I have been planning to write about this blog, but I have to do more research first for the information that supports my arguments. I have been reading articles on renewable and sustainable energies, but it seems none of them present quantitative answer to how fast we should accelerate sustainable technologies based from Earth’s current state (or I just overlooked some articles). For example, from the current emitted CO2 in the atmosphere, how fast should we shift technologies to avoid more destruction? Based from the current ocean’s acidity, how fast should we eliminate or modify technologies that contribute to it?
Since it is February 29, 2016, the leap day of the year, I feel compelled to write my takeaways and dedicate this post to our mother Earth. To answer the above questions that have been bothering me, I want to share some essential pieces of information.
First, I particularly enjoyed reading this article which I think encapsulates almost all the important factors for a sustainable future. According to this article, the three key barriers to speeding up sustainable technologies are: (a) slow growth of innovative technologies due to various processes like testing, financial stability, and consumer trust to be undertaken in order to be fully implemented; (b) yesterday’s infrastructure that don’t support new technologies which might require government regulations and certain protocols; (c) lastly, building trust among members of the society because not all new technologies are accepted right away. Innovators are entitled not only to be clear with the objectives of their technology, but also being transparent about the risks that the new technologies could entail if we are to use it long term. Moreover, the article suggested three keys to going forward in spite of these barriers. These are: (a) managing risk to balance safety and sustainability; (b) harnessing inspiration to drive transformation; and (c) close collaboration among sectors of the society to achieve common goal faster, which could direct us to the transformation that is much needed.
Second, I was forced to consult my former classmate who has been actively working on renewable energies and current PhD student on sustainable energies. He mentioned that this has been a global concern, hence the creation of Paris Climate Summit. He admitted that the question I posed is subject for thorough study, aka a PhD topic!
In conclusion, the question of how fast we should accelerate technologies for a sustainable future is totally unclear yet. To me, to effectively solve and visualize the complex current problem on sustainability, there should be more quantitative approach to it. It a very hard and tedious problem to be solved, but I remain optimistic that we are all going in the same direction towards a sustainable future!
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All photos are not mine! They are from:
(1) Wikipedia
(2) http://wallpaper.finomof.top/a/elliptical-orbit-of-earth/
(3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2YjMs-M87U
(4) https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/environment
Anna Marie loves Science 