What Is Green Technology?

When you think about technology, do you ask the question, what is green technology? Do you think about the impact it has made on the environment? Has the climate been adversely impacted, or can technology be eco friendly? Green technology is any technology that does not injure or impact the Earth's environment through the process of supply, manufacturing, use and disposal. Electric cars, solar panels and LED light bulbs are a few examples of current green technology, but are they really eco frie

ndly? Let's explore the ways technology has affected the environment, including the good, the bad and the ugly. First, let's find out more about green tech and what it means to be eco friendly. What is green tech? The simplest definition of technology is using knowledge to solve problems, according to the basic explanation. Technology has existed since early man started using tools millions of years ago. Green technology describes something that's purpose is not to cause harm to the environment,

but to repair and help it. The term green tech or eco friendly technology refers explicitly to technology designed for protecting the environment. Or repairing existing damage. Green technology became popular only a few decades ago. However, simple technology that does not cause environmental damage has existed for thousands of years. What has to be discussed today is that there is not much humans do that does not affect our Earth's environment in reality. Eco friendly technology. Technology ca

n be eco friendly as in the 1990s, it became known as green tech or green technology. Although some types of technology are not harmful, other types can be detrimental to the environment and we can do better. Some of the original forms of what we used to consider environmentally friendly technology included firewood, water, power, animal power and wind. For much of human history, firewood, heated domiciles, water ran grain mills, animals plowed farm fields, and the wind filled ship sails today.

When people hear the word technology, they usually think of computers and other electronic devices, not plows or grain mills. But there is plenty of technology considered to be eco friendly. The most important part of green technology the most important part of green technology, in our opinion, is that we support its creation and use. Even with the good and the bad we will explore in this video. We believe it is necessary and you have to start somewhere. What is starting somewhere? Starting in t

he first place? Yes. The current state of much of green technology is based on profit motives and is still detrimental to the environment with mining, fossil fuel use, chemicals, plastics and human suffering, just to name a few. But how do you get to the good stuff if you don't start at the beginning and work out the problems along the way? We have to work through the technical and biological issues with green technology, just like when the Wright brothers learned to fly. Implementing green tech

nology. Green technology can be complex. Renewable energy, energy conservation, alternative power sources, air and water purification, recycling and using plant based packaging are just a few examples of green technology and advances in those areas. Green technology can be complex, like a hybrid or electric car or a self-sufficient building, which allows it to operate without external sources. It produces energy from solar panels for electricity and heat. It takes major scientific study and inve

stment to create green technology. And if you are going to save the planet, you have to start somewhere. Obviously, we are talking about trial and error until we begin to get it right, and hopefully those two places will intersect before it is too late. Green technology can also be simple. Green technology can also be simple like planting trees, window size and placement in buildings. Keep energy conservation in mind so heat isn't lost during cold months. Water should also be collected and filte

red and gray water filtered through permaculture. Another example is a vertical garden, also called vertical farming, using vertical placement allows plants to be grown in places with insufficient space or suitable soil. There is a longer, natural growing season by creating them inside a green house or large building. Vertical gardens often require less water than traditional farming and are lush and attractive as well. Food green technologies. Some of the most promising green technologies that

do not adversely affect the environment in their institution and production are conserving water, water purification, wetlands, reclamation for water purification, biodegradable water filters, reduce energy consumption, use energy more efficiently, reduce reuse. Recycle elimination of single use plastic and plastic bags. Net zero waste in sustainable building design. Passive Solar Building Design. Passive Heating and cooling building design. A.I. and Green Technology. Can Artificial Intelligence

