Technological Fix 2 How far does technology determine

Technological Fix 2. How far does technology determine development and resource use ? a) Link between economic development and technological change b) Implications of technological ‘leapfrogging’ c) Unforeseen costs and benefits of technological innovation d) Issues of externalities of technology Learning Objectives: • Appreciate the externalities of technology use are not always taken into account • Describe, with examples, the two different approaches of implementing the Polluter Pays Principle

Starter - Externalities • What are they? Glastonbury Festival Identify a positive and negative externality Positive = you could sit in a field next to the event and hear the music Negative = Local people could be disturbed by the music

Pollution sink • Many technologies produce externalities that are not accounted for e. g. Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels • The atmosphere is treated as a ‘pollution sink’ as it was assumed that it was large enough to cope. • Issues of the hole in the ozone layer and reducing ‘Living Planet Index’ suggests it cant

Polluter Pays Principle • Those that cause the pollution should bear the economic cost of the damage they are doing to the environment 1) Command control – new technologies are introduced to limit pollution e. g. Catalytic converter 2) Market-based – governments introduce pollution taxes, carbon trading permits and produce labelling

The Car industry • Many governments have imposed penalties on polluters e. g. Car drivers have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bands based on the amount of C 02 a vehicle emits. • This is expected to increase from £ 110 to £ 115 for an Audi A 3 next year • How much impact will an increase in VED in the UK have on car ownership, or reducing C 02 emissions?

Indian Car Sales Boom • The Tata Nano sells for £ 1250 and is the cheapest new car in the world • Demands for up to 1 million cars each year • Indian car ownership expected to more than in Japan by 2017 Problems?

Externalities • In 2004 India released 266 million tons of carbon = 4 th largest C 02 emitting country • Concerns as the new Tata Nano does not meet current European emission standards and will increase the C 02 emissions into the atmosphere If increased car ownership in China and India lead to higher C 02 emissions, is there any point in European governments trying to reduce their own C 02 emissions?

Plenary – Polluter Pays? Should those who pollute the environment bear the financial cost of the damage they are causing?

Homework • Research an example of a city in Europe that is tackling C 02 emissions. Produce a brochure/fact file to include - Issues the city faces Environmental standards How it is trying to tackle issues How successful?