Modern technology has had a monumental impact on humans, the civilisations that we build and the lives that we lead. However, it has also had a huge effect on the environment and will do so for years and years to come. The nature of the relationship that these two have is paradoxical: while the footprint of technology on the environment has been overwhelmingly negative, environmental technology could save the planet from the harm that has been done.
 
The development of modern technology has brought about gross misuse of and damage to our natural earth. This happens in three ways: extraction of natural resources, massive energy usage and electronic waste.
 

Extraction of Natural Resources

Technology is very mineral intensive. For example, to manufacture one computer, such as the one I am currently writing this article with, contain many different minerals, such as aluminium, cobalt, tungsten, gold, tin, zinc, copper, iron, nickel, gallium, and tantalum. These are all non-renewable resources and the extraction of these minerals from the earth pollutes both the atmosphere and drinking water and also harms the local flora and fauna. For instance, take a look at the lake of toxic black sludge which has formed in Inner Mongolia. Modern as well as abandoned mines are responsible for significant environmental damage all across the globe.
 
Plastics, which are derived from fossil fuels, are some of the most used materials in the manufacture of all sorts of technology. Fossil fuels are, of course, non-renewable resources. These are unsustainable and pose a significant threat to the environment. Plastics in themselves are also non-biodegradable and thus exacerbate the problem.
 

Massive Energy Usage

The environmental impact of technology does not just stop at the raw materials needed to manufacture them, but also the immense amount of energy that they use. The consumption of energy is by far the main source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities globally. Burning fossil fuels for energy to be used for heating, electricity, transportation, and manufacturing goods accounts for almost two-thirds of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. These greenhouse gas emissions have caused a dramatic rise in global surface temperature. It is predicted that by 2100, our planet will heat up by around 4°C; enough to put major threat onto many ecosystems, causing the extinctions of many different animal and plant species; enough to increase the frequency and severity of life-threatening extreme weather events; and enough to cause famines and droughts in many places, making them unable to feed their local populations.
 

Electronic Waste

These goods also cause issues when they reach the end of their useful lives. Every year, $62.5 billion in electronic trash is discarded globally. Only around 20% of e-waste is recycled, and the rest of it go to landfill sites or to dumps to be burned. This pollutes the atmosphere and contaminates the water that people drink.
 
Despite the multitude of negative impacts technology has had on our planet, a recent rise in global concern for climate change has led to the development of what are called “environmental technologies”, also known as “green”/“clean” technologies. These innovations, and the further development of current and existing tech will be a key component in halting the effects of climate change.
 

Environmental Technology

Renewable energy, also known as clean energy, is energy which comes from renewable sources, and which doesn’t pollute our atmosphere or our drinking water. Currently, 60% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels, however, as environmental technologies mature and develop, they will soon become more efficient and cheaper than fossil fuels as an energy source.
 

 
In the past, environmental action and the transition to clean energy has always been seen to come at the cost of profit and economic gain. However, as renewable energy sources soon become cheaper and more efficient than fossil fuels, it will become economically beneficial to switch to clean energy. The rapidly dropping cost of renewable energy, particularly solar, indicates that the world is on the cusp of a significant shift in how we power our buildings and cars.
 

 
In fact, we can see that this shift is already possible.
 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of internet-connected items that use integrated sensor technology to gather and share data. This data enables network devices to 'make decisions' independently based on real-time information. Intelligent lighting systems, for example, will know to only illuminate places that need it, and smart heating systems

 

 

will keep homes at certain temperatures at specific times of day, minimising waste.
 
This technology has been enabled by the increased availability of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and smart sensors. Experts predict that future cities will be entirely inter-connected: every air conditioner, streetlamp, traffic light, computer, smartphone, thermostat and more will be linked with each other. These “smart cities” will be hyper-energy efficient, almost eliminating wasted energy. This will significantly benefit our environment with minimal change to our own lifestyles.

 

 

Transport accounts for 30% of global CO₂ emissions. Electric vehicles, on the other hand, do not produce carbon emissions. As electric cars become more and more popular, world total carbon emissions can be significantly reduced.
 
Bloomberg have predicted that electric cars will become cheaper than petrol cars by 2024, paving the way for a greener society with less air and noise pollution.
 
Another quickly developing technology is directly fighting greenhouse gases. This of course is direct air capture (DAC). Several large fans push air through filters which remove the carbon dioxide from the air. Although this technology is still in its infancy, it is thought that in the future a full-scale DAC operation will be able to absorb the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide to the annual emissions of 250,000 average cars.

 

 

The very nature of business and competition reduce electricity consumption and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Electricity costs money, and so more energy efficient home appliances and gadgets sell better. Over the years, the energy consumption of our homes has decreased. This will offset the rising energy consumption which will come as more and more people can afford to buy these appliances.
 
Although we cannot undo the damage that technology has done to our environment, technology has the potential to bring about rapid decarbonisation of our economy which is needed to save our planet.
 
However, technology is not a silver bullet solution to climate change. Technology is the light at the end of a once-thought hopeless tunnel, but there is still a lot of work that we must do to prevent drastic climate change and get to the end of that tunnel.