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Green Technology - What is it ? |
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The term “technology” refers to the application
of knowledge for practical purposes.
The field of “green technology” encompasses a
continuously evolving group of methods and materials, from
techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products.
The present expectation is that this field will bring innovation
and changes in daily life of similar magnitude to the “information
technology” explosion over the last two decades.
Basically, green technology is that in which the technology
is environmentally friendly and is created and used in a way
that conserves natural resources and the environment.
You may hear green technology being referred to as environmental
technology and clean technology.
Green technology is a field of new, innovative ways to make
changes in daily life. Currently, this Clean Technology is
in the beginning stages of its development, so the future
will only bring bigger and better things for this field.
Why
is Green Technology Important?
Green technology is the future of this society. Its main
goal is to find ways to produce technology in ways that do
not damage or deplete the Earth's natural resources.
In addition to not depleting natural resources, green technology
is meant as an alternative source of technology that reduces
fossil fuels and demonstrates less damage to human, animal,
and plant health, as well as damage to the world, in general.
Next, green technology is so that products can be re- used
and recycled.
The use of green technology (clean technology) is supposed
to reduce the amount of waste and pollution that is created
during production and consumption.
In these early stages, it is impossible to predict what “green
technology” may eventually encompass.
Environmental technology is the application of environmental
science to conserve the natural environment and resources,
and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement. Sustainable
development is the core of environmental technologies. When
applying sustainable development as a solution for environmental
issues, the solutions need to be socially equitable, economically
viable, and environmentally sound. .
Green
Technology- Goals
The goals that inform developments in this rapidly growing
field include:
Sustainability - meeting the needs of society in ways
that can continue indefinitely into the future without damaging
or depleting natural resources. In short, meeting present needs
without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
“Cradle to cradle” design - ending the
“cradle to grave” cycle of manufactured products,
by creating products that can be fully reclaimed
or re-used.
Source reduction - reducing waste and pollution by
changing patterns of production and consumption.
Innovation - developing alternatives to technologies
- whether fossil fuel or chemical intensive agriculture -
that have been demonstrated to damage health and the environment.
Viability - creating a center of economic activity
around technologies and products that benefit the environment,
speeding their implementation and creating new careers that
truly protect the planet.
Some environmental technologies that retain
sustainable development are; recycling, water purification,
sewage treatment, environmental remediation,
flue gas treatment, solid waste management, and renewable
energy. Some technologies assist directly with energy conservation,
while other technologies are emerging that
help the environment by reducing the amount of waste produced
by human activities. Energy sources such as
solar power create fewer problems for the environment than traditional
sources of energy like coal and petroleum.
Areas
where Green Technology has proved to be beneficial:
Energy
Perhaps the most urgent issue for green technology,
this includes the development of alternative fuels, new means
of generating energy and energy efficiency.
Green building
Green building encompasses everything from
the choice of building materials to where a building is located.
Environmentally preferred purchasing
This government innovation involves the search
for products whose contents and methods of production have
the smallest possible impact on the environment, and mandates
that these be the preferred products for government
purchasing.
Green chemistry
The invention, design and application of chemical
products and processes to reduce or to eliminate the use and
generation of hazardous substances.
Green nanotechnology
Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of
materials at the scale of the nanometer, one billionth of a
meter. Some scientists believe that mastery
of this subject is forthcoming that will transform the way that
everything in the world is manufactured. “Green
nanotechnology” is the application of green chemistry
and green engineering principles to this field.
Imagine the Green Technology going a step
further to urban skyscraper farms, or floating eco-cities, or
glowing solar towers, or turbine-driven skyscrapers,
and finally magnetically levitated wind collectors?
Subsidies offered by the Indian government
Financial assistance is available in various
forms, such as direct installation subsidy, feed-in tariffs,
tax rebates, and low interest loans. Increasingly
Indians are seeing a shift away from subsidizing installed capacity
and towards subsidizing power generation with feed-in tariffs
and tax rebates. For example, for wind energy
there is an income tax exemption for 10 years, 80% accelerated
depreciation, sales tax exemption, and excise
duty exemption.
Subsidies on the Agricultural front
1. Increase farmer’s access to markets, by
streamlining the agricultural commodity supply chain.
2. Improve agricultural productivity by giving
access to credit, imparting education and increasing awareness
of the benefits of new technology to the farmers, in providing
incentives to farmers to adopt better
production technology, and bridging the information gap that
currently exists in the agricultural sector,
and remedying severe underdevelopment of irrigation and infrastructure
facilities.
Subsidies
on Solar Farm Investment in India
1. Financial assistance will be provided amounting
to 12 rupees (30 cents) per kilowatt-hour in case of solar
photovoltaic and 10 rupees per kilowatt-hour in case of solar
thermal power fed to the electricity grid.
The scheme will
be run by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA),
and solar farm developers
will be able to access the subsidy by selling their energy to
state-run utilities under the new tariff.
2. The scheme is likely to be welcomed by solar
firms that have failed to gain a significant foothold in a market
where they have to compete with low cost coal and a well established
wind energy sector.
Disputes
regarding the use of Green Technology
Some groups, including green anarchists, have criticised the
concept of environmental technology. From their viewpoint, technology
is seen as a system rather than a specific physical tool. Technology,
it is argued, requires the exploitation of the environment through
the creation and extraction of resources, and the exploitation
of people through labour, specialisation and the division of
labor. There is no “neutral” form of technology,
as things are always created in a certain context with certain
aims and functions. Thus, green technology is rejected as an
attempt to reform this exploitative system, merely changing
it on the surface to make it seem environmentally friendly,
despite continued unsustainable levels of human and natural
exploitation.
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