As an integral part of the development of their daily activities, man affects the environment, which are executed consciously or unconsciously, this is due to the constant and excessive growth of population density, lack of projection of the urban area, among Others, during the course of the years this affectation has increased due to the fact that society, the government and the industry had not paid adequate attention to it, today the fact that development should be considered is becoming stronger and stronger. sustainable for humanity itself.
Every year the number of effects on our planet and the species that inhabit it increases considerably, thousands of hectares of strong forests are reduced to arid lands that do not provide the world with clean air, nor do they have the possibility of harboring large crops that had fed certain sectors of the population for decades
The carbon dioxide emitted into the environment through the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels, derive in the so-called "global warming" that accelerates its rate through the "greenhouse effect", at the current rate, within a few years the world as we know it will leave If they exist, these effects will cause the reduction of the glacial layers at the poles, increasing sea levels, causing heavy flooding of coastal cities, affecting human activities and the economy of nations.
The ozone layer is also undergoing significant degradation, exposing us more and more to the serious effects of solar radiation.
Economic growth is based on the modernization and advancement of technology, carrying out increasingly industrialized and systematized processes, which often accelerates the excessive consumption of natural resources and emits a great diversity of pollutants.
In 1983 the CMMAD was founded, the purpose of which is to be able to direct the world so that it turns out to be more prosperous and secure, causing social awareness to increase considerably in recent decades, the governments of multiple nations are committed (in the majority of the cases) to find alternative sources of energy that significantly reduce the sources of pollution.
The concepts of green technology, sustainability and sustainable development are already part of the daily lexicon, forming a generation committed to the planet we all inhabit.
WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MEAN?
To properly identify the concept of sustainable development, we must mention that the United Nations, through the World Commission for Environment and Development (CMMAD), coined this concept, defining it as: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the capacities of future generations to satisfy their own needs ”. CMMAD (1992)
To carry out the sustainable development process more efficiently, mention is made of the implementation of three principles that are considered basic from the environmental point of view.
- Everything related to nature will be recycled, not accumulated. Naturally obtained resources that tend to be renewable, as well as the flow of solar energy are fundamental elements for the development of organisms. The environment considered as a biosphere tends to evolve along with all living things that inhabit it. Which will carry out new levels of organization to generate better functionality between them.
For the objective of sustainable development to be carried out in a timely manner, it is important for governments to join forces in the dissemination of adequate information, to create awareness among the population of its importance by integrating ecology topics into the grids of all the levels of education.
In the book "our common future" Brundtland expresses that for sustainable development to be achieved, five social objectives must be met, which are:
- Promote economic growth because poverty is considered the most significant source of environmental degradation Transform the concept of growth, adjusting it in a more equitable way, promulgating social justice and security Preservation of the biosphere, considering all the mantles aquifers, soil, forests, air quality, among others Promote controlled and sustainable population growth Reorient technology and adequately define risks Merge the interests of economic growth and care for the environment so that Decisions benefit both areas. Unify the interests of nations, to set the global ecological conservation as a preponderate factor.Create an area of cooperation and mutual aid between nations to achieve the sustainability objectives set.
Sustainability is divided into 3 contexts, economic, sociocultural and environmental.
SUSTAINABILITY FROM THE ECONOMIC POINT OF VIEW
All economic activity must demonstrate that it has ecological sustainability, which means that: When an organization begins activities, it must demonstrate that the destruction or impact on the environment derived from the activities it will carry out will be null, and if it exists, it can be repaired in Immediately, eliminating the use of polluting products that can lead to any type of contamination, have ecological proofs, which ensure the application of the previous norms, in order to demonstrate ecological commitment.
Each organization must formulate sustainability projects at the beginning of its operations, which must be followed strictly, in this project the prevention strategies that will be used, the benefits that the application of the same will entail and the most important to have a projection to apply green technology, achieving self-sustainability that is energy independence.
SUSTAINABILITY FROM THE SOCIO-CULTURAL POINT OF VIEW
When speaking of social sustainability we infer the equitable distribution of the benefits generated towards the general population, in present and future generations.
The sustainable development of a society depends on the economic and technological advance in order to satisfy its needs, the necessary investments must be made to carry out the adequate technological advances in different areas.
The objective is to increase productivity in technological and economic aspects without having an abuse in the consumption of natural resources that in the long run become unsustainable.
In other words, the quality of life of the individual must be exponential, ensuring that the population involved is increasing, maintaining at all times an adequate proportion between economic and environmental maintenance.
In 1996 the UN published a so-called blue book where it divided sustainable development into four levels: economic, social, environmental and institutional.
SUSTAINABILITY FROM THE ECOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW
It is the capacity that organizations will have to administer and manage the renewable resources that will be involved in the development of their activities, as well as a generalized study of the global environmental effects that could occur throughout the different processes.
HOW IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MEASURED?
The environmental impact or damage caused in a country has various limitations and variations with respect to a conventional financial system, so the UN (1998)
carried out a new accounting framework, implementing the concept of satellite accounts to calculate ecological indicators.
The objective of this system is to be able to carry out a costing of the depletion of the natural resources of each country to establish statistical data of the degradation and to establish to what extent the losses should be restored.