Help US repair and sustain the Earth's environment? The list is endless, and artificial intelligence has amazing potential to help engineering, design, modeling and monitoring of future green technologies. Machine learning algorithms and predictive capabilities coupled with renewable energy, energy monitoring and control monitoring and predictive analysis in extreme weather conditions and prescriptive data in future AI. Smart buildings, for example, will only fuel accelerating technology and in

novation. The environmental applications and implications of AI with decarbonization in global transport and supply chain. CO2 Removal. Modernizing the world's recycling infrastructure. Economic and Natural Microbiology. Innovation in products. Services farming and digital technologies to increase efficiency and monitoring capabilities. The effect of green technology on the environment. Even though green technology exists and companies are working to develop more and more of it. Not all technolo

gy has a positive or a net neutral effect on the environment. Some of it can be and has been harmful Let's now talk about the harmful effects of green technology on the environment. Types of green technology not so green. Some today would say that much of the green technology that we have invented and are using and calling eco friendly is not green at all. This observation is because solar panels, electric cars and wind turbines require many materials used in their manufacturing that are not eco

friendly. Many green technologies require rare earth minerals that are unsustainable and are open pit mine from the earth. They may require other chemical cocktails of ingredients and generate pollution and destruction through their production. There is also air and water pollution and habitat destruction from these green technologies. Large amounts of land required for solar and wind farms take up habitat and wind turbines are killing endangered species at alarming rates. Our projections leave

little doubt that the annual toll in birds loss to U.S. wind turbines is at least more than half a million. And a similarly conservative estimate would put that number at nearly 700,000 birds. There is a case to be made that the number could exceed 1 million. The dark side of solar panels. There is a laundry list of environmental issues with the manufacturing of solar photovoltaic panels, and it has a dark side. For instance, solar panels are usually made from silicon, metal and glass. Many sta

ndard solar panels are made from silica, which is a derivative of quartz in his mind, then processed in coal fired power plants. And made into metallurgical grade silicon through extensive refinement in chemical processes. In addition, mining silicon, starting with the possibility of acquiring the lung disease, silicosis for the miners or the probability of the now four top producing polysilicon manufacturers in the world will be from China by 2022 and concerned that forced labor use where the m

ajority of polysilicon is produced. Only about 10% of solar panels are recycled in the U.S. annually. Wind turbines and solar panels last roughly 25 to 30 years and waste disposal will become a huge problem of e-waste by 2050 industrial revolution since the late 1700s and the start of the industrial revolution technology has been blamed for damaging the environment. The increase in factories, vehicles and mass agriculture created a higher demand for materials causing a domino like negative effec

t on the environment. The need for more materials meant the consumption rate of natural resources like steel, lumber and coal increased significantly, coupled with virtually no government oversight. Water and air pollution became a considerable problem. Air pollution causes health issues for humans and animals, and it is to blame for global warming. The polluting of water causes diseases like cholera and typhoid and negatively impacts our food chain. Ongoing Impact. After the Industrial Revoluti

on ended, the depletion of natural resources, including metals, oil and minerals, continued technological advancement made it easier to dig deeper and go farther to gain access to resources unavailable before over population and the continual world population increase require more land for housing and farming use. Finding more room to house more people required removing trees always faster than planting new ones. This also led to the deforestation of much of the planet for fossil fuel agricultur

e accelerated by technological advancement in machinery. More recently, the disposal of older, outdated electronic devices has become a problem as the world embraced more digital products more and more and wanted computers, monitors, televisions, cell phones and other electronics were winding up in landfills. Discarded electronics, discarded electronics called waste sit in landfills, and the metals and toxic chemicals leach into the soil and seep into the water, wreaking havoc on the environment

