Technology has been defined in various ways. The simplest is the knowledge of the use of tools and techniques to improve working conditions, organizational management and artistic perspective to improve the efficiency of product, machine or human efforts. Primitive man is known for his clever use of stone for weapons and shelters. The use of animal skins and tree bark to cover the body was a step towards weaving technology. Knowledge of fire control technology radically changed man’s status by learning to add new items to his food menu and warming himself in cold weather. The wheel has brought us to the current state of global transportation Launching leg bones into space after a space odyssey inspired by a good, hearty meal. The spearhead of information technology spearheaded by the Internet originates from smoke signals and more recently from printing presses. We now have industrial, educational, computer, medical, visual, micro, nano, and home technology, to name a few.
Technology is not uniquely applied by human beings to further their objectives. Animals and birds have also excelled in creating technological marvels comparable to, and sometimes better than, us. The nest of weaver birds, the signals of dolphins, the breaking of coconut shells by monkeys, the domestic technology of ants, the technology of descending a steep slope by elephants, migration of birds to places akin to their needs and requirements, waiting for the air to turn warm before flying kites and other large birds and dropping stone paddles to raise the water level in a narrow-necked pitcher by the crows are some to refresh your memory. Look up at the sky at night. You’ll find ducks flying in an inverted V formation, giving others the advantage of powerline and vacuum motion.
There is a difference in how the primates of yore behaved, how the animals and birds around us make use of technology, and how we are using it. The difference is big. Their efforts were and always are to improve their living conditions compatible with the environment. Our efforts diversify in many ways. Some are good, some are bad, and some are ugly. Lately, with the onset of the industrial revolution, we have further added to the burden of polluting the environment or developed weapons of mass destruction. Technology that used to improve the efficiency of machines has turned its attention to human efficiency. We call it productivity. We intend to exploit it as subcontracting. Green technology had no choice but to introduce it and take over the entire state of affairs created by the human species.
Green technology aims for a proper, equitable and sustainable environment by intertwining all known technologies and human participation with environmental science to conserve and improve the environment and return it to the quality available some 300 years ago. Green technology could be termed as a refinement in available technology insofar as it helps to control pollution of all kinds in a way that is ecologically and economically friendly.
Green technologies are classified by their carbon footprint. A competitive and successful green technology has a low set of greenhouse gas emissions from people, products, processes, events or organizations. There are two ways to achieve the goal. The first, which can be called green acts, is to recycle waste, reuse it through reconditioning and other alternatives, reduce resource consumption, and conserve available natural resources. The second, which is creating green conditions, is to develop technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thus reducing the carbon footprint. These measures have a proven effect in reducing global warming.
The first category of green technology is to encourage and redefine conventional ways of keeping carbon footprints low. These are recycling and its extension to water and air purification, solid waste treatment, including wastewater treatment.
Recycling defines the environment by conservation at its finest. Used materials usually thrown away as waste are recycled into new products. Composting is an old concept of recycling green waste into manure. Recycling of plastic waste into new plastic products is more prevalent now. Recycling reduces the consumption of fresh raw materials by using intermediate products and waste. Reduces the waste of energy that is required to convert fresh raw material into final products. Reduces air pollution, as waste is now recycled instead of incinerated. Reduces water pollution as there are fewer landfills, which reduces leachate reaching water bodies.
Wastewater is purified by chemical, mechanical, and biological processes to convert it into drinking water and other uses. The air is purified both in industries and in places of human habitation in closed spaces. Industrial air pollutants like sulfur oxides give back sulfuric acid, particles like ash from fires turning into cement and bricks. Solid waste generation from human habitat is segregated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Biodegradable waste is turned into manure and biofuel. Non-biodegradable waste is separated into metal, glass, plastic, etc. The first three are used as intermediate raw materials and are recycled in the production pipeline to obtain useful products. Hazardous waste materials are properly treated until they become non-hazardous and then most of these are also recycled. Wastewater treatment has acquired state-of-the-art technology. It is treated so that it is free of parasites, bacteria, fungi, algae and viruses. The treated solid waste is used as manure and the treated wastewater is used for irrigation or undergoes further treatment to make it suitable for domestic use.
Green technology that creates and maintains a green condition has focused attention primarily on renewable energy resources. Renewable energies such as solar, wind, tidal, nuclear and geothermal have been identified as having minimal greenhouse gas emissions and have tremendous potential to replace conventional energy providers such as fossil fuels and oil . The latter are non-renewable energy resources that are the main pollutants and the main reasons for greenhouse gas emissions.
Green products are a category by themselves, as they have the property of reducing greenhouse gases and replacing highly polluting non-renewable energy resources. Fuel cells are an example. Removes air pollution from cars and replaces hydrocarbon fuel. Plastic cement made from waste plastic bottles is another example. This product consumes less energy for its preparation than conventional cement made from iron slag, lime and sand. Also, this plastic cement has more permeability and therefore can breathe better. Rainwater can seep through surfaces prepared from it and thus enrich the water table below.
These days, the market is being flooded with toxic plastic toys that are very harmful to delicate and cuddly little children. These are being replaced by toys made from recycled plastic bottles. The latest innovation in this segment is fabric made from material from used plastic bottles. The clothing material for Cricket India members is made from this fabric.
Green technology is also rapidly catching up with the computer software segment. Now there is software that will alert you to wasted electricity while you are at home or halfway around the world.
There has been a lame excuse that switching to green technology requires too much research and development and the cost of implementation is too high. It may be appropriate for some of those endeavors, such as technology for the use of geothermal energy. It is also argued that it takes a long time to break even. Here, people don’t compare that logic to the technologies that are in use and then get reviewed as green technology. An example is the steam engine which saw the transition to the diesel engine and now almost superseded by electric motors and in the near future with electromagnetic induction forces and magnetic forces. A time loop would show that the invention and start-up of the coal-powered steam engine took a much longer time to mature than the electric motor or future versions. All those transformations are too pro-profit. Balance time has also been quite low.
You can expect wonders in the future with the advent of nanotechnology. Imagine a chip grafted into your brain to replace computers, which are one of the main consumers of electrical energy and generate a large amount of electronic waste. You should start dreaming of recharging your spacecraft with universally available solar power instead of expensive, highly polluting, heavy cryogenic fuel. You can have the pleasure of traveling in flying objects identified several light years away from the universe.
Green technology is marching towards a future that has a future.