In December 2023, negotiators from nearly 200 Parties came together in Dubai to attend The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28). They were called to take action: triple their renewable energy capacity and double their energy efficiency by the end of the decade.
Eight donor governments committed to funding and supporting developing countries with clean energy transitions, implementing their national climate plans and adaptation efforts.
What will it take?
We cannot give you a simple answer here, but we can say that Greentech will play a pivotal role in the process.
Green technology is a blanket term that covers all new technologies built to facilitate initiatives like the ones agreed upon at COP28: gradually phase out fossil fuels, reduce CO2 emissions, and introduce innovative solutions to help ameliorate climate change. Greentech is expected to induce revolution across industries, create new job opportunities, and contribute to building a better world.
Greentech leverages science and technology to develop eco-friendly products and services. The movement is transforming the way we use energy, conserve water, reduce waste, and fight climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
Green technology has the potential to help us confront these challenges with remedies such as renewable energy, recycling, smarter waste management, more sustainable transportation systems, and others. The idea is to use Earth’s resources consciously and sustainably to restore the ecosystem.
Greentech invests in new, modern solutions, but also looks for ways to transform traditional practices. If we were to summarize key advantages, we’d say that green technologies allow us to:
While the three terms are often used interchangeably, there are some distinct differences:
A more recent report indicates that the non-residential sector is the frontrunner in the green technology market, holding over 65% of the market share. These applications span across agriculture, construction and manufacture, healthcare, education, transportation, and hospitality, all of which are increasingly investing in eco-friendly solutions.
Residential market share is influenced by individual preferences, the maturity of the tech, and financial considerations. While there’s a growing awareness among individuals, we are yet to see a shift toward widespread adoption of green technology in domestic settings.
So for now, let’s zoom in and see how it’s shaping key industries.
While Greentech is considered a “modern movement”, it actually dates back to the Great Depression. It started as a response to the weather events that had a detrimental impact on farming and has since evolved into a larger initiative to respond to the environmental crisis. Agricultural solutions available today aid in land and water conservation while increasing food production and improving soil health.
Farmers are utilizing IoT sensors to track weather conditions, monitor their crops and livestock, and automate irrigation, fertilization, and feeding processes, making them smarter and thus more sustainable.
Smart irrigation systems benefits, in particular, extend beyond agriculture. These help protect large bodies of water and marine resources, attempting to prevent detrimental events like coral reef bleaching.
Vertical farming also stands out as a fresh perspective on agriculture. By stacking crops in layers vertically rather than horizontally, we reduce the ecological footprint and produce higher yields with fewer water and land resources.
Sustainable transportation includes the development of new forms of transportation, such as electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and self-driving vehicles. These innovative solutions should minimize the side effects caused by the current transportation systems, including pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and traffic congestion. We also expect to see improvements in accessibility, mobility options, and reduced transportation costs.
The Greentech movement in the transportation industry is also evident in the efforts to optimize existing practices and enable the transition to more eco-friendly forms of transport. The cleaner future will be the one that includes far more biking trails and subsidies to integrate more sustainable transportation options.
Traditional waste management practices are proving deficient, no question there. An increasing number of companies are tackling this issue by developing clean tech solutions to… well, quite literally, ensure a cleaner future:
As a result, waste is diverted from landfills to preserve valuable land resources, reduce pollution, and improve public health outcomes.
Governments are increasingly offering incentives for sustainable construction practices and LEED certification and other green building certificates are slowly becoming commonplace. These incentives mitigate the environmental footprint of construction projects, with builders opting for green building materials and adopting Greentech to create sustainable structures.
Innovations such as advanced air filtration and ventilation systems are diminishing the presence of indoor toxins, fostering healthier indoor environments in residential and commercial spaces. We are also excited to see a wider implementation of energy conservation measures, water-saving practices, green roofs, and other design elements that, not only enhance building design and comfort but minimize the ecological impact of traditional construction processes.
Manufacturing facilities are optimizing their processes through automation and the adoption of renewable energy to power their machinery. As a result, they reduce energy consumption with the use of advanced motors, variable-speed drives, and energy-efficient lighting systems. Add renewable sources to the mix – solar, wind, or geothermal power – and see manufacturers reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.
But for the manufacturing industry to deliver on its sustainability promises, eco-friendly practices need to be applied across the entire supply chain. Companies should devise strategies to implement green technologies to optimize transportation routes, reduce packaging waste, source materials from sustainable suppliers, and incorporate remote asset tracking.
To understand the dynamic green technology landscape, we need to evaluate the factors that are fueling the development and those holding it back.
Consumers are becoming more mindful of ecological challenges, which motivates them to change their preferences, transform everyday activities, and browse for more eco-friendly solutions.
Challenge: We need greater emphasis on educating consumers who are still unaware of the scale of the environmental issues. The most recent statistics indicate that 69% of global adults are concerned about climate change; this leaves around 30% of people worldwide either unaware of it or indifferent. To make matters worse, there are currently less than 50% of total global respondents who are willing to change their behavior to combat climate change.
Tax credits and renewable energy mandates are key for adapting and nurturing investment in green technology. These policies incite innovation and make Greentech more accessible.
North America is considered the center of Greentech innovation, due to significant government support, high investment capital, and technological expertise, as well as increased market demand for more sustainable options.
Europe holds a strong second place, with the European Union, in particular, setting targets for renewable energy usage, energy efficiency improvements, and carbon emissions reduction, providing a supportive regulatory framework for green technology innovation and adoption.
Challenge: Not all countries and regions have the resources to offer any valuable incentives. Some developing countries have begun to recognize the importance of Greentech and have implemented policies to support its adoption. However, limited financial resources, inadequate infrastructure, and competing developmental priorities often hinder progress. In these contexts, international aid, technology transfer agreements, and capacity-building initiatives are essential for promoting Greentech adoption and sustainable development.
We are only going to see the real difference once the big players join the game. Their role in the green revolution is critical due to their significant influence on global supply chains, resource consumption, and environmental impact. By embracing Greentech, corporations can reduce their carbon footprint and enhance their brand reputation, meet regulatory requirements, and achieve long-term cost savings.
Challenge: Some are still resisting the change due to the familiarity with existing systems and don’t see the reason for it since “what we’re doing now works perfectly fine”. While the incentives might seem clear, companies are hesitant about making the initial investment when the ROI formula cannot give them a 100% accurate estimate of the returns.
With eco-friendly solutions becoming more sophisticated and implementation easier, the costs of Greentech are reduced. This will contribute to wider use and applications of sustainable materials, energy-efficient appliances, and equipment.
Challenge: One obstacle lies in the initial investment required for initiatives such as solar panel installation, renewable energy grids, or electric car chargers. And again, people are uncertain about real (financial) returns, and we’re still searching for more efficient and affordable energy storage solutions.
As we’re slowly approaching the end of our review on technologies that help us build a better tomorrow, we’ll dare to say it: the future is green, but we are not there just yet.
At the moment, the biggest investment and focus is on the capture and storage of carbon and hydrogen fuel, upcycling, use of renewable sources, and reducing plastic usage. The ultimate goal is to slowly transition from minimizing and preventing damage to building solutions that will heal and regenerate our planet; solutions that will go beyond achieving net-zero emissions; that will be carbon-negative and facilitate rejuvenation.
This is not an easy transition. These ambitions are shaped by (and they help shape) the technological landscape. So what technologies are we using to make the world a greener place?
IoT is the main tech driving the green movement, holding nearly 40% of the market share. It enables real-time monitoring and control of environmental parameters, energy consumption, and resource utilization.
Green IoT involves the integration of IoT sensors and devices with resource management systems. These solutions are capable of analyzing and identifying patterns to forecast resource demand and gradually reduce waste and our dependence on fossil fuels. Green IoT also helps increase the efficiency of production processes by combining its powers with AI, Big Data, and Robotics.
IoT has already been implemented across industries and is making an impact on the environment and economy:
In 2020, Accenture released staggering statistics demonstrating how the migration to the public cloud can help reduce CO2 emissions by nearly 60 million tons a year. By their calculation, it would be as if we removed about 22 million cars off the road.
They were not the first to emphasize the benefits. In 2018, Microsoft published a study that showed their cloud was over 90% more energy efficient and as much as 98% more carbon efficient than the on-premise counterpart.
And the fact is – data centers require a lot of power to provide the services, in turn exhibiting high levels of CO2. This is where the cloud comes in as a scalable, cost and energy-efficient alternative built to facilitate the integration and management of green data and applications.
To offer proof of just how clean the cloud is, Google developed a new metric, carbon-free energy (CFE) which shows the percentage of carbon-free and fossil-fuel energy used to power their data centers. Their goal is to completely decarbonize their data center electricity supply by 2030.
Some are reaping the benefits of edge computing to store data locally and improve efficiencies, heighten security, reduce costs and latency, and ensure continuous operation even during power outages. Smaller, individual companies, leverage cloud computing to avoid wasting excess energy on running their own data center and are opting for dependable cloud providers.
But don’t jump into the migration process without a proper strategy: the implementation of cloud-based solutions requires some serious planning. To set up (even a part of) your processes in the cloud, organizations need to think about server virtualization, network optimization, automation, regular optimization, and performance tuning, and not everyone has the resources.
AI and data power the cloud, IoT, and other green technologies intended to enhance and enrich the world with new, futuristic solutions. This allows us to upgrade our existing processes and come up with more advanced solutions to drive greater energy efficiency, resource allocation, and sustainability.
The different artificial intelligence is making is evident in all walks of life:
Blockchain and cybersecurity contribute to higher transparency and security of green initiatives. While these technologies exhibit relatively small market shares compared to other techs on this list, we are excited to see how a further advancement of these solutions will contribute to the environmental revolution.
Green technology is no longer just a concept; it's a tangible reality shaping our world for the better. Keep a watchful eye on our blog, as our next article will cover the innovative work of Greentech companies turning sustainability into action.
Featured Photo by Lukas Rodriguez