. Instead of the dump, these devices could be reused or recycled. There are estimates that 80 to 85% of discarded electronics are not recycled. The ten to 15% sent to recyclers does not consistently achieve pollution mitigation. It can be expensive to retrieve any reusable materials from e-waste. The process involves dealing with toxic chemicals, which workers without protection breathe in or absorb through their skin. Most of this work gets shipped to other countries where the labor is cheap, a

nd there are no laws to protect the environment or workers. Environmental Protection Agency created in 1970 the United States Environmental Protection Agency monitors the environment's condition. They also set and enforce air and water quality standards. Changes the EPA implemented made significant improvements to heavily polluted areas. The energy star program created by the EPA and the Department of Energy evaluates and rates the energy efficiency of electronics, appliances, commercial equipme

nt and other products. This label allows consumers to determine the most cost effective products to purchase. According to the EPA, a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from electricity and heat production. The emissions are created by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and produce heat. Electronic technology produces heat and usually requires electricity. Most machinery uses electricity or burns fossil fuels. So you could say that technology is responsible for a good p

ortion of greenhouse gas emissions. The future of green technology. The current trend indicates technology will continue to become more environmentally friendly. Consumers are becoming more aware of their decisions that could negatively affect the planet, and eco friendly items are becoming more affordable. U.S. Army, one of the biggest polluters and destroyers of the environment, is the U.S. military. But they are working on some solutions DARPA is working on ways to extract potable water from

the atmosphere. The Army Research Lab in Darby are also addressing hydration. One of the lab's research methods is to decontaminate polluted water using panels that concentrate solar energy for purification. The U.S. military often helps launch humanitarian relief after a disaster is now focusing on lightweight equipment that can be powered by renewable energy rather than fuels that need to be imported. This equipment is better for responding to natural disasters like wildfires and floods. Many

U.S. armed forces organizations are continuously looking for new ways to make technology more eco friendly. The U.S. Army has also developed biodegradable bullets to reduce the toxic metals that leach into the soil, harming plants, wildlife and eventually humans. Corporations to battle global warming. Some corporations are motivated to use technology to battle global warming. Google, for example, is investing heavily in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar farms. Their goal is to use

100% carbon free energy by 2030. Investing in renewable energy and green technology ultimately reduces the overall cost, making it more affordable for everyone. It also reduces the price Google pays to power its worldwide operations, which are heavily dependent on energy for their server facilities. Dell Corporation is tackling less environmentally friendly packaging currently in use. Instead, of using Styrofoam and polyethylene in their packaging. They are developing package cushioning made fro

m mushrooms. Environmental Activism. When environmental activists discover a corporation is doing something that may contribute to global warming, they publicly call them out. In 20, 20, Amazon, Google and Microsoft sold artificial intelligence technology to oil and gas companies to help extract fossil fuels. When the information was made public, Google agreed to stop. When the average person cares about the legacy, they are leaving their children and grandchildren. It starts to make sense that

only you can make a change. You make your feelings known by environmental activism with your wallet. If you don't pay for it, they won't make it. And the profit motive is what is behind the degradation of the planet. So as we research and purchase green technology products that make a difference, corporations and industries will focus more on those areas. Peak oil replaced with big green energy and overpopulation. In the documentary movie Planet at the Humans for the first time refreshingly show

s that the green technology and green energy consortiums are not just the political left or right, but profit based. It doesn't matter what side you are on as long as it makes money. Unfortunately, and fortunately, big oil is metamorphosis into big green energy. Nothing in this world gets done without financing and a consumer. So let's not be naive. The documentary movie also shows how some of the major environmental groups are supporting destroying forests for biomass energy, among other unsust

ainable practices. Since when is burning wood in power plants on a massive scale good for the environment? The real elephant in the room is overpopulation, and we need to deal with population growth. You cannot forever have economic or population growth on a finite planet. Not a happy ending to the movie with a solution. So it was not fun to watch, but we sent it to our children and families to view because we think it is important. Final thoughts. Since humans started using fossil fuels to powe

r technology environmental damage has been a problem. It took over 100 years before people decided to clean up the pollution inflicted on the environment and create laws and policies to prevent it from happening. In the future. However, green technology is being developed and utilized at a growing rate. Corporations, individuals and governments have made pledges to continue moving toward eco friendly technology. Continued progress in the development of green technology depends on the continued a

nd increased support of individuals, businesses and the government. Thanks for watching. See you next time.