Within the context of energy, sustainability means
The harnessing of energy
sources:
• That
are not substantially depleted by continued use;
• The
use of which does not entail the emission of pollutants or other hazards to the
environment on a substantial scale; and
• The
use of which does not involve the perpetuation of substantial health hazards or
social injustices.
This is, of course, a very
broad ideal. Although a few energy sources can come close to fulfilling these
conditions, most fall considerably short of the optimum. This means that, in
practice, sustainability is a relative rather than an absolute concept. It is
not so much that some energy sources are sustainable and others not; it is more
that some energy sources, in certain contexts, are more sustainable than
others. Determining the relative sustainability of one energy system vis-à-vis
another is usually a complex process, involving detailed consideration of the
specific processes and technologies proposed, the context in which they are
being used and the differing values and interests of the various parties
involved.
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For example…
Suppose the government of
a country is proposing to construct a large hydro-electric power plant. The
villagers whose homes would be flooded by the associated reservoir would
probably take a different view of the plant's sustainability to that taken by
the city-based planners in the electricity utility proposing its construction,
whose homes would be unaffected and whose careers would probably stand to
benefit from such a major capital project
Kanose II Power Station, Japan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/contri/4631598136/in/photostream
Similarly...
The closure of coal mines and coal-fired power
stations is perhaps the inevitable result from the need to reduce carbon
emissions and the associated growth of more sustainable sources of energy.
However, pit closures, such as those witnessed in the UK during the 1980s, can
devastated entire communities, which are unsustainable without the pits.
Decommissioned Battersea Power Station (London) and the
closed Newstead Colliery (Notts)
(Left) Flickr under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License (CC BY-SA 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/aguichard/4629638365/
(Right) Geograph under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License (CC BY-SA 2.0)http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/666592