The term "technology" refers to the application of knowledge for practical purposes.
The field of " green technology " encompasses an ever-evolving group of methods and materials, from power generation techniques to non-toxic cleaning products.
The current expectation is that this field will bring innovation and changes in daily life of similar magnitude to the explosion of "information technology" in the last two decades. In these early stages, it is impossible to predict what "green technology" may encompass (Calva, 2007).
Goals that inform progress in this fast-growing field include:
Sustainability: meeting the needs of society so that it can continue indefinitely into the future without damaging or depleting natural resources. In short, meeting current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Design «from cradle to cradle» and end the cycle «cradle to grave» of manufactured products, by creating products that can be completely recovered or
reused (Leff, 2002).
Source reduction / reduction of waste and pollution through changes in production and consumption patterns.
Innovation / Development of alternatives to technologies (be it fossil fuels or chemical intensive agriculture) that have been shown to harm health and the environment.
Viability: create a center of economic activity around technologies and products that benefit the environment, accelerating their implementation and creating new careers that truly protect the planet.
Examples of green technology areas
Energy
Perhaps the most pressing issue for green technology, this includes the development of alternative fuels, new means of generating energy, and energy efficiency.
Green building
Green building encompasses everything from the choice of building materials to where a building is located.
Environmentally preferred purchases
This government innovation involves the search for products whose contents and production methods have the least possible impact on the environment, and requires that these be the preferred products for government purchase.
Green chemistry
The invention, design and application of chemicals and processes to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.
Green Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of materials at the scale of the nanometer, one billionth of a meter. Some scientists believe that the domain of this subject is close and that it will transform the way everything in the world is manufactured. "Green Nanotechnology" is the application of green chemistry and green engineering principles to this field.
The world is facing increasing environmental threats that pose serious scientific, social and economic challenges to the human race. These challenges include: the depletion of natural resources, the loss of diversity and the need to develop new forms of power generation, while efficiently using existing energy sources.
Addressing these environmental problems and establishing a sustainable environment requires the adoption of appropriate policies and management strategies. Courses that provide a broad understanding of these environmental problems are required, while incorporating appropriate specialist, scientific, managerial and generic skills for a career in the environmental sustainability sector will also contribute to solving these problems.
How to use technology to make our planet more sustainable, not less
Investment is booming in clean and green technologies. But can they be implemented fast enough to meet today's challenges?
Controversial demographer Paul Ehrlich distilled the essence of his apocalyptic 1968 book, The population bomb, into a simple equation: impact (I) = population (P) x influx (A) x technology (T). Twenty years later, Ray Anderson, a sustainability pioneer and then CEO of Interface, posed the question: what if it were possible to shift T to the denominator, so that technology reduces, rather than increases, the impact on the environment and the society?
Anderson's challenge is the 21st century Apollo mission, a near-impossible project that, if accomplished, will inspire generations to come. The only difference is that achieving a sustainable technological revolution (let's call it Mission SusTech) is playing for much higher stakes than JF Kennedy's space race. Failure is an option and is called "overcoming and collapsing."
The good news is that Mission SusTech is on its way. This article is the first in a series that will highlight trends, advances, cases and lessons on the development and transfer of sustainable technologies around the world. But keep in mind that you won't be focusing on the latest miracle technologies, but rather on the challenges of sharing, implementing, and scaling existing sustainable technologies.
What are the trends?
Not only is technological innovation booming, it is rapidly shifting towards sustainable solutions. For example, many of the World Economic Forum's 10 most promising technologies have a clear environmental and social focus, such as energy-efficient water purification, improved nutrition to boost health at the molecular level, the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) Through nano-scale engineering, organic electronics and photovoltaics.
The 2012 Global Green R&D report found that private investments in clean technology and eco-friendly business and economic solutions reached $ 3.6tn for the period 2007-2012. This included more than US $ 2 trillion in renewable energy, US $ 700bn in green construction, US $ 241bn in green R&D, US $ 238bn in the smart grid and US $ 231bn in energy efficiency.
For specific clean energy technologies (including wind, solar, and biofuels) the market size was estimated at $ 248 billion in 2013 and is projected to grow to $ 398 billion in 2023, according to the Trend Trends report. clean energy in 2014. Biofuels remain the largest market ($ 98 billion), followed by solar power ($ 91 billion) and wind ($ 58 billion). In what Clean Edge hails as a turning point, in 2013 the world installed more photovoltaic solar power generation capacity (36.5 gigawatts) than wind power (35.5 GW).
This rapid growth is being fueled by significant investment in research and development and advances in sustainable technologies, as indicated by an increase in patent applications.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), more patents have been filed in the last five years than in the previous 30 through key climate change mitigation technologies, such as CCMT (biofuels, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and wind power). While the global average patent filing rate grew 6% between 2006 and 2011, these CCMTs have experienced a combined growth rate of 24% over the same period.
Contrary to what some may think, it cannot be automatically assumed that emerging markets are lagging behind in sustainable technological innovation. China and the Republic of Korea have filed the largest number of patents in recent years in the CCMT's four technology areas, while in solar PV, the top 20 technology owners are in Asia.
What does the future hold?
The wave of sustainable technological innovation is only construction (Pérez Bustamante, 2007). McKinsey research shows that improvements in the productivity of resources in energy, land, water and materials (based on a better deployment of current innovative technologies) could satisfy up to 30% of the total demand by 2030, with 70% to 85% countries. Capturing the full resource productivity opportunity could save $ 2.9bn in 2030.
We are living the birth of what David King, director of the Smith School of Business and Environment at the University of Oxford, calls "another renaissance" in the industrial revolution: "Human ingenuity is the answer," he says (King, 2012).
"We created the technological revolution of science and engineering on which all our well-being is based, that same acute intelligence can point to solutions to the challenges of the hangover and this requires nothing less than another rebirth."
Bibliography
Calva, JL (2007). Sustainability and environmental development. UNAM.
King, D. (2012). Economy. OUP Oxford.
Leff, E. (2002). Environmental knowledge: sustainability, rationality, complexity, power. XXI century.
Pérez Bustamante, L. (2007). The rights of sustainability: development, consumption and environment. Ediciones Colihue SRL.
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