Sustainable development dilemmas and ethics of biofuels research and production in South Africa .
Date
2014-09-09
Authors
Ngubevana, Lwazi Bonginkosi.
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
The concept of sustainable development is said to have faced challenges right
from its inception, both in interpretation and practical application. These
challenges vary from political to administrative barriers in the move towards
ecologically and socially acceptable development strategies which seem to
threaten profitability, employment and power. The incomplete understanding and
perception of the problems of poverty and environmental degradation also adds to
this confusion.
The threat of global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions and the evergrowing
energy needs of the world, has forced the world into thinking differently
about our sources of energy and sustainable development, giving rise to the
relatively new field of biofuels. Research and the introduction of new technologies
by their very nature, look to bring about positive changes in society. It is almost
inevitable however, that these positive changes bring about with them unintended,
unexpected, unforeseen, unforeseeable and often unaddressed negative
consequences. It often becomes the role of research ethics protocols to militate
against these negative consequences. It is in this context that it was important to
establish the levels of awareness among South African researchers and
producers of biofuels, to the sustainable development dilemmas brought about by
their work.
This research focused on establishing the levels of awareness of the dominant
sustainable development issues and ethical conflicts that arise from biofuels
production and research and whether this translated into how companies
communicate the benefits of their products. The aim was also to establish the role
that research ethics protocols play in mitigating the negative consequences that
may be brought about by work done in this field. The research was carried out on
three South African businesses, Matayo Biofuels, Khepri Energy and the Council
for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Data was generated from interviews
with relevant people in the companies and collaborating data was collected from
company publications.
Once completed, this report concluded that researchers were indeed acutely
aware of the dilemmas that face their industry and that research ethics protocols
were seen to play a big role, albeit that most of the researchers were not aware of
their existence in their industry. In both the research and the literature review, it
was found that the biggest dilemma that the biofuels industry faces is the conflict
of producing food versus producing fuel, coupled with concerns over land tenure
of vulnerable societies. Other critical issues that came out of the research were
protecting the environment and sustainability of the biofuels industry, the lack of
communication and communication platforms within the industry, the necessity of
setting up industry-specific ethics protocols, the need for researchers to take
personal responsibility for the applications of their work and the role that
government policy can play in addressing the dilemmas facing this sector. All of
these factors were in agreement with what was discussed in literature.
Description
MBA 2014
Keywords
Energy development -- Environmental aspects, Biomass energy industries, Sustainable development.