Jeffrey Ros
"Why do we see so few electric cars on our streets today in spite of the overwhelming positive views on them?" This is the very first sentence that I read while diving into the mandatory literature that I have to read for my course "Engineering for Sustainable Development". And instantly I realize that it hits the spot about why I'd like to become a sustainable engineer.
During my bachelor period, I studied Molecular Science & Technology (MST) in Delft and Leiden. I majored in "Sustainable MST" and during that time I quite rapidly got interested in the technologies behind sustainable energy methods and applications. I learned about solar cells, lithium ion batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen production and storage, "green" chemistry and so forth. During this bachelor period I have come across some amazing technologies and one of my favorite applications would be the fully electric vehicle (FEV). Hence for my bachelor thesis, I investigated cathode materials for Li-ion batteries and looked for a way to improve their charging speed by introducing a molecule-thin layer of chromium oxide on the cathode surface. During my bachelor period, I wanted to know more and more about technology: how do things work? Why do they work? So when the time came for me to orientate on a master program, my first idea was to check out the Sustainable Energy & Technology (SET) master.
However, during this orientation period, there was always this tiny voice in the back of my head (don't worry though, I'm not crazy ;) ) that kept asking me the same type of questions like the one I started this column with. How come that I know and read about so many awesome and often promising new technologies, yet often see so little of them in practice? Why is the whole world not covered in solar panels and wind mills? Why aren't we all driving EV's by now? Isn't it obvious that we need these technologies to become sustainable?
All these questions made me realize something: new technology is definitely great and it is important to know how things work and why they work, so we can continue improving. But no matter how clever a (technological) innovation is, it doesn't really have an impact on anything until it finds its way through the complex maze of economics, rules and behaviors that our society consists of nowadays. This was a turning point in my decision making process when I chose my master.
In a world where everything needs to be cost-efficient there is also a social factor: people. People are habit-creatures. Most do not like change. Especially change that they do not know about. I think hardcore engineers often forget that social part. It is important to understand not just how technology works, but also how people react on this technology. What their opinion is, their expectations and their objections or fears. Trying to understand the social aspect and its influence on technology transitions is a difficult but important task for any engineer who will want to make a difference, whatever difference it is they want to make.