Mines professor considers best practices for sustainable energy future

By Emily Halnon, Special to Mines Research Magazine

As the United States works toward a net-zero carbon future and invests in more alternative energy technologies, it makes sense that there is a need for technical expertise to help find and implement efficient engineering solutions. But what is often left out of this conversation is the equally important need for best practices that improve transparency, ethics and environmental sustainability across energy supply chains.

“Most engineering challenges, including energy projects, involve both people and technical issues simultaneously, but the technical issues are often the primary focus of the engineering process while the social factors get excluded,” said Mines Professor of Electrical Engineering Katie Johnson.

Johnson’s long-term research involves advancing wind energy control systems, but her work also incorporates sociotechnical thinking within engineering solutions. This considers the interplay between the technical and societal aspects of defining and solving engineering problems. Societal factors include environmental, ethical, economic, health, safety, political and cultural considerations—and when they’re left out of the conversation, there can be real consequences for people and the communities they live in, Johnson said.

“We design and operate energy systems for people, to help humans do many different things, but if we don’t consider how the project will impact different social factors, we’re not asking the right questions for long-term, sustainable results,” she said.

As an example, Johnson points tothe planning process for integrating wind turbines into a region’s energy source. Before the technology is implemented in a new space, planners and unaffiliated moderators should engage the local community on questions like: Does the community want wind power as an energy source, or do they prefer other energy systems, like solar power? Would other energy solutions, like better home insulation, be more effective for the area? Will the proposed energy solution have any harmful effects on the local population or surrounding environment? Does the community have the political agency and power to have a voice in the planning and implementation process? Will a new energy system introduce injustices to a region that disproportionately affects underrepresented communities? Who are the decision-makers in the process, and whose interests do they represent?

“If technical engineers don’t understand what communities actually want and need, then they’re not likely to deliver solutions that will work both today and in the future and serve everyone fairly,” said Johnson. “It’s important to open the door to solutions that are not predisposed.”

Part of Johnson’s research around sociotechnical thinking also centers on understanding and promoting macroethics in engineering. This concept addresses the field’s collective social responsibility of the engineering profession and asks how engineering practices are contributing to issues like climate change while considering how people can foster greater sustainability around solutions. For Johnson, this includes integrating macroethics and sociotechnical thinking into engineering education to encourage new engineers to think beyond the technical components of their work and consider how projects are shaped by and then affect people, communities and the environment. She believes an increased emphasis on sociotechnical decision-making in the field could be a game-changer for the long-terms uccess and efficacy of energy projects.

“Technical thinking alone can’t get us to where we need to be with complex problems like climate change,” said Johnson. “We need to work with people across many different areas of expertise to address the highly multidisciplinary problems facing the world today."