Tackling climate change: role of the engineer

The paper discusses engineering strategies to mitigate climate change, focusing on energy production shifts, technical efficiency, and social changes, while analyzing the ethical risks of nuclear power and carbon capture.

• Energy production can be decarbonized by switching from coal and oil to gas, which emits "half the CO2 of coal and two-thirds the CO2 of oil per Joule of energy used", or by implementing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants that can reach efficiencies of "up to 85%" compared to conventional plants' 35% to 45%.
• Renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal produce no greenhouse gases during operation. In the UK, wind energy has the highest potential, and while the government set a target of "20% of electricity generation to be from renewable energy sources by 2020", studies suggest the actual potential is higher.
• Nuclear power provides a non-intermittent source of energy, supplying "22% of the UK's electricity and 16% of world electricity", but presents significant ethical and security risks including the potential for fuel to be "weaponised", the production of hazardous high-level waste, and vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
• The economics of nuclear power are described as "not promising", as no plant globally has been built without government assistance. In the UK, British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) faces waste liabilities totaling "£41 billion".
• CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is viewed as controversial because it may "support the continued use of fossil fuels", divert funding from renewables, and exacerbate geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East.
• Technical efficiency gains, such as building insulation in the UK or hybrid cars that can "reduce fuel consumption by up to 50%", may be undermined if suppliers lower prices to encourage more consumption. The author suggests "carbon taxes" as a mechanism to prevent this.
• To ensure that climate mitigation does not undermine poverty reduction in the developing world, richer nations should assist the transition, specifically by promoting "intermediate" technologies like small-scale hydro and wind which are "easier to maintain and cheaper".

APA

Parkinson, S. (2005). Tackling climate change: role of the engineer. Scientists for Global Responsibility. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/tackling-climate-change-role-engineer

Chicago

Parkinson, Stuart. Tackling climate change: role of the engineer. Scientists for Global Responsibility, 2005. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/tackling-climate-change-role-engineer.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Parkinson |first1=Stuart |title=Tackling climate change: role of the engineer |publisher=Scientists for Global Responsibility |date=6 February 2005 |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/tackling-climate-change-role-engineer |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{parkinson2005tackling, author = {Parkinson, Stuart}, title = {{Tackling climate change: role of the engineer}}, institution = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, year = {2005}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/tackling-climate-change-role-engineer}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }