As per recent United Nations (UN) reports, we have only 10 years to “prevent irreversible damage from climate change.”
Our mother planet had to pay a hefty price as humanity progresses through industrialization and modernization. Although rapid industrial growth supported economic growth, but it resulted into a significant environmental loss. Industrialization have caused widespread pollution including air pollution and water pollution. Broadly, any kind of pollution leads to loss of biodiversity and depletion of natural resources, causing social and health impacts. But, there is a good news, advanced technologies are coming up as saviour.
As May 11 is observed as Tecnology day, we will discuss about sustainable technologies to create a cleaner planet in future in this article.
Energy sector should be blamed for major global warming related issues. The 2019 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report mentioned that “energy sector alone is responsible for nearly 75% of global emissions.” This is causing rapid climate change, rising sea levels, and extreme climatic events like cyclone. The only way to prevent this is adopting green energy technologies. It can drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they don't emit carbon dioxide during operation.
Wind Energy: The power of the wind is converted into electricity through wind turbines. The Global Wind Energy Council reported that “in 2020, wind energy helped avoid over 1.1 billion tons of CO2 globally.”
Solar Energy: Using photovoltaic cells, Solar energy is converted into electricity. Due to its versatility and scalability, solar energy can be used in household activities to agriculture purposes.
Shifting towards green infrastructure is an economic move too balancing ecological preservation with economic growth. Some of the Indian green energy start-ups are Greenko, 75F, Ace Green Recycling, AirOk, Bambrew, and so on.
It's important to focus on using modern technologies to reduce agricultural wastes and efficient use of resources.
Precision Agriculture: Advanced technologies including Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and drones are supporting precision agriculture to reduce waste and enhance crop yields.
Vertical Farming: Globally, people are suffering from lack of space. Agriculture is generally conducted in horizontal space which is taking lot of areas with less productivity. Now, scientists are coming up with vertical stacked layers for farming activities. It reduces cost and emissions.
Aquaponics and Hydroponics: It's time to move on from traditional farming practices! Now, plants are cultivated in soil-less environments. This is highly effective in places with poor soil quality.
Some of the agri-tech start-ups are DeHaat, Absolute, Apna Godam, Aibono, and so on.
Be it plastic or landfills, waste materials contribute largely to pollution. Thus, recycling is a must in current scenario. Wastes including paper, wood, plastics, glass, metals should undergo strict recycling processes to protect the ecosystem. Currently, scientists are coming up with advanced recycling approaches like chemical recycling to break down complex materials, pyrolysis, and so on.
On the other hand, non-recyclable waste materials are converted into usable energy sources like electricity and heat. Advanced Waste-to-Energy (WTE) methods can support economy of any country largely.
Some of the famous start-ups in this sector are Banyan Nation Recycling, Ather Energy, Attero, ZunRoof, ION Energy, The Kabadiwala, and so on.
These advanced technologies are emerging as a game-changer. If implemented properly, these innovative tech solutions can pave the way for a greener and healthier planet.
