From Guest Blogger Kimberly Grimms: Effects of Smart Technologies in the Era of Climate Change

Movies such as Oblivion, Elysium, and After Earth show a post-apocalyptic Earth where people are trying to survive the harsh environment. In these movies, man is shown to possess advance smart technologies. These are computers which can think like humans, houses that intimately know its owners and vehicles with built-in safety mechanisms.

However, despite these technologies, man lost the essence of progress by destroying his only home. In today’s environmental state, are you and your children headed to the same thing? As technology progresses, what are its effects to the planet?

The Current Effects of Smart Technology to Climate Change

Man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) is regarded as one of the culprits that speed up climate change that would have happened in a span of thousands of years. In recent years, the energy industry, transportation, manufacturing, and construction are blamed for the pollution in the atmosphere. With energy supply contributing an enormous 28 per cent of pollutants followed by transportation and manufacturing and construction with 12 per cent. However, you may not realized that even the Information and Communications Technologies industry also contribute a lot to the excessive emission of GHGs.

In 2008, a group of technology firms called Global eSustainability Initiative (GesI) has joined a non-profit environmental organization called Climate Group to examine the effects of ICT to the climate and the environment in general. By studying consumer behavior and hardware manufacturing, the group determined that ICT is at par with aviation in terms of atmospheric waste. Electronic gears, including computers, its peripherals, servers and data centers, and telecom networks, produced 830 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2007. That is around two per cent of total emissions from human activity. This is expected to grow to 1.4 billion tons of CO2 by 2020. The sudden boom of smartphone sales in the past decades is the source of about 56 per cent of the CO2 emission. However, the study showed that emission from data centers will grow the fastest in the near future.

Plastic also plays a huge role in the development of smart technologies. It is the cheapest source of parts which ICT uses a lot. Since plastic comes from oil, fossil fuels are at risk as these are not renewable. Also, in the process of creating plastic, chemicals are broken down into harmful forms that are typically released into the environment in large amounts. In developing countries, where most of plastic manufacturing centers are located, these chemical wastes are often dumped in water ways which affects not only the water but industries such as agriculture which in turn also affects the environment. The land absorbs too much harmful chemical leaving it unable to sustain any green life that helps reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Mining other fossil fuels, such as coal, have very direct effects to climate change. Linfen, China was named one of the most polluted places on Earth. The pollutants in the air are visible throughout the day. Located in Shanxi province, China’s coal belt, the air is filled with burning coal coming from mines. Even China’s State Environmental Protection Agency admits that Linfen has the worst air in the country along with 16 other Chinese cities. It affects almost three million residents with lung disease as the most common reason.

Future of Smart Technology and Sustainability

Now, the focus of creating and developing smart technologies is the consumer demand. However, studies have shown that the whole ICT industry itself can reduce a significant number of CO2 emissions every year. The said study by GeSI and Climate Group shows that ICT could help reduce emissions in other industries by 7.8 billion tons by 2020. Through computing, more efficient solutions can be created through simulations reducing a significant number of by product. For instance, virtual meetings can easily replace face-to-face meetings eliminating the need to travel which contributes to CO2 in the atmosphere. According to an interview by the Economist, John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco, said that the company reduced its carbon footprint by 11 per cent by taking advantage of “telepresence” gear. This also means higher productivity while saving the energy of the executives.

Moreover, using new ways of communication is just a small part of ICT’s potential contribution to reducing carbon emission. Smart technologies such as those employed in delivery services could plan efficient routes to save energy and reduce carbon-belching. Even smart homes have big impacts on slowing down the effects of climate change. Houses ran on computers are able to adjust thermostats according to your needs. Lighting and ventilation can also be turned off when you are not around, saving tons of energy consumption if ever such technology is employed in every home.

Still, the byproducts of producing such technologies affect the land reducing the areas where trees and green living things can grow. However, technology has modified the way trees grow by modifying its genetic makeup to withstand extreme weather and to double trees’ growth rate. Even agriculture and the paper industry is benefiting from fast growing trees such as eucalyptus which produces more pulp eliminating the need to cover large areas for production.

In the end, it is you, as a consumer, who will decide how smart technologies can affect your future. Its potential to destroy the planet is as strong as its power to save it. You now have to responsibility to choose what kind of path you are going to take.