67
UNIT 10
GREEN TECHNOLOGIES
A
Discussion Starters
Look at the six photos below. Describe them and fill in the suggested table:
Ecological Concerns of Presence
Ecological problem
Causes of the problem
Would-be aftermath
(for the planet and humanity)
A
B
C
D
E
F
68
B
Before You Read
How do you think scientists and technologists can improve the environmental situation
nowadays?
What are the issues of top-priority for them to consider?
C
Read the Article
The Negative and Positive Ecological Impacts of Technology
Nowadays no one will argue that in the result of longer working
hours and increased use of technology more and more energy is
being consumed. The impact that this is having on the
environment is substantial in both negative and positive ways. It
is hard to deny the benefits modern technology has produced in
industry and in everyday life, however, there are considerable
negative effects as well.
According to the International Energy Agency the figure of the world’s
energy consumption is
predicted to rise to incredible 40% by the time the year 2030 arrives. The major drain on the
world’s energy resources is not just information communications technologies. A number of the
occurring ecological and environmental problems are due to the rapid growth of new industrialized
countries such as South Korea and China. The emissions their factories produce are amongst some
of the highest in the world and contribute significantly to the amount of noxious gases that pollute
the air.
Industry aside, there are many other aspects technology has had a negative ecological impact on the
world. In the modern home, there are numerous high technology gadgets designed to make our lives
easier and more pleasant. The gases emitted by the combustion process to yield energy for
numerous devices can have a devastating influence on the ozone layer and contribute to what is
known as the “greenhouse effect”. Often referred
to as a thermal balance, this phenomenon adds
much warmth to air currents of the Gulf Stream, affects the climate on the Poles, leads to the Polar
icecaps melting at an alarming rate, causing a significant rise in the world’s oceans. This, as it is
well known, has a ripple effect around the planet experiencing devastating floods, typhoons and
violent storms.
Although it can be argued these changes in our weather systems have just as much to do with
Mother
Nature as technology, it is hard to ignore the correlation between the rise in technology
manufacturing and the increase in frequency of environmental disasters.
Despite the claims that technology is to blame for many of the world’s natural problems, high tech
has also served to improve the shape of our planet. Since its rise in the workplace, numerous ICT
companies have been designing “greener technology” to combat the detrimental influence that
computers and their accompanying equipment cause on the environment.
For instance, in the Green Grid community a number of efficient directions to improve the way
energy is consumed by IT oriented businesses are being devising. One of the biggest achievements
of the Green Grid is the
Power Usage Effectiveness or, PUE, the metric system which aims to
record data centre energy consumption every 15 minutes. By recording in these 15 minutes it helps
69
those monitoring the data to notice if there are any energy fluctuations and if the data centre
systems are using an adequate amount of energy. The long term goal of the Green Grid’s work
groups is to introduce a standard system that allows business managers and IT operatives to
compare the amount of the energy they are consuming and if necessary to resolve the ways to
reduce it.
Another aspect that is having beneficial impacts on the environment is low carbon technology.
Largely developed in China (e.g. the Chinese Dongtan City produces ‘0’ GHG emissions), this
issue aims to offset the amount of emissions polluting the air by using renewable fossil fuels which
are preferably used because of their high energy efficiency and extremely low emissions. For other
countries to develop effective low carbon technologies, they need to apply another approach to their
resources than Chinese do. This is because many of other economies possess
different environments
and various natural resources to hand. Other emerging countries can also diversify into new low
carbon options thanks to the advances in technologies such as bio-fuels, solar and wind power
which are no longer sci-fi but a fact.
One obvious way that technologies are assisting our environment is the reduction of the need for
paper. With the ever increasing use of online communication, paperless offices are now a common
occurrence worldwide. Shrinking the usage of paper in turn reduces
the demand for logging and
deforestation, allowing richer lands to yield a smaller footprint. The deployment of green
technologies such as PC power management systems and multi-function devices allows a business
that relies heavily on energy reducing technology.
An office can become more environmentally sound if it employs readily available energy reducing
technologies and incorporates them with, for example, such eco-friendly practice as turning off
excess lights. According to current statistics, putting energy management systems into practice can
save a company a huge amount in energy consumption. It is also worth mentioning the replacement
of laser printers
with multi-function devices, i.e. the incorporation of a printer, fax machine and
photocopier all in one system. This is not only space saving but also sparing of the electronic
hardware amount that is permanently on standby in an office.
As it currently stands, many of the world’s organizations have not
begun to actively look for
greener and more ecologically friendly methods for producing the energy they need, and they are
not thinking of the ways to enhance their carbon footprint, yet it is an issue that needs to be
addressed sooner rather than later.
(See more at:
https://www.iea.org/renewables2018/
;
https://www.inc.com/women-2/why-flexible-
working-hours-actually-makes-employees-more-productive.html
)
