How will the energy change our future?

Prior to the 1900s, the global population was fairly low and easily managed. There were far less people producing much lower amounts of pollution. Unfortunately, as the world developed new and better technology to reduce suffering and increase standards of living, a side effect appeared. The quality of the environment started to deteriorate, which contributed to global warming and interesting problems such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. A new approach to technology was developed to combat these problems; green technology. Green technology serves to either mitigate the damage caused by the use of technology, or reduce pollution through its use. The three fields that will be most important in the next thirty years will be power generation, filtration, and the creation of more efficient systems.

Most people can identify the main forms of renewable energy; there’s solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, and biomass. Unfortunately, only 17.1% of energy generated in the U.S. during 2017 was renewable, primarily from hydropower and wind (EIA). In the future, solar panel technology will most likely become more efficient and cheaper, as it is still a relatively young technology. The United States government currently offers a 30% tax credit for the purchase of solar panels, which should incentivise more people to install the devices. The increased availability and affordability of solar panels alongside innovations making them more efficient should increase the total power generated significantly. This could lead to a surge of solar panels in sunny regions of the world, reducing the need for fossil fuel power generation and minimizing power costs for households.

Biomass is an often forgotten form of green energy, but it is still significant, accounting for 1.6% of U.S. energy produced in 2017 (EIA). Biomass does tend to be less efficient than coal, however it is often used to co-fire in coal plants. This is because biomass burns much cleaner than coal, with little to no sulfur or mercury emissions and essentially being carbon neutral (PSU). The benefits are two-fold; a job market is created for farming the biomass, and the coal factories can reduce emissions. This innovation may not get rid of coal by itself, but it certainly helps maintain the environment while coal is still in use. Biomass should increase the total number of jobs and throttle coal emissions over the next thirty years. If carbon emission restrictions are strengthened, then coal would most likely fall out of favor and be replaced with biomass, as both resources generally use the same setup to produce power.

According to the CDC, approximately 780 million people do not have access to improved water sources. This water tends to be dirty, containing particulate that can harm the body, including deadly diseases such as Guinea Worm. Alongside this problem, about 2.5 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation, leading to more diseases and deaths. A green technology known as filtration could easily solve this problem, and it is already implemented for most of the world. Multiple methods exist, including chemical processes, radiation/heat, and very fine filters to remove the particulate and disease. At this point the problem is more deployment than development, and within the next thirty years filtration systems should be implemented to reach more of the global population, and will help prevent a lot of disease and suffering, particularly in Africa and Asia.

A unique facet of green innovation is making existing technology more efficient. This kind of engineering is present in all fields, in almost every device being created. A large proponent in the U.S. for general efficiency is the EPA, with the Energy Star program. This program focuses on cutting costs and saving energy for businesses and individuals through efficiency, which has the added benefit of helping the environment. Not only does this help reduce power consumption and therefore emissions, but also saves money for businesses and individuals over the course of a lifetime, enabling them to spend money on other things to improve their quality of life.

Environmental technology is a necessary development for the world today. With more efficient products using clean sources of power, less pollution will be generated overall. Effective distribution of filtered water and other basic necessities will enable entire regions of deficient persons to contribute to the global stage. The future for environmental technology is not only bright; it’s green.

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