Environmental accounting is divided into three headings, natural resource accounting (in physical terms), national accounting (expressed in monetary terms) and social welfare
In Mexico, INEGI publishes the results of the national accounts regarding existing degradation, issues such as forest resources, contamination of aquifers, soil, air as well as erosion caused to the soil are enunciated, the data used are expressed in units physical as volume or dimensions, and subsequently thickened in monetary terms
In the above table it can be identified that in the period from 1994 to 2004 forest resources were decreased by 96 million cubic meters, with an annual decrease of 4%, oil reserves presented a decrease of 11,290 million barrels with an annual decrease of 4.22%, the overexploitation of water was 679 million cubic meters with an annual growth of 2.25%.
Air pollution was 5,035 thousand tons presenting an annual growth of 2.08%, solid pollution 4,053 thousand tons representing an annual growth of 2.32%, wastewater discharges increased by 1,626 million cubic meters, yielding an average rate of 1.56%, soil erosion was increased by 29,167 million tons increasing its growth rate by.83%
The sustainable development model is the most inclusive, trying to satisfy the long-term imperative needs, trying to increase the quality of life through the application of various technologies, the now called green technologies are of utmost importance for sustainability, these will be described below. concepts and the social benefit provided.
GREEN TECHNOLOGY
Today the population and the government are increasingly committed to environmental issues, so they seek to apply technological advances to different projects whose purpose is environmental.
Eco-development is the direct relationship between technological and environmental factors, taking into account variables of different types, encouraging innovation in production systems, it is imperative to emphasize that investments made in the development of green technology are in the long run completely profitable for companies. organizations involved.
It can be said that the primary objective of green technology is to significantly reduce the emission of pollutants into the environment, which can be achieved in different ways:
- Investment that reduces the emission of pollutants for the creation of energy. In this area, all sources of energy generation are classified differently from the use of fossil fuels (such as wind, solar, photovoltaic or hydraulic energy) as well as the use of other elements such as biofuel or ethanol (although the latter are severely questionable due to the carbon emissions they generate) Investment that reduces energy consumption: The objective of this stage is to reduce the amount of energy needed to carry out a process or an activity, thus increasing energy efficiency
MEXICO AND ITS GREEN TECHNOLOGY
Around the world the increase in renewable energy sources has been increasing significantly, in 2013 it increased to 22% of global energy production.
In Mexico, for example, in 2008, according to data provided by the international technology agency, 83% of the country's energy production was through the consumption of fossil fuels, placing generation through renewable resources in second place with 14% and nuclear generation in third with 2.98%
According to the climate change law published in June 2012 in the Official Gazette of the Federation, our country must reduce the emission of gases into the environment by 30% by 2020, and by 50% by 2050
To achieve its objective, it will be necessary to increase investment in wind farms, however, the geothermal resources that the country has due to its volcanic axes may represent 2.3% of the capacity in 2026.
The association of the European Photovoltaic Industry places Mexico as one of the three best countries to carry out this type of investment due to the existence of adequate surfaces for the facilities of these solar reception centers
TRANSFORMATION FROM BROWN TECHNOLOGIES TO GREEN TECHNOLOGIES
The objective of green technologies are: Minimize carbon emissions, prevent climate change, improve energy security and promote growth through increased competition.
The increase in the price of fossil fuels has also encouraged the growth of investment in renewable energies, as well as technological advances and the growing environmental awareness that is beginning to flood society
Green technology is increasingly consolidated worldwide, between 2004 and 2010 some countries such as North America increased investment in this type of power generation by 400%.
Today China is crowned as a world leader in the creation of photovoltaic modules and wind energy equipment.
The economic activity of a country sets the standard for the increase of green technology because the development of the industry requires a change in their structures, in addition to a greater demand in environmental regulation
GREEN TECHNOLOGY, THE BASIS OF CORPORATE DIFFERENTIATION
When an organization carries out and applies an eco-efficiency program, it will obtain different benefits for the company and for the environment itself, because the objective of eco-efficiency is to reduce the generation of waste, so it is presumed that there is a decrease in consumption. of raw materials and also of energy used in the process, which will derive from the reduction of production costs.
Michael Porter (1995) mentions that competitiveness and eco-efficiency are closely related, because by becoming a company with green technology, resources are used in a more efficient way, reducing costs and increasing the quality of the products they offer carrying the organization to be more competitive.
It states that the main benefits that eco-efficiency represents are:
- Reduce product manufacturing costs Improve production processes through the insertion of new technologies Eliminate sanctions or fines derived from contamination processes Form stronger ties with society Improve the image that customers and suppliers have regarding the company Increase competitiveness
A socially responsible company maintains special vigilance in compliance with the rules, because the corporate perception that the markets have of it can be directly linked to the amount of sales made, so when it is involved in a breach or natural disaster, the economic losses they represent may be much higher than the fine obtained, due to the loss of clients due to lack of social credibility.
In countries considered as first world or developed, the demand for the use of these technologies in their processes by the end consumer is increasingly strong, because the trend of product consumption is towards companies with use of this type of energy
THANKS
I want to thank God for allowing me one more day to live, my husband who undertakes this new adventure with me, always giving me his unconditional support, the Orizaba Technological Institute for giving me an excellent academic training at the undergraduate level and now opening my doors to the Postgraduate area, to the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) for helping me fulfill my dreams, to Dr. Fernando Aguirre and Hernández for opening my eyes to a world full of possibilities and vaguely explored paths.
Download the original file
