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| Photo credit to sauberf1team.com |
An appreciation for science ought to go a long way in the technologically advanced world of F1--all the way to the effects racing has on the environment. Sauber definitely notes those effects and has even gone so far as to craft an environmental policy for their organization. Environmental awareness in its most basic form is a plus, but Sauber seems to take a thoroughly scientific approach to its policy. I love words like solar and wind, but the two I'm happiest to see in Sauber's environmental policy have a lot less buzz about them right now: "closed loop."
What is it that separates us from other animals--opposable thumbs? Language? Complex social structure? Despite those things, the concept of a closed loop system is where other animals have us beat. A closed system is one that generates no waste, forming a loop instead of a line. Think of the water cycle: water comes down in the form of precipitation. It evaporates back into the atmosphere as a gas. That same water then condenses and returns to the earth as precipitation again. But humans, nowadays at least, use an open system in almost everything. If the water cycle was an open system, it would be like receiving water from an outside (and finite) source and never reusing the water that evaporated. Imagine how quickly we'd run out of water if that's how the water cycle worked! We'd never just throw water in the garbage can, but that's how we're treating a lot of our other resources. The most dangerous part about our open system is that we are separated both physically and psychologically from waste. We don't often see the environmental degradation that comes from producing Styrofoam cups, nor do we come into contact with the mountains of Styrofoam cups in landfills. They're out of our sight, so they're out of our minds; that's why we continue to stick with a system that's destined for failure. Unfortunately, most of our energy also moves along a straight line. We drill for oil, burn it in cars, and the emissions are released into the atmosphere, unable to be used as source of energy again.
So what do we do? It's hard to imagine a world that's not based on disposable products, but Sauber Motorsport seems able to look in that direction. As expressed in their environmental policy mission statement, "An environmental management system--developed as a closed-loop concept--embraces our operational activities as a whole and serves as an effective and efficient management tool." Natural systems are closed; efficient systems are closed; efficient systems are most effective in the long term. Therefore, it seems that Sauber will model its operating system after systems found in nature. The mission statement does not give specifics as to how they will implement this, but closed-loop systems in nature fill certain criteria. Most importantly, energy comes from the sun and waste remains part of the system to be used again. Both of these bases are covered at Sauber already: the team has built a solar park and is contributing to the construction of a wind farm in India. (Wind power is actually generated by the sun because the sun is responsible for creating wind currents.) The team also reuses and recycles its materials in as many areas as possible. Of course, with the way our world is set up, Sauber would be hard pressed to have a completely closed system. But it is a good start to close off as many outlets as possible, and I believe that the team's informed approach will further their progress.
But there's a problem: Clean Air Energy, the organization that is partnering with Simona de Silvestro and Sauber Motorsport, is part of the nuclear power industry. While there are undeniable perks to nuclear power, there's still that little issue of nuclear waste. I know a little something about this. The Shearon Harris nuclear power plant operates not far from my home. There's only one reactor, but there were plans to build more; before they were scrapped, however, the storage facility was built large enough to hold the waste from those other unbuilt reactors. As a result, nuclear waste from other power plants is shipped and stored there. The problem of nuclear waste storage is local for me.
We're producing more nuclear waste every day and don't know what to do with it. If something goes wrong at a nuclear power plant, dangerous radiation could permeate surrounding cities and ecosystems. Nuclear power is cleaner in important ways and that may make us want to build more. But as my environmental studies professor liked to say, "There's a funny thing about probability." The more we build, the more likely it is that something will go wrong, potentially allowing nuclear radiation to harm us. That's not exactly a closed system, is it?
So no, I don't support nuclear power. But I do support clean air. I do support talking honestly and in depth about the problems we have and which solution is the best. We may want our systems closed, but our dialogue? That should be wide open. I'm behind Sauber and Simona de Silvestro's mission all the way and I believe they're great spokespeople for our environment.
What is it that separates us from other animals--opposable thumbs? Language? Complex social structure? Despite those things, the concept of a closed loop system is where other animals have us beat. A closed system is one that generates no waste, forming a loop instead of a line. Think of the water cycle: water comes down in the form of precipitation. It evaporates back into the atmosphere as a gas. That same water then condenses and returns to the earth as precipitation again. But humans, nowadays at least, use an open system in almost everything. If the water cycle was an open system, it would be like receiving water from an outside (and finite) source and never reusing the water that evaporated. Imagine how quickly we'd run out of water if that's how the water cycle worked! We'd never just throw water in the garbage can, but that's how we're treating a lot of our other resources. The most dangerous part about our open system is that we are separated both physically and psychologically from waste. We don't often see the environmental degradation that comes from producing Styrofoam cups, nor do we come into contact with the mountains of Styrofoam cups in landfills. They're out of our sight, so they're out of our minds; that's why we continue to stick with a system that's destined for failure. Unfortunately, most of our energy also moves along a straight line. We drill for oil, burn it in cars, and the emissions are released into the atmosphere, unable to be used as source of energy again.
So what do we do? It's hard to imagine a world that's not based on disposable products, but Sauber Motorsport seems able to look in that direction. As expressed in their environmental policy mission statement, "An environmental management system--developed as a closed-loop concept--embraces our operational activities as a whole and serves as an effective and efficient management tool." Natural systems are closed; efficient systems are closed; efficient systems are most effective in the long term. Therefore, it seems that Sauber will model its operating system after systems found in nature. The mission statement does not give specifics as to how they will implement this, but closed-loop systems in nature fill certain criteria. Most importantly, energy comes from the sun and waste remains part of the system to be used again. Both of these bases are covered at Sauber already: the team has built a solar park and is contributing to the construction of a wind farm in India. (Wind power is actually generated by the sun because the sun is responsible for creating wind currents.) The team also reuses and recycles its materials in as many areas as possible. Of course, with the way our world is set up, Sauber would be hard pressed to have a completely closed system. But it is a good start to close off as many outlets as possible, and I believe that the team's informed approach will further their progress.
But there's a problem: Clean Air Energy, the organization that is partnering with Simona de Silvestro and Sauber Motorsport, is part of the nuclear power industry. While there are undeniable perks to nuclear power, there's still that little issue of nuclear waste. I know a little something about this. The Shearon Harris nuclear power plant operates not far from my home. There's only one reactor, but there were plans to build more; before they were scrapped, however, the storage facility was built large enough to hold the waste from those other unbuilt reactors. As a result, nuclear waste from other power plants is shipped and stored there. The problem of nuclear waste storage is local for me.
We're producing more nuclear waste every day and don't know what to do with it. If something goes wrong at a nuclear power plant, dangerous radiation could permeate surrounding cities and ecosystems. Nuclear power is cleaner in important ways and that may make us want to build more. But as my environmental studies professor liked to say, "There's a funny thing about probability." The more we build, the more likely it is that something will go wrong, potentially allowing nuclear radiation to harm us. That's not exactly a closed system, is it?
So no, I don't support nuclear power. But I do support clean air. I do support talking honestly and in depth about the problems we have and which solution is the best. We may want our systems closed, but our dialogue? That should be wide open. I'm behind Sauber and Simona de Silvestro's mission all the way and I believe they're great spokespeople for our environment.
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