How Tech is Driving Sustainability

Sustainability innovation is continuously growing. In a world where we are all aiming for net-zero and looking to lessen our personal and business impacts, technology is now leading the way. Sustainable tech is being developed in a multitude of business areas and is already helping improve environmental regulations. Hard-hitting sustainability goals are the new must-have for businesses in order to grow in an increasingly conscious market. 

EV Charging 

The EV market is getting big. With its potential growth between 2019 and 2030 being estimated at a CAGR of more than 21%, we can already see a greener future ahead within our transport system. Electric vehicles can reduce or completely remove greenhouse gases whilst reducing local air quality by centralising emissions at power plants. The one blocker most drivers have with EVs is the ease of charging.  

One area of concern is the interoperability between different manufacturers of EVs and chargers. Establishing an industry standard is vital to the future of EVs and something CharIN is already working on by bringing together automotive, charging stations and energy supplier experts.  

Another problem area is the availability of EV charging points. There are now 42,000 charging points over 15,500 locations within the UK, but many of these are installed in peoples own driveways, off-street parking, office car parks with only a few on-street parking points. But there has been some recent innovation within this area in the form of wireless charging points, pop-up pavement chargers and lamp post chargers. Electrified roads are currently being trialled in the £4.3million eRoadArlanda project in Sweden using electric rails embedded within the road network which will allow vehicles to recharge whilst driving, meaning you would never have to plug in again! 

Cloud Technology 

Not only does switching to cloud-based systems save money, with migrations to public cloud systems having the potential to result in up to 30-40% savings in TCO, but it is also helping to push the sustainability initiative. Whilst not all cloud migrations are created equal, focusing on the following three ambitions can help your company become greener: 

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) 

On-premises to cloud migrations can drive a 65% reduction in energy and an 84% reduction in carbon emissions for a company, with the ability to create a VPC (virtual private cloud) for extra security levels.  

Fabric of the Cloud Application Optimization 

Carbon emission reductions can be stretched as far as 98% by companies correctly configuring applications for the cloud. 

Sustainable Software Engineering Practices  

Application energy consumption can be reduced by as much as 50% when selecting the correct programming language for the task at hand. 

Companies can access amazing societal financial and environmental advantages through the use of cloud centred circular operations, sustainable products and operations. There are many questions to be asked when looking to convert to cloud-based and the decisions you make impact the extent of your financial and environmental benefits.  

Intelligence in Agriculture 

Worldwide agriculture is already worth $5 trillion. But the world must begin to investigate how we can produce higher levels of food, with as few resources as possible to meet sustainability targets. This seemingly impossible task is becoming possible with the use of Artificial Intelligence. From detecting pests to predicting what crops will deliver the highest yield, AI is able to boost our crop growing abilities, even with the turbulent climate changes.  

Using AI, farmers can monitor a range of things such as weather conditions, temperature, soil conditions and water usage. This allows farmers to make more informed decisions. It is also aiding farmers to grow higher quality harvests, with AI able to detect plant diseases, poor nutrition and pests. 

Pest control is a great example of how AI works within agriculture. With a little help from satellite images compared over the same data from a previous 5 year period, AI is able to detect the threat of insect infestation and let farmers working with the program know before it is too late. As well as avoiding loss of crops to the pests, this will also encourage a higher uptake of organic growing methods. 

Learn More… 

Having clear sustainability goals within your business were once seen as a point of differentiation, but they have now become a necessity in order to save our planet. If you’re interested to learn more about techs role in developing sustainability regulation, you can join our event on 29th September as part of Leeds Digital festival! We have invited an expert panel to delve into the eco-regulations that are in place and how tech is aiding sustainability goals. 

Get your free ticket to join the event here.