Does the word %26quot;sustainability%26quot; mean anything? The assertion seems to be to point to the way something is done now and state %26quot;we can%26#039;t keep doing it this way forever.%26quot;

But, is anyone suggesting that we can? In the market, building a building or fueling a vehicle or a power plant a certain way is not a statement that that%26#039;s the %26quot;best%26quot; way in any moral sense or that it should always be done that way - - - it%26#039;s just a practical action. It just happens to be the most efficient use of the available resources at the time. Certainly in 1800 you could argue that %26quot;there%26#039;s only a century of whale blubber left%26quot; - and when whale blubber became scarce enough that it cost more to use it than to find alternatives, those alternatives were found. In this way the market finds alternatives but does not switch to them until we%26#039;ve maximized the utility of the old resources and methods.

Could anything be more sustainable than that?

Additional Details

2 months ago

Well, OK but so far we haven%26#039;t compromised future generations. What I think you%26#039;re missing is that when we cut down a tree to build a house, the next generation doesn%26#039;t just lose a tree, it gets a house. You%26#039;re missing the entire value created in the process.

Best Answer

Wikipedia says: Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely.

Hydropower maybe the most sustainable electric power generation available. Nothing is recycled more effciently than water is by the water cycle and is stored for and used at constant generation levels.

Windpower isn%26#039;t sustainable because you can not count on a certain level of wind generation, constantly.

These are not moral judgements only observations of sustainability or non-sustainability.

Neither way is a %26quot;should be done that way%26quot; statement, only statements of reliability.

Water generation (hydropower) is more reliable than wind generation.

Asker's Rating:

OK - but they seem to make a moral judgment. I think it%26#039;s wasteful not to use up the resources you%26#039;re using now before finding an alternative - sort of like ordering takeout when you have a fridge full of leftovers from the night before.

Other Answers (1)

• sustainability is generally defined as%26quot;to meet the needs without compromising the needs of the future generations%26quot;-in simple terms when you cut a single tree plant 3 more inorder to compensate for what you have taken.sustainability has become the word used in general everywhere today. it pertains more towards the exploitation of energy resourses like natural gas,coal,petrol which are non renewable resources of energy. once exploited, it would take another millions of years for the fossil fuels to be formed.so make efforts to reduce the energy used and in turn use the renewable energy resources like solar or wind to produce energy.
  our ancient people have responded well to this situation and we have lotsa older practices that are sustainable. for eg, india uses leaves as plates for meals ,building design was close to climatic condition without the need for air conditioning or heating, prevent glazing in countries where it would increase the thermal gain and cooling load.
  reduce,reuse and recycle materials for use.