Sustainability is a key buzzword in all industries right now, as we focus on ensuring that our businesses will stand the test of time without being harmful to the planet. This can be attained in seismic ways, such as switching to a carbon neutral business model, and in smart ones, such as making your products smart and sustainable with connected product development. Here we will discuss three technological trends which are currently being used to improve sustainability, and how you could harness these for your own business:
Harnessing The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things is a collective term for objects which are embedded with software, sensors, and other processing ability that enables them to connect to the internet and improve communication. Businesses that develop these types of products would be wise to ensure that they are both sustainable and scalable, using connected product development to not only stay on top of the initial product development costs and ongoing maintenance costs, but also to ensure that new and updated versions of the product can be released with minimal environmental impact: Not only will this save money in the long-run, this kind of cost-efficient, sustainable innovation is incredibly appealing to consumers looking to reduce their own environmental impact and make wiser choices in the product they choose.
We no longer live in a throwaway society, when the next big thing is sought after and the older version is discarded: instead, you should be looking to update the model you have already developed.
Efficiency Within Energy Storage
Efficiency within energy storage can significantly reduce battery usage, and therefore significantly reduce their negative environmental impact. As batteries corrode, the chemicals they contain can soak into soil and contaminate water supplies; they are generally not recycled properly, they aren’t reusable, and their negative environmental impact is often underestimated. When developing new products, affordable and efficient long-lasting energy storage should, therefore, be at the forethought of your mind. Lithium-ion batteries are now more affordable than they’ve ever been, meaning that it’s easier than ever to use them as an alternative to more harmful lead-based batteries.
These batteries can be considered as a more sustainable energy-storage solution, and increase reliability and resiliency as an affordable power source.
Sustainability Within Big Data
Finally, whilst date storage and data gathering aren’t something you think of as being a particularly unsustainable sector, the use of big data and analytics can actually improve industry sustainability efforts by helping big companies to reduce their energy usage, environment impact and efficiency. The volume of global big data available continues to develop at an unprecedented rate, thanks to the ongoing data revolution and this has the potential to make a huge impact on sustainability, particularly in developing countries. This data can be used in sustainable decision making, helping organisations to gain real-time insights into the lifestyles of the individuals they are trying to reach.
2022 is set to be an exciting year for sustainable technology improvements, both on a business and an individual level, and these developments can be harnessed to help us live in a more sustainable world.
