Today, a hot topic of debate deals with our planet and environment and whether or not us humans are really destroying our earth. On one side you have the people who believe it is all a myth, and on the other side you have the people who are extremely worried with where how bad our environment is becoming. As I began my research, I quickly found that a lot of negative things are happening at this very moment; for instance, on the sciencedaily.com environmental issues front page the first things that appear are, Alps Glaciers Disappearing Fast, Global Warming Disrupts Recovery of Coral Reefs, and Greening of Lakes: Green-house Gas Emissions. Now whether you believe that these things are a serious concern for our earth or not, new technological innovations are being made in order to reduce and even stop such things from causing harm to our environment.
Technology has greatly enhanced our lives by simplifying and improving our daily lives. Whether it is allowing us to connect with others across the globe, helping us battle the deadliest diseases, or even having self-driving cars, these all would not be achievable without the help of technology. Now, with the rise in controversy regarding our environment and the side effects and damages us humans are causing, engineers and scientists are creating new tech innovations to save our planet.
Now let’s look at three ways technologies are helping us save the environment.
1. Developing renewable energy technology
a. Efficient energy storage and smart grids
b. Renewable and rechargeable batteries and fuel cells’
Renewable energy technology is one of the most significant ways to help save the environment. “Due to the non-renewability of fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, and natural gas, researchers are coming up with new ways to generate energy with technology” (Joshi). Some examples of these new technology efficient energy solutions include fuel cells, lithium-air batteries, hydrogen energy storage, and thermal energy collectors.
In regards to smart grids, these assist in moving the generated electricity around to ensure that everyone on the network can access it. New ways that are being created to do such things are from distributed grids and energy networks that are on a flexible infrastructure and are have globally accepted standards. Sustainable electricity generation comes from creating electricity from renewable resources like the sun, wind, and tides.
2. Saving endangered wildlife
a. Smart collars for endangered species and reducing human-animal conflicts
b. Gene sequencing for detecting and researching on deadly animal diseases
Technology is now being widely used in saving wildlife. Some of the new innovations that have been made in order to help endangered wildlife include: smart collars with GPS, meters, and sensors, wildlife remote sound monitoring, SIM-based collars, gene sequencing techniques, conservation drones, and predictive analytics about every species to protect them.
3. Adopting a smarter lifestyle
a. Smart homes that promote energy saving and green-living
b. Electric cars that are three times more efficient than conventional vehicles
A key part in saving the environment must come from us humans and how we live our lives. Luckily today, innovations are around us that allow us to live a more sustainable and green life. For example, smart homes advocate green living and lesser waist through advanced sensors that help in saving energy in daily activities. Additionally, these homes employ systems for natural waste management with built-in recycling methods. Another tech innovation that is helping us save our planet is smart cars like the Tesla. These cars have been developed to reduce the conventional automobile pollution and save energy. Efficient cars are also proven to be three times as efficient as normal cars running on fuel.
Lastly, I want to touch base on a new break-through innovation that is could make a huge impact on our lives and the environment. The United Nations predicts that in less than a decade, 14% of all people on earth will not have access to sufficient water resources. With this being a huge issue, researchers have developed a way to make ocean water drinkable. Today, there is already a way to do such through industrial scale desalination plants, however, this technique is very pricey, produces greenhouse gases, and can harm life. The new way innovators have developed is through a sieve made out of graphene that can filter out salt using a lot less energy. With clean, safe, drinkable water being a rare resource for many people already, this new innovation could make a huge impact.
Questions:
1. How serious do you feel climate change and other environmental issues are?
2. Can you think of some simpler ways regular people can make a difference when it comes to protecting our earth?
3. Are you being proactive with the fight against environmental issues (recycling, living green, etc.)?
References:
https://www.allerin.com/blog/3-ways-technologies-are-helping-us-save-the-environment
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/11/tech/ecosolutions-5-ways-tech/index.html
https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/environmental_issues/
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