Green technology, commonly referred to as sustainable technology, considers both an item’s immediate and long-term effects on the environment. By definition, green products are those that protect the environment. A green product or technology consideration of a variety of factors, including recycling, energy efficiency, safety and health considerations, renewable resources, and more.
Types of Green Technology
The phrase “green technology” describes a broad class of environmental remediation methods. While reducing local environmental dangers is of utmost importance, global issues like climate change and carbon emissions are today among the most pressing. Some people work to protect endangered species or particular environments. Others search for more environmentally friendly solutions to protect finite natural resources.
Alternative Energy
Many companies are working to design alternative energy sources that do not contribute to atmospheric carbon to offer a viable substitute for fossil fuels. Solar and wind energy are currently some of the most economical energy sources for consumers, and American households can purchase solar panels. Tidal and geothermal energy are two possibilities that have not yet been widely used.
Sustainable Agriculture
Agriculture and livestock raising have a large negative influence on the environment due to the high costs of using land and water as well as the harm that pesticides, fertilizers, and animal waste do to the ecosystem. As a result, green technology has several uses in the agriculture industry. For instance, the use of organic farming methods, improvements in cattle feed, and meat substitutes can all help to lessen the harm caused by animal consumption and soil fatigue.
Recycling
Recycling aims to save finite resources by recycling materials or locating eco-friendly alternatives. The most popular recycling methods involve plastic, glass, paper, and metal debris, but more complex processes can be used to recover pricey raw materials from e-waste or auto parts.
Electric Vehicles
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that transportation-related activities contribute close to one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.4 To lower automobile emissions, many manufacturers are looking into switching to electrical power or designing more fuel-efficient engines.
Electric vehicles, however, require several improvements in other fields, such as charging infrastructure and high-capacity rechargeable batteries. The continuous usage of fossil fuels in numerous power networks places further restrictions on the benefits of electric vehicles.
Carbon Capture
A collection of experimental technologies known as carbon capture aims to absorb and store greenhouse gases either at the site of combustion or from the atmosphere. The fossil fuel business has actively pushed this technology, but it hasn’t yet lived up to expectations. In comparison to annual emissions, the greatest carbon capture system can only hold 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Read Nanotechnology: Promise and Peril.
Innovations of Green Technology
Carbon Capture and Storage
Carbon sequestration, which goes beyond human attempts to increase tree planting and lower carbon output, is one of the most inventive methods for removing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Future years will see the active removal of carbon emissions from the atmosphere using new technologies.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) asserts that the current carbon capture technology will fall short of providing the necessary 1.7 billion tons of activity.
Biomimicry
One way to achieve sustainability is to mimic plants and the environment, but this is still simply a pipe dream. Scientists are attempting to understand how animals and plants regenerate, just like they would heal a wound or close a pruning wound.
The Use of Nuclear Energy
Technology is being developed to make the most of nuclear materials to provide clean energy at scale, despite its potential to cause urban disruption. Nuclear energy is a candidate for broad green energy because current technicians can only use uranium supplies to about 1% of their maximum capability.
Green Architecture
Urban living is less sustainable than rural living because of the size of the built environment. Innovation is driving the creation of new structures that not only fulfill climate criteria but also have the capacity to generate energy, trap carbon, and aesthetically blend in with surrounding landscapes, especially as cities become more compact and buildings grow taller. Additionally, initiatives include planted walls and rooftops, which further reduce carbon emissions.
Molten Salt Energy Storage
To advance towards a future powered solely by renewable sources, the energy industry needs to find a way to store energy in other forms, such as heat. Salt has been found to have exceptional qualities for heat storage, making it an excellent platform for capturing and retaining energy.
Smart Meters
Smart meters installed in houses allow users to lower their energy consumption, which is an indirect approach to reducing overall housing emissions even though they don’t cut emissions. While businesses have extra energy available to supply to other buildings, people can save money on their household bills.
Artificial Photosynthesis
Speaking of copying plants, scientists, and engineers are collaborating to develop tools that can simulate photosynthesis. The methods involve combining sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce valuable energy, constituting a form of carbon capture that will lead to an increase in available resources.
Read Nanotechnology: Promise and Peril.
A Power Generator for Wastewater
Beyond simply recycling man-made products, the circular economy has further applications. A hybrid electricity generator created by Oregon State University employs reverse electrolysis and microbial fuel cells. The technology can power the treatment of water as it completes its full circle, in addition to the solution’s contribution to the generation of electricity for the mains grid.
