phase, were selected for the project. The road types selected included both divided and undivided highways. The objective was to create a tailored software solution that would be implemented at the preliminary design or route selection stage of all new projects so only the most efficient construction methods and roadway designs would be used. and resources are being depleted. The impact of human activity upon the environment is not limited to climate change alone. For example: s Poor land management and the overuse of fertilizer are causing land degradation, soil erosion, and desertification on a massive scale in agricultural areas from the Amazon to the Yangtze. s In developing countries, 90 to 95 percent of sewage and 70 percent of industrial wastes are dumped untreated into the waters where they pollute the usable water supply. s By 2050, the number of cars in China could rise to 500 million. In India, the number of cars could increase to 600 million. There are 200 million vehicles currently on the road in the United States—a vehicle fleet that already consumes about 11 percent of the world’s daily oil output. s By 2020, roughly one third of the world’s population—2 to 3 billion people— could face an acute freshwater shortage. s Irrigation accounts for 70 percent of the world’s water demand. More than half the water distributed by irrigation systems is lost due to leaks and wasteful practices. Clearly, action is required if we intend to sustain a planet that can support a human society in perpetuity that provides the opportunity for all people to realize the quality of life enjoyed in the developed world. The choices we make as a global society in regard to infrastructure investments will directly affect the level of the quality of human life and the long-term health of the planet. Professional issues Given the global infrastructure deficit—basic infrastructure in the developing world and inadequate infrastructure in the developed world in terms of performance, safety, and adaptability—lives are at stake. Environmental issues of human activity on global climate change and its potential impact on the planet. Reasonable people may disagree on the exact nature and severity of the impact, but there Finally, successfully meeting these challenges will require investments in infrastructure— If the imperative to improve and expand the world’s infrastructure wasn’t reason enough to justify Bentley’s focus on infrastructure, there are additional urgent needs associated with investments in infrastructure. The first is the global challenge to the Earth’s environment, including the long-term availability of nonrenewable resources, concentrations of pollution and waste from human activity, and global climate change. There are 200 million vehicles currently on the road in the United States—a vehicle fleet that already consumes about 11 percent of the world’s daily oil output. is near-universal acknowledgement that the planet is warming, the climate is changing, public and private—around the world. However, money alone is not sufficient to Volume 5, Issue 2 | BE MAGAZINE 11 http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/Report/AR4WG1_Print_SPM.pdf http://7revs.csis.org/pdf/resource.pdf http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/bemagazine/vol4issue2/index.php?startpage=32 http://7revs.csis.org/pdf/resource.pdf#page=2 http://7revs.csis.org/pdf/resource.pdf http://www.amazon.com/High-Noon-Twenty-Global-Problems/dp/0465070094 http://www.amazon.com/High-Noon-Twenty-Global-Problems/dp/0465070094
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