Technology and Sustainability

In today’s day and age with the rapid explosion of technology, sustainability has been a serious concern especially with the rapid growth in the population and the rapid shift to a more urban and well-developed environment. The rapid innovation in technology has made the ecosystem immensely fragile through the rise in the rates of production and consumption which has led to the depletion of the various natural resources available and most importantly an inevitable growth in CO2 emissions.

Although all this has a huge impact on the ecosystem, technology has also been able to provide a lot in terms of focusing on a more sustainable future. From accessible solar power to even the use of electric cars. One of the main negative impacts through the advancement of technology is that of resource depletion, recently companies have been focusing on a more sustainable future by
implementing new production methods and ensuring a reduction in the pollution and product waste. With the given situation of the pandemic, there has been a huge shift to a sustainable lifestyle for various individuals and technology has played an immense role in promoting that lifestyle. Some of the way’s technology has helped are as follows:

1. Internet of Things (IoT): IoT plays an important role in every individual’s life in today’s day and age and has helped in ensuring a more sustainable lifestyle by helping individuals cut down on their energy expenditure. It has also helped companies by not only keeping a track of
   their product lifecycle but also help improve it.
2. Energy Storage: Batteries have played a huge role not only in storage of energy but also providing a more efficient way of storing energy. Especially with the development of battery systems by various high-end companies such as Tesla’s Powerwall which provides a more efficient way of storing and using power in a much less wasteful manner.
3. Alternative Energy: There are various forms of alternative energy present in the market today. One of the most commonly used forms of alternative energy is the use of Solar Panels which is a very viable option for many households. Although they are not as efficient, they will help cut down the wastage of energy.
4. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Another huge technological advancement that has helped in promoting sustainability is that of CCS which allows companies to capture the carbon at the source, compress it and store it.
5. Electric Vehicles: One of the main sources of carbon emission comes from that of the greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles through the burning of fuel for these vehicles. Electric Vehicles have been able to completely cut off carbon emission through the use of
   energy storages mainly in the form of batteries

Sustainability has been a huge talking point especially amongst the millennials. Companies have finally started to realize the importance of following a more sustainable method of production for their various products and have implemented various strategies to do so. For example, Walmart, one of the biggest retail stores in the world, has adopted the use of various built in IoT sensors and shelf scanning robots to help save energy and much more. It can be seen that although technology has created a very fragile ecosystem, it has also helped in creating a sustainable future and now these advancements in technology which focuses on solving the various environmental
issues will soon outweigh the negative impacts caused.