Recycled Plastic Pavement
Coca-Cola launched its Pakistani road resurfacing project in 2021 as part of its promotion of a circular economy for waste materials. It has been acknowledged that using plastic-based road materials is a project that not only recycles plastic bottles but also fosters neighborhood development.
Examples of Green Technology
Vertical Farming
Vertical farming, a cutting-edge agricultural method, has the potential to solve the growing food crisis. It improves crop productivity while lowering or eliminating the demand for soil. Vertical farming may guarantee the continuous output of products and boost crop yields because of its controlled environment, which includes humidity, light, temperature, and artificial intelligence.
This green technology enables easy outfitting of structures, communities, and shipping containers. In addition to reducing transportation costs and emissions, vertical farming can produce food closer to where it will be consumed.
The biggest indoor farm in the world, which uses 95% less water than conventional outdoor farming, is now located in the desert of Abu Dhabi. Vertical farming is still rather young and unprofitable despite this. Due to the extremely high maintenance expenses associated with automation and irrigation systems, most farms are only able to grow leafy greens, salad leaves, and herbs.
Electric Cars
Currently, one of the most widely used applications of green technology is the electrification of transportation. As their name suggests, electric vehicles are cars that utilize electricity to move instead of fossil fuels to emit greenhouse gases in small amounts.
Lithium-ion batteries power electric vehicles, offering the tremendous advantages of rechargeability and a high energy density to propel cars across long distances.
It’s crucial to remember that these batteries require the extraction of raw materials, mostly lithium and cobalt, which consume a significant amount of energy and water. Additionally, the working conditions for mine laborers, who can be as young as seven, are frequently risky.
Plastic Roads
The use of plastic roadways is a green technique that has recently received more attention when it comes to trash. Plastic roads come into existence by utilizing either used plastic bottles, bags, and various other forms of plastic waste individually or in combination. These materials undergo a transformation process to create roadways that can readily support vehicular transportation. They first surfaced in India around 20 years ago.
Since then, India has constructed over 60,000 miles of plastic roads, and countries like Britain, the Netherlands, and Vietnam are increasingly embracing this eco-friendly technology. In the Dutch towns of Zwolle and Giethoorn, a start-up has constructed two 30-meter stretches of what it claims to be the world’s first recycled plastic bike path.
According to studies, plastic roads could outperform conventional ones in terms of performance. Additionally, they are more resilient and can withstand extreme water damage, temperature changes, and potholes.
Carbon Capture
Following the completion of the largest direct air capture facility in the world in Iceland in early September, carbon capture and storage technologies have lately gained attention. About 4,000 quantities of carbon dioxide are thought to be captured from the atmosphere annually by this particular plant, called Orca, which will then be stored underground and transformed into stone. Even though this eco-friendly technology has been around since the 1970s, most plants have only been using a portion of their potential.
Across the globe, 17 large-scale plants store more than 40 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, roughly equivalent to 1% of annual worldwide emissions; the majority of these plants have their headquarters in the US.
Start-ups like Out of the Blue have started investigating carbon capturing from the ocean using a carbon-binding sponge material that can absorb and release saturated CO2, even though carbon capture often suffers from a lack of scalability and affordability.
The UN-backed IPCC Report also gives carbon capture and storage its blessing. In its climate change reports from 2018 and 2021, it states that “all pathways to limit global warming to below a 1.5°C rise in median global temperatures forecast the use of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) of approximately 100-1000 gigatons of CO2 this century.”
Waste-Electricity Generator
Reusing garbage and wastewater to produce electricity can help reduce both the world’s trash problem and reliance on other non-renewable energy sources. The garbage can be simply burned, allowing the heat to create steam that will power an electric turbine and provide electricity as a result. However, there is a good likelihood that using this procedure will result in large emissions and very certainly harmful gases from the trash.
Another option is to boil wastewater sludge to produce clean water, and then burn the resulting biofuel to power turbines. Each ton of sludge generated by the method yields around 200 gallons of water, though further study is still required to determine whether the water can be recycled. The Santa Margarita Water District in south Orange County is still developing this green technology, but it intends to begin operations in March 2023.
The potential for converting garbage into electricity has yet to be fully realized. Engineers at Oregon State University have developed a hybrid power generator that converts wastewater into electricity by employing reverse electrodialysis and microbial fuel cells. This generator can both treat water and add to the primary power grid simultaneously, should it be able to scale up